Star Wars: Rogue Knight II Return Of The Sith

"Controversy about the short and brutal Mid-Rim campaign launched by general Delkatar Veil continues to persist to this day. Despite notable figures like Fleet Admiral Joanna Holt and Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin coming out to set the record straight, many simply don't believe their statements. There are multiple eye witness accounts as well as surviving Republic logs indicating that after Darknell and Naboo, the general intended to fight his way to friendly space. Both Tarkin and Holt stressed that point on multiple occasions, most famously during the Senate hearing upon their return to Coruscant (see Appendix 2).

Despite persistent conspiracy theories, there's no credible evidence that general Veil planned his infamous Mid-Rim campaign while at Eriadu in the weeks following the fall of Kamino. True, he did hold talks with notable political and industrial figures at the Tarkin Family Estate, yet as far as anyone knows that was merely a means to reassure the local notables that the Republic was far from defeated. Any deals that general Veil made at Eriadu were simply meant to ensure that he and his soldiers had the resources needed to return to the Core. Indeed, when his fleet left for Darknell it was a more powerful force than the one he managed to salvage from the ruinous battles at Kamino.

It is a matter of record that general Veil planned a quick surgical strike at Naboo meant to disrupt Separatist operations there, gather intelligence and if the planet still held, reinforce it with part of his fleet, including but not restricted to sh.i.p.s damaged in the previous engagement. He intended to gather enough Intel to determine what might be the best way back to the Core.

As we all know, the Battle for Naboo, which had been raging for more than a month by that point, changed the general's strategic projections. The outcome of that engagement, both military and political had far reaching consequences, which helped shape the state of the galaxy to this day. In this author's personal opinion, this is the reason why many see a conspiracy in the general's actions at Eriadu and Naboo – the thought that today's order was not only shaped but perhaps made possible in the first place due to a lucky coincidence... why that's simply unthinkable, isn't it?

However, the facts are clear – Naboo was meant to be simply a jump off point for a dash through CIS held territory in the Mid-Rim with Kashyyyk as a planned end point. Even general Veil freely admits that while he did briefly thought about striking further Separatist targets in order to relieve the pressure on the Malastare and Naboo pockets, he dismissed that idea. In his professional opinion, his fleet would have been ground into usefulness for a dubious strategic gain. Captured Separatist records tend to support his supposition – a whole Confederate Sector fleet was separated into its Task Forces and set up into blocking positions as a reaction force once general Veil was located within the region. Further, there was another enemy Sector fleet in the area staging for a further assault on Eriadu, Malastare and Naboo. The local correlation of forces as far as anyone knew was extremely in the Separatist favour even before taking into account the Republic logistic situation in the Mid-Rim after the Confederacy gained control over the important hyperlanes in the region...

It's important to stress that what the Republic fleet under general Veil found at Naboo was an unexpected surprise. Both Naboo and Malastare were cut off from direct communication with the rest of the Republic shortly after the beginning of the biggest and final Separatist offensive during the first stage of the war. While general Veil did hope for the best, because he did know where the Republic naval forces ordered to avoid contact with the enemy for as long as possible were supposed to rally, he had no idea if they succeeded or were destroyed in detail.

This fact is merely a further proof that any conspiracy theories are just that – theories with no substance backing them up. In order for general Veil to engineer the foundation on the Rim Alliance, he had to know that the key members of that organization could survive the initial Separatist onslaught thrown against them, which was far from sure thing. While, he emerged out of the Unknown Regions after his hunt for Crimson in the nick of time to save the Western Quadrant from being overran, his arrival at Eriadu was almost too late. Mere few hours could have made all the difference. People tend to forget that he nearly didn't make it that far. During the climatic battle that actually secured most of the Quadrant for the Republic, general Veil came awfully close to losing when the battle deteriorated into a general melee. It's not a stretch of the imagination to call the outcome of that engagement a stroke of fortune.

Kamino came next, where the general nearly lost everything. It was another miracle that he was able to salvage as much of the Republic naval and army forces in system as he did when rogue Jedi working for the Separatists unleashed a devastating counter-measure for his famous Battle Meditation ability...

At best, it's believable that general Veil cut certain deals upon his return to Eriadu in order to ensure that his battered fleet received the supplies and repairs it sorely needed. It is also plausible that he later used those deals as the basis around, which Moff Tarkin and the general forged the Rim Alliance. Nevertheless, the sheer amount of coincidences and lucky breaks that made it all possible indicates that they merely saw an opportunity and seized it instead of being the men behind a conspiracy to weaken or even replace the Republic as some of their detractors accuse them of..."

"The rise and fall of the Galactic Republic"

Kerrington Byron, Eriadu Publishing Corporation

=RK=

Part 1

Flag Bridge

Corellian cruiser Freedom

hyperspace

Few hours of down time, a trip to the fresher and I just had enough time left to browse through few status reports before joining Joanna on the Flag Bridge. I nodded in approval as my eyes went over Tarkin's brief AAR of his exploits back at Darknell. I should have thought about trying to capture useful CIS supplies if the opportunity presented itself before we even headed out from Eriadu. That way we might have been able to get more of those transports Wilhuff managed to capture intact. The man deserved a commendation about his fast and creative thinking – that was precisely what I needed in the people surrounding me, especially when they managed to think about things I missed taking into account.

The very idea of capturing CIS supplies at Darknell never crossed my mind – I was too absorbed in ensuring that we caused as much damage to the enemy as possible to even consider borrowing their own supplies. Considering we had a quite long stretch of enemy controlled space to cross before coming back to Republic controlled territory, I should have take such opportunities into account. Damn it, it's been very long time since I've found myself in charge of a fleet that was far away from easy source of resupply. Actually I could think only of one such occasion. Still, I should have thought about more than simply hurting the enemy.

I vowed to keep such opportunities in mind when I entered the Flag Bridge. One more time into the breach and so forth.

"General on deck!" A CorSec sergeant, part of the security detail of the compartment shouted and saluted.

I nodded at the woman and returned the salute. "At ease, carry on." My voice was loud and clear, with no trace of the weariness it held after my brief use of Battle Meditation above Darknell. It was a far cry from the previous two times I had to use that technique and hopefully it would be a long time if ever before I was in a position demanding that I utterly exhaust myself through it.

With my luck, I would have to liberally use Battle Meditation at Naboo. All the Force was hinting at was an opportunity waiting in there, which meant we might get into a nasty scrap upon our arrival.

"General, the fleet is ready for transition to real space. ETA five minutes." Admiral Holt reported when I joined her next to the primary holo-tank. "Are you sure about our approach?" Joanna added quietly.

"Sure? Not really." I admitted. "All I know for certain that something interesting is waiting for us at Naboo."

"Interesting as a heroes' welcome or as in a battle ready Separatist fleet?" Joanna asked pointedly.

"No idea." I smiled cheerfully. "Isn't the anticipation fun?"

"Not in this context." My admiral frowned. "We should have sent recon frigates."

"They could be detected. Now the enemy knows we're on the move and a recon force might warn them we're coming. At Darknell we got the opportunity to sent in reconnaissance assets much earlier."

"Something you didn't inform anyone about." Joanna gave me a brief hurt look before her face was back into a bland professional mask.

"It was necessary. I still don't know how many people back at Eriadu could be trusted. There was a reason why I declined deciding where we would strike first before we were about to leave." I explained. It was all but guaranteed there were a lot of CIS spies at various levels back on Eriadu. The little we knew about the events at Coruscant for certain – that various Republic intelligence services aided the attempted coup wasn't reassuring in that respect. Eriadu's local services were doing their best, Tarkin's family was using the opportunity to consolidate even more power in their clutches too, but even if they could reasonably secure the whole planet from enemy agents, it was going to be too late for make a difference in our flight to the Core. That's why I played my cards as close to my c.h.e.s.t as practical and then some.

"We're going in blind when we really shouldn't be." Joanna continued to voice her disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

Even Shaak Ti's ghost in the back of my mind stirred long enough to voice her disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e at my methods. She's been very quiet after her explosion after I turned her Jedi friends on Eriadu and I still wasn't sure how much of a problem she was going to be. Knowing my goals didn't really endear me to the Jedi Master. She did agree that if the Vong were real and as much of a threat as I feared they might be, they had to be opposed by a united galaxy or else the casualties would be severe. My methods on the other hand – they were mostly unacceptable to her. She was sworn to protect the Republic, Democracy, with capital D. The infernal woman was actually an idealist. For her the Republic wasn't just a shell protecting and shielding the Jedi. Protecting it was one of the major purpose of the Jedi Order as far as she was concerned.

It was both sad and amusing. The events on Coruscant were proof enough that the other Jedi saw things clearly, just as I did. The Republic was a means to an end. The wars between it and the Sith were as much caused by our need for control as by the fact that it was a shield protecting the Jedi from our vengeance; at least that's what my masters told me back in the day before I could really care for the Empire and despised the Republic because instead of continuing to fight the war they accepted the peace offer after Coruscant was sacked. That single choice made by the Republic, well the old one, was very important to me. It ensured I threw my lot with the Empire because that act of cowardice proved to me that the Republic didn't have what it took to ultimately bring the Empire down. What I learned from history books since I found myself in the future supported my choice – the Empire did win the war in the end and I still could feel a tingle of pride because I was one of the people who engineered said victory.

"General?" Joanna asked.

"Sorry, I was deep in thought. What did you say?" I returned to the situation at hand.

"We could still exit hyperspace outside of the system and send in a recon flight while the hyperdrives cool down and we re-calculate a tactical jump." Joanna pushed.

"It would be less than ideal but we still could." I agreed after a brief glance at the tactical plot. We were still a lot of light years from Naboo and could force an emergency return to real space in dark space. "Speed is our best bet I recon. No doubt a message about Darknell would have beaten us there. Any Separatist forces at Naboo would be looking for scouts exiting hyperspace in sensor range of the system. Besides, we do have Tarkin's bunch trailing a couple of minutes behind us at a bit slower pace. We're playing bait again."

"We just did it at Darknell." Joanna huffed.

"I can assure you, after Naboo we won't be using the same trick again any time soon." I smiled mischievously. "Or perhaps we'll just try to convince the enemy we won't."

"Why do I ever bother?" Holt grumbled.

"Because you're a professional." I answered her rhetorical question.

"Battle stations. Brace for hyperspace transition. ETA one minute." The captain's voice sounded across the ship. I knew the same ritual was happening across the rest of the fleet too.

"Now we'll see if you're too arrogant for our good." Joanna whispered.

"You can't win without taking risks." I shrugged.

"There's taking risks and then there's being reckless." Joanna gave one last pointed glare, then was all business.

The time for idle chit-chat was over. I called on the Force, which felt mischievous. There was going to be a surprise all right. I just hoped it wasn't one I was going to rue.

"Arrival in ten, nine, eight..."

A light shudder came over the ship, one I could feel only thanks to the Force and then the tactical display began updating. The only thing in our close vicinity were the other sh.i.p.s of the fleet. Seconds passed and then everything about Naboo began shifting in bright green, blue and red colours.

"That's a lot of sh.i.p.s..." The words fell from my lips while I was trying to make out what the sensors were telling me.

The holo-image blinked again and this time there were IFF tags attached to the green dots which were shifting into symbols showing ship classes and names. The same was true for at least few of the blue ones. Awesome amounts of liberally thrown ECM obscured the details but our sensors combined with the relatively short distance were enough to give me a rough picture – there was a vicious battle going above Naboo by two forces roughly as powerful as the fleet under my command. This was certainly unexpected. I suspected that there might be a lot of surviving Republic sh.i.p.s in system, perhaps enough to keep at least part of Naboo's orbitals neutrals but this – there were two whole sector fleet equivalents tearing at each other in front of my eyes and I had no doubt that Naboo had been under siege for at least a month. What in the name of the Force had been happening here?

"Contact whoever is in charge on our side. Plot tactical jump on the Separatist's flank. I want Tarkin coming at their back – we're going to crush as many of the enemy against the planet as we can." I ordered. We had to end this battle before more CIS reinforcements could come in and make our current numerical superiority moot. For all I knew this was a trap and the enemy force in system was the bait.

I smiled at that thought. If that was the case I was going to show them exactly what they were trying to catch. I was good for at least few hours of Battle Meditation after all and I might just get the opportunity to use it.

=RK=

Part 2

CIC

Republic cruiser Avatar of Victory

Not for the first time, admiral Rufaan Tigellinus hoped that the name of his ship would turn out to be prophetic. A month of almost high level combat or on a good day probing skirmishes all across the system tested his tactical abilities to their limit. His considerable drive and high level of confidence were beginning to fray around the edges as loses continued to mount and the stress of command began to take its toll.

Tigellinus ice blue eyes watered as he continued to stare at the tactical display for fifth hour without a pause. He had no idea what crawled up the Seppies' collective exhaust ports, but that's how long they've been throwing themselves at his fleet with what could be considered suicidal tenacity. In five short hours he lost more sh.i.p.s than in the past week combined and it wasn't a quiet week by any means.

"Give me a summary of consumable expenditure across the fleet." Rufaan somehow kept his voice calm and composed, despite the strain he felt. He wanted, needed to snap at someone. The Separatists were unrelenting. It was beginning to look like that they finally got their nerve up and decided that they no longer could keep such powerful force as his own bottled up at Naboo.

Tigellinus barely acknowledged that a member of his staff confirmed receiving and working on his order. For a moment his mind drifted to his decision to stand his ground and follow his orders. As more and more sh.i.p.s and even whole battle groups continued to arrive at Naboo, he had been terribly tempted to cut his losses and attempt a fighting retreat to the Core. Even with the fall of Corellia and who knew how many powerful enemy formations concentrated on the practical routes back to places where he could get his sh.i.p.s the supplies and repairs needed, the risk was potentially worth it.

In purely military perspective either retreating from Naboo or ordering most of his fleet to scatter and deal as much damage as possible to the enemy with hit and run tactics was the right call to make. However, there were political aspects to his situation. Complication that he didn't see coming and suspected that those on Coruscant would find them quite disturbing. Rufaan was politically aware officer – he had to be given his pedigree and ambitions. Because of that little fact he was very much aware of what and who he was protecting down on Naboo.

That though brought a tiny bitter smile on his face. The quarantine he was supposed to enforce was shot to hell, though in an unexpected fashion – there weren't many people who left Naboo. On the contrary – there were a lot of new people calling that planet a temporarily home. Many more droids too, who were engaged with the newly formed Naboo Guard, two GAR army groups formed from the trooper compliment of Tigellinus' sh.i.p.s and various formations' courtesy of the political complications he was not so reluctantly babysitting.

The admiral had to admit that without the unexpected newcomers and the sh.i.p.s and soldiers they brought, Naboo would had fallen by now and he would be on the run with whatever assets he managed to salvage from the ensuring mess. On the other hand, without them, the enemy might not had concentrated such a powerful force against Naboo. Or perhaps they would have... That was a circular thinking and without a recent and right intelligence on the Confederacy current overall strength, little more than idle speculation.

It didn't matter in the end. Those people and sh.i.p.s were present, their military was under his overall command and Rufaan was going to do his damn best to either win or make the Seppies' wish they had never ever heard of his name by the time they forced him to abandon Naboo.

"Separatist Lukrehulks are launching small craft towards the planet." A sensor operator reported.

"Shift few squadrons from the reserve to reinforce our people on the ground." Tigellinus ordered. With both sides having GUARDIAN and UMBRELLA systems on every capital ship, small craft losses during the first week of combat had been so atrocious that even the Confederacy, who was able to receive reinforcements, simply lacked the numbers to make a use of the Vulture swarms they so loved.

Planet side it was different. There was still an ongoing fight for air superiority above Theed and the Republic lines surrounding the capital. The Separatists had more fighters, the Republic forces had the benefit of a lot of AA weaponry protected by theatre shields. So far it has been a stalemate.

The same was true in space, however it appeared the enemy had decided on a crude but effective strategy to win. They were slowly grinding down Tigellinus' command and forcing him to expend his weapons stocks at an unsustainable rate. While he did have a few mobile coilers and refinery sh.i.p.s with the fleet, which he put to good use at Storm – the system's sole gas giant. While it wasn't a practical source of Tibana, its gases could be refined in a less potent but still useful ammunition. Besides, it was a good source for fusion reactor fuel. For that reason alone, there still were ten cruisers and a lot of lighter elements skirmishing with a lot stronger enemy force among the asteroid rings and thirty two moons surrounding Storm.

Without the refinery sh.i.p.s or the gas giant, the Republic's supply situation at Naboo would already be critical. It still would be shortly. Those support sh.i.p.s simply weren't enough to supply such a vast fleet. Salvaging whatever was possible from crippled or outright wrecked friendly and enemy sh.i.p.s alike did help a lot, however unless the pressure relented, either losses or insufficient supplies for prolonged combat operations would force Tigellinus to abandon Naboo.

He had been pondering that dilemma ever since he made the decision to stay in the first place. Convincing the various politicians at Theed to run would be tricky – they might see it as the Republic abandoning them again in which case they might do something regrettable.

Rufaan's choice was made for him a few minutes later while he was engaged in directing units from the reserve to replace the cruisers at the vanguard of his formation. Having more than enough sh.i.p.s to rotate them so they could restore their shields and enact repairs was one of the reasons why he still commanded such a large fleet. Unfortunately the enemy was using the same tactic, which in this case favoured them – they could get enough ammo to actually win. Tigellinus wasn't so fortunate.

"Multiple new contacts! Three light seconds out, bearing..."

The admiral winced when the tactical plot zoomed out and began updating itself. Those were a lot of sh.i.p.s and they had to be enemy – there was on chance in hell there was such a large friendly force on the loose in the region. Everything that could had reached Naboo at least a week ago. And that bearing – it showed the new arrivals were coming from Separatist controlled space. Probably Darknell, which was one of the enemy large staging grounds in the region...

The plot updated and Tigellinus stared at it in disbelief. This had to be a deception! The newcomers had Republic IFFs and Rufaan recognized some of them as sh.i.p.s that were supposed to be at Kamino. With the Separatists heralding that world's destruction by general Veil he as most people assumed that the enemy had laid waste to the whole planet and destroyed the large Republic fleet gathered there – no way they could sell such an outrageous lie if survivors could make their way to friendly space to contradict them.

Were those hostile sh.i.p.s or did someone at Kamino managed to extract most of the fleet gathered there? Or were they forced to surrender and under enemy control?

"Hail them! I want our flanks pulled back. Begin calculating hyperspace vectors in case they're hostile." Tigellinus ordered.

This was either a miracle or a disaster. If that new fleet was under separatist control then he might be unable to get the politicians safely away from Naboo even if he could persuade them to run. The consequences didn't bear thinking about...

=RK=

Part 3

Flag Bridge

Corellian cruiser Freedom

Naboo

"Admiral Rufaan Tigellinus." I tasted the name. It didn't ring a bell. Was that a good thing or not? I had no bloody idea. "Joanna, are you familiar with your counterpart?" I asked quietly.

"Just the family name. The Tigellinus are supposed to be quite big in the Core. Distinguished military and civil service. They're usually quite successful in keeping scandals under the table. However, I don't recall anything of note about this Rufaan."

Lucky me. All I got to go by was the Force, who was still whispering about possibilities. Considering the Dark Side's sense of humour, that might very well be the possibility of me getting myself killed. The bait was very good too – gutting the Confed fleet at Naboo would go a long way in redressing the numerical disparity between us and the enemy. For a change we did outnumber the Emperor buggered bastards and I would be damned if I didn't take advantage of this golden opportunity.

I briefly considered attempting to seize operational control of all Republic forces in the system, but stopped myself before saying anything aloud. I didn't know what orders Tigellinus had, nor who gave them. If he declined following my commands it would create a rift that would allow more of the enemy to get away. With the disposition of forces being what they were, if someone on the other side acted fast a lot of the Separatist sh.i.p.s could make it out of the trap they suddenly found themselves in.

"Admiral Tigellinus, general Veil. I recommend you execute a general assault upon the enemy forces with the goal being to pin as many of them in place as possible. I further recommend concentrating on disabling the hyperdrives of as many of them as possible." I sent a signal to Avatar of Victory and wasn't that a nice name for a warship... "The same orders go to our fleet as well, Joanna. Let's cripple as many of them as we can. We'll kill them later."

"Aye, sir." Holt relayed my orders. "I recommend a modified wedge formation with us in the lead."

"I concur. Launch small craft but keep them in our shadow. I want them to lie low until our formations intersect then they're going after targets of opportunity." I continued. "Plot a tactical jump to get in their faces as well an escape one just in case. Keep us on approach vectors which will allow us to steer clear of Naboo and enter hyperspace if needed."

"That will allow more enemy sh.i.p.s to escape." Joanna played devil's advocate again.

"It might be what allows us to escape if this turns out to be a trap and the Separatists have another fleet or two waiting to jump on us." While the chance was remote given the total surprise we achieved at Darknell, that simply wasn't an option I was ready to dismiss. I was seldom this lucky. More often than not, when an opportunity as this one fell in my l.a.p it was either a trap, the universe trying to lull me into a false sense of security or someone on the other side kriffing up by the numbers. At least at few distinct cases it had been all of the above at the same bloody time.

I closed my eyes and centred myself. I would need to use Battle Meditation for at least the initial clash. I was loath it to admit it but my current fleet was once again far from properly trained to act as a single well oiled machine. That was the reason I used that ability back at Darknell, otherwise even with the surprise we achieved my fleet wouldn't have been able to execute the initial devastating hammer blows that won us the battle with minimal losses. Ideally I would need at least a month or two of intense training before considering such operations without being able to lean upon Battle Meditation. What little training we managed to do at Eriadu simply wasn't enough otherwise.

It was a good thing I was able to cheat otherwise I would be stuck back at Tarkin's home drilling this fleet for the foreseeable future.

Instead, I plunged in the Force, focused my mind and gently spread my awareness until I could touch the command crews of every ship under my command. The strain was significant but so far manageable. Ironically, facing enemy made of mostly droids made utilising Battle Mediation somewhat easier – I didn't need to spent effort at influencing a whole enemy fleet too. The downside was that against the machines the Battle Meditation while still very useful simply wasn't as devastating as it was against organic opponents.

A full third of the enemy fleet peeled off following the lead of their sh.i.p.s on the flank facing away from Naboo. The warsh.i.p.s engaging the local forces along with those relatively close by redoubled their efforts to shatter Tigellinus' leading elements. The rest of the enemy fleet began manoeuvring for bearing that would get them away from Naboo's gravity well and on bearings that would allow them to escape in hyperspace.

Tarkin's force arrived in system almost a minute before the rest of my fleet could properly engage the enemy. His formation opened up like a flower petal and fell upon the enemy's rear elements like a pack of starving krath hounds. Turbolaser and Ion cannons thundered and their fury splashed over the shields of fleeing sh.i.p.s.

That's when things went in a less than ideal direction.

"Enemy frigates and destroyers are assuming collision course!" A sensor operator frantically shouted. I could feel the man's sudden spike of terror even after he got his emotions more or less under control.

"Independent manoeuvring! Prepare for emergency evasive manoeuvres!" Joanna snapped.

"Concentrate fire on enemy light elements until they aren't in position to ram our sh.i.p.s. Unless we've got Lukrehulks trying to ram us, the Freedom is to ignore Separatist escorts and concentrate on enemy capital sh.i.p.s."

Even the mere ten percent at which Joana's ship could keep her particle shielding while the deflectors were at full strength would be enough to tank multiple collisions even at relativistic speeds.

The Freedom was built to be a monster in space warfare and she already proved it in multiple engagements. She could run over multiple Munificents without really noticing.

Joanna wasn't happy about my last order but she bit her cheek and relayed it to the captain anyway.

He wasn't happy either.

Someone on the other side was a tricky bastard – the enemy entered a modified diamond formation made of wave upon wave of sh.i.p.s, with each covering the one behind it. While such an arrangement significantly cut down the amount of fire-power they could bring to bear forward, it also ensured that more of them might survive to get to grips with my fleet. Not enough to make a difference in conventional engagement but I had the nasty suspicion that there would be nothing conventional about their attack.

Then there was no more time for thinking things over. The fleets engaged and my attention was taken by the Battle Meditation.

Our escorts accelerated and flew in the vanguard doing their jobs. Frigates and light cruisers were immolated by turbolaser fire as they clashed with a massive screen of over two hundred Munificents led by nearly thirty light destroyers. A devastating barrages of impossibly coordinated fire-power wiped out the first two enemy waves. The third lived long enough to gut a number of escorts which got their shields torn to tatters from the Separatist leading elements. The fourth wave fared little better.

It was when the fifth came under fire when the enemy showed their hand – their formation seemingly flew apart and the remaining sh.i.p.s of the vanguard went to emergency acceleration heedless of the strain they put on their engines and inertial compensators. A solid phalanx of then battlesh.i.p.s with cruiser escort came behind them followed by the rest of the Separatist force headed our way – eight more Lukrehulks and twenty more lighter capital sh.i.p.s with twice their number of escorts.

By any conceivable means that was a respectable force. Without the Freedom leading the charge they could hurt my fleet badly if handled properly. With their obvious intention to play kamikaze, there was a significant potential this to turn into a Pyrrhic victory.

I didn't intend to give the enemy such a chance.

Thirty five more seconds – that's how long the light elements of the enemy vanguard lasted. They dragged too many of my escort to hell with them for comfort, yet my battle line remained practically untouched. It took a pair of frigates and a whole light cruiser sacrificing themselves by physically intercepting enemy Munificents, but it was enough.

When the enemy heavy elements entered effective range, I mentally ordered a stunt my fleet was unable to execute under normal circ.u.mstances. Except for the Freedom and her escorts, it seemed that the rest of the sh.i.p.s under my command lost their nerves and our formation flew apart as they scattered. That impression persisted for fifteen seconds – long enough for us to come to grips with the closest group of Separatist capital sh.i.p.s and for the rest of my fleet to overfly them with only taking a few scattered shots.

The space around the Freedom suddenly turned into a nebula ignited by the aborted birth of multiple tiny suns. Proton torpedoes and concussion missiles detonated under the punishing GUARDIAN counter-fire, shields blazed as they reflected and absorbed barrages from whole battle groups and sh.i.p.s began to die. A Venator lost her defences and was turned into a flying tomb. The Freedom returned the favour by gutting a Lukrehulk a mere heartbeat after its shields collapsed under the bombardment of her consorts. Separatist cruisers flew at us intent on mutual annihilation and the rest of our battle group suddenly de-accelerated. The Freedom suddenly shot forward alone and an enemy command ship was simply annihilated upon her armoured prowl. Hundreds of heavy turbolaser cannons kept shooting as fast as they could reload and multiple enemy sh.i.p.s fell out of formation unable to keep the pace.

At the same time the rest of my fleet executed another manoeuvre that no one in his right mind would have tried without at least weeks of relentless training. My sh.i.p.s acted as one guided by my will alone and their feinted flight turned into an attack as they collapsed inwards and aimed for a partial englobement of the remaining Separatist capital sh.i.p.s heading our way. Meanwhile, Tarkin and Tigellinus did their best to cripple as much of the rest of the Separatist fleet.

Another of my Venators died and the Freedom's deflectors shone as the heart of a raging star when every enemy ship in range let lose with everything they had remaining. Waves of missiles clashed with the GUARDIAN and some broke through after two more command sh.i.p.s managed to ram us. The particle shields went critical in places and torpedoes bit in my Flag's armoured hide. More weapon emplacements and sensor cl.u.s.ters were turned into slag or merely damaged if lucky, a whole Lukrehulk ponderously lumbered in our way and the helmsman had to fire emergency thrusters in a last ditch attempt to avoid yet another collision.

He almost did it too.

The Freedom's keel slicked through the battleship's shields and for a split second both sh.i.p.s lost their protective fields at the point of contact. Before the top of the Lukrehulk was pulverized by the impact droids managed to get a single salve through the hole in our defences thanks to their inhuman reflexes and precision. Even more weapons went offline – some permanently and then we were past the gutted battleship which was unlucky enough to be hit by the full brunt of our engines as the Freedom continued to swing upwards still locked on her unsuccessful evasive manoeuvre. The slagged Lukrehulk detonated in our wake and then we were through. Our consorts struck the damaged remains of the Confederate vanguard with savage fury. Two more Venators died but in exchange they turned their targets into drifting lifeless wrecks.

A short savage fight ensured between the rest of my fleet and the remaining Separatist battle line that came at us. Before the Freedom could safely engage it was all over too - my sh.i.p.s paid up front but only a couple of damaged cruisers and a single battered Lukrehulk somehow broke through to flee in hyperspace.

Tarkin was busy taking out crippled Separatist sh.i.p.s by detaching whole battle groups to go after them and it seemed that Tigellinus had things well in hand – according to Freedom's sensors he had what was left of the enemy fleet hopelessly intersected with his force with no way to flee to hyperspace.

When the dust settled twenty minutes later, less than a third of the Confederate forces present in the system upon our arrival managed to escape our wrath. For the time being the system was secure, yet by all accounts there was still ongoing vicious fighting across Naboo's surface. I had the nagging feeling that the interesting times here were far from over.

=RK=

Part 4

Staging point Anvil

Naboo

Maximilian Veers' hand went to his b.r.e.a.s.t where three ribbon's gleamed in the morning sun. He could still scarcely believe their presence. They designated him as a brand new captain, a promotion that came with a new job. Veers' was the unlucky sod chosen as the new commander of the Damned 29th. Technically that was GAR's 29th independent Regiment. In practice, Veers had to unkriff an unholy mess that was a composite understrength battalion made of the survivors from its parent formation.

Ever since the invasion of Naboo began, the 29th had been impossibly, unlikely unlucky. They got mauled again and again, with officers finding themselves on the wrong end of blaster shot, artillery and air strikes and two companies even got afoul of an orbital strike that wiped them out without leaving a trace.

The most senior officer left in the 29th was a young lieutenant with even less experience than Veers had. With casualties across the planet mounting, there simply weren't enough officers to go around. Apparently someone put a good word or two in Maximilian's file which was a mixed blessing – he got promoted all right. It looked like it was going to be short lived, however.

Veers' had been in command for mere three hours – not enough time to even get to know his subordinates, much less begin fixing the mess that the 29th turned out to be after suffering crippling casualties and their luck struck again. Staging area Anvil was supposed to be secure. That's why the 29th was pulled back into it so they could recuperate and rebuild.

Someone forgot to tell that to the Separatists. The space battle that has been going on and off for a whole month now was heating, orbital strikes lanced down gutting both Republic and Confederate units and the airspace was chocked with duelling fighters while bombers attempted to slip under the massive fur-ball above Theed.

As far as Maximilian could tell, that was par for the course on Naboo. Ever since the clankers landed there had been fighting all over the place with the most vicious being in the vicinity of the capital. As his luck would have it, that's where he ended after leaving Geonosis and getting couple of weeks of R&R. Veers did earn his new rank, though there were times he wished it wasn't so. The price was the virtual destruction and disbandment of the armour battalion he landed with. The five crews that survived the fighting were broken and sent to different formations. He was permitted to keep only his driver along with their light hover-tank and that might have been a blessing. There were only three such machines still operational in the 29th with the rest of their forces being walkers and few locally built APCs.

"Hound Actual, Overlord Actual. Be advised, multiple CIS sh.i.p.s are entering the atmosphere and heading towards Theed. We believe they intend to use their mass and shielding to attempt bypassing the capital's defences and land troops within the city. The 29th is to pull back into Theed and link up with First Guards Division..."

Maximilian blanched. This was Ryloth all over again. Whoever was running the clankers apparently saw what Veil did over there and decided it was time to try it on the Republic. A crash landing capital ship, even a frigate if it hit the ground mostly intact could cleave through most of the defensive lines around the capital. If one of those Seppie big battle wagons made it down in one piece it could disgorge a whole army before a proper response could be mounted. What the kriff was the fleet doing?! Bloody fly-boys...

"Overlord Actual, Hound Actual, roger that. Hound Elements will proceed to Theed ASAP. Hound Actual, over. All Hound Elements, Hound Actual – we've got a new job..." Maximilian sighed. With he 29th's luck it would be miracle if he saw the next sunrise.

=RK=

Solleu river

below Theed

Naboo

"Ouch time again." General Roos Tarpals g.r.o.a.n.e.d. He shook his head, yet stars continued to dance in front of his eyes.

A Lerraa trilled in pain, then the cannons mounted on its back roared and a moment later something exploded downrange. Rapid fire Raaptur emplacements thundered and the echo of their fury crashed upon Roos. He g.r.o.a.n.e.d and spluttered when dirty water splashed over his face. It tasted vile – of blood, metal and chemicals he didn't want to think about.

"General!" A Militiagung grabbed his forearm and pulled up Tarpals to his unsteady feet. The warrior splashed something into his eyes and suddenly Roos could see even if the liquid felt like it tried to burn its way into his skull.

"Report!" Tarpals wheezed. He frantically looked around. The defensive line dug in around the riverbed below Theed was in tatters.

Separatist tanks were advancing hovering just above the water with speeder mounted droids acting as screens. Republic walkers and infantry poured fire across the river and Lerraas were getting into position to flank the offending enemy machines. Good. Someone kept their head in all this chaos.

The Militiagung shook him and pointed at something behind. Roos turned and his eyes widened impossibly.

"Big ouch." The general muttered in sick fascination. So that's what knocked him out.

There was a huge ship – bigger than anything he had seen with his own eyes sitting just couple of kilometres from their position. An enormous trench, wider and probably deeper than Solleu river was dug into the plan and through the concentric lines of Republic and Gungan defences. Tarpals didn't even want to think how many good people were crushed to paste by that thing.

From where he stood, Roos could see small figures crawling above the ship and heading straight into Theed – the upper level of the behemoth was just tall enough for them to jump down on the plateau where the Naboo city was built.

That wasn't all as a nearby explosion and a keening scream from a mortally wounded Lerraa reminded him. The allied defences were broken and the machines were pouring through everything they had into the breach. That ship was bad enough. Tarpals couldn't allow the enemy to gain another avenue of approach if he could hep it.

"Rally to me!" The general roared into his comm. "Hold the riverbed!"

A troop of Militiagungs appeared from the tree-line and slammed their shields into the soft soil to brace them better. Then they mounted their blaster carbines – courtesy of the Republic to special attachments hooked into the shields and opened fire from behind their cover. The bulky silhouettes of GAR heavy troopers moved on the other bank and large laser bolts and missiles raced across the water to strike the approaching Separatist tanks. Vultures screamed through the air in a diving bombing run. They braved the Raaptur fire and the thin forest belt across the river became a screaming inferno. A damaged Vulture caught fire and spun out of control only to crash through an unfortunate clone squad before jamming itself under an advancing walker. The following explosion tore apart both machines.

A friendly bomber turned a pair of tanks into burning wrecks that soon disappeared into the river then it was shredded by a hidden AA emplacement before it could nail a third.

Tarpals was screaming orders hoping to motivate his Gungans and be heard. The line had to hold!

"GO! Take that rocket launcher!" He pushed one of his warriors towards the charred remains of a Republic squad while shooting at the droid speeders flying above the river.

The water itself was on fire now and more air strikes from both sides lit up Solleu's banks. The ground shook and the general was back on the muddy ground. His head spun and his vision was blurry. Yet he still could see the grounded enemy ship. There were all manners of weapons mounted upon it and they were spinning, aiming...

"The biggest ouch..." Tarpals hissed. He glared at the doughnut shaped craft and pointed his blaster at it – somehow the weapon remained in his clutches as he was knocked off his feet for second time. Roos knew it was useless, but didn't care. He spat his defiance and pressed the trigger again and again.

The ship exploded into fire and Tarpals knew he and his men were dead. It was firing and there was no way to hide from such weapons.

Roos frowned. He was still alive. This couldn't be the afterlife, right?

The general blinked at the Separatist ship. It was on fire. Streaks of light were hammering it from the air. He looked up and saw a swarm of Republic fighters descending from the heavens. They were dying by the dozens as the grounded ship brought every gun it could to bear upon them.

Artillery – both Gungan and Republic – arched through he skies and slammed into the huge eyesore. Bombad tanks crawled to the edge of the plateau and blinding lances of light speared into the beast's hide.

Roos laughed suddenly overcome by battle l.u.s.t. Even such a ship couldn't kill him! The line would hold!

"To me! Fight!" Tarpals screamed as loud as he could.

Cannons thundered and the thin line of Militiagungs nearby were torn into bloody chunks as more Separatist tanks came through he burning river. A missile slammed just below the turret of the closest one, its warhead sliced through the armour as if it wasn't there and the tank simply blew up. Its friends wasted no time and turned the Gungan that killed their buddy into vapour.

Roos looked wildly around. He had to stop those things! His eyes paused on a lone Lerraa with its crew turned into steaming piles of offal and he sprinted towards the living weapon emplacements while the tanks were busy murdering a squad of Republic troopers.

Tarpals got to the animal and guided it until the cannons were aimed at the tanks. He was going to have time for just a single salvo so he carefully took aim heedless of the danger. The nearer tank shot at him and somehow missed with the shell passing between Roos and the animal scorching his face and arms.

The general didn't miss. The four cannons mounted upon the Lerraa's back barked as one and the tank staggered as a quarter of tiny holes appeared in its side. Then it blew up.

The last thing Tarpals saw was the flash of that explosion. There was light and he was flying through the air. His whole world was burning and he tried to scream through the impossible heat burning through his skin. Roos hit something and then there was only blessed darkness.

=RK=

Hammer Actual

Solleu river

below Theed

Naboo

Maximilian knew that the 29th's luck wouldn't be striking again. His first command as a captain was gone and barring a miracle he would follow them soon. That battleship landed in the middle of his battalion and the mere after-effects of its crash was enough to wipe almost everyone in the 29th. Only a pair of hover-tanks and a single walker survived and then the curse struck again – a shot down Vulture of all things took out the walker, then Veers was left with just a pair of light tank to somehow stem a tide of determined Separatist tanks coming over the river.

So much for getting to Theed...

"Go right!" Maximilian shouted to his driver while cranking the turret to the left so he could engage the incoming tanks.

A shell exploded against their shield, then another leaving them vulnerable to a follow up shot. Maximilian's return fire gutted the leading Confederate tank, then their hides were saved by a crunchie of all things – a missile slammed into the back of the enemy machine.

Veers knew he wouldn't be able to thank whoever saved them because mere seconds later the position that missile came from was turned into a dead zone by an air strike. The pair of Vultures responsible for it came screaming low above the water and Maximilian's last remaining tank was torn apart by their laser cannons. He knew his turn was next when salvation came into the form of a Naboo Starfighter that blew a Vulture out of the sky with a missile then blasted the other with its cannons. The fighter made a barrel roll before getting shredded by enemy AA fire coming from behind a nearby crop of trees.

"Overlord Actual, Hammer Actual!" Veers tried to contact command again but ever since that battleship landed every channel was jammed. The captain cursed. He couldn't call help and the enemy was pushing even more tanks over the river. His thumb was numb from holding the trigger button down, the ammo was actually running low, yet there was no end to the enemy, nor a sight of any reinforcements.

"Get us behind those trees to the left!" Maximilian snapped. He couldn't meet the coming tanks head-on – oh, he and his driver were already dead just as the rest of the 29th but if he played his cards right, Veers could drag a few more of the clankes to their tin version of the Corellian hells. Besides with a bit of luck he might get to avenge the pilot that bought them couple of minutes to live.

The hover-tank shook as a shell struck its shields. Veers turned the turret to the right and slammed three shots at the offending enemy tank. The Confederate machine managed to send another shell at them, it hit too but the shield managed to tank it before popping. The Separatist machine wasn't so lucky and Maximilian scored another kill. As their tank disappeared within the trees he wondered how many times he became an ace today. Not that it mattered – he was bound to die forgotten in this forsaken valley.

=RK=

Part 5

First Naboo Royal Guards Division /NRGD 1/

Theed

Naboo

Hell had come to Naboo for a third time. Gregar Typho had the misfortune to be present and in the middle of it each bloody time. First it was ten years ago when the Trade Federation invaded. Then he fought besides his uncle Panaka to free his people. Gregar believed all the wounds he suffered then, including the loss of his left eye were worth it, because he contributed to the victory no matter how small that contribution was.

The second time was just a few months ago. He really didn't have to sacrifice anything then. Typho got lucky not to be exposed to the Blue Shadow – something millions of his people couldn't claim. All too many of them died. Others got sick enough to be scared for years to come, perhaps to life thanks to complications of the virus. All he could do then was cooperate with the Republic and hope that a Sith of all people could save Naboo.

Said Sith actually delivered. His home was left scared, its society torn asunder, yet Naboo preserved. Everyone knew someone who got sick and died. Too many people lost family and friends. Gregar was no exception – his nieces didn't make it even after being lucky enough to get into stasis pods until the cure could be developed. The Blue Shadow killed them with complications caused to their systems.

Gregar would have gladly died in their places yet the universe didn't work that way.

When people began crying for vengeance, when they began blaming their government for lacking the strength to defend them form the same enemy for a second time, Typho was torn. He could sympathise. Gregar was angry too. He and every one in the Royal Security Forces failed the people they were supposed to protect and there were millions of bodies standing as silent monuments for the magnitude of that failure.

Typho wasn't the only one to reach a certain conclusion then. He simply was the highest placed. Security Forces – they simply weren't enough. The RSF could deal with smugglers, the odd pirate or mercenary, petty crime. They could protect their government officials, but that was it. Keeping Naboo safe from a real army, that was out of their league. They didn't have the manpower, equipment and often the training to face such an enemy. Better security might have been enough to prevent the release of Blue Shadow. More manpower and preparations might have been enough to evacuate a significant portion of the people affected beyond Theed.

The citizens of Naboo agreed. They demanded changes. Cried for vengeance. In few short weeks the horror of Blue Shadow shattered the pacifism that was practically integral to their society and culture. The Queen and her advisers were frozen in indecision – what their people demanded was unthinkable. Many saw Typho's coming forward and backing the creation of a Royal Naboo Army as a betrayal of everything their world stood for. Yet, there were much more people why cheered him.

Gregar didn't really care. All he had left was his duty and a vow he made upon his niece's graves – that he would defend Naboo to his dying breath; that he would do his best no matter the consequences, no matter what people thought about him. What did his reputation matter when his people were dying?!

That's how the Royal Naboo Army was born – among controversy, cries of treason and thundering applause. The Republic's help made possible a task that should have taken years to be completed in mere months. The GAR personnel stationed at Naboo to oversee the quarantine forced by Blue Shadow were glad to help him train a freshly recruited army. The Republic was keen on supplying the NRA with equipment and a lot of it was first tier – the same the soldiers on the frontlines carried in battle.

For a few months, Gregar led himself believe that his efforts would be enough. Naboo could finally protect itself.

A month ago the Separatist came and put that bold claim to the test.

At least this time general Typho had an enemy he could fight...

=RK=

Gregar wasted precious seconds numbly staring at the battleship that just crash-landed at the edge of the plateau where Theed proudly stood. Hatches opened, new exits were blown by massive shaped charges and a whole Separatist army poured into the capital.

"This is general Typho! Code Black! I say again, Code Black! First Royal Guard Division stand firm and let none pass!" Gregar's training kicked in and he began barking orders. A part of him screamed that he should go back to the command centre from where he could better coordinate the defence. That was a sensible advise.

Gregar ignored it.

"Besh Company, with me!" The general ordered the unit he was inspecting. He thanked providence for wearing the same medium armour as his soldiers while awake ever since the invasion began. All he had to do was to slam on his helmet, access the command frequencies and he could command from the front too.

That was what Gregar tried to do anyway. The angry hiss of jamming proved that Theed was in bigger trouble than he feared. He considered trying to reach his command post at the palace, but that would take too long. He had to gather as many soldiers as possible and blunt the enemy attack so his officers could have the time to organize a proper response.

Gregar smiled. He was actually content with the situation he suddenly found himself in. The enemy was right here and finally he could get at them personally.

Besh Company fell in behind the general and its lieutenant got him a security detail who fell into a protective circle around him. He nodded in thanks while trying to cut through the jamming but soon gave that idea as a lost cause. The comms built in his armour simply lacked the juice for such a feat.

"Lieutenant Winfred, send runners to the nearby barracks. I want backup ASAP. We're going to intercept the droids at the river. Get your demo people ready to drop any bridges they could use to easily cross over." Typho ordered.

"Sir, are we abandoning half the city?!" The LT exclaimed.

"Not if I can help it." Typho emphatically shook his head.

They soon linked with a detachment of RSF and couple of patrolling army squads. Couple of minutes later, they came into contact with the enemy. Those weren't all but useless B1s. Gregar wasn't that lucky.

"Scatter and take cover!" Typho snapped with the LT following a split second later.

A full dozen droidekas rolled over the bridge Besh Company was approaching and they were followed by sprinting Commando Droids and a marching phalanx of gleaming silver SBs. Among the legion at the back could be seen hulking figures that were at least three meters tall and carrying enough weapons to make a tank jealous.

The destroyers unfolded but not before three got taken out while they were in travel configuration. The rest managed to get on their stubby feet and their shields came to life protecting them within bubbles of transparent energy.

A decade ago, a company of RSF would be all but helpless against this many droidekas without vehicle support. All they could have done was hide, distract the machines and hope to either escape or receive reinforcements. A few months ago, the RSF would have fared better – if they had time to hit the armoury.

Today was different.

Typho's soldiers took aim with practised ease and opened accurate and devastating fire. Heavy blasters buried the droidekas under a wave of plasma, grenade launchers fried their shields with Ion grenades and it was all over almost as fast as it began.

"First platoon go!" Gregar ordered. "Second, provide cover. Third, watch our backs and flanks. Leapfrog forward!"

Armoured humans and murderous droids soon clashed in the middle of one of Theed's bigger bridges. Plasma flew in all directions, laser cannons and rail-guns tore through air hazed by weapons fire and Typho's people began dying. A Commando droid came over the railing and gutted a soldier before the corporal knew he was in danger but at least the machine was slagged before it could claim another victim.

Missiles launched by the large wardroids in the back turned the middle of the bridge into a slaughterhouse that wiped out two whole squads. A barrage of grenades – mixed HE and Ion reaped the first rows of the marching SBs just as they reached the river. Smoke rounds turned the whole bridge in a surreal silver haze that was lit up by red, blue and green balls of plasma.

"Cover us!" A pair of combat engineers totting up backpacks loaded with exploding goodness sprinted low while a whole platoon pumped shot after shot as fast as they could around them.

One ran afoul of a rail-gun round that replaced his head with a faint spray of red mist, yet the other got to the middle of the bridge and removed her backpack. A lumbering figure came trough the smoke and aimed a pair of large cannons at the woman. Its shields absorbed everything Besh Company could throw at it without killing their comrade.

"That's for my daughter, you bastards!" The engineer shouted and she vanished in the middle of a blinding light. The shock-wave threw the closer soldiers off their feet and only their armour kept them more or less intact. The explosion was enough to clear the smoke before replacing it with concrete dust and water vapour. About a third of the bridge was simply gone along with the bodies of the two engineers and what was left of the soldiers fallen under the missile barrage.

"Leave third platoon here to keep them from crossing the hard way." Gregar ordered once he could hear himself over the ringing in his ears. "The rest of you, follow me." He pointed at the next bridge that was half a kilometre downriver.

"We're with you sir!" A young voice full of determination declared. The rest of Besh Company roared their agreement.

"To whatever end!" Someone else added.

"We'll make the clankers pay!"

"That we will!" Gregar cracked a grim smile.

A shadow hiding the sun got distracted him and he looked up. Typho's smile grew feral. There were Republic Acclamators descending through the clouds and an almost solid wall of fighters and bombers was coming in front of them. Two of them had their front ramps open and whole wings of LAATs were flying out as a submarine chased by a leviathan.

A sense of relief washed over the general. Perhaps he wasn't going to fail his people for a second time. Not today!

=RK=

Part 6

Hangar A-1

Corellian cruiser Freedom

High orbit above Naboo

I took a moment to examine the fully kitted troops standing at attention in the hangar. This was Alpha Regiment, 501st Legion – and they were all trained to take down Jedi. Rex and the few old hands stood at attention in front of the rest and beside them were three fuming figures – my unlucky minions.

"Madorin, you're deploying to a CIS Lukrehulk that made a crash-landing just outside of Theed. Your orders are simple – take control of engineering and scram the main reactor so the clankers can't blow it up, the city and most of the continent. Go!" I glared at the trio of former Jedi.

My minions grumbled but obeyed and got on a nearby waiting assault shuttle. The moment they were on the ramp closed and the small ship shot out of the hangar like a bat out of hell and a squadron of Torrents followed after it to act as escorts.

"Rex, you're going after them. Make sure the mission is successful and if they go on the deep end, terminate them. Give me a fire-team as an honour guard, then go secure that ship."

"We'll get it done, sir!" The commander saluted. "Echo, Boomer, you heard the general. Fall in with him." Rex ordered the only two notable troopers from the 501st to make it from Kamino with him. The rest either died when facing the Old Republic Jedi or simply didn't reach an evacuation flight before the bombardment hit.

"Sir, yes, sir!" The Clones chorused as one and fell in around me along with their squads.

"Good! Go get them and don't get yourselves killed, that's and order I expect you to follow." I cracked a smile. They were my men, through and through.

"Orders, sir?" Echo asked.

"We're going to meet the Queen Neeyutnee and figure out what the kriff is happening around here. Keep an eye out for clankers – Theed's defence perimeter was breached." I explained on the way to our ride down – another assault shuttle.

We got in, strapped in our seats and I called the pilot to get us moving and ensure I got patched into the shuttle's sensors. On the way down I wanted to see the situation with my own eyes while thinking over Tigellinus' short report over the utter mess I was about to walk in. The admiral's words still rang in my head and I was trying to wrap my mind around the situation.

Thanks to my time with the Empire I knew very well that what I knew of this galaxy barely scratched the surface. The current situation was a very good reminder of that fact. I couldn't recall there being many notable worlds in the sectors surrounding Naboo. That was actually correct in reality too – technically.

"Couple of days after I took command of the Republic forces in system, various guests began arriving at Naboo." Tigellinus told me. "I've had to attend some receptions at the palace, which was useful in figuring out what was happening." He explained with a frown. "Some of them brought friends too – that's where about a third of the fleet under my command comes from."

There wasn't a single world closer than Sul.u.s.t that could rival anything important in the Core. However, there were a lot of populated planets nearby, some of which had been in development for thousands of years. Most of them couldn't compete with the big names in shipbuilding and heavy industry so it was usually cheaper to import a lot of things. Still, there were worlds with respectable levels of industry, including at least one with decent shipbuilding capabilities.

"It quickly became obvious that the Queen has been in negotiation with her local friends. I'll bet anything you want that general Typho had something to do with it – he was one of the primary driving forces behind the establishment of the Naboo Royal Army and he's a realist. He knows that Naboo simply lacks the industry and time to build it to sustain their army alone, much less to build a force that could challenge an invasion alone. They needed allies and not just us." That revelation didn't make him particularly happy, it was obvious and Tigellinus didn't even try to hide how he felt at that slight. To his credit, the admiral simply scowled but continued to report in a professional manner. "There were some running pre-emptively," Tigellinus sneered, "Others who actually tried to stop the Separatists and retreated with whatever they could salvage when it became clear the situation was untenable." It was obvious which group had his respect.

We passed through a layer of thick clouds and the plain where Theed was built became visible below us. I could make many pillars of smoke rising in the air and creating a dark haze all over the region around the capital. Air strikes were hammering the downed Lukrehulk and the battleship was still able to spit defiance from its remaining weapons. The level of danger I could sense through the Force was rather low so unless something really went to hell, my minions should be able to secure the ship. Rex would ensure they wouldn't do something... regrettable.

Explosions were still flashing below all around Theed and even within the city itself. My ten Acclamators were descending and hammering any concentration of enemy forces they could safely hit and their LAATs were swarming to reinforce whatever friendly units were still alive down there. There had been one hell of a fight on Naboo and I regretted I missed the show. Instead of getting stuck in with the enemy on the ground I would have to deal with political minefield. Tigellinus' report guaranteed it.

"We've got leaders and ambassadors from dozens of systems from not only Chomel Sector but those surrounding it. Even defectors or resistance leaders from Separatist aligned worlds, though those are kept under close watch." The admiral told me. "The notable ones? Let's see... Well, there's Ryndellia. They were neutral until the Blue Shadow was released -that stunt pushed a lot of neutrals in our camp. Even a few Separatist aligned worlds or so they claim." Tigellinus shrugged. "There might be a grain of truth there too, but Ryndellia first. That was the first 'neutral' to come crawling back into the fold. Their Prime Minister fled here with his family, most of their defence fleet and two battalions worth of security forces. Officially, he's here to support Naboo." The admiral snorted. "Just like most of the rest he came to garner favour with the Chancellor by protecting his homeworld. He hoped that the Queen could put a good world about his loyalty and the aid he provided."

The same story was true for most of those gathered in Theed. I knew that each of them had multiple reasons to be here, however, protecting Palpatine's homeworld and the boons that could be reaped from such an action were very high in the list.

"Unofficially, the Prime Minister didn't want to turn Ryndellia into battlefield so he came here with as much of his military as possible. Next, well let's go with our notable turncoats – former Senator Bog Divinian from Nuralee. The bastard threw his lot with the Separatists because he was in the Commerce Guild's pockets. He claims that he saw the light thanks to Blue Shadow and actually began a civil war on his homeworld. I dispatched a battle group to check up what the bloody hell was happening there and my people helped kick the Separatist out of there. For the time being Nuralee is in Republic hands and the good Senator is on Naboo with most of his navy so we could keep them in line. He no doubt hopes to prove how loyal he is and that his change of heart is genuine. Typho told me that the ground forces he brought actually distinguished themselves though most of them died in the process. It remains to be seen if that will keep."

Nuralee was notable – that planet had been hit by an economic down-run a few years before the war began that put it firmly in the grip of the Commerce Guild. Their investments revitalized the economy and most of their industry was converted into military production. If we could keep that place in our hand and keep the order, it was going to be a useful asset.

"Master Mandolin reports his team breached into the ship and they're on their way to the reactor." I got the message relayed by laser comm through the Freedom. There was still too much jamming thanks to that battleship to easily use regular comms.

A frigate pack flew above us on a ground support mission and the banks of the river passing through Theed erupted into flashes of light. More frigates descended and began scything through what Vultures were still in the air in this hemisphere.

Joanna and Tigellinus had things well in hand it seemed.

My thoughts went back to the report I got before leaving for Theed. There was Ugul – a small agrarian world whose Chancellor managed to flee a CIS invasion with a few sh.i.p.s and a bit of security forces. The same was true for Karlinus, the source of a supposedly famous Karlini tea. Their Prime Minister, one Jorge Baras, and who named him after my former master, got away too. He managed to extract roughly half of their system defence navy and a battalion of marines. That story repeated itself multiple times – the wealthy trade colony of Trevi IV, where the CEOs were spirited away by their mercenary security and came to Naboo with most of their navy and the contents of their accounts; Triell.u.s.t – another trade world with an advanced anti-piracy fleet and a third of it survived to reach this world along with their Hegemon Mario Feneti; the same story could be told about at least a dozen more systems.

There were a few notable instances, which Tigellinus made sure to point out.

"Rintone and Seltos." He told me. "The former is important – the biggest single shipbuilder in the area besides Sul.u.s.t and Eriadu. They're on our side and still holding strong because the Separatists are concentrating their efforts here. That wasn't lost on their leadership and Rintone's ruling families dispatched and ambassador along with a strong task force and three regiments of their National Guard. They were quite useful in holding this place." Tigellinus sounded like he had a high opinion of those forces. They hope to get enough Republic reinforcements thanks to their contribution in protecting Naboo to ensure their world won't fall. Seltos has very close ties to Rintone and usually supports their decisions which is the case now. They're producing food and some very useful minerals that are exclusively sold to Rintone's shipyards. Seltos did send a representative too along with few sh.i.p.s and a battalion of troops."

When you think about it, with the exception of Rintone, every single force, no matter ground or naval that arrived at Naboo was quite small in absolute numbers. However, there were a lot of them and combined they were quite respectable. Or would be if they could be shaped into a cohesive fighting force instead of a multiple separate units.

There were three more notable systems Tigellinus told me about and one, while having nothing useful in military or industrial terms was actually a great boon.

"Alassa Major." The admiral grinned when he told me about it. "One of the biggest and most famous resort worlds in the Republic. The Separatist invaded it to capture people for leverage and intelligence. While that will have some unpleasant consequences because they did get some important people or their relatives, many were spirited away by a group of CEOs running the major resorts there and their security forces. They managed to flee to Naboo and are currently honoured guests of the Queen."

Well, that was a huge complication and a big opportunity. Either way it was going to be a big pain in my b.u.t.t.

"There are just two more important systems you need to know about, general. First, Heth. It's technically a uninhabited piece of real estate, but it has extensive asteroid rings with many useful minerals. The mining guilds there have extensive fixed defences and a large anti-piracy fleet which still holds the system despite multiple Separatist incursions. They sent representatives offering resources for credits and GAR help in keeping the place out of Confederate hands. Finally, there's Rugosta. I'm not sure if you're aware but that's one of the few worlds in the region with a lot of heavy industry. They produce vehicles, as well as vehicle and starship components and electronics. We've got a large task force there, which still holds the place with the aid of the local navy. Their government dispatched forces to Naboo for obvious reasons."

We were almost at the palace and I had a pack of self serving politicians waiting for me. The primary reason most of them were here was to get on the Chancellor's good side by helping keep Naboo safe. With Palpy dead and the region cut off from the Core, the only thing likely keeping them more or less in line was Tigellinus and now mine fleets. No matter what they claimed, with news of Corellia's fall and after Kamino was lost, at least some of them would have second thoughts about being on the Republic's side. For all any of us knew, the Republic might be flying apart at the Core because no one with political experience in the Senate I had access to could tell me who the next Chancellor was likely to be and if they had a prayer of holding the Republic together.

I had my job cut off for me. Tarkin would be landing shortly and between the two of us we had to somehow convince the local politicians that gathering behind us was the smart thing to do. And we had to make sure that they would support us willingly because currently we lacked the assets to ensure long term compliance with military might. We had a lot of sh.i.p.s, but there was no way we could keep them in the region for long – the friendly systems here simply lacked the infrastructure to support such forces without regular resupply from the Core. Eriadu and the worlds aligned with it could help but for that to happen... Nah, that was crazy idea.

The shuttle landed and I focused my mind on the task awaiting me. I could not afford to make any mistakes today.