18 The Fires of Ryloth [Continued 4]

Part 6

Blue Squadron, en route to the CIS blockade on Ryloth

Two hundred and fifty Torrents raced toward the ungodly swarm of droid fighters milling around the CIS fleet. Below them, the capital ships were tearing at each other with bolts of energy more than powerful enough to vaporize any fighter deployed by either side.

The scanners of Ahsoka's Delta 7 beeped, announcing that they had detected heavy proton torpedoes passing under the fighters. She glanced at the readout and smiled.

"This is General Skywalker. Keep it steady, men. Be ready to execute Sucker Punch on my command."

"General Skywalker comes with the most interesting names for the parts of this exercise," muttered Blue Two, known to his friends as Ax.

"Nope. That wasn't Master's idea!" chirped Ahsoka. "It was all General Veil's brainstorm!"

"That figures..." mumbled Blue Four. "Who put that maniac in charge anyway?"

"Do you have problem with our overall commander, Sev?" asked Blue Five.

"Just with our tiny part of his plan," quipped Blue Four. "It requires us to piss off ten thousand or so Vultures. Nah. What possible issue could I have with such orders?" he deadpanned.

"Look it from the bright side, Sev. The General expect at least some of us to survive. After all we need to be in one piece in order to goad the droids to follow us." said Ax.

"It may even work." whispered Blue Three.

=RK=

While the fighters were closing in on their targets, the first salvo of Republic heavy torpedoes hit. Seven proton warheads made it through the last ditch defensive fire and the thick fighter screen. They were concentrated on only two ships, both of which were bathed in white hot plasma.

One frigate was struck by four torpedoes. The first three smashed into her armored nose milliseconds from each other, annihilating the forward third of the ship. The last one struck the junction where the bridge pylon and the main hull of the craft met. Its buried itself in the armored hull before detonating. The resulting explosion sent a shock-wave which shattered the whole bridge section and rent a massive crater in the remaining part of the ship. Series of internal explosions tore what was left of the ship apart.

The second Munificent was marginally luckier. The torpedoes hit her port side, with one colliding with the fin sticking from her nose. It blew up, vaporizing the offensive protuberance. The short ranged blast-wave stripped armor plates off the forward section, opening multiple compartments to space. Scores of unfortunate droids were either outright destroyed or sucked out to space.

The two remaining torpedoes blew up over the heavy sloped armor covering the upper half of the frigate. While the blossoming detonations opened huge craters in the side of the ship, they were spread far away from each other, enough to allow the Confederation craft to retain some semblance of structural integrity. She listed to her port side and fell out of formation while her droid compliment fought to contain the fires and power surges threatening to go out of control.

A few minutes later, she was put out of her misery by a barrage of turbolaser fire from the Requiem, which got her sights on the frigate while traversing her guns to aim at her next chosen target.

=RK=

Light Cruiser Stalker, Arquitens-Class

Commander VLK-531 calmly surveyed the bridge of his ship, where his brethren were efficiently doing their jobs. He was newly promoted as a commanding officer of the Light Cruiser, which for all intents and purposes was a scaled down model of the Venator-Class.

However, he didn't care about that. Volk, as he was more commonly known, was proud of both his ship and crew.

"We are in missile range," said the weapons office.

"Very well," the Commander looked at one of the data feeds from the Flagship. Eight seconds later it blinked green, showing that all Arquitens were in range. That was his que. "Flush all tubes. Maximum rate of fire!" ordered Volk.

It was time to see if the first phase of General Veil's plan was going to work.

A light tremor passed through the deck as the four missile launchers released their deadly contents at the clankers. They ware a part of a staggered salvo send by all of Stalker's sister ships.

=RK=

Blue Squadron, near the CIS blockade, Ryloth

"Execute Sucker Punch!" barked Skywalker.

"You heard him boys! Go!" ordered Ahsoka.

Two hundred and fifty V-19 Torrents sent a pair of missiles each at the armada of enemy fighters, which were just outside of effective energy weapons range. Yet that didn't stop the machines from opening fire. In the next instant, the Republic Starfighters broke off their headlong charge at the enemy, and separated into two groups, which looped above and below their previous vector. Only two hundred and seventeen of them lived long enough to do so.

Four hundred twenty one droid fighters became prey to the missile strike, one moment "living" and ready for battle and in the next becoming so much short lived stars.

More than a thousand Vultures separated from the swarm and flew in pursuit of the offending enemy Torrents. To their machine intelligence, the outcome was predetermined. Their enemies had made a mistake. By trying to loop back to their lines, the Republic craft had placed themselves in a vulnerable position, where the Vultures could easily out-accelerate and catch them from the rear. Or so they believed.

"Uh-oh..." was sent over the droid network by one of the Vultures leading the pursuit.

Its sensors revealed the truth and it sent the data to its brethren in the last moments of its existence. Not that it was going to do them any good.

The ninety two "light" missiles from the first Light Cruiser salvo had changed their direction and flew in the teeth of the pursuing Vultures. They were followed by the third and fourth spread of heavy torpedoes launched by the Venators. All of which were rigged with proximity fuses.

Usually using such weapons against fighters would be a waste. Blast waves didn't propagate well in space. A warhead that could wipe out anything in the air for dozens of kilometers in atmosphere, was virtually useless in space beyond a few hundred meters, a kilometer at best.

That, however, didn't take into account the spread usually maintained between fighters. With the swarm chocking the space around the CIS capital ships, while flying in such vectors as to be clear from the barrages exchanged by the heavy combatants, the tactical picture was different. The Vultures were vulnerable to proximity kills.

The ordered formations pursuing the fleeing fighters which had executed Mirror Image, flew apart as the droids tried to evade the blast zones of the oncoming missiles.

It was too little too late. For brief seconds, more than a hundred suns were born, lived and died amongst the Vulture formations. When the glare of the proton explosions subdued, the tattered remains of the pursuing fighters could be seen. Eighty one battered droid fighters remained combat effective from one thousand strong.

"Great work men!" exclaimed Anakin. The odds were just evened a bit more.

Unfortunately he doubted that they would be able to do that ten more times. The Vulture swarm was already diffusing, so it wouldn't represent such an easy target again.

"That actually worked..." Blue Five wondered aloud.

=RK=

Luckrehulk Command ship Procurer, CIS Blockade

"This was creative." muttered Captain Tuuk.

Nearly a tenth of his fighter strength was wiped out by that trap, but he already gave orders which would avoid a repeat performance.

At the same time, three more of his frigates died but they took another enemy Dreadnought and couple of those missile armed Light Cruisers with them. While the exchange was nominally in the enemy's favor, that was only because the Republic capital ships were much tougher than his frigates. A state of affairs that won't last long when the enemy's shields failed.

He looked at the plot. Sure enough, one of the Venator was loosing its shields. The drop of the ships energy emissions was an obvious tell. The eight frigates pounding that cruiser would soon have her gone.

Tuuk checked the distance between the two fleets. They were still at long range from his ships. When the enemy closed to medium range, he would play one of his thump cards.

He watched as the Republic fighters which played bait for the trap reformed, receiving a couple of wings as reinforcements and flew to execute another stinging attack.

The CIS Captain lamented the fact that he had no missile armed interceptors in his fleet. He knew that they were on the drawing boards, but it would be few months at least before the Vulture modification which would be able to carry four missiles could be produced in numbers. At least the specs of the Confed fighter missiles made the ones used by the Republic look like pieces of obsolete junk in comparison.

Not that it helped his situation, when he lacked any of those "wonder" weapons.

The enemy crawled closer, while another two Munificent died in exchange for an enemy light cruiser. Then, two important things happened in quick succession.

First, the shields of one of the Venators failed and the cruiser was promptly turned into a drifting burning hulk by the heavy guns of seven frigates. Second, the enemy fleet passed into medium range.

"The time is right. Call in the reserves. Send them here and here." ordered Muuk, giving the relevant coordinates to his subordinate droids.

"Roger, roger!" answered a command B1, which had its head painted yellow.

"The moment our reserve attacks, send two thirds of our fighters at the heart of the Republic fleet."

Now all Mar could do was wait for the Republic's commander answer, as well as for the right time to play his next card.

=RK=

Republic Cruiser Requiem, Task Force "Retribution" Flagship

More than a hundred wings of Vultures were already gone. That was just a drop in the bucket. There were too damn many of the buggers remaining.

There were cheers on the bridge as the ninth enemy frigate was consumed by fire, but they were soon subdued as another Arquitens cruiser was shattered. That ship went afoul of the heavy guns of an enemy battleship which promptly swatted it out of the way. However that wasn't the only reason the bridge crew grew quiet.

The Defender, one of Requiem's sister ships space frame cracked after a series of massive explosions engulfed her. I don't know how many times she was struck after her shields failed, but the final salvos that hit her were just too much. She started blowing apart when more than a dozen heavy turbolaser shots hit deep into her structure. The armor that was supposed to protect her was long gone by that point.

The Defender was torn asunder into eleven big pieces, which bled men and air into the unforgiving frozen abyss of space.

Of the seven thousand and four hundred sailors crewing her, it would be a miracle if only few hundred were still alive.

While the men and women under my command fought and died for the Republic, I stood impassive, showing only a calm, professional exterior. I didn't show that I felt the death of my people or how much I loathed it.

The only gift I could give them was to spend their lives as wisely as I could in the cauldron of war.

I felt a shift in the Force, moment before four Munificents slid out from Hyperspace on each flank of my fleet. They were covered with the predatory forms of hundreds of Vultures, which wasted no time and flew away from their motherships.

It was time. The smart thing to do for the CIS commander would be to send most of his Vultures to smash through our fighter screen and hit the fleet, while we were preoccupied with the enemy reserve. That would give me a brief moment of opportunity.

"Call in an Escort Carrier at each flank. I want them to hit those frigates from behind." I calmly ordered.

Internally I fumed. If only I had couple of months to train my rag tag fleet, I would have made this a battle of maneuver, but as it was, I had under my command a force made from parts of multiple different fleets. It was a small miracle that my ships were able to follow my orders to the letter so far.

The only ships I could trust for intricate maneuvers were those that were already part of my fleet as well as the three, two now, Venators under Skywalker's command. However most of those were Venators, and I needed their firepower with the main fleet.

My reserve on the other hand consisted by my handpicked officers, commanding my two Assault Carriers as well as the three converted freighters. Their actions were going to make or break this battle.

The enemy frigates flanking us opened fire the moment they exited hyperspace. They smashed through the light picket of CR90s, blowing up six of the Corvettes, which stood no chance under the concentrated fire of the heavier ships. However their brave sacrifice bought time for the two Escort Carriers I called to jump in behind the Munificents and start launching their deadly brood.

To make the counterattack even sweeter, every one of the carriers was equipped with one shot racks of proton torpedoes. While those were light, the same carried by bombers, the PLC 27s had box launchers holding two hundred each. Each had only two of them, because the logistics corps were not able to provide more torpedoes before Operation "Retribution" was launched. Not without striping weapons from the Coruscant defense fleet which was out of the question after the attack.

Despite the strong image we were showing to the media, the Republic's situation was bad and it would be months, perhaps a year before the economy could be fully geared to a war footing, and most equipment shortages could be met.

The Escort Carriers targeted two frigates each and unloaded their torpedoes at the Munificents rears.

A wave of proton death struck the engines of the Separatists ships and spread from there up their hull. Flowers of blue colored plasma blossomed where the torpedoes impacted. The drive pods of the frigates, couldn't handle the energies battering them and blew up almost in unison, sending their ships tumbling through space.

Two of the frigates suffered catastrophic damage. Their reactors couldn't scram in time. The resulting detonations turned those craft into so much shrapnel, which decimated most of their fighter compliments.

With their work done – weapons expended and four hundred fighters in total launched, the two Escort Carriers jumped into hyperspace. That left the fresh Torrents to brave the fire of the remaining enemy frigates while racing in a tail chase to catch the nearly twice their number of Vultures. Said killing machines were plunging headlong at the Republic fleet, heedless of losses or their pursuers.

I saw all of that on one of the holographic displays showing the space near my main forces, however most of my attention was at the enemy units near Ryloth. I smiled coldly when a wall of about seven thousand odd droid fighters raced towards my Fleet.

"Call in the rest of the reserve. Hammer Blow is a go." I said with a calmness I didn't feel. "Shift to fire plan Beta, and inform Admiral Yularen that he has tactical command of the fleet. I'm heading out."

"Yes, sir." confirmed Pellaeon. I could see the question in the Commodore's eyes.

"Right now I can do more outside, strapped in my fighter's cockpit. I have no more tricks to play, Gilad. May the Force be with you." I said and headed for the armored doors at the back of the bridge.

"And with you, General. Good luck." said Pellaeon.

=RK=

Luckrehulk Command Ship Procurer, blockade over Ryloth

Captain Muuk was watching the holographic representation of the battle with a frown. Four of the reserve frigates were already gone, blown up by those damn retrofits! Yet, it meant little. Most of their fighters were out and heading at the heart of the enemy fleet. Even better, most of the anti-fighter escorts the Republic had, were concentrated to the front. That would be painful for the main wave fighters he had sent to strike at the enemy, but Mar had more than enough assets so he could afford the losses.

"New contacts! Critical proximity!" exclaimed one of the droids manning the sensor stations.

Tuuk snarled when the relevant information was displayed into his data goggles. So this is where the rest of the enemy reserve went. The last of the so called Escort carriers were above his fleet with the two Acclamator Assault Carriers at the flanks. They were already launching their fighters and bombers.

"What should we do?" asked one of the droids.

"Sent the rest of the Vultures at these ships. That's why I kept them back," the Captain smiled viciously.

He had nearly three thousand more fighters left. They would swat out of the sky those arrogant fools.

All that time, he didn't stop to think where the republic's bombers were, believing them to be in the safety of the Venator's hangars.

=RK=

Republic Assault Carrier Victorious, CIS Blockade of Ryloth Right Flank

This was a suicide mission. Everyone on board knew it, but none more keenly than Captain KLR-71, known as Klark.

The attack of the three carriers was a diversion. He knew it and what it meant for him and his crew. Yet, strangely enough, the clone officer was all right with it. If it worked, it would mean that thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of his brothers would live to fight another day.

"I want those sensor sweeps done yesterday!" he barked at the man operating the sensor console.

The three Republic carriers managed to launch their fighter compliments before something bigger than light guns could target them, but that was of no consequence. It appeared that the CIS Commander was declining to take off the pressure from the main fleet. It was the right decision. The three ships from Task Force "Anvil" were doomed anyway. Each of them had about a thousand Vultures converging on their positions with only only a fraction of those numbers in Torrents to meet that onslaught.

It would be a slaughter, just as general Veil had planned. But while the damn clankers were too busy killing them, their fighters were not available to protect the capital ships.

"Its done! We have the coordinates!" shouted the sensor operator.

"Excellent! Transmit them to 'Hammer'!" Klark ordered.

It took ten seconds, in which the bulk of the Vultures were coming closer and closer, while the hundred and twenty Torrents of the Victorious' fighter compliment were dueling with three time their number of enemy starfighters, which were closer to the carriers than the rest.

Before she was swarmed, the Assault Carrier under Klark's command managed to finish off a Munificent which had her shields down.

While the Victorious was being torn apart by waves of vultures, the units of Task Force "Hammer" jumped out from hyperspace to the coordinates provided by the three Republic ships which were sacrificing themselves to create that priceless opening.

=RK=

Republic Cruiser Requiem, Task Force "Retribution"

Commodore Pellaeon glared at the Vulture droids which were attacking his ship. They were coming in, guns blazing, and slamming in his precious Requiem at full acceleration. Gilad's eyes narrowed at the enemy fighter which was flying straight at him.

The last ditch defensive fire missed the Vulture and it slammed straight through the windows of the port command tower of the Venator.

At the same time, five hundred and twenty Y-Wing bombers jumped in point blank range of the CIS fleet under the command of Captain Mar Tuuk. It was possible only thanks to the data sent by the three carriers. The bombers jumped on such vectors so that there were no enemy fighters between them and their prey.

=RK=

Order of battle for the CIS Fleet blockading Ryloth:

Luckrehulk Command ship Procurer; 1500 Droid fighters;

Luckrehulk Battleships: 3; 1500 Droid fighters each;

Luckrehulk Freighters (lightly armed): 6; 300 Droid fighters each;

Munificent frigates:

Main fleet: 32; 100 Droid fighters each;

Reserve fleet: 8; 150 Droid fighters each;

Vulture fighter compliment: 12,200