Storm of Blood and Steel [Continued 3]

Part 4

Republic Cruiser Requiem, Task Force "Retribution" Flagship, 1 light second from Ryloth

Disabling the hyperdrives and engines of the six freighters, turned out to be the first damn thing that went right today. After that, Admiral Yularen used the ships under his command to systematically dismantle the light weapons on those transports.

Despite that the calls for surrender remained unheeded. That was one of the reasons for the conference call I was attending.

Skywalker, a banged up, but otherwise fine Ahsoka, Lieutenant Veers, Cat and me. Those were the people physically present on Requiem. The rest, amongst who were General Kenobi, Commander Cody, Captain Rex and myriad other ground commanders, were here in the form of ghostly holograms.

"This smells like a trap, sir." grunted Cody.

There were nods and whispers of agreement.

"That much is obvious. However, we can't just leave those people, if they are in facts locals, in the hands of the CIS and the Hutts. We have to at least scout the freighters." I shrugged.

"Every moment we are wait, is one more for the Seps on the ground to dig in, sir." said Rex.

"That's right. We afford to waste too much time, sir." Cody backed up his friend.

"We have at least few hours." I countered. "No one is setting a foot on Ryloth until orbital reconnaissance is completed. As we speak, our remaining bombers are being refitted with sensor pods. In an hour or so they will overfly the planet and scout for concentration of enemy forces and suitable landing zones. I'm not sending you down there before we are reasonably sure that there aren't any anti-orbital emplacements."

The ground commanders winced at that. I didn't have to tell them what would happen if we attempted landing against an un-suppressed AA defense net, especially if the Confeds had deployed weapons which could maul the Assault ships.

"We can use our recon elements to check the freighters. Unfortunately, there are no special forces teams attached to our army." proposed Kenobi.

"We should lead the reconnaissance of the freighters." said Anakin. "With the force, we would have a better chance to sense and avoid any traps. "

"It's tempting." I nodded.

Granted, the whole set up could be a trap for Jedi, but that didn't make Skywalkers idea any less viable. While we were all high ranking officers, thanks to the Force, often the best effect we could have during a battle was on the frontlines, taking out critical objectives, or plugging the gaps when our subordinates simply didn't possess the best skills for a given job.

Just like now. Clearing out the freighters was a task tailor made for the Republic commandos. Too bad that none of those fellas was under my command.

"Admiral Yularen will take command of the fleet, and you General Kenobi, will plan the initial landings when the scouts reports come in. The rest of us, Force Adepts will lead a reconnaissance in force on the freighters. Lets see what we have to work with..."

=RK=

LAAT gunship en route to Phantom 1 (Luckrehulk-class Freighter), high orbit over Ryloth

I shared a troop transport with my new apprentice, who I felt would be useful in the coming battles. She did prove her combat skills in the temple.

The other notable people riding with us were Captain Cat, who I had promoted when he recovered from the injuries received on Naboo, and members of his Sword company.

All of them were wearing the new color scheme on their armors – black and dark gray. I was the sole exception, with my apparel covered by the Chameleon paint, which made me almost melt into the background.

A company strength force was being deployed to each freighter. The first four ships were going to be hit by units under the command of Skywalker, Ahsoka, Rex and me, with the remaining being visited by recon elements of 93rd Legion.

We breached the freighter's exterior through the tears in its hull made by the fleet, while my ships were taking out its weapons.

The LAAT's pilots parked the transport so it almost touched the hull and we piled out of it. Our magnetized boots slapped into the metal skin of the freighter and we made our way to the hole in it.

After a moment of tense waiting, while I checked the compartment we were about to enter and those surrounding it, with the Force, I was the first to vault in. I braced myself for the moment the artificial gravity was about to "catch" me. My stomach protested when the apparent lack of up and down was no more and I felt like being on solid ground once again.

I hurried to move out so the next person could came in. That was Aria who was spoiling for a fight. Being sealed in her room during the battle had made her on edge, and she needed something to bleed off her nervous energy. I was ready to bet that we would soon meet some droids which fit that bill.

Soon enough, Cat and two squads had jumped in. The rest of the platoon had chosen other points of ingress.

I nodded at the sealed armored door at the left side of the corridor where we were. Cat pointed at it and one of his men hurried up to a panel next to it. He pulled out a cable from the over sized computer mounted on his left arm, connected it with the door's control and started typing. Thirty seconds later, the armored barrier blocking our way divided in four and slid into the walls. If we were lucky, his brief hack had gone unnoticed and we were under the radar. That is if no one saw our gunships approaching the Luckrehulk.

The assault made by Yularen had slagged the all the sensors possessed by the six freighters so we didn't have to worry that they would detect our approach that way.

We went into the next section of the corridor, and the tech sealed the door behind us. We could hear the hissing sound of air being pumped into the compartment. Soon a green light blinked on the door in front of us and it slid open.

That would hasten our mission, at least until someone on the other side smartened up and put the ship on lock-down. Something that I expected to be done by now.

The strangest thing was that I didn't feel any more danger than any other time I was entering a potential combat zone. I would have expected a stronger warning through the Force if the freighter was about to blew up or something...

"This is unit Delta! We have contact!" came over the comms. "Only light clankers so far. We are proceeding to the target coordinates."

Their destination were the starboard cargo holds, with Gama going after the port ones. Beta was heading straight to the reactor, to secure.

My own team was making its way to the bridge, and hopefully some answers.

The next clue, besides the very light resistance, and radio silence from the ship, that something was wrong, were the destroyed droids and few Trandosian bodies we started encountering. It gave me a clue about what might have happened on the freighters...

"This is Gama, we are under attack by what appears to be mercenaries, sir!" reported an incredulous clone.

We were nearing the bridge when Beta reported.

"Sir, we stumbled on a firefight between clankers and a squad strong Trandosians. Please advice on how to proceed."

"Try finding an alternative route. If that's not practical wait for them tow weaken each other, eliminate all resistance and secure that reactor." I ordered.

"Wilco, sir!" answered the clone, before cutting the transmission.

=RK=

Phantom 2, high orbit over Ryloth

"Kriffing huttspawn!" cursed Anakin, after he ducked his head back behind the corner, around which he was glancing.

A damn big, heavily armed and armored Trandosian was sweeping the corridor leading to the engineering, with an oversized automatic weapon. The gun was shooting huge slugs at a prodigious rate of fire. Skywalker doubted that most pieces of the armor he and his men were wearing could stop those bullets.

The standard Phase 1 Republic armor was optimized for stopping blaster fire and shrapnel. That heavy gun was something else entirely.

So it was a very good thing that the fool who was blocking his way, was fond of wearing grenades on his harness. Anakin smiled thinly, closed his eyes and concentrated.

One after another, the safeties of the grenades carried by the Trandosian heavy weapons specialists were pulled out by invisible fingers. The huge reptilian stared at his harness when a small motion there caught his attention. He growled loudly in protest when he saw what was happening.

The man let his weapon fall to the ground and frantically grabbed at the grenades.

It was too late. He was just extending his right hand to throw away the first of the live explosive devices, when they detonated.

When the smoke cleared, the biggest part left from the overgrown lizard were his feet, which were still in their armored boots and firmly planted to the ground.

Anakin wasted no time and led two squads of the 501st into the reactor control room. There they were met by six more, thankfully relatively lightly armored Trandosians.

Still, those things proved to be not only better armored from his clone troopers, but also tougher, more resilient to punishment. Skywalker's soldiers had to put a score or more shots at the Trandosians chests in order to put them down. In contrast, a clone could tank only a hit or two in the torso before being taken out.

Anakin found out that the enemy's toughness didn't extend to lightsabers.

He deflected six shots back at the closest ugly lizard, without the kriffing thing even wavering. But then he was in melee range.

Skywalker sliced the blaster rifle carried by the Trandosian in two and stabbed at its chest. That finally proved too much. The male lizard growled weakly before sliding to the floor in two pieces.

Anakin puled towards himself a second enemy, one who was taking pot shots at his men and impaled him on his lightsaber. Despite that the Trandosian tried to club the Jedi with his gun. In answer, Skywalker's hands blurred while he cut the damn things to pieces of steaming flesh. For a moment a smile of fierce joy stretched his lips, before the General returned to his mission.

He threw his saber at the last still standing Trandosian. The brute fell to the ground under a hail of blaster bolts and without his head.

"Secure the reactor and take care of the wounded!" ordered Skywalker.

They had to make sure that the ship wouldn't be blown up around them.

=RK=

Phantom 3, high orbit over Ryloth

Ahsoka cut vertically in two the last Super Battle droid blocking her way. With the last obstacle between her and the door to the port cargo bays gone, she ran forward, followed by five clones. The rest of her team were either down or tending to the wounded.

She reached the door and frowned. A stray shot had slagged the control panel. That would slow her down for a few seconds.

She plunged her lightsaber into the door and started cutting through the alloy. It took her seconds to do it, showing that the entrance was sealed by a regular metal and not reinforced one. It was another thing confirming that the Freighters were almost unmodified, stock designs.

The padawan used telekinesis to push in the circle she cut into the door. Ahsoka jumped through the glowing hole, with her saber raised in a defensive stance. Her men followed suit. They had their weapons up and were sweeping the compartment for threats.

Instead they found people sealed into large cells. Men, women and children were stuck in huge numbers behind thick metal bars. They all looked dirty and malnourished.

Ahsoka stared with pity at the sight. If it wasn't for her sealed helmet, she was sure that the stench of filth in the cargo bay would be unbearable.

"We need help over here." muttered one of the clones.

His tone betrayed his disbelief at the sight. None of them, besides being veterans of months of war, expected to see such a sight. It was especially hard on the young Jedi.

She knew that slavery was outlawed in the Republic, so the view of thousands of people in such a state was almost incomprehensible.

However for her it was worse. The Jedi, who were supposed to be protectors of the galaxy, usually didn't work outside of Republic space. And the sight before her was undeniable evidence that out there, in the outer Rim, the slavery was well and prospering...

Why did the Jedi Order allow such a thing to happen anywhere in the galaxy?! If they had done heir jobs... Ahsoka shook her head. She didn't have time for what ifs right now. There were people needing immediate help.

She came out of her stupor and started snapping orders.

"Is the reactor secure?! Check all cargo compartments for booby traps! And call in the medics! We need more people in here! Now!"

Similar dramas were happening in the cargo bays of all six freighters.

=RK=

Phantom 1, high orbit over Ryloth

The news of tens of thousands enslaved people on board, as well as on the other ships, who were kept in appalling conditions, did nothing to improve my mood, which had been taking a dive ever since the battle started. In contrast, was the cheer, which was positively leaking from Aria, who was enjoying herself.

She was busy dismantling battle droids using her saber and telekinesis. The CIS forces were either able to retain control of the bridge or retook it before our arrival, because we found it defending by a platoon of robots.

That was barely enough to slow us down. The droids ended being either cut to pieces or blasted apart by Cat and his men.

When the last machine defending our target was destroyed, Aria and me, started cutting through the armored doors leading to the bridge. It took us time to melt through the nearly a meter thick blast doors but it was done nonetheless.

We used the Force to sweep the molten metal away from our path and then we stormed the bridge.

It was anticlimactic. The command center was badly torn up from combat. Its floor was littered with the chassis of destroyed machines, bodies of Trandosians, humanoids in full armor, hiding their features. There were few Neimoidians, laying around, one of whom was still alive.

I walked to the still breathing man, who turned out to be the skipper. His chest was opened by a heavy slug, and he didn't have much more to live. To be honest I was surprised that he hadn't joined the rest of the corpses.

I knelt next to him, and pulled out a med pack. I retrieved a large bandage which I pressed over his wound, in an attempt to slow down whatever blood he still had from leaking, and used the Force to pick up a vial with a universal stimulant. I plunged it into his neck and he shuddered as the adrenaline derivative, which I was pretty sure worked almost the same way for his species too, kicked off.

The plan was to keep him alive until I could get what I needed from his mind.

"Ahh..." he moaned, when my mental probe hit his defenses.

To my surprise he had unusual natural shields. In his state, the shock from me breaching his defenses would kill him before I could learn anything.

"Captain, tell me what happened over here."

"We..." he was interrupted by a fit of coughing, which caused him to spit blood all over the front of my armor, "... the Hutt mercenaries... wanted the leave the instant your fleet arrived. But half my crew is still down there." he coughed more blood. "I didn't want to leave them to your mercy... not after what we were forced...arrhh... the Trade Federation...those kriffing..."

The captain convulsed and his eyes rolled in his sockets before he went still.

I frowned at the cooling corpse in my hands. His regret about whatever he did was genuine. Either the captain was the first Neimoidian with consciousness I've met or whatever he did was so much beyond the pale that it had shocked him to the core.

The second possibility had unpleasant repercussions about what we were about to find on Ryloth.