15 The Fires of Ryloth [Continued]

Part 3

General Veil's office, GAR High Command, Coruscant

I was checking for one last time the finalized list of forces dedicated to Operation "Retribution", the plan to liberate Ryloth.

Eight Venator cruisers, which included all of those under my command, the three still active from Skywalker's fleet and two more ships, the brand new Conviction and the Coruscant's pride. Those as well as four Acclamators and sixteen frigates were dedicated as the strike force that would break the blockade over Ryloth and make way for the ground component of the invasion. That would be ten additional Acclamators under the command of Kenobi's Negotiator.

211,000 clone troopers and support personnel. Eight hundred LAATs. Four hundred fifty seven armored walkers and three hundred and sixty Self-Propelled Artillery pieces as well as thousands of speeders. All of them counted on me to get them safely to the ground.

Yeah, lucky me. I was granted my wish and would be the overall commander of the operation. Part of it was my actual combat experience. The other – it was deemed healthy for my future if I was away from Coruscant for the foreseeable future.

Thanks to a few statements and carefully leaked pieces of information, most Republic citizens were thrilled with me. As it turned out, the common folks on the streets liked the fact that I placed their well being before that of their Senators. Most of the surviving politicians on the other hand were not too thrilled with me. I think that a lot of them hoped that I would get myself killed one of these days and they were insisting that I'd be given a battlefield command as soon as possible. Preferably far from Coruscant. Of course, none of them said that they actually wanted; to send me on the first available suicide mission, but their true sentiments were obvious.

Ironically enough, I did have more than a few supporters within the Senate Remnants, men like Bel Iblis and most surprisingly, Padme Amidala, who was horrified when she awoke and found out what the body count was.

The death toll in the Senate alone was more than thirty four thousand, most of whom died before the assault I led. That little fact went a long way proving to those who were willing to listen that my actions were justified.

Before I merged with the ghost of Darth Vael, what happened that day would have given me nightmares for a long time.

The other reason Senator Amidala started changing her world view was what happened on Naboo.

Despite the cure, the planet would be under quarantine for at least a year, perhaps much longer. The worst thing was the number of people who perished before sufficient quantities of the cure could be manufactured and distributed.

In Theed alone, more than one point seven million people died from the Blue Shadow. The numbers were still coming in. The experts expected at least two million dead as direct casualties from the bio weapon.

I looked over the numbers once again and nodded to myself. Those troops should be sufficient in the short term. I hoped that Valentra would be able to scrounge a second echelon to help liberate the planet. A few more capital ships to keep away enemy reinforcements wouldn't go amiss either.

=RK=

General Valentra's office, GAR High Command, Coruscant

I sipped from a mug filled with a steaming Caf and took a deep breath of the invigorating aroma. From the other side of his desk, which was covered with various data-pads, General Valentra was doing the same.

The graying Zabrak placed down his cup and scanned the finalized troop list for Operation "Retribution". A deep frown creased his face.

"Finding all that hardware in the time required will be tough. The so called Chameleon paint is out of the questions. There is some kind of bottleneck with its production and all we have as well as the equipment needed to reapply it on armor is tasked for the Special Forces Command (SFC)."

"That is unpleasant." I muttered. "With the standard white color, my boys will stick out on Ryloth like Jedi in a Twi'lek massaging parlor." What that meant was self-explanatory. It was the Coruscant's slang for your friendly, local whorehouse.

My commanding officer smirked at that image.

"That all-white foolishness is over. We are changing the basic color schemes of the GAR armors to dark gray and black, except for the places where it is useful as a cammo. However, there is one thing that we can't fix for the moment," he grumbled.

If his expression was anything to judge by, someone should have found himself at the nastiest assignment the Army had over it, whatever it was.

"The damn color coding on the clone officers armor." he spat in disgust.

Oh, that was something I loathed. It's only purpose was to tell the CIS snipers who to shoot. As one could expect, those kriffing bastards had a field day with it.

"We are obliged by our contract with Kamino to keep it." the General hissed.

I blinked at him owlishly. He was joking, right?!

He saw my incredulous expression and smiled grimly.

"I'm not pulling your leg, Delkatar. Master Shaak Ti is in talks with the Kamino government in attempt to resolve the issue. It appears that their leaders see the clones just as another piece of equipment, and don't seem to understand what is the problem with the armor color coding." I could hear the distaste in his voice.

Of all the bloody, stupid things... God damned politicians! I really wanted to have few minutes alone with those idiots!

On the bright side, the General was obviously disgusted by the way some people treated the clones. That was reassuring. I could use that.

"I take it that bad things happen if we just disregard that piece of the contract and leave the politicians to deal with the aftermath?" I innocently asked.

He snorted in amusement.

"That was my first reaction too. But no! Not if we want the amount of clones we need at prices that the Republic can afford." he grumbled. "Those are people damn it! Not pieces of equipment!" he exclaimed.

I nodded. "All, too true, my friend. Perhaps we can somewhat mitigate our reliance on Kamino for manpower." I mussed.

"Hmm... There are a few Generals and worlds that are raising militia as their armed forces. Not everyone trusts the clones."

Which was smart, all things considered. At this stage I was probably the only GAR general who could trust the clones under his command. After all, I had removed their mental conditioning.

"That's a start, but we need much more than just planetary militias. Such formations could be sufficient as PDF forces, to help defend their respective homewords. The Republic as a whole needs more. The times when things could go on without a standing army or a true combat navy are over." I said.

Telar drank his Caf and nodded in agreement.

"We need an aggressive recruitment campaign for both the Republic Army and Navy," he said thoughtfully. "After the way you handled the media in the aftermath of the Coruscant attacks, perhaps you should ask the Citizens of the Republic to enlist." he smiled at me.

"Another PR campaign." I grumbled. However I saw his point.

Right now my popularity within the Republic was second only to Palpatine and that was only thanks to the sympathy he got for his wounds... I saw a date with the army PR department in my near future and recording some recruitment clips.

"Now, about the additions you want for the standard infantry equipment, and the changes in our armored forces doctrine..."

=RK=

Republica 500, Coruscant

Anakin hurried towards his wife's flat. He intended to move quietly, so he wouldn't awake her, but when he came near the apartment he could clearly sense that she was still up. He let himself in and moved in the direction of her presence.

Padme was siting on a couch in the dark living room. The only light in there came from the lights of nearby building, few passing aircars and from the data-pad, which occupied her attention.

Anakin, who was at the living room's door, smiled softly at his wife.

"Hey, Angel." he whispered.

Padme turned her head so she could see him and rewarded his presence with a small, sad smile. She refused to show him the left side of her face, despite that he had seen her scar many times during the last week. However, aside from a brief time they had on Veil's Flagship, this was the only time that they were alone since she was wounded in the Senate Attacks.

"Ani..." she whispered quietly.

Anakin frowned. He might not be the brightest fella out there, but did he ever gave his wife a reason to doubt his love?! It wasn't like that a little scar could change the way he felt about her! She was the best thing to ever happen to him!

"Now, love. We'll have none of that." he stalked towards the couch and knelt in front of Padme.

Anakin used his real arm to gently grasp her soft chin and carefully turned her head so he can see her whole face. An angry red scar emanated from the middle of her jaw bone and spread across her cheek until it almost reached her ear. It strangely resembled the branches of a tree.

Padme grimaced, when Anakin stared at her disfigured face. Then she gasped when he gently kissed her scarred cheek.

"Is that all?" Anakin gave her a careless, boyish smile. "As if something like this could make me love you less."

"Ani, I'm..." Padme tried to speak but was interrupted by a soft, index finger touching her lips.

"Padme, you are as beautiful as ever, my love."

His finger was replaced by a pair of searching lips. She moaned, as a wave of heat raised within her, and Padme leaned forward, needing more contact with her husband.

Anakin smirked with satisfaction and deepened the kiss.

It was hours before either of them was in a state to talk again.

Shortly before sunrise, the married couple found themselves in Padme's bed, with only a thin, silky sheet covering their intertwined, naked bodies.

"You are about to leave again!" pouted Padme.

It was Anakin's turn to smile sadly. He would have preferred to stay that way, instead of heading to his ship in orbit, but that was not to be. Something both of them knew, not that it prevented them from wishing it to be otherwise.

"Unfortunately, I am damn good at what I do!" Skywalker declared bashfully.

Padme gave him a brief, content smile, which expressed her thoughts on the subject.

"That you are, dear," she cuddled next to his chest and whispered fiercely. "Be careful, you hear me! I want you back in one piece!"

"Aye, aye, ma'am!" answered Anakin and kissed her passionately.

He was one of the last men to report to the fleet in orbit.

=RK=

CIS Council Chambers, Location Classified

Multiple beings, some of whom were more machine than organic, were assembled around a long table. Most of them looked understandably nervous.

From a massive holo-projector, they watched a news cover of the events that occurred on Coruscant few days ago. Every one of them had a data-pad in front of them, showing the CIS intelligence reports about the debacle on the Republic's capital. One they authorized, or so so most of them thought.

"What in the name of all the galaxy's credits, is this?!" shouted San Hill, the Chairman of the InterGalactic Banking clan, and threw the data-pad he had been reading at the table. The inoffensive piece of equipment shattered over the metal surface.

Voros Argaya, the new Neimoidian Viceroy could not help but agree to the sentiment.

In the next few minutes accusations flew left, right and center, while the politicians were blaming each other for the debacle.

Duke Poggle the Lesser cursed in his clicking native language, grabbed his walking stick, which he had left leaning to his chair and used it to strike the table as if it was a gong.

"Enough!" he shouted in a heavily accented, but nonetheless understandable basic.

His uncharacteristic actions were shocking enough to shut up the crowd of cowards which was supposed to lead the Confederation.

"Despite all that happened on Coruscant, our armies are still winning! Even in the few battles we've lost, the Republic has been hurt. We'll have at least one more year of nearly unchallenged strategic superiority until our enemies could fully mobilize. Total victory is in our grasp! "he declared. "Unless your squabbling leads to the Confederation's fracturing! After those madmen unleashed both Blue Shadow and even a gas attack on Coruscant itself we have no other choice! Now it is victory or death for every one of us!" shouted the old insectoid.

"Our esteemed colleague is correct." declared Argaya. His words were the only thing interrupting the silence following Poggle's statement. "We are now forced into a different kind of war. None of us can change what happened. However, we need to know how such madness was came to be! Those were our people on Coruscant, yet they grossly overstepped their orders!"

A shadow separated from one of the conference room's dark corners. It was soon revealed to be a tall woman, who was mostly hidden by a dark cloak. Only her full lips and the blue lower part of her face were visible.

"Perhaps I could shed some light on the events on our enemy's capital." her sensual voice floated through the room.

"By all means, go on my Lady." Poggle gave her a respectful nod.

She was the nominal leader of Count Dooku's Acolytes, and no one in his right mind wanted to mess with them. Especially with this one, who was probably the most competent and dangerous of them all.

"My agents uncovered that the orders sent to the operatives we used for the Coruscant operations were altered. Additional equipment was provided, enough Blue Shadows to paralyze two of the military bases on the planet as well as the gas used on the Senators. It all came from our stocks with council authorization." she almost purred, enjoying the horrified looks and the terror she could feel from many of the beings in the room.

"I trust that you'll find and deal appropriately with the one's responsible?" asked the Gianossian Duke.

"But of course, my dear Poggle! It will be my pleasure!" she almost sang with joy.

"That disaster aside, what would we do concerning the public's reaction? If we don't strongly denounce the attacks, many of our own citizens may stop supporting us." said Argaya. He turned to the holographic image of Wat Tambor. "The stunt you are pulling off on Ryloth won't help us where that matter is concerned."

The Foreman of the Techno Union bristled at that! This Neimoidian had the gall to challenge his brilliant idea!

"My plan secured us the support of the Hutts, something that can't be overstated. Now we can use their territory with impunity. Not only that, but they have provided our cause with a lot of mercenaries, many of whom have their own ships! Already I have a small fleet of privateers and thousands of men on the ground, here on Ryloth! "

"Not to mention the killing you are making selling them weapons..." someone muttered not too quietly.

Passel Argene smirked. He and his corporate friends were making a fortune selling drugs directly to the Hutts, now that a middle man was no longer needed.

"Its already done. For your sake lets hope that those criminal's contribution would make up for the outrage our Confederacy will be receiving over your actions there." Shui Mai from the Commerce guild chided Tambor.

"We need to make a statement declaring the perpetrators of the attacks a rogue element." declared Poggle.

For once there was a universal agreement between the council members.