Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 220-222 - Another City Victory

However, unintentionally, the "Open Ring" fleet turned to starboard and headed towards the eastern part of the system.

Meanwhile, the "Fast Justice" spacecraft is also traveling counterclockwise along the planet.

In other words, while the USS Fast Justice was speeding south in an attempt to find a window to establish communication with the Open Loop fleet, the Open Loop fleet was heading north toward the last known location of the 20th Fleet.

The planet Yggdul is right in the middle, like the two ends of a carousel, unfortunately misaligned.

Four hours later, the "Rapid Justice" task force charged toward the western edge of the asteroid belt, with the seventy-five warships of the Peremian Alliance in hot pursuit.

General Empatojejos Brand closely monitored the situation.

Normally, the Republic's Star Destroyers far outpaced the Separatist battlecruisers in straight-line speed—but this time seems to be an exception.

It turned out that what was following them was not an ordinary battlecruiser, but the solar sails of the Tyon Domination, or more precisely, the 3rd Combat Division of the 28th Mobile Fleet.

These ships were built in the Commonwealth's star system, and even when traveling far from home, their speed remains among the top of all warships of their class in the galaxy.

The enormous solar sails not only enabled incredible speeds, but also made their radar signals two to three times stronger than those of ordinary ships.

The radiation reflected from the solar sails interfered with the sensors of the "Fast Justice," and with the pursuing fleet maintaining a tight formation, Brand was unable to accurately determine the number of enemy ships.

Nevertheless, thanks to the keen intuition granted by the Force, he sensed that there were far fewer enemy ships pursuing him than expected.

“If I had to guess… there were probably only a hundred ships pursuing them. Either Octavian Grant’s damage to the ‘Battle Hydra’ was greater than expected… or the other half of the enemy ships weren’t even behind us.” At this moment, Brand fell into a similar state of mind as Grant had before.

We are fighting Hydra, he closed his eyes, he is a multi-headed enemy.

“Admiral,” he whispered to Jagerod to avoid alarming the crew, “the enemy has split up. If I’m not mistaken, the other half of the Alliance fleet is hiding on the other side of the asteroid belt, tracking us in parallel.”

Jeger Rod's expression hardened. He glanced warily at the general, then checked the data panel.

Half a minute later, he looked out the port window at the asteroid belt, squinting as if trying to pierce through the thick interstellar dust and catch a glimpse of the hidden enemy ship's engine.

“In that case,” the general replied in a similarly low voice, “we have been cornered from the very beginning, and no matter what we do, we cannot win.”

“The situation is different now,” Jedi corrected. “But if we had followed my suggestion to ambush these enemy ships, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. Look at those ships, the Tyrion’s luxurious warships. We could have repelled them and even achieved greater results.”

Despite the implication that his words were "should have been this way long ago," Brandt's tone remained calm.

At this moment, Jaejord felt more grateful than ever for the Jedi's composure.

“We couldn’t have foreseen that Bontry would split its forces like this,” Jager Rod said weakly, “but I admit… perhaps we should have trusted your gut feeling.”

“There’s no point in talking about this now,” Brand interrupted, waving his hand. “We need to decide what’s next. Can we escape?”

After a quick calculation, Jegerod replied, "No, it will be intercepted before reaching the nearest jump point... Moreover, the gravitational turbulence of the Yagdul four-star system does not allow for emergency hyperspace jumps; otherwise, the consequences would be unpredictable and would inevitably result in heavy casualties, unless there is astronomical navigation support from the local star system."

The Givenians have always provided astronomical navigation services to all ships passing through this system, especially around planets and regions of gravitational chaos.

Clearly, behind the astonishing mobility of "Battle Hydra" lies the invisible hand of this mathematical regime.

The Republic's allies, however, could not enjoy this advantage, as Brand had pointed out earlier in the strategic conference that they were fighting on the enemy's home ground.

In the Yagdul Four-Star System, this home-field advantage is more real and more lethal than anywhere else in the galaxy.

“Then there is only one way left,” Empatojejos Brand said, the grim situation not shaking his resolve: “We will make more separatists pay with their lives. Let the end be remembered, General.”

General Jegerod closed his eyes tightly, his lips pressed into a pale line, and he prayed in a low voice... or rather, apologized.

Subsequently, he reached a rare agreement with this Jedi:
"it is good."

After a four-hour journey, Task Force Swift Justice finally reached the western edge of the asteroid belt.

Everyone held their breath and waited, the communication array aligned with the channel between Yagdul and the first satellite.

But when they turned to the designated point... the location where the "open-loop" fleet should have appeared was empty.

If the enemy maintains its original course, or even moves towards the rendezvous point, the two armies should have already met.

However, the "Open Ring" fleet had turned east and was still on the other side of Yagdul, completely opposite to the "Fast Justice".

No one could have predicted that losing communication with the 20th Fleet, a seemingly minor link, would lead to the destruction of three Allied fleets.

In retrospect, Octavian Grant's warnings were remarkably prescient.

Brand and Jaeger had no time to think it through; their last hope was dashed, and they no longer cared about finding out where their ally had gone.

"Enemy fleet spotted ahead on port! Sir...Sir, 150 warships detected!"

"General, please give the order! They're charging towards us!"

The separatist battlecruiser "Crying Sun" led the 4th Combat Division of the 28th Mobile Fleet, emerging from the cover of the asteroid belt.

Behind the "Swift Justice," the "Crown Prince" had lowered its sails and entered battle readiness, with the "Chimera" close behind. The Republic fleet was completely surrounded. "Orders?" Empatojejos Brand straightened up; his presence in the Force instilled a resolute fighting spirit in his crew. "Counterattack!"

……

Ahsoka suddenly felt a fluctuation in the Force. She looked up sharply, as if trying to find the source of the fluctuation.

But she knew in her heart that Jedi Empatojejos Brand had just sacrificed himself and returned to the Force.

She also understood that in trying to save one ally, she was pushing another toward destruction.

Although Yularen was not sensitive to the Force, he was familiar enough with the Jedi to guess Ahsoka's feelings at this moment.

"We couldn't save them in time."

It's definitely too late.

The numbers on the timer coldly proved this.

“I know,” Ahsoka said softly.

Like the "Fast Justice" before its destruction, the "Open Ring" fleet had been sailing along the eastern asteroid belt of Agdur for four hours at this point.

Calling it the "asteroid belt" is not entirely accurate—it contains not only debris but also a boiling atmosphere trapped between the gravity of satellites and planets, which is irregularly thrown and drawn in by the orbit of the three stars, forming a barrier that is almost impenetrable and blocks the vast majority of signals.

The "open-loop" fleet is more isolated than ever before, but also seems safer, since theoretically there are no enemy forces capable of intercepting them.

Ahsoka's Force perception further reinforced this judgment: she "saw" Master Alex's Force imprint still burning, while the Battle Hydra was engaged in fierce combat with the Fast Justice nearly 200,000 kilometers away.

She believes that Master Brand's sacrifice bought time for "Open Loop," allowing for both the search and rescue of the 20th Fleet survivors and the preparation of a new battlefield.

But she was wrong.

Ahsoka unknowingly fell into the same mental trap as Rhys Alex.

Over-reliance on the Force.

This late Jedi's dying gift was actually a curse disguised as guidance.

The Force itself is a tool, and a very effective one at that, capable of providing information that even advanced sensors cannot capture.

However, inexperienced commanders may still misuse this information.

Those who lack experience often accept the Force's hints entirely, leading them to make dangerous or even fatal assumptions.

Over-reliance on the Force will eventually lead people to abandon traditional tactical wisdom and training, and instead seek "shortcuts".

This is especially true of the Jedi, who are trained from a young age to view the Force as the ultimate answer and firmly believe in it.

Ultimately, this blind faith was ruthlessly exploited in the Seven Battles of Sallust.

And now, history may be repeating itself in Yagdul.

Ahsoka has developed a strategy by ignoring Octavian Grant's greater experience and instead relying on intelligence derived from Jedi Alex's potential abilities.

Although it seemed reasonable, it had already brought disastrous consequences to the Allied fleet.

In the same battle, she once again relied on this ability to make assumptions.

Since "the Force indicates that the enemy is on the other side of the galaxy," she naturally assumed that the "Open Ring" fleet would not be intercepted.

This is as simple yet fatal as mistaking local intelligence for global information.

Seventy Giwen interstellar ships suddenly burst out of the asteroid belt, their ice-blue engines flashing, and boiling atmosphere rising from their streamlined hulls.

The "Pioneer" scanner identified them almost instantly: masterpieces of the Yagdul shipyard, the mainstay of the Given defense fleet, the Peak-class frigates.

With both Republic fleets tied down, the Astronomical Computing Institute finally committed its entire private fleet to the battlefield.

Ahsoka could only watch helplessly as the agile Wave Peak-class corvettes cut into the battlefield, encircled the "Open Ring" fleet, laid countless homing mines, and then quickly disappeared into the chaotic atmosphere.

Immediately afterward, out of the corner of her eye, the Force imprint of Hydra began to move again.

An "open-loop" fleet is not safe.

On the surface, their momentum was halted in just one strike.

The ferocious beast has resumed its pursuit.

……

"Two have been resolved, and only one remains."

(End of this chapter)