Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 70 - Fifth Order: Helag's Scythe
Metalon, Metalon Galaxy.

Tarsenai Sector.

The Republic fleet arrived as scheduled, like a swarm of sharks that had smelled blood, leaping out of hyperspace and appearing in the Metalon system.

“You know what, Godell,” Raine said, his tone almost casual as he stared at the dense clusters of light appearing on the sensors, “some people call my improved Combat Command 4 ‘Hydra Tactics’.”

“That title is very fitting, sir.” Godell’s voice was flat, his entire attention focused on the rapidly changing galactic tactical map.

“Then perhaps I should call the tactic we’re going to use this time ‘Hrag Scythe’,” Raine said casually, as if chatting. “Goldell, do you know how the Hrag Scythe Beasts on the planet Ondron hunt?”

"I don't know," the robot replied cooperatively. "Sir, have you seen it with your own eyes?"

“I wish I had never seen it,” Renn said, his eyes sharp as a hawk staring at the screen. “But once you step into that primeval forest, you have no choice. The Heragscythe Beasts are apex predators in the Ondron food chain… Even the ferocious Drex Beasts know to avoid their territory; only the young and impetuous Drex Beasts will venture in.”

“Once they go in, they definitely won’t get out,” Golder calmly deduced.

“Never one ever leaves,” Raine’s lips curled into a cold smile. “The Heragscythe Beast has a unique hunting method that ensures that no matter how much its prey struggles, it will eventually fall into the swallowing range of one of its three gaping maws.”

He stood up abruptly, leaned forward, and braced his hands on the control panel, looking out through the bridge window of the "Revenge". "Goldell, launch the reconnaissance drone forward and initiate the enemy ship identification procedure."

"Yes, yes!"

"Attention all combat units," Raine's voice instantly became decisive, echoing throughout the entire fleet's communication network, "Immediately execute Standard Combat Order Four! Using the 'Revenge' (Conqueror-class) as a reference point, all ships shall take up their positions according to the predetermined coordinates! 'Beautiful Queen,' occupy the lower left corner of the port side! '990MT' battlecruiser, occupy the upper right corner of the starboard side!"

The moment the order was given, the three robotic command ships behind began calculating at an astonishing speed, transmitting precise course and coordinate instructions down to the microsecond to every warship in the fleet.

From the perspective of the Republic Fleet, the Separatist Fleet appeared to be caught in a state of chaotic and disorderly maneuvering.

However, beneath this chaotic surface, a well-organized tactical shift was underway.

Ships of various types and sizes, as if pulled by invisible threads, rushed swiftly and accurately toward their designated positions.

The whole process was incredibly smooth.

Silky smooth.

This is the only word to describe it.

As the last warship glided smoothly into its designated position with the precision and efficiency characteristic of robots, the previously seemingly scattered fleet instantly formed a near-perfect rectangular array in the cold space.

The battlecruisers HMS Belle and HMS 990MT, like solid foundations, along with the supporting Lukri Hook-class core ships, ensured that the entire battle formation remained perfectly stable before being attacked.

"Sir, wasn't the original plan to execute Combat Order Five?" Godell asked, puzzled.

“The ultimate goal remains Combat Order Five,” Raine said, his eyes fixed on the cluster of red dots representing the Republic Fleet on the tactical map, a calculating glint in his eyes. “But changing formation now is too early. Godell, report which ship in the current formation is the slowest.”

Godell immediately looked down at the data panel in his hand and quickly replied, "Reporting, sir, it's a 'Disobedient-class' star destroyer, ship number 2155. Its main engine is only half completed, and... even the ship identification transponder hasn't been installed yet."

Ryan took a deep breath.

In a fleet voyage, the overall top speed always depends on the slowest ship in the formation.

"Command 'Revenge' to align its long axis with the enemy's most likely interception trajectory!"

He quickly flipped a switch on the control panel.

Outside the window, the entire massive rectangular fleet formation began to maneuver synchronously downwards and to starboard.

At the same time, tactical holographic readings popped up around him instantly, with various data streams flashing.

On the communication repeater, a series of green confirmation signals representing "ready" flashed by rapidly.

All ships reported normal status.

Sensors indicated that the enemy fleet was approximately 130,000 kilometers away, and was almost directly facing them (0-0-0 bearing).

It is clear that the Republic's commanders were cautious and anticipated the possibility of an ambush, so they set the hyperspace exit point further away than the standard distance.

They were probably preparing for a minefield.

Raine pulled a small data chip from his pocket, which contained the preset parameters of the Tann railgun gravity traction system.

He decisively inserted the chip into the interface of the main console.

"HMS Beauty Queen, 990MT battlecruiser, execute these settings immediately!"

Raine's voice came through clearly via the fleet channel.

“‘Revenge,’” TJ-912’s voice came through the communication channel, tinged with a barely perceptible hesitation, “Sir, I must explain to you that using a tractor beam to guide a missile at this distance and high-speed maneuvering not only results in extremely low accuracy, but also transfers such a massive amount of energy to the tractor, rendering our ship immobile for a short period.” “I understand your concerns,” Rein’s voice remained firm, “Now, execute the order…”

“‘美丽女王号’你们立刻发射一组碎片导弹，目标相对方位设定为320度到正前方（0-0-0），覆盖标记区350到070扇面。”

“990MT战列巡洋舰，目标相对方位设定为040度到正前方（0-0-0），覆盖标记区010到280扇面。”

"Fire out all the fragmentation missiles in stock! If necessary, use the shotgun shells too!"

Ryan issued a series of instructions.

“…Yes, sir!” TJ-912’s voice betrayed a hint of hesitation.

"Yes, yes!"

The 990MT battlecruiser's response was somewhat mechanical.

Ryan's fingers unconsciously rubbed another data chip in his pocket.

That chip stores the highest-level override codes for every ship in the "White Hand" fleet.

Over the next fifteen minutes, HMS Queen Elizabeth and the 990MT battlecruiser unleashed a dense, near-vertical barrage of missiles at an astonishing speed into the designated airspace.

Because missiles fly at extremely high speeds, traditional proximity fuses cannot react in time. These missiles are cleverly designed to detonate automatically after crossing a preset distance threshold.

Countless old fragment warheads exploded violently in the void, turning into a torrential downpour of metal darts that tore at the fragile shields of the light frigates protecting the capital ships on the flanks of the Republic fleet.

A standard traction beam moves an object by creating a "bubble" of gravitational field.

Guiding hundreds of high-speed missiles in a short period of time is clearly too inefficient.

However, the principle of the Tann railgun system is completely different. It uses a powerful gravitational field to "compress" space in front of the projectile and "stretch" space behind it, thereby creating a spatial "wave" that allows the projectile to ride on this wave at high speed.

Theoretically, given enough time and sustained force, this method could even allow projectiles to exceed the speed of light.

Unfortunately, once the projectile leaves the effective range of the traction device, the effect of this spatial manipulation will rapidly diminish.

A ridiculous thought flashed through Ryan's mind.

Once this war is over, perhaps we can connect a bunch of 'Disobedient/Generous' class warships end to end to create a super track with magnetic levitation and gravity acceleration, and see if we can truly break the speed of light without relying on a hyperspace engine.

Of course, all of this is for the sake of great scientific research.

However, Ryan is not a physicist.

His only concern was whether this thing could effectively cause trouble for the enemy.

That said, the effect of the initial barrage was even better than he had anticipated.

Raine stared intently at the tactical hologram, where he could clearly see the Republic Fleet rapidly adjusting its formation to avoid the sudden barrage of missiles covering a vast area of ​​airspace.

Under pressure from the dangerous "boundary" created by the HMS Queen Elizabeth and the 990MT battlecruiser, the Republic Fleet was forced to shrink its original battle formation into a flat cone.

“Their commander understands the principles of railguns,” Raine said in a low voice, observing the enemy ships’ response. “Goldell, do you think they’ve seen this before, or has the Republic’s Supreme Command specifically developed a countermeasure?”

"Enemy ship identification in progress, sir," Godell replied directly as always. "Once the identification is complete, we'll know the answer."

"Revenge, this is Queen Elizabeth," TJ-912's voice reported. "Our fragmentation missile reserves are depleted. Requesting confirmation on whether to switch to shotgun mode as planned?"

"Cancel the shotgun firing order," Raine said, his hands clasped behind his back, a detached sense of being outside the game permeating his very being. "They've moved into their designated positions as I planned. All fleet, take note! Advance at top speed!"

In deep space, a fleet charged toward the Republic's fleet.

Inside the bridge of the Victory-class Star Destroyer USS Dreadnought in the Republic Fleet.

Jedi Master Prokone stood in the center of the bridge of the Dauntless, his eyes slightly closed, his mind and body completely immersed in the Force.

His consciousness, like an invisible network, gently covered the entire bridge space and even extended outwards, sensing the status of every warship in the fleet.

He foresaw the trajectories of the incoming missiles and, through the whispers of the Force, guided the ships under his command to evade them in time.

Whether it was the massive and imposing "Victory-class" star destroyer or the small and agile escort ship, all the captains calmly maneuvered their warships and escaped their fate of destruction.

P.S.: How should Renne strategize against two Jedi?

Please vote!

(End of this chapter)