Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 210, Section 212 - The Hunter

"Separatist warships are rapidly approaching!"

Governor General Octavian Grant of the 20th Galaxy examined the urgent report with a detached air.

On the flagship "Illustrious," as the enemy fleet surged forth like a dark cloud, dots of light rapidly filled the entire screen. The approaching threat caused the brightness of these dots to increase dramatically.

The Peremian Alliance fleet advanced in a three-line formation.

The formation consisted of 184 warships, with a front line of frigates and destroyers providing cover, a core force of four Lucrehook-class battleships in the middle, and a rear guard of cruisers at the rear.

“That’s why I don’t like the Jedi Generals,” Grant said loudly, expressing his disappointment. “They always miss the forest for the trees and can’t see the bigger picture.”

Within the Republic Navy, Ryan Bontley was known as the "Battle Hydra," but perhaps "Jedi Buster" would be a more fitting description.

After all, what other enemy general could defeat so many renowned Jedi generals on the battlefield?
Although he has only personally ended the life of one Jedi so far, even though he could have ended many more.

Perhaps... there is some kind of weakness that can be exploited?
Grant suddenly realized.

“That’s right,” he continued his analysis. “Bounty wants to quickly crush our three fleets, but to achieve this goal, defeating one fleet must create the conditions for defeating the next.”

So what if the "Swift Justice" task force is destroyed?
As long as the 20th Fleet and the "Open Loop" Fleet maintain contact, the two fleets can regroup and form a joint front to confront the separatist forces, who will be outnumbered and outgunned.

“Now, we have to face this fleet alone,” Grant said through gritted teeth. “Send a message to our allies immediately: 70,000 kilometers northeast of Yagdul, at an absolute azimuth of 031 degrees relative to the planet, our forces are engaged in battle with the enemy and request immediate support!”

The governor gave the order, but the communications officer of the attack cruiser HMS Illustrious could only respond with hurried movements and a corresponding anxious expression.

The powerful jamming signals released by the separatist fleet are greedily devouring the 20th Fleet's communication channels.

They tried various methods but were unable to break through the Confederate Navy's main electronic warfare weaponry, the powerful electronic countermeasures system equipped on every Generous-class frigate.

Worse still, the 20th Fleet is currently briefly trapped between two satellites, a critical situation that temporarily isolates them from their two allied fleets.

They had certainly anticipated this situation, but a chill still swept across the bridge when they truly realized they were fighting alone.

Grant could only hope that the two Jedi officers had heeded his warning and were on their way to his aid.

Those Jedi... Empatojejos Brand is nothing special.

This idiot Ondron caused the Galactic Republic Army a huge problem after he "accidentally" committed an anti-civilization crime in Basardero.

That battle took place in the Core World and was one of the most widely reported and circulated battles in the early stages of the war.

Prior to this, only the Battle of Sarapindo could rival it in terms of the extent of its dissemination.

But Ahsoka... she's a bit special, commanding such a remarkable fleet as the "Open Ring" at such a young age.

Anakin Skywalker then pursued Asagi Ventress to prevent enemy reinforcements from disrupting their three-sided encirclement plan.

At first, Grant didn't understand who Skywalker was insulting by having his apprentice command the fleet.

But after hearing the girl explain her strategy, it's perhaps only natural that she would show some potential as an apprentice to the Jedi Order's most outstanding general.

Everyone needs a starting point, and Yagdur is a good one.

Unfortunately, she made a mistake in judgment at a crucial moment.

“The enemy formation is changing,” Grant’s adjutant observed.

The escort fleet that forms the vanguard of separatism is being deployed.

The escort ships, arranged alternately in the formation, moved up or down in sync, like a cosmic behemoth baring its fangs, ready to deliver a fatal bite.

After they separated, the second row of four Lucrehook-class warships was revealed, arranged in an inverted V shape, resembling a forked venomous tongue.

General Grant sketched out the final form of the formation in his mind: a battle grid of three rows and five columns.

The top and bottom rows are frigates extending forward, while the middle row consists of four battleships intended to halt the advance of the 20th Fleet.

“We’ve seen this formation before,” Grant announced, his tone as cold as the air on the bridge. “Adopt the appropriate formation and execute it as trained.”

The 20th Fleet then adjusted its formation to match the enemy's layout, also dividing into two rows with multiple columns of depth.

“The ‘Lukerehook’ class is tough to take down, General,” Grant’s adjutant cautioned.

The general grunted in agreement.

The Lucrehook-class warships are enormous, measuring 3,000 meters in both length and width.

They were essentially mobile defense platforms, originally designed to hold out for reinforcements during pirate attacks—this was before their wartime modifications.

Despite its enormous size, it is surprisingly lightweight because most of its interior is hollow. However, once converted into a warship, especially a battleship, its weight could increase by an order of magnitude.

“Forget about the entire fleet,” Grant ordered. “We must target the enemy commander. Since we can’t determine the flagship, let’s start with the Lucrehook-class.”

The words had barely left his mouth when the first shot was fired.

The enemy launched the first attack, firing a salvo of missiles.

The 20th Fleet responded swiftly, with dense close-in weaponry forming a net that intercepted the vast majority of incoming missiles.

The few that slipped through the net simply collided harmlessly with the deflector shield.

Neither fleet showed any sign of slowing down.

"Prepare for close-quarters combat!" Grant raised a hand. "Order all squadrons to rotate 180 degrees around their longitudinal axis! All ships to concentrate their shields on their flanks!"

The top and bottom rows of warships rolled simultaneously, and the two fleets collided violently, forming a five-layered sandwich structure.

The top and bottom decks are "Generosity-class" frigates, the second and fourth decks are "Hunter-class" attack cruisers, and the innermost deck is the "Lukerehook"-class battleship.

The tactical holographic screen was instantly engulfed by blinding white light, and the intensity of the battle suddenly increased by two or three times.

The enormous energy output and the resulting intense light nearly burned the sensor operator's eyes.

Red and blue intertwined energy beams flashed wildly in the void.

The separatist frigates unleashed a barrage of fire on the shields of the Hunter-class warships like mad dogs.

Meanwhile, the two rows of Hunter-class battleships concentrated all their firepower from behind onto the Lucrehook-class battleship sandwiched in the middle, tearing through the armor plates reinforced by the cargo ships and bombarding the powerful battleship from the middle.

Octavian Grant had studied the tactics of the Republic’s most feared enemy, Ryan Bontry, and knew that these tactics had defeated Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Battle of Christopher Heath.

However, this tactic will no longer work.

It was ineffective not only against him, but against the entire Republic Navy.

The reason is that the new generation of "Hunter-class" attack cruisers has undergone key improvements, making up for the weaknesses that initially allowed this terrible tactic to succeed.

Now, the new attack cruisers' ventral hangars are equipped with specially designed SPHA-T heavy guns, giving the Hunter-class cruisers dual firepower from both the rear and ventral sides.

This was the case with the "Illustrious" and the other warships of the 20th Fleet.

They retaliated fiercely with their turbo-laser cannons on their bellies. The overclocked turrets easily penetrated the relatively weak shields of the "Generous" class frigates, pierced through their thin Doron alloy armor, and turned the interior of the ship into a mass of molten, glowing metal.

Some of the frigates exploded on the spot, vaporizing due to the sudden and violent combustion of the reactors.

Others, though still structurally intact, were severely damaged and rendered incapable of fighting.

As for one of the Lucrehook-class battleships, Battleship No. 53, it suffered continuous damage under the relentless bombardment from the main guns on both sides of the Republic's attack cruiser.

More and more energy beams broke through the gradually weakening shield, melting away the outermost armor plates.

General Grant, who was closely monitoring the battle, quickly discovered this weakness in the enemy lines.

“Aim at that battleship,” he said, pointing to “Battleship No. 53.” “Order the Consequences to lock onto it, use armor-piercing warheads, target behind the main ion thrusters, that should be where the ship’s main reactor is located.”

Following orders, the attack cruiser HMS Consequences fired sixteen heavy massed missiles.

Several warheads penetrated the thick hull of the Lucrehook-class destroyer, with two of them exploding near the engine room of the main supermatter annihilation reactor.

A surging, deadly stream of particles instantly engulfed the entire giant ship. In an instant, "Battleship No. 53" was transformed into a steel coffin for six hundred officers and one hundred thousand combat robots.

A series of fragments were ejected outwards, harmlessly bouncing off the navigation shields of the Victory-class warship.

When the warm glow of the explosion shone on General Octavian Grant's face, he smiled with satisfaction.

Even without allies, the 20th Fleet is winning this battle.

Its light warships are pouring into gaps in the separatist front.

In such a close-quarters melee between two fleets, both sides would inevitably suffer heavy losses. However, given that 184 out of 252 warships were facing each other, common sense dictates that the side with the numerical advantage would ultimately prevail.

...184 ships?
Intelligence indicates that the "Battle Hydra" commands 259 warships.

Where are the remaining 75 ships?

(End of this chapter)