Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 198-200 - Calm in the Storm
In Centares, Rennes is responsible for the lives of his soldiers who have died in battle.

In Christophersis, and now in Sallust, he personally commanded the defeat of the Republic's fleet, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of enemy soldiers.

But what about Eliadu?

The death toll there is staggering, with zeros and commas so numerous they've become meaningless.

The psychological burden that Eliadu's so-called "liberation" brought to Rennes was as negligible as that of the Battle of Atlântico and the Battle of Eutheron.

In fact, he used the Atlaken incident to his own advantage, while Yutheran... chose to stand by and watch, as a warning to other powers in the vicinity of Peremian.

They were in the midst of war.

Deaths of this scale are an unavoidable byproduct of war.

A momentous event, one that will go down in history, is unfolding that will reshape the Milky Way's star map and interstellar political landscape, with effects that will last for millennia.

In terms of the scale and impact of the event alone, it is indeed... impressive.

The most critical consequence lies in the Republic's reaction, or more accurately, the reaction of the core world.

In his view, the core world could react in three ways.

Anger, indifference, or fear.

Regardless of the type, it's understandable, but without being in the core world, he can't truly know or experience their real emotions.

However, we'll find out soon enough.

Compared to what he considered the Republic's political institutions to be beyond redemption, Raine was more worried about the decisions made by the Jedi Order.

They may have concluded that it wasn't just Dooku who needed to be eliminated, but the entire Confederation.

This will be a serious problem because it will make efforts to overthrow the Supreme Speaker much more difficult.

Of course, the Jedi Knights are not an indispensable part of Raine's plan, but their support would undoubtedly be a very ideal asset.

Right now, he needs to focus on how to enter and exit the core area unscathed, and ideally, his fleet should remain intact in the process.

Therefore, it doesn't matter how the Republic or the Jedi Knights react, as long as Baris Orpheus can complete her mission according to her own plan.

“You seem quite confident,” Naradan Durin observed astutely. “Even with Anakin Skywalker and the Open Ring Fleet heading this way, you seem… quite calm, especially considering you’re caught between two fleets.”

Where exactly is the 'Storm Fleet' located?

Ryan skipped over her question.

The "open-loop fleet" is not a real threat.

Before they arrived, the 28th Mobile Fleet had already left this sector.

Moreover, all the survivors of the "Mediator's Task Force" had been taken into custody by the Sallust, and even if Anakin arrived here, he would not be able to find any clues.

This is precisely the advantage of being a mobile fleet.

They will be at the heart of the Galactic Republic's army supply lines, while the most dangerous fleet they may face is still days away.

As for the Second Military Region troops that follow the "Open-Loop Fleet" and move slowly, they are also not a concern.

They are large and have a bloated bureaucracy, making it difficult for them to quickly shift course.

Needless to say, after that bloodthirsty general had just destroyed Eliadur, would they really dare to turn their backs on Horn Ambigine?

At this moment, the Second Military District forces and the Fourth Fleet in Ambighi were more like two unstoppable torrents, violently colliding in each other's directions.

Rein was certain that this was also part of their supreme commander's plan.

In this situation, he preferred to focus on tracking the "Storm Fleet" and assessing the challenges that awaited them in Yagdul.

“When the Storm Fleet came to Emberline and tried to forcibly recruit us into the separatist cause, they had no idea that we were a very vengeful race,” Naradan replied. “We tracked them down to the Lonne Nebula in the Topora Sector.”

"Where is that place?" "Standard galactic coordinates K-15," HAL quickly retrieved the information from the vast database, "1500 parsecs from Yggdul, about 4900 light-years away, with an absolute azimuth of 237 degrees."

“For our ships, this is just a day’s journey,” Naradan added, “but destroying two hundred Republic battlecruisers is no small matter.”

Ryan ignored her concerns and continued to focus on building a coordinate map in his mind.

The 28th Mobile Fleet is currently situated between the Southern 18th Military Region forces and the Northern "Open-Loop Fleet".

Yagdul is a key bottleneck in the Republic's army supply lines; cutting it off would cripple their entire offensive along the Rima trade route, which would last for 4000 parsecs.

But it was not without precautions.

In addition to the forces besieging Yagdul, there is a Republic fleet in Fondo to the northwest, and another fleet is stationed on Mechis III to the northeast.

To liberate and hold Yagdul, they may need to face three independent Republic fleets simultaneously... plus the "Storm Fleet".

This is tricky, but not impossible.

Assuming the Republic was unaware that the 28th Mobile Fleet would suddenly appear in Yagdul, it would take the Republic's fleet one or two days to arrive and provide support after their whereabouts were exposed.

Given that Mechs III is closer than Fondo, one fleet will arrive before the other, giving them the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

The faster they act, the better, before news of Alrix's defeat reaches the top brass of the Republic's army.

"Hal," Raine shouted, "inform the entire fleet to prepare for an immediate hyperspace jump, target: Yagdul."

"Yes, Master," the rabbit robot said, taking out a data tablet and rapidly operating its fingers on the communication interface.

"What are you planning?" Naradan Dulin asked suspiciously. "Are you planning to have us fight alongside you in Yagdul?"

“Not at all,” Ryan replied calmly. “I was thinking that during the jump voyage, we could have a good talk over tea. I would explain my complicated and incomprehensible plan in detail, and then you would carry it out. Depending on the level of the backup plan you eventually have to use, you would receive the corresponding danger allowance.”

Naradan looked at him scrutinizingly, as if trying to uncover deeper intentions beneath his casual words.

She took a deep breath and then looked back at her companions.

After thinking for a moment, she shrugged, her tasseled braid swaying as she did so.

"alright."

“Uh, Master?” Hal looked at him with her ever-widened eyes. “We have detected an unauthorized encrypted transmission signal and are attempting to access it.”

Who is the access provider?

"'Dark Servant'".

After a brief silence, Renn let out a low laugh.

It seems those big shots are starting to get restless.

Does Ventress really think she can use the same trick to cause trouble as she did in Tess?
She almost ruined the entire mission that time.

This time it's different.

The 28th Mobile Fleet has seven main departments.

The sixth is the auxiliary support department, and the seventh is the intelligence department.

For a mobile fleet that must always stay ahead of the enemy and avoid being encircled and annihilated, the intelligence department is of paramount importance.

In other words, the fleet has fifty state-of-the-art intelligence frigates equipped with cutting-edge sensor arrays, jamming equipment, electronic warfare systems, and long-range hyperspace communicators.

It was thanks to this intelligence system that they were able to know in advance that the "Open Ring Fleet" was speeding toward them along the Rima trade route.

“Prepare some refreshments,” Renn instructed Hal, then turned to Naradan. “Would you mind if we had another…reluctant guest in our conversation?”

"...?"

(End of this chapter)