Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 93 - Numbness
The Kolumex Galaxy, Kolumex orbit.

Wozed Sector.

A large, luxurious interplanetary liner named "Salin Voyager" is currently orbiting the planet Kolumex.

This once glorious passenger ship has had a rather bumpy fate.

According to its original planned route, it should have departed from Salin, stopped at Botajev, then gone to Lenna, and then returned.

The war broke out while it was stopping at Kolmogoks on its return journey.

A single requisition order from the Joint Security Forces transformed it from a tourist paradise into a temporary military facility.

During wartime, anything can happen unpredictably.

After the joint security forces requisitioned the "Salin Voyager," they quickly remodeled its interior, transforming it into a functional joint fleet command.

The passengers had long since dispersed; some had chosen to return to their departure port, while others simply extended their "vacation" on the ground in Kolmogoks.

Today, only the serious-looking crew members and uniformed officers can enjoy the ship's luxurious swimming pool, scenic restaurant, and comfortable cabins.

Ryan Bontri was among them.

Compared to the cold, impersonal metal cabins of military ships, where everything is designed for practicality, the environment here does offer a temporary sense of relief.

Being away from the battlefield, this environment was indeed very relaxing.

More importantly, he was finally able to leave the warship, come into contact with living people, and exchange some non-combat commands, which he missed dearly.

From a practical standpoint, establishing such a massive fleet headquarters in planetary orbit, complete with an attached space control center, would indeed be much more convenient for managing the more than 1,300 warships gathered in the system, including the remnants evacuated from Centares and newly arrived reinforcements.

This greatly reduced the pressure on ground-based civilian space control centers.

They now also need to coordinate the handling of hundreds of merchant ships passing through the Kolumex hyperspace route node, the vast majority of which are refugee boats fleeing in panic from the increasingly encroaching front lines of the Republic.

This also means that in the event of a pursuit by the Republic's fleet, separatist officers could quickly board and command their ships from a distance of thousands of kilometers by orbit.

However, judging from the current situation, the Republic's fleet is unlikely to arrive in the short term...

Of course, the word "short-term" is always full of uncertainty in war.

Ryan sat in a cabin that was surprisingly spacious, a small blessing amidst misfortune.

Inside, there is an oversized, soft bed that makes you never want to get up once you lie down, and a desk with a built-in holographic projector.

A charging dock specially prepared for HAL, the most satisfying feature is the huge viewing window that extends from the floor to the ceiling.

Outside the window, the Allied fleet could be seen floating like steel stars against the deep black background of space.

However, Renn had no heart to enjoy it!
He simply hoped that his comrades, who also deserved this peace, could be here now, instead of forever slumbering in the cold void of Centares.

The Battle of Centares was the first truly large-scale fleet battle that Renne personally experienced.

Although the battle between Sarapin and Crand was fierce, the Second Fleet at that time only had a paltry two hundred warships and did not have a large fleet.

This number is roughly equivalent to the number of warships they lost in Centares.

While the loss of the warships was regrettable, the loss of life was even more suffocating.

Even excluding the robots that were lost in the battle, more than half a million organic life form soldiers and crew members died in this war.

To say that Rennes can accept the weight behind this enormous number without any burden would be self-deception.

The Confederate Second Fleet was primarily operated by robots in the early stages of the war because there were not enough organic life forms to volunteer for the service.

It's not that Ryan doesn't care about robots; he understands their complexity better than anyone else in the universe.

Treating them as living individuals sometimes makes it easier to get along with them.

However, when he saw the report showing that the robots suffered heavy "casualties," he didn't really believe deep down that it was a "real" loss of life.

This is a very contradictory idea.

However, when the adrenaline from the battle subsided, and the news came that half a million living people would never return... all that remained was a cold numbness.

Before you have time to learn about each of their names and stories, "500,000" is just an empty statistic.

However, images of the battlefield kept flashing through Raine's mind.

Numerous warships exploded and disintegrated before him, and the people inside died instantly in space, far from home, their voices unable to travel.

He clearly remembered seeing numerous human remains crashing into the deflector shields of the "Repulsion" as the warship disintegrated.

At that moment, the thought that flashed through his mind was, "Thank goodness it wasn't me who died."

At that time, Rennes was not on the most dangerous main battle line, but in the relatively safe escort frigate column!

Was the warship that stood in front of the "Repulsion" at the critical moment and took the fatal blow controlled by a robot?
Or did the thousands of crew members on board sacrifice themselves to save him?

He couldn't even... remember the name of that warship!
Now, sitting calmly in the cabin, facing this cold and selfish thought, Renn felt neither sadness nor shame.

There was mostly calm.

A numbness that has reached its extreme level of calm.

He was just one of dozens of commanders involved in the decision-making process.

All the commanders believed that the tactic of direct confrontation chosen at the time was the most reasonable and most in line with the doctrines of the separatist fleet.

Even though they knew this was the tactic with the highest casualty rate.

The officers of the Allied Fleet were confident that they could inflict heavy damage on the Republic.

And they did.

The courage and fighting prowess displayed by his crew far exceeded their expectations.

From this perspective, they could even be said to have "exceeded" expectations in their mission. Faced with such a "glorious" record, what does one more nameless casualty matter?

……

In the empty, cold cabin, Ryan hugged himself tightly, tucking his body into the thick sleeves of his coat, trying in vain to dispel the lingering chill that seeped from his very bones.

He was alone in the room, and every breath he took was stuck in his throat, heavy and labored.

The silence seemed to take on a physical form, pressing down heavily, almost threatening to engulf him.

For a fleeting moment, he wanted to scream, just to prove that he could still make a sound.

This feeling is probably similar to dying alone in a vacuum.

He stared blankly out the window at the deep darkness dotted with countless stars. The twinkling lights seemed to be telling a story, but he couldn't understand a single word.

Suddenly, the holographic projector on the table lit up silently, and a bust of Mina Bontri floated in the air.

Her eyes were closed, and her hair was more disheveled than Renn could remember.

Is it night in Rasulong now?
For Renn, the line between day and night has long been blurred.

When he was alone on the "Repel", he had complete control over his schedule.

But now, with the need to coordinate hundreds of different units and respond to the ever-changing battlefield situation, relying solely on self-discipline has long since shattered the concept of time.

"When...did you find out?" Mina's voice broke the silence, carrying a hint of barely perceptible fear.

“...Just today!” Renn spoke slowly, his voice hoarse: “—One of my detachments acted on its own and infiltrated Agnar, obtained the data backup, and now it’s in your hands.”

"So I now possess crucial intelligence about the Republic?" Mina seemed to find the idea somewhat ironic, her expression turning grave. "Raine... how am I supposed to explain this to Lux?"

Ryan wanted to say, "I warned you long ago," but he knew that this pointless desire for revenge should be used for something more worthwhile.

However, there seems to be no need to say that.

Mina could read his thoughts from the subtle hesitation on his face.

"Where are you now?" she cleverly changed the subject.

"Kolumex".

“Kolumex…” Mina frowned slightly, as if recalling something, “They voted against it…to that person again?”

“Griffiths,” Raine added, her voice slightly hoarse.

Upon hearing the name, a clear look of disgust and worry flashed across Mina's face. She stared at Renn with a gloomy expression: "Of course you know. You seem to know everything. I bet their vote... was also the result of you and your 'alliance' pulling strings behind the scenes, wasn't it?"

Her tone was accusatory.

“You’re well aware that the nomination itself was problematic.” Ryan wasn’t surprised that the topic had returned to the political vortex.

This seemed to be the only bond between them.

“Yes… the problem is that it didn’t pass!” Mina’s voice carried a hint of sarcasm. “The Alliance used coercion and inducement to get thirty councilors to change their stance! The media is now portraying you as a bunch of rebels… a bunch of Peremian warlords using war to advance their own divisive agenda! Of those who voted in favor, a third wanted to control the scale of the war, and the other part wanted to check the power of your Alliance!”

It's time to re-examine Count Dooku's true attitude towards the alliance.

If he even resorts to playing the trump card of "manipulating public opinion" against his "allies" who are also in the separatist camp, it only shows that the alliance has cornered him.

He didn't use this tactic against the Republic, but instead used it against his own people. The implications of this are chilling.

“So Dooku used this public opinion to push an… nobody to the second highest position in the Confederation.” Ryan’s voice regained its usual calmness, as if he were wearing a familiar mask. “You know, Grievous can only be his puppet… I understand your respect for Dooku, Mina, but you should also understand that when executive power begins to expand unchecked, it is the Separate Council’s responsibility to tighten the reins.”

“Power expansion?” Mina’s tone was gentle yet laced with rebuttal. “Grievous… was nominated through due process. You can’t accuse this of power expansion simply because one nomination result doesn’t suit your taste, especially…”

She paused, looked at Ryan meaningfully, and continued, "You yourself weren't exactly clean in this matter either."

Renn lowered his head, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly raised his head and said, "This vote did not pass, but what about next time? The Alliance is not against centralization; the Alliance was formed precisely because the Confederation lacked effective centralized leadership."

He paused, his gaze deep as the void, and continued, “We simply want power to be held by people we can trust. I don’t think you need me to show you General Trench’s record of extreme expansionist rhetoric, do you? For the sake of the future of your ‘pacifist’ faction, Mina, please reconsider, okay?”

Mina Bontri is by no means stupid, just sometimes overconfident.

She knew perfectly well that this failed nomination was the result of manipulation and power struggles among various parties.

Moreover, she knew that Dooku's nomination would not fail again in the next vote.

However, for most people in parliament, who the candidate nominee is may not be important.

What matters is whose power this nomination represents.

Currently, the "pacifists" have become the main obstacle preventing Count Dooku from nominating Grievous.

(Thanks to reader 20230206014848855 for the donation)

　This passage does indeed portray the protagonist as somewhat oppressive, but this is to be expected; it's the result of the biggest boss's intervention during the Clone Wars.

　　Having written this far, we've completed about a quarter of the story of the Clone Wars, with the book reaching exactly 300,000 words. When we were forming the alliance, I was thinking about whether it would be possible for each planet to have a war, and then for each planet to join the alliance.

　　In the end, it was abandoned, and only a few special planets were retained, such as Yucelon and the five major star sectors... Looking back, it still lacked a lot of detailed foreshadowing.

　　There's nothing I can do about being a beginner...

　　The consideration behind this campaign is that, in the Clone Wars, the Republic is stronger than the Separatists, and given the nature of the Separatists, the current situation seems to be a reasonable progression.

　　I still feel frustrated...

　　Ultimately, it's because the protagonist wasn't given a powerful cheat code. If there's going to be another book, I'll build up some armor first. It will definitely be science fiction, original science fiction, with a cheat code and a protagonist who has brains. Of course, I'll finish this book first.

　　I won't be able to update extra chapters for a while due to work; maintaining a regular daily update schedule is already difficult. I'll try to update more next month.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)