Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 3-3 - Preparation Orders
Renn surveyed the forces under his command.

23 Generous-class frigates, 6 Lukri-Hook-class battleships, and one damaged Divine Will-class dreadnought.

This was the most powerful task force he had ever commanded, and the excitement made his bones tremble.

The opposing Jedi Task Force only had four Victory-class Star Destroyers, all of which were still in carrier configuration.

If it weren't for the Jedi being present, this battle would have been a piece of cake.

"Little Tower, tell me about the 'Invincible'."

"Sir, the command software is being transferred to the stern bridge, and the ship will be back in operation within a few hours."

What about biosignals?

"A faint biosignal was detected on the bridge at the bow of the ship."

Upon hearing this news, Ryan realized that Trench was still alive and secretly regretted underestimating this "spider".

If Trench survived Marathar's all-out attack, he should have expected to be here again.

However, Ryan quickly became excited again. Now he could enjoy all the glory of winning the battle all by himself, without having to worry about the tedious paperwork that Trench's death would bring, or the effort of explaining.

"Huh!? You've launched a rescue operation!? Can spiders survive in the vacuum of space?"

The tactical robot, Little Tower, met his gaze; its white eyes stared intently at him.

Raine asked, somewhat puzzled, "...What's wrong?"

Little Ta gestured as he explained, “If General Trench doesn’t survive, I predict you will take his place in the promotion. I’ve calculated that his death is more advantageous for you.”

Renn paused for a moment, realizing that what Xiaota said made sense, but he had more thoughts in mind.

He recalled his experience in Kowell, and realized that if he performed well when the commander's first attack failed, he would definitely win favor with his superiors.

Back in Lacus, he could then promote himself as a war hero who turned the tide after Trench's death, and even gain the support of Voye Attel's faction in the Senate, as well as utilize Mina's connections.

But then he remembered that Mina had never approved of him joining the army in the first place.

After thinking for a moment, Ryan stood up and poked Little Tower's mask, saying, "Ah, but Little Tower, you have to think about the bigger picture! Keeping Trench alive has long-term benefits, I appreciate your thinking, that's true, but if Trench owes me a favor, I can achieve the same effect, understand?"

The little tower answered mechanically, "I don't understand."

Ryan shook his head and said, “No, of course you don’t understand. The concept of ‘human favor’ is certainly foreign to robots, but it’s not to us intelligent beings. A favor… can bring a lot of benefits… Send some cutting robots out to tow the ‘Invincible’ back to the rear, and then transfer Trench to the medical facility of a ‘Lukerehook-class’ warship.”

Little Tower: "...Yes, sir!"

Ryan sat down again and saw a B1 robot with a yellow head. He asked, "You, that OOM robot, what is your serial number?"

The robot turned around: "I am OOM-2200, sir."

Rein suppressed a laugh and said, "I'll call you... Taylor. Okay, Taylor, how many shifts have you done on the bridge?"

Taylor scratched his head and replied, "Seven times, sir."

"Not many times, huh? I'm guessing you were assigned here before one or two renovations, right?"

"Twice, sir."

Rein said seriously, "Then open your memory bank, because I want you to understand my fighting style. Little Tower should have already calculated our approach vector. Now, I'm going to prepare the battle sequence and transfer all our available naval equipment information to my data board."

Taylor nodded enthusiastically and immediately returned to his post to carry out the orders.

Once the tablet received the data packet, Ryan began browsing the military equipment information within it.

He decided to leave the Invincible and the Lucrehook-class battleships behind to maintain the blockade because they were too slow to fit the operational plan and were needed as the last line of defense to prevent any Republic warships from escaping, including the space submarine that had not yet been found.

In this way, he would have more than twenty interstellar escort ships at his disposal.

His personally commanded "Repel Squadron" was located in the center, as these warships were commanded by his most trusted droid captains, among whom the "Famous" and "Resistance" were operating at over 90% efficiency.

However, his mood soured as he checked the real-time readings of the other warships. The right-wing frigate, No. 13, was operating at only 63% capacity; it was a ship borrowed from the Trade Federation and was in poor condition.

He understood why Trench had deployed such ships on the flanks of the blockade line, and immediately shouted: "Any warship with an operational efficiency below 70% is not an asset, but a burden. Organize them into the third squadron and deploy them 100,000 kilometers ahead of the blockade line, in standard formation..."

Ryan shook his head. "No, the reverse formation with the bow and stern crossing each other will serve as our reserves."

Ryan then asked Taylor, "How many ships do we have left, Taylor?"

Taylor: "Eleven ships, sir."

Seeing that more than half of the fleet was operating below acceptable efficiency, Rein bit his fingertips as he pondered strategy.

Despite the unfavorable situation, he decided to fight with limited resources: "Organize the ships with an operational efficiency of over 80% into the first squadron, and then divide them into four smaller squads: 'Repel,' 'Renowned,' 'Resist,' and... 'Graceful Hope,' according to Standard Combat Order No. 3, advance 150,000 kilometers."

Rennes hopes that the corporate alliance's "Elegant Hope" will live up to its name.

Subsequently, the seven ion thrusters of the "Repulsion" were activated, and the warship headed to its designated position, while the other "Generosity-class" frigates also broke away from the formation and lined up in formation.

He then ordered: "Form the remaining four into a second squadron and deploy them on the flanks. They will trap the Republic cruisers in the positions I want."

At this moment, the naval officer who had finished his communications returned to the bridge to report: "Admiral Trench has been transferred to the 'Detention' ship."

Raine propped his head up with his fist and said, “Very good. Familiarize yourself with our battle orders. I need you to provide analysis of all possibilities at any time, and assume that the enemy is commanded by a Jedi general.”

Xiao Ta: "Yes, sir."

The command bridge was quiet, with only the hum of digital interfaces and repeaters. The entire bridge crew of the "Repulsion" worked efficiently and in an orderly manner, with various readings and repeaters providing information to Rennes at any time.

The system automatically performed a check, the green light illuminated, and all warships reported to be in position around the "Repelling" ship.

Once the last ship, the Shadow Price, was in position, Raine stood up and announced, "Alright, everyone, let's finish this quickly."

Meanwhile, in the Republic's operations command center, Obi-Wan Kenobi, watching the Separatists advance their blockade through the bridge's main observation window, shouted to Anakin, "Anakin! Are you sure you destroyed the enemy flagship? They just broke through the blockade and are charging towards us!"

Anakin's projection appeared on the holographic display table, with Senator Bell Organa next to him.

Despite Anakin's speech, the sounds of blaster fire and explosions in the background were clearly audible.

Anakin yelled into the handheld projector, "I'm sure! I saw Trench get blown up with my own eyes! He definitely had a contingency plan—"

General Yularen also appeared on the projection and added: "Or he has a deputy. Don't underestimate him. He has already escaped death once, and he may do it again. General Skywalker is right. I think Trench must have a lot of backup plans."

Obi-Wan said thoughtfully, "This is very worrying, Anakin. Even when you retreated, Admiral Trench did not decide to pursue. Strangely, after his death, his fleet suddenly launched an attack."

Congressman Organa pleaded, “General Kenobi, we need you to send reinforcements to the ground. Thanks to General Skywalker and the supplies he brought, we can hold out for a few more rounds, but that only delays the inevitable end.”

Cody glanced at Obi-Wan and pointed out the problem.

They not only had to protect transport ships, but these cruisers were also equipped with equipment for ground reinforcement, rather than starfighters, which were usually the main anti-ship force.

Obi-Wan Kenobi had originally hoped to break through the blockade, send reinforcements, and then retreat in time, but now he began to doubt whether this plan could still be realized.

Anakin suggested, "I can send the stealth ships back there to attack them from behind. This will relieve some of the pressure on you and open up a way for you to break out."

Obi-Wan shook his head to stop him, saying, "Don't do that, Anakin. They definitely expected you to do this. Such recklessness will only draw more attention to the ground. I need you to help Senator Organa hold out for as long as possible while we break through the blockade."

Anakin frowned, but accepted the order nonetheless.

Obi-Wan turned off the three projectors and watched the battlefield scene.

Cody began, “Excuse me for speaking frankly, General, but we have neither the firepower nor the advantageous position to break through the blockade. Whoever the separatist commander is now, he has us trapped.”

Obi-Wan stroked his beard and admitted that the clone commander was right.

The separatists divided the fleet into three layers: the battleships remained in their original blockade positions, two additional layers of frigates were added in the middle, and a squadron of four frigates on the starboard side forced them to the vicinity of the moon.

He pondered for a moment and said, "We need to request reinforcements from the Jedi Council."

(End of this chapter)