Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 212, Section 214 - Long En Nebula
Etopol Sector, eastern edge of the Lonne Nebula.

Twenty standard hours are not enough to make one forget a sentence.

Asagi Ventress paced restlessly on the deck of the Dark Servant, deeply aware of this.

Ryan Bontry's parting words lingered in her mind, refusing to leave.

What troubled her was not that Ryan was certain she was ordered to betray him, but that he implied she would eventually become a victim of betrayal herself.

"Because betrayal is an unpleasant hidden danger from the dark side."

This was exactly what Count Dooku had once told her, and it was now echoing repeatedly in her mind.

She pondered the words, immersed in that repulsive sense of uncertainty, feeling the Force undulating around her.

The simple repetition of this maxim proves that he knows every detail of Dooku's instructions.

He could have quoted the contents of that communication, but he deliberately picked out this particular sentence, which must have a deeper meaning.

Ventress might be overthinking things, but she knew Ryan Buntley well enough to know that this Ondron nobleman was a master of calculation.

Whether it's developing a strategic plan down to the smallest detail, analyzing the opponent's psychology layer by layer, or carefully choosing words in ordinary conversations to gain the greatest advantage.

If you want to think in sync with the mindset of "Fighting Hydra," it's worthwhile to analyze every detail.

One detail tormented her like a slow poison.

On the eve of such a crucial battle, he actually granted her the privilege of "presumption of innocence."

When Ventress tells Ryan that she is acting in the greater good of the Confederation, Ryan chooses to “believe” her.

A precise missile could have destroyed the Dark Servant before Ventress and the Storm Fleet posed a threat, but such a missile did not appear.

Instead, he simply offered that maxim.

"Betrayal is an unpleasant hidden danger from the dark side."

Ventress paced on the deck, repeating the phrase under her breath as if chanting a mantra.

again and again.

In the twenty-first hour, a thought suddenly became clear to Ventress, who felt like a lucid bystander in a mad dream.

She was too fixated on the words themselves, neglecting the context behind them.

No.

He wasn't saying this to tell me he knew I would betray him.

This is a warning.

He was warning me that I would be betrayed.

Then, in her imagination, the motto was replaced by a name.

Count Doocu.

What if... what if Dooku's orders weren't actually to send her to command a powerful secret fleet against the enemy, but rather to lure her from a relatively safe place to a hidden, isolated nebula in the Central District, and then eliminate her there?

Doesn't this mean that she's not heading towards a new beginning, but rather heading straight for her own grave?
In the midst of this torrent of thoughts, Ventress didn't even consider how Ryan Bontley knew all this.

She also failed to realize that Ryan was merely trying to distract her.

She didn't even delve into the fact that it was highly suspicious that Count Dooku uttered this maxim before possibly ordering her execution.

The storm of thoughts that had been brewing from her constant pacing came to an abrupt halt when the Hyperspace Drive alarm sounded.

After a 21-standard-hour hyperspace journey, she finally arrived.

But where did it arrive?

Is he about to be reborn as the commander of the Confederacy's two hundred most advanced warships?
Or will they meet with an unknown death among the stars, lonely and unnoticed?
The navigation robot, completely unaware of the Force and her inner struggle, shut down the hyperspace drive as programmed.

The Dark Servant shuddered violently beneath her feet.

Ventress tensed, bracing herself for the darkness of deep space, and perhaps the deadly glint of thousands of turbine laser beams.

Just then, a crucial detail slipped out of Ventress's mind.

If Dooku was determined to kill her, why did he remind her that betrayal was a common tactic of the dark side?
……

“We’ve arrived,” Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker murmured to himself.

The Vanguard and more than fifty other Jaeger-class warships leaped out of hyperspace.

It appeared at the very center of the vast universe.

The clone commander, Po, stirred slightly from his silence, and for a moment Anakin thought he was asleep standing up.

Outwardly, Po was as serious and focused as ever, perfectly befitting the demeanor of a clone commander.

But beneath those identical faces, Anakin had sensed something different during his hyperspace travels over the past few hours.

A deep-seated longing, an eager anticipation of something, a tension that urgently needs to be released.

Release during battle.

That feeling was there right now. As Anakin studied Po's face, he could almost feel the taut lines of the Force.

The 501st Clone Legion craves excitement, and their commanders are no exception.

They were born to fight, and the last battle on the separatist planet Namjorios was a distant memory.

A deep-space boarding operation is the perfect way to release these pent-up energies.

“I’ll get the soldiers ready, sir,” Apo suggested, his voice carrying a barely perceptible urgency. “Should I give the order?”

“Go.” Anakin raised his chin slightly and walked across the bridge toward the sensor director.

"What have you found?" the Jedi general asked.

The sensor supervisor glanced at him quickly before returning his gaze to the screen. "Scanning, General. This nebula... isn't cooperating."

Anakin nodded understandingly, without blaming or urging, and turned his gaze to the viewing window.

The sight is breathtaking; the Lonne Nebula resembles a curtain of light interwoven with green, blue, and red, dotted with newborn stars in all directions.

This is a huge "nursery" made of dust and gas, and they are inside it, about to break the tranquility with a battle.

Thinking of this, a chill ran down his spine.

"Multiple targets detected..." the sensor supervisor suddenly reported, his voice tinged with uncertainty, "Azimuth 047, marker 299."

Anakin's mind raced, and he instantly memorized the directions. He then raised a finger and made a rotating gesture.

The helmsman manipulated the "Pioneer" to begin rotating longitudinally, and the huge hull smoothly rotated a full 180 degrees until the entire ship was in an "upside down" posture.

This change in orientation is precisely tracked on numerous displays and holograms, and the operator quickly switches views to turn "upside down" into "upright".

Anakin strode to the viewing window and looked up at the suspicious target now "above" them.

At first glance, the familiar starry sky came into view.

But when he looked in that direction, he saw one of the "arms" of the Longen Nebula, a swirling river of starlight and stardust that split the vast void in two.

In that river of light, hundreds of black silhouettes floated, like the shadows of giant barges sailing along a stream of stardust.

His eyes followed the outlines, his brain racing as he tried to compare them to the vast library of starship images in his memory.

“Those are cargo ships, not warships,” Anakin muttered, then raised his voice, “Transfer the scan data to my holographic panel. I need all the information.”

"Almost done, sir."

The image converged and took shape on the holographic panel in front of him.

These ships are large and well-proportioned, like giant flying cubes, exactly 800 meters long, and covered with matte durasteel.

A pair of enormous sub-light-speed thrusters stood upright at the stern, while a huge hatch spanned the port and starboard sides at the bow.

Anakin recognized the ship type; it was one of the most common and widespread cargo ships in the galaxy.

The PCL 27 was designed by Maxwell & Son.

It also has a more common name, widely known among shipping giants, dockworkers, and even the millions of astronauts sharing the hyperspace route: Class A bulk carrier.

Although this classification is not official, the title "A-level" alone is enough to demonstrate its ubiquity in the Milky Way.

The scan results from the "Pioneer" also confirmed this, with the identification code "PCL 27" clearly flashing in one corner of the screen.

There are two hundred such boats here, quietly moored on that river of light.

There were no navigation lights, and no thruster exhaust plumes.

Is that all?

The reinforcements that "Battle Hydra" relied on and were touted as being there were actually an abandoned, unmanned merchant fleet.
The Jedi Knight quickly dismissed the idea.

“Conduct a full-spectrum scan of that fleet,” he instructed, “while searching for signs of life.”

As the "Open Ring" detachment slowly approached to begin its investigation, more information flooded Anakin's hands.

His doubts deepened. Those thrusters... were too clean.

To save costs, freight companies and captains often use low-quality fuel, which leaves traces on the engines, but these propulsion systems do not show such signs.

Either these ships were brand new, or they burned exceptionally cleanly.

This is the first doubt.

The second point of contention is the ship itself.

Anakin carefully examined the lines of the hull, the quality of the panels and fittings, and then the material composition of the hull.

This is not just durasteel; it's a military-grade Durasteel alloy.

Looking at the huge "cargo door" at the bow, it has none of the design features of a cargo door, but instead possesses all the characteristics of an armored bulkhead.

These "cargo ships" were built to military warship standards.

So why would two hundred such ships be anchored in this desolate, uninhabited depths of a nebula?
“That’s strange.” The sensor manager frowned, his voice filled with confusion. “There are no signs of life.”

(End of this chapter)