The Confederacy strikes back

Part 1

"The long anticipated Confederate offensive began with simultaneous attack all over the galaxy. It was led by over a hundred Munificent battle groups under the command of unrestrained Tactical droids. Their targets were Republic pickets, listening posts and patrolling ships.

Six hours later, the first heavy blows were struck.

First, in the North and North East Galactic sectors, Confederate fleets fell upon Yaga Minor, Borosk, Bandomed and Pindar. Separatist units moved to secure the far North with strikes upon Sernpidal and Bimmiel. At that time the long feared reduction of the North Pocket began with a fleets moving to secure Ruuria and Florum. Another strong Confederate force struck the Republic navy at Mol Calamari.

At the same time in the eastern part of the galaxy, even more fleets were on the move. Almost simultaneous attacks occurredon Velmor, Roche, Nazziri and Kashyyyk.

The situation in the South and South East quadrants wasn't better. A massive Confederacy fleet established a forward supply base at Daalang before splitting up and heading to Charra and Lannik.

More fleets surged to assault Lanos,Bothawui, Manda and Rishi.

In the South the first part of Operation Dagger – ultimately aimed at Kamino – went into effect. Herdessa and Christophis were struck by the leading elements of at least a Sector Fleet. It was soon confirmed that at least twenty independent battle groups were operating in the region too - scouting and hunting Republic shipping.

Another prong of the Confederate offensive launched hours earlier meant to bind the Republic navy at Naboo. That attack had two obvious aims – to connect Separatist territories and prevent any further reinforcement reaching Kamino. The Confederacy aimed to achieve that goal by attacking Kalindra, Rundelia and taking control of the hyperlanes in the sector. Those attacks also cut off Malastare and ZeHeth.

Even more strikes were launched in the South. Their goal was to completely isolate the Western quadrant, which would be assaulted the next day. Confederate units moved to secure or reinforce Utapau, Karideph, Rutan and Brundan. Another fleet took Isle Naha and Sump facing virtually no resistance.

The next day, equal parts of a Sector Fleet struck Eridau, Agonmar, Eittu, Noe'ha'on and Bomis Kaori. With those attacks the Republic territories in the west were cut off and the Separatist began a methodical reduction of the naval elements in the region. They declined to participate in ground campaigns unless a world held critically important resources.

While most of the Republic was under heady assault or preparing for one, the eyes of the people in the Core Worlds were focused closer to home.

While the Confederacy's operations outside the Core were important, only two of them held high strategic value. First was the obvious attempt to connect their territories across the galaxy – a goal that was achieved withing two weeks. The second and arguably more critical was the long anticipated assault of Kamino, which was yet to come.

The primary goals of the offensive was crippling the Republic's shipbuilding and industry. Over seventy percent of it was concentrated in the Core and that was where the Confederacy concentrated their efforts.

Their assault of the center of galactic civilization began with a heavy attack aimed at Abregado-rae. A fleet was dispatched to Atrisia too. Officially it was there to confirm that Crimson was eradicated, however ONI believed that their true purpose was to ambush general Veil and the containment fleet he took to hunt down Crimson upon their return.

The Confederacy advance towards the Core began on three vectors. First a Sector Fleet struck at Kelada and overwhelmed the defenders. The second prong struck Rhommamool. Smaller fleet converged on Affa, Chardaan and Tynna. Their goal was to connect the Confederate Western and Central sectors in a third place.

The third prong was a controversal on. As expected, another massive fleet Antar. In the same time, Trade Federation units suppossedly neutral in the conflict or even backing the Republic broke from their defensive positions at Neimoidia and Cato Neimoidia to attack Oudlor, thus cutting off Antar, as well as Commenor and Balmora.

The net effect of that treason was that Kuat would be in a striking distance when the fleet from the Central sector reduced the Antar's defenses.

At the same time, Confederate holdouts in the Core like Cola, Castel,Skako and Null attempted a breakthrough, thus tying up Republic forces.

For all its ferocity, those attacks were merely a taste of what was yet to come. A Confederate fleet was moving upon Mandalore. Once Kelada fell, the Sector Fleet from Fondor was headed straight at Duro where the Republic navy had been fortifying its positions. If that world fell, only New Plumpto would stand between them and Corellia."

Extract from: "History of the Clone Wars, Volume II"

Published by Coburn Naval Academy, Coruscant

=RK=

SIB safe house

location classified

Coruscant

Yoda's mouth tasted like ashes. Those of the Jedi Order, of the Republic and democracy itself. It tasted of his failure as a Grandmaster of the Jedi Order.

"Not what you expected, is it?" Dooku wheezed.

The Jedi Master stepped away from his shacking former apprentice. Yoda had to confirm what he had been told for himself. No matter that Kota and Windu had scanned Dooku's mind multiple times.

It went without saying that none of them took the Sith at his word, however there were ways to ensure he was telling the truth. The Count had to keep his mind open, without accessing the Force or struggling in any way. Even with his cooperation it was a delicate and dangerous procedure. One that required complete trust or sheer desperation to undergo because it was trivial for the one making the scan to shatter the mind they were examining either by mistake or on purpose.

It wasn't something undergone lightly. Even when everyone agreed the procedure could be described as a mind-rape, a violation of a persons deepest, darkest secrets, their very being.

Yoda frowned at his former apprentice. He saw the truth and found it hard to believe. It was even harder to come to terms with what he felt from Dooku. The former Jedi was an impossible contradiction. The Count felt serene, at peace, despite the multiple time he let his mind be violated. Dooku didn't do it because he regretted his actions.

Oh, there was regret in the man's heart, but it was about the way he had been played. That he had lost his power.

Dooku saw himself as a dead man walking and all he wanted was vengeance. The only way open to him was to come clean and he did precisely that.

Yoda could see the truth in Dooku's mind. Could feel that those memories were genuine. That made it no less hard to swallow.

The Grandmaster had been working with the Chancellor ever since Palpatine had been elected. In all that time, he never suspected the man of being a Sith – just another power-hungry politician, if more competent than most.

Now that he knew, Yoda could see all the pieces falling into place. The Jedi had been pawns ever since Naboo. The purpose of that invasion was obvious now – ensure Palpatine's election and strike a blow at the Trade Federation, one that in time would drive it to be a part of the Confederacy.

How many deceptions were there? How many lies?

Palpatine, Veil, Zash… Were those all the Sith?

Yoda groaned. The GAR. It was a Sith creation and it had a battalion sitting in a Jedi Temple that had been turned into a death trap – with the consent of the Order no less. With his consent.

"Foolish I was. Unfit to lead the Jedi I am." Yoda admitted. He looked sadly at Kota and Windu. "My fault this is." The Jedi Master sagged in his seat.

"The offensive began twelve hours ago. Veil is cut off." Windu said.

"There are only two Sith we know of on Coruscant." Kota added.

Yoda looked at the crippled man he trained. "Sufficient evidence we have not."

"No. Even if we had something that would be accepted, Palpatine has been in power for a long time. He'll be able to tie us in procedures and other legalities until he can act against us if we try removing him legally. If our evidence is believed in the first place." Windu told his nominal leader.

"Evidence which we're conspicuously lacking. If it wasn't for the directors knowing what was possible with the Force and believing our explanation, we would be in even worse position." Kota said.

"They have their own agenda, that much is obvious." Windu pointed out. "However I'm sure they will fight to avoid the Sith turning the Republic into an Empire. They believe in democracy."

"Democracy you say? Hmm..." Yoda shook his head. "Treason we discuss."

"That's one way to look at it. Removing a traitor who began a war for his own gain is another." Windu shrugged.

"Dark the future is. The end of the Jedi nears, I fear." Yoda whispered.

"We're afraid of that. We seek your guidance now that you know the truth, Master Yoda. We can't not act." Kota pleaded. "The Sith will destroy us at their convenience if we keep our heads low. If we run, we abandon the Republic and its citizens to a slavery under the Sith."

"And if we act, the most likely outcome is that we would be hunted by the army even if we succeed." Windu added.

"Tiin and his buddies should have waited. Gathered sufficient support, never gone over your head." Kota shrugged. "What is done is done. We can't change the past. We should learn from our mistakes. Unfortunately its simply too late. We should reflect on our past misdeeds if we survive. Now we should make sure there are surviving Jedi to learn from our mistakes."

"Trap this could be." Yoda muttered.

"We know. Its one we have to spring." Windu nodded. "If we wait we die for nothing. If we act, we have a chance. Even if we fail, even if the Republic loses, at least we might ensure that the Sith don't win. That will be better for the galaxy than the alternatives."

"The Seps winning will be better than a Sith ruining everything. Their power will be easier to break than that of an Emperor." Kota agreed.

For the first time in hundreds of years, Yoda abandoned the speech pattern that he was accustomed to while speaking Basic.

"You want me to lead you in what undoubtedly is going to be the destruction of the Jedi Order." A mighty frown appeared on the ancient Jedi's face. "The Order I failed." A quiet, bitter chuckle escaped Yoda's lips while two Jedi and a Sith stared at him as if he had just admitted to be a Sith himself. "Old I am. Steeped in my ways I am. Lead you I shall not." Yoda paused and examined the pair of Jedi. "Bring to safety the younglings we shall. Abandon Coruscant we will. Stand against the Sith beside you I will." Yoda nodded.

He could sense the profound relief Mace and Rahm experienced at announcement.

"May the Force be with us." Yoda whispered and closed his eyes.

He knew what his choice meant. The Jedi, his Jedi, were going to pay the price for their hubris. A terrible price. The Republic might not survive the coming storm. It was sickening that he might be the one to destroy a nation he fought to protect for centuries.

The alternative was worse. Yoda was old enough to remember the devastation of the Sith Wars. He heard many stories from survivors telling him what hellish existence was to survive under Sith rule. Yoda knew they told him the truth. He saw the scars upon their bodies. He felt those left upon their wounded minds.

Yoda simply couldn't step aside and leave the Sith in power, no matter the consequences.

=RK=

Part 2

Flag bridge

Corellian cruiser Freedom

Unknown Regions

The compartment was mostly empty. Most of the people manning the stations during our first encounter with Crimson were either dead, insane or spread through the fleet to bolster the crew. That left me alone with Joanna, who was sitting next to me at the tactical table. The holotank usually showing us the fleet disposition was busy projecting a map of the galaxy complete with color coded territories controlled by each side. There were a lot of crimson lines showing the first stages of the Separatists offensive.

The map was flanked by the ghostly figures of Obi-Wan and Valentra. Both of them looked ragged and the enemy attacks began just twelve hours ago. That was time wasted, because my fleet actually missed the news. We were traveling through a region of space where there was no way to reach the holonet, especially while in hyperspace. It was fortunate that when we exited back into real space to begin the next leg of our journey a call from Coruscant came through. Otherwise we would be in even nastier position.

"That's not good." I stated after I could digest everything I saw on the map.

Valentra chuckled grimly. "That's a charming little understatement. There are a lot of indications that our estimates were conservative. ONI's pretty sure that the enemy has about a Sector Fleet worth of Munificents more than we expected and they're going to throw them all in our teeth."

"There's no way we're getting back to the Core the way we came." Joanna concluded.

"You'll have to fight multiple enemy fleets to break through. Attrition alone will see most of your command destroyed." Kenobi agreed.

"Which plan did you chose?" I asked.

"Red One for the Western quadrant." My brother in law answered. "Staging areas Arubesh and Beth."

I looked back at the map. The first was Bespin and I couldn't recall the other. It didn't really matter, I would check up later.

"Arubesh it is then. We'll need to refuel somewhere and that's the best place. I'll take command of the fleet there and then we'll have to fight our way out of the pocket. It will depends on the circumstances where we'll be heading after that." I outlined my rough plan.

"That's at least ten days if you're lucky." Obi-Wan frowned.

"Its a good thing that the Fury didn't make its way to the Blacksite originally through the Core and we have the nav data. Otherwise we would have to sit out this one." Holt grumbled.

"Let's just hope that the hyper routes haven't 'll have to pass through at least two less than stable regions." Kenobi's frown deepened.

"Can't be helped I'm afraid. Where do you need me when we get out of here?" I asked.

Obi-Wan looked away, at his own map I guess.

"Attempt to reinforce either Naboo or Kamino if they still hold. I won't hold my breath for the former, but the latter will have come under assault just a few days before you can get in the region. We heavily reinforced the area and the Separatists will need to fight their way through multiple fortified systems unless they want to be cut off and struck from behind." Valentra suggested.

"Operational plan Black then." I nodded in understanding. That was basically an admission that the South quadrant would be at least temporarily cut off and a lot of defending fleets would be ordered to fall back towards Kamino.

"General Veil, we'll have our hands full and won't be able to sent any more reinforcements to the Mid and Outer Rim." Obi-Wan spoke formally. "Once you reach Arubesh and get out of the pocket, I'm authorizing you to take command of the South Area of Operations and ordering you to do everything you can to protect Kamino."

"Orders understood and accepted, General Kenobi. If this is all, I would like to speak with my wife before we're out of range."

"I'll patch you through. May the Force be with you." Obi-Wan nodded.

"Try not to get killed and bring as many of our boys and girls back as you can." Valentra straightened up and saluted.

I got to my feet and saluted back. Joanna followed suit a moment later.

"May the Force serve you well, both of you."

"I'll let you be." Holt nodded and left the Flag bridge.

A few minutes later, I was looking at Bo. My wife was in a full armor sans helmet and looked less than pleased.

"Delkatar. Its good to see you again. You look better." At lest she sounded warmer than the last time we talked.

"I'm recovering as well as can be expected. How are you?"

"Pissed off. Its all but guaranteed that the Seppies will hit Mandalore soon. I need to be there."

"Mandalore needs you and your warriors where you are, Bo. If what we fear comes to pass, your presence might be vital. Without the Republic we're kriffed. We need powerful allies especially while our fleet just begins to be rebuild." I smiled sadly. "I know that your heart aches to be on the frontlines. That you want to feel the rush of battle."

"Damn right! I've been cooped here for more than a month now and I'm feeling useless." My wife grumbled. "I know why you need us here Mandalore. It doesn't make the waiting easier to bear. Are you going to be all right? I saw the intelligence reports. Abregado-rae will fall soon if it hasn't already. They are going to cut you off."

"I'll be taking another route. Unfortunately I'll be out of contact for some time before we can get out of the unknown regions and after that we'll be keeping a low profile until we're ready to strike the enemy." I tried to reassure Bo.

I hoped, but certainly didn't expect that there would be this much affection between us so soon after our political marriage. I wouldn't call it love, not yet, but I've grown to care about my wife and found out that I was missing her company. Unless I was mistaken, it was mutual too.

"Try not to get yourself killed, Mandalore." Bo gave me a wan smile. "I want my husband back. We're one together."

"Then I have my running orders, dear. Stay safe. We're one when parted."

My wife's image wavered and distorted before vanishing in the tell tale signs of jamming. The enemy had gotten close to the relay station used to maintain the connection.

I stared at the empty space where holo-projection used to be. It was strange. Until not too long ago all I had in this time was my mission. A mission I'm pretty sure I stopped caring a long time ago. Even if I ever came back, I'm not sure how much I could care about Earth. After more than a sixty years spent in this galaxy I was a radically different man. I knew that back in the Empire, however I tried quite hard not to think about he implication. The entity that sent me here had to know how my experiences would change me. I'm pretty sure it counted on it.

I frowned. It's been years since I thought about this, yet it was fitting. The last time was after I fell in love with Ashara and finally fully accepted that this galaxy had became my home.

Now I found myself in a similar situation. This wasn't my time. I had no real stake in the fate of the factions tearing at each other. I've been going through the motions, that much it was easy to admit to myself. I had goals, vague plans that constantly changed to fit the circumstances. However my heart simply wasn't in the game I was forced to play.

A small smile crept on my face. Somewhere along the way thing changed. Was it marrying Bo? Becoming Mandalore? Fighting with the people under my command, touching their mindsthrough my Battle Meditation? I wasn't sure. It was probably a combination of all those factors.

For months I've been existing in this time. The same was true for the years that followed Ashara's murder. At least back then I had my vengeance to drive me. By some cosmic twist, or more likely Force shenanigans, I still could avenge my first wife. However now I had something else to look up to. A reason to actually live.

A reason to fight beyond the sheer joy that combat against worthy opponents could bring.

More importantly, I finally had a very real, tangible reason to win this war I was fighting. To ensure I got enough power that no one dared kriff up with me and mine.

My smile became sinister. Soon, very soon the galaxy was going to meet Darth Vael and my enemies would get their just reward. But first I had to deal with this offensive. Then the Jedi, Senate and eventually Sidious – once I would be in position to hijack his Empire.

Achieving anything less would be unacceptable.

=RK=

CIC

CIS Command ship Conqueror

Radnor

TK 51 was glad that the Confederacy's ship designers finally took a file from the Republic shipbuilders and the majority of the CIS Navy no longer was commanded from exposed and vulnerable bridges. Too many ships were left with the old configuration, however they were all exclusively Munificents and thus expendable. Most of them were dedicated for kamikaze roles anyway, so it wasn't a great loss.

The Tactical droid surveyed the CIC, which was exclusively manned by now obsolete B1s. Good enough to crew ship, if properly supervised, the cheap mass produced models were outclassed by practically everything else in the arsenal of both friends and foes.

The droid gave out an electronic sigh, before plugging itself in the combat network binding his command together. The Battlenet was an invention that came from the Techno Union. It began as an upgrade of the Umbrella system meant to bind together the defensive and offensive systems of a group of ships and thus increasing their efficiency. Then someone was bright enough to figure out that the Battlenet could be used to enhance the capabilities of the droid armies too.

TK 51 was spearheading the attack on the small ocean world of Radnor as a means to test those presumptions and some other pieces of equipment. The droid commanded another small fleet – his Command ship and twenty five Munificents. The frigates carried a hundred modified Vulture fighters apiece, giving him 2600 of the small craft to play with.

Against him were arrayed three Venators, an Acclamator and ten CR90 frigates as escorts. Those were by no means suicidal odds, at least when compared to TK 51's first mission after his software was upgraded. However, his fleet was still on the wrong end of the firepower and durability equation. The powers that be had decided that such a correlation of forces was suitable for the tests they wanted him to run.

At lest this time the Tactical droid had longer to plan. TK 51 has been aware of his objective for two weeks now and Radnor had been under covert observation all the time. Even if the Republic brought reinforcements, there were heavy forces waiting to jump them, which left the droid to deal only with the expected system defense fleet.

Being a part of the Battlenet was different. TK 51 was connected with every single droid running his ships, the Vultures and had filtered channels to the sensor feeds and tactical computers of his fleet. There was no direct connection with those ship systems for security reasons, even if there were multiple powerful computers and cyber defensedroids plugged in to keep intruders out of the network. TK 51 agreed completely with those restrictions. He couldn't afford to have his whole fleet and crew compromised if the enemy had some kind of countermeasure for Battlenet.

For TK 51, being a part of the network meant he became something both more or less. The droid's individuality was watered down as he became a pieceof a partial gestalt made by the electronic minds of his subordinates. The sheer amount of data and processing power they had at their fingertips were staggering. He could see through the sensors of the fleet, he could feel solar wind upon the armored skin of the Vultures landed upon his ships hulls.

TK 51 paused. If he could he would have smiled. He could feel. That was a new sensation and he found it enjoyable.

Multiple parts of the gestalt warned the Tactical droid that the Republic navy was on the move. They launching fighters and bombers, which were assuming defensive positions. The frigates moved forward to form a screen in front of the capital ships. The Venators formed a romboid formation with the Acclamator in front and cruisers taking the other points of the geometric figure.

All TK 51 needed to do was to think his orders. They were picked up by the Battlenet and his subordinates knew what to do. There was no need of inefficient verbal commands.

A wave of anticipation went through the Vultures and they launched into a single swarm that formed around the fleet. The frigates lit up their engines at full military trust and headed straight at the enemy. Firing solutions were refined and thanks to Battlenet and their vectors, TK 51's fleet could concentrate all its forward power at just two targets. That would soon change as the distance fell, however it was at least an order of magnitude better than what could be achieved without the network.

It was just too bad that TK 51 had given different targeting parameters. His fleet locked on and unleashed its firepower upon the four leading enemy frigates before they could enter effective range of the Vultures which were their primary target. The CR90s went evasive and due to the distance most shots missed, however there was enough concentrated firepower to drain shields and cause shock damage through bleed-through.

The third salvo saw a frigate stagger before breaking to pieces. Then the range fell close enough that the fire became more effective.

The Tactical droid noted that the Republic cruisers were already launching missiles – dozens of anti-fighter ones followed by heavy concussion ones aimed at his ships.

Soon enough another theory would be tested.

The Republic cruisers opened fire with their primary weapons and the Vultures followed their orders to pull out of the way. Another CR90 was destroyed and finally the missiles were in range. More than a hundred fire control computers spread over the Munificents acted as one thanks to Battlenet. They designated their targets and opened fire at the approaching light missiles. Counter missiles were launched against the incoming heavy ordinance.

The Vultures acted next and broke off, keeping the distance open. Their experimental AMS systems opened fire and spears made of coherent light stabbed at the incoming missiles.

The first two enemy salvos were significantly degraded by both active defenses and ECM. TK 51 felt only thirty Vultures die before his fleet entered effective range and he shifted targeting priorities. Eighteen Munificents unleashed their firepower at the Acclamator leading the charge, while the rest of the fleet continued to target the remaining five CR90s.

At the same time the Vultures changed vectors, fired their afterburners and charged the two Venators at the flanks. The enemy small craft acted promptly and flew in to intercept them.

TK 51 thought another order and the Umbrella system finally unleashed its own anti-fighter missiles.

An unpleasant sensation stabbed through the Tactical droid's mind when the enemy concentrated their fire on the Munificent leading his fleet. The frigate's shields flared in a futile attempt to deflect, disperse and absorb the incoming firepower before it became too much and the system shut down to protect itself from a meltdown.

The next barrage hit unopposed and the Munificent's armor was never intended to take such punishment. It ablated, boiled or even vaporized in places. Decks were opened to space, weapons and power lines were blown apart. The ship listed under the sheer kinetic energy of the strike. Then a second barrage struck and it broke the Munificent's back and the frigate disintegrated.

TK 51 froze for a moment when M 355 was destroyed. The loss of all those droids, processing power and data diminished the gestalt and gave him pause. It took it precious seconds to recover, which were fatal for the leading Vulture squadrons.

They failed to launch the missiles added to their wings or continue with their evasive maneuvers and were blown up by enemy fire.

Fortunately the pause had no effect on the Umbrella, which was acting primary in automatic mode. Its missiles streaked in and went after their targets. The Republic fighters launched decoys, dispersed and their rear gunners attempted to shoot down the incoming ordnance.

The Vultures jumped at the opportunity that presented itself and launched missiles of their own, before closing into gun range.

TK 51 had to admit that the enemy pilots handled the situation better than the droid fighters during their first encounter with the Guardian system. They obviously had thought how to handle the situation. Dispersal, radical vector changes, decoys. The tactic was certainly more effective than what the Vultures had attempted at Ryloth and Geonosis.

Unfortunately for the Clones, they had hundreds of missiles coming at them from two directions followed by more than two thousand droid fighters.

In contrast, the Republic managed to launch only five hundred and fifty Torrents in the first place.

While the Clones extracted their pound of flesh, it was still a slaughter. Two thirds of their fighters were blown up before the Vultures closed the range and the rest died in the crossfire that followed. Despite that, there were only 1900 droid fighters left to approach the Republic ships. They had to content with the Guardian system on their own.

The Vulture's AMS system were much less effective during the final approach. Seven hundred of the fighters were destroyed when the Republic capital ships put their launchers into sprint mode and emptied their magazines at the approaching swarm.

The remaining 1200 Vultures slammed into a wall of flack fire augmented by turbo-laser cannons set to flare their plasma shots as an improvised anti-fighter weapon.

Even that wasn't enough. Almost seven hundred droid fighters survived to make their attack runs and TK 51 had kept those armed with proton torpedoes in the back of the formation. Each carried only two apiece and launched them before going into suicide attacks.

Final defensive fire blew up more than half of the remaining Vultures and even a third of the proton torpedoes. Thanks to blinding concentrated ECM and the wild evasive maneuvers prior and during launch, some of the ordnance missed.

More than five hundred torpedoes slammed into the flanks of the targeted Venators. Armor shattered, whole turrets blew up and the ships were engulfed by a short-lived firestorm. It took mere moments to outrun it and reveal the extent of the damage.

The ships were listing. Their sides were opened to space and either burning or leaking atmosphere. At least half their weapons were gone and the damage to power systems was extensive enough to disable their shields.

TK 51shifted fire from the finally crippled Acclamator to the gutted Venators and concentrated half his fleet on each. Even if he had already lost two more Munificents with a third heavily damaged it was all but over. Two minutes later the Tactical droid had reduced the Republic fleet to three wrecks drifting in space, ten expanding clouds of debris and a single Venator that was changing vectors in an obvious attempt to flee to hyperspace. TK 51 sent another order and three of his frigates jumped in front of the cruiser, thus blocking its escape. The next order changed targeting priorities to disable the enemy weapons and launch boarding parties.

TK 51 relaxed and began compiling an AAR while overseeing the mop up operations and analyzing the battle so he could do better next time. He had to – feeling droids and ships die through the Battlenet wasn't something he wanted to experience any more than absolutely necessary. The Tactical droid was sure that its subordinates who were part of the network agreed. He could see their thoughts and feel their emotions after all.

=RK=

Plan Red One – Western Quadrant: All republic naval forces are to disperse. Capital ships and appropriate escorts are to fall back to designated staging areas. Light elements are to harry and if practical slow down enemy advance; ground forces are to hold positions until either relieved or their situation becomes untenable. In the latter case they're to either surrender or begin guerilla warfare depending on the circumstances.

Operational plan Black: Only critical areas in the Central galactic quadrant would be defended. All other fleet elements will fall back towards Kamino and implement defense in depth. Further, heavy reinforcements will be dispatched from the Core Worlds before the CIS offensive begins and the hyperlanes leading to Kamino could be cut.

Staging area Arubesh: Bespin

Staging area Beth: Nothoiin

=RK=

Part 3

Tipoca city

Kamino

"Ah, home, sweet home!" Echo pumped a fist in the air after he stepped out of the Acclamator that brought them back.

A sheet of rain that had more in common with a wave slapped him in the face and he began to cough and splutter to his brother's amusement.

"No place like home – as long as you remember to keep you helmet on outside!" Fives laughed.

"Guys, let's not make ourselves look like a bunch of morons." Rex groaned and pointed at the hangar where the elements of the 55th Army group were marching in. There were a few squads of cadets gawking at the disembarking Clones and heavy equipment.

Fives got out of the rain and shook his head to remove as much of the water as possible.

"Come on, we need to report in, settle our gear and book a training ground to test our implants." Rex ordered.

"As you say, boss." Boomer's voice, well boomed over the commotion. "You heard the commander, get moving!"

"We hear you, there's no need to scream!" Echo shot back and promptly followed the orders.

Getting a free route to the armory and then barracks took longer that it should have thanks to all the Clones being deployed to the city. Finally 501st's command squad stowed their arms and went to put down the rest of the gear. On the way to the barracks they passed by cadet squads heading for training.

"You remember that? Target practice I recon." Echo pointed out.

"Do I ever?" Fives smiled wishfully. "Those were good times, when our troop was whole."

"Hey, is that 99?" Echo exclaimed and pointed down the corridor.

There, behind another group of cadets shambled a hunchback clone loaded with a bunch of heavy blasters. The man stumbled and the weapons spilled from his grip.

"Hey, 99! You all right?!" Echo grinned and went to aid the man who helped his first squad pass their training qualifications just as the war was starting.

"Echo? Fives?!" 99 exclaimed and grinned at his brothers.

"You actually remember us!" Fives grinned back.

"I remember all my brothers." 99 frowned. "Where are the others?" He asked.

Echo and Fives looked at each other and grimaced.

"Skywalker and the clankers happened." Fives spat.

All the Clones in earshot grumbled at hearing that name.

"Heavy died on Rishi's moon saving our assess. The rest were killed because of Skywalker." Echo explained.

99's expression fell. He cast his eyes at the floor and sighed before looking back up.

"Why are you back here? There's many people arriving lately but no one's telling me anything." 99 explained sadly.

"The clankers are launching a major offensive and they will be throwing everything they can at Kamino. We're here to protect our home." Rex explained. "So you're the one who helped those two pass. Well done, brother." Rex finally spoke.

99 beamed at the praise, then became serious.

"How can I help?!" He straightened up as much as he could and asked.

"That's the spirit!" Boomer exclaimed and went to clap 99 on the back, nearly sending him to the floor.

=RK=

CIC

Republic Star Destroyer Victoria, Victory I Class

Third Core Fleet flagship

High orbit above Duro

Admiral Dao sat in this chair in the CIC, far away from the captain so they wouldn't distract each other while giving doing their respective jobs and glared at the holo-image of the world he was tasked to protect.

"No one with my name should be defending Duro of all places." The admiral grumbled quietly. "I can already hear all the dumb quips that will result of this mess."

If anyone heard him they wisely refrained from saying anything and instead concentrated on doing their jobs.

"Why I couldn't be at either Corellia or Kuat like Plo-Koon and Coburn? I'll gladly go to the Outer Rim and swap places with either Yularen or Adi-Mundi!" Dao shook his head in a futile attempt to chase off his dark thoughts and returned his attention to the big holotank showing the disposition of his forces.

There was a GAR army group, the 44thdeployed on Duro along with a Caamasi armor division. With those forces backing the locals, the planet should be a tough nut to crack – at lest as long as the planetary shields could be kept running.

The admiral's concerns were in space, which was his responsibility. He had a powerful fleet under his command, a brand new flagship that was upgraded after some vital lessons were learned when Veil rushed the first partially operational Victory in combat and most importantly, he could rely on some pretty heavy fixed defenses.

While Duro was a pretty important world with plenty planet side industry that needed to be preserved, the primary reason why Dao was deployed here was simple – he was to slow down and bleed the enemy by using all the fortifications built by the Duros. If practical he was to fall back to the last stop before Corellia and repeat the exercise, withdraw behind the planetary shields or if things got sufficiently kriffed up – fight and die while dragging as much of the Confed fleet to hell alongside his command.

Admiral Dao had deployed a third of his ships facing the direction of Kelada and they constantly maneuvered to keep it that way and compensate for the stellar drift while keeping station under the defense coverage of Golan stations. The rest of the fleet was close to the planet itself and ready to bring the hammer down in case the enemy was arrogant enough to jump behind the outer defenses and attempt to bypass them. While unlikely because such a maneuver would put any attacker under the concentrated fire of the Republic fleet and both defense ring, the admiral wasn't going to dismiss such a stunt as impossible. The Confederacy was going to outnumber him significantly and if they were willing to absorb the casualties and his fleet was holding the outer position, it would be him who would be sandwiched by two enemy forces and torn apart.

"Sir, we've got a call from Coruscant for you, it's general Kenobi." The Clone manning the comms reported.

"Patch him to my station." Dao pressed a button a terminal built in the armrest of his seat and a small hologram appeared in front of him.

"General Kenobi, sir!" The admiral saluted.

"At ease admiral." Obi-Wan returned the gesture with a practiced ease. "One of ONI's scouts managed to get away from Kelada and beamed a report just an hour ago. The former Jedi looked grim. "It's confirmed that the Confederacy is sending a full Sector fleet your way."

"Then I'll be unable to hold Duro. Do my orders stand?" Dao asked. He was unfazed by the confirmation. High Command had expected this kind of outcome.

"They do. Hold the line for as long as practical and bleed them. We can't release our reserves until we know where the enemy primary blow will fall." Kenobi confirmed. "We've been forced to sent some reinforcements to hold Balmora because if that world falls the enemy will be in position to attack Felldale and block our direct route to Kuat."

"Is there something else I need to know?" Dao asked.

"We believe Antar is still holding but it won't be long after the assault on Oudlor cut them off. The last report we got was that the reconstituted Confederacy Third fleet was attacking and the leading elements of a Sector fleet were arriving." Kenobi grimaced. "Rhommamool has fallen and the Separatists Central Sector fleet is advancing on Denoon. We can't release our reserves until we know for sure if they will move on Corellia or Kuat from there. That fleet's destination will determine where they'll concentrate."

"It's as we expected." Dao nodded. "It doesn't make the waiting for the blow to come any easier."

"I have a request from both Valentra and Jerjerrod – try to keep your Flagship in one piece and send us report on her performance. Try not to get killed too. This war already has more than enough dead heroes."

"If I die it won't be for lack of trying to stay in one piece. I want to go of old age surrounded by my children who're listening to my war stories." Dao chuckled.

"May the Force be with you, admiral. Kenobi out."

"The same to you, sir." Dao saluted.

Now all he could do was wait. His forces were in position and he had multiple plans ready.

=RK=

It was early the next day when the First Fondor Sector fleet arrived. Sixty Munificent led the way. They launched a swarm of Vultures which dispersed and began sensor sweeps. A few minutes later the main body of the enemy fleet arrived and the numbers made Dao curse. There was no way in hell the Republic could stop them short of the massive defenses being build at Corellia and the multiple fleets gathering there.

=RK=

Republic detention center

Coruscant

Anakin was getting stir-crazy and kriffing bored. He had spent more than a month in prison with the only thing disrupting his monotone existence being Padme's rare visits and each visit to the court. Only his wife and attorney gave him any news of the outside world. At least now he knew what that terrible disturbance and screams through the Force were about.

Even thinking about Crimson and how close it came to destroying the galaxy, to killing his Padme made him fit to be tied. He should have been out there, beside his wife where he could protect her against anything!

There were other news – fragments heard by his guards and those that his two contacts with the outside world told him. Obi-Wan being expelled, Ahsoka being forced to basically go rogue and joining a military academy when the Council in their great wisdom decided that her place was to waste her time in the agri-corps…

There were days when Anakin wondered if he was still in coma and suffering from nightmares, because the outside world was making less and less sense with every new news he heard.

It was just yesterday when a disturbed Padme came to visit. All she wanted was to be held and be in his company. It took him a long time to coax what happened from his wife.

Naboo was under attack and the fleet there wouldn't be able to hold long without reinforcements that simply weren't there to be sent. This time the government and population weren't willing to keep their heads low and allow an occupation without fighting every step of the way. The GAR had been training the Naboo and Gungan volunteers as well as shipping in enough supplies and equipment of outfit a few armies.

Padme was torn. Anakin could feel that that she desired for the Confederacy to pay for what they did to her, for what they were doing to the whole galaxy. At the same time, there was still a quite large part of Padme that held her principles as sacred and was disturbed if not horrified that her peaceful people were becoming very militant.

Anakin didn't know how to respond. He personally agreed with the people of Naboo. In their shoes he would choose to fight too. So he simply held his wife and whispered sweet nothings in her ear.

Then she left all too soon and Skywalker was again alone with an ache in his chest he couldn't place.

Anakin's boredom and mussing came to an abrupt end when the door of his cell opened. He looked up from the small bed he was sitting on and his eyes widened. Obi-Wan was right there, frowning at him.

"Anakin, get up." Kenobi grumbled. "I talked with the jury. If you accept, you're sentenced to life which is to be replaced with no less than twenty years service in the Republic armed forces. If you kriff up again, that sentence goes into effect and if you try to run, lethal force will be authorized." Obi-Wan sighed. "Are you ready to get out of this hole or do you like it in here?"

"Whuh?" That was the only thing that came out of Skywalker's mouth.

"Oh, get up before I'm tempted to find you something even more mind-numbingly boring and unpleasant to do than cooling your heels in there."

"What? How!?" Anakin exclaimed and jumped up.

"As you might have noticed there's this pesky war going on..." Came the dry response.

"Padme told me about the offensive." Anakin's mind finally rebooted.

"This is your only chance to make up for your kriff up." Obi-Wan paused. "Anakin, please this time think before you act and kriff up your second chance."

"I'll be careful! I won't make the same mistake again!" Skywalker nodded frantically. "I had much time to think about what happened. What I did." The young Jedi grimaced. "I'm still the same man, Obi-Wan. I regret the consequences of my actions. I'll carry the memory of the men whose death I caused until I die. While Padme will always be my first priority, I'll keep myself in line for her sake if nothing else."

"I guess this is the best I can expect. I know where you're coming Anakin. I might wish to say that I won't be tempted to do something dumd to keep Satine safe if it was in my power, however a few months of marriage changed that. Still, I'll say it one final time, don't kriff up again because neither I nor Veil will be able to help you if you do."

"I understand. Thank you."

"Don't be so sure about that. You need to get back into good shape fast, because I'll be shipping you out with our reserves when it becomes clear which is the Confederacy's primary target."

"I'll be ready. May I visit Padme or am I confined to base and still under guard?" Skywalker asked hopeful.

"I'm giving you this evening free to visit your wife, but I want you ready to leave at five in the morning. I'll have an aircar waiting for you at her apartment for you, then report to me at six at HQ."

"Thanks again!" Anakin grinned.

Obi-Wan moved away from the door then appeared again and threw a bundle at Anakin.

"Get yourself somewhat presentable. That prison garb makes you look ridiculous."

=RK=

GAR HQ

Coruscant

Obi-Wan returned to playing at being a supreme commander after getting Anakin out of jail. For once there were no more bad news waiting for him, unfortunately that was going to change soon. The enemy had either won their first engagements and moving on their next objectives or still fighting where a handful of fortified and well garrisoned worlds held.

Kenobi expected that the next blows will be falling either late in the evening or early tomorrow. He went next to Valentra, who was staring at a massive projection of the galaxy map. There were no change since the last he checked.

"Its humbling." Valentra spoke quietly so they wouldn't be overheard. "For a thousand years the Republic was unchallenged and now we're likely to lose almost everything outside the Core."

"The Separatists already partially achieved one of their primary objectives." Obi-Wan nodded. The map didn't lie. The Confederacy had already managed to connect their far flung territories and more hyperlanes were already under attack, though some of the worlds anchoring them and their defending fleets were still holding.

Besides in the Core, the Republic was offering heavy resistance primary in the South Quadrant where the routes leading to Kamino were all contested. The same went for Naboo, Ryndelia and Enarc.

Special forces contested Utapau and fleet elements were still holding Kirdo before taking a long trip towards Kamino.

In the west things were grim. While the Navy attempted to slow down the enemy at handful of places, it was falling back in good order all across the sector. There were only two notable exceptions – Agonmar and Eridau where both the fleet and ground forces had dug in for the long haul.

The majority of the Sector fleet meant to protect that quadrant was withdrawing towards the designating staging areas and were to wait for Veil's arrival.

"That's a bright spot." Valentra pointed near Hutt space.

"I agree. Bothawui, Rishi and Lanos are holding strong. They know whats at stake and will make the Separatists bleed before retreating even an inch."

Those worlds held the gate to one of the main routes towards Kamino and were heavily reinforced in the last weeks.

"So far we're holding in the East too, but that's not surprising." Kenobi noted. "That's a secondary theater for the time being. While they will go after our industrial centers in the region we're in position to fight them head on there." Obi-Wan paused. "Well, mostly." His eyes were drawn to his new home.

Mandalore stood alone and awfully exposed after the quick fall of Phindar. Everyone knew that a major offensive there was imminent. The Confederacy wasn't looking up to facing the Mandalorians after they could rebuild.

"We've sent what we can there. Pellaeon seems a decent sort and Delkatar reassured me that he has a nasty surprise waiting there." Valentra offered.

"He told me the same but declined to reveal any details. For obvious reasons I didn't try pulling a rank." Obi-Wan said.

Valentra chuckled at that. "I would have paid good money to see that."

"I should be there, you know." Obi-Wan gazed at Mandalore. "Its the only home I have left. My wife feels the same. At least she's safe here on Coruscant."

"I feel you." Valentra nodded.

=RK=

CIC

Venator cruiser Avenger

High orbit above Mandalore

"You've got what replacing the hangars?!" Gilad Pellaeon exclaimed. The freshly promoted admiral had finally fully recovered from the battle for Mandalore a few weeks back. Ever since then he had been fiendishly busy fortifying the system.

Pellaeon had no qualms about the ground side situation. This was Mandalore after all and the bloody lunatics had received a lot of heavy equipment to play with along with at least two hundred thousand warriors who had returned when the general called them back home.

Gilad problem was the situation in space which was grim. The Republic had scrapped the barrel and a pretty decent fleet had formed in bits and pieces. Unfortunately, until just today when two supposedly Mandalorian Venator arrived, the locals had no fleet left to speak of. Pellaeon was painfully aware of that fact – he watched their navy die along with practically his whole command and his beloved Chimera.

That's why he was on board the Avenger – to inspect the ship and figure out where it came from. There were some pretty obvious signs about its origin – like the fresh coat of paint above what Gilad was sure used to be Republic colors.

Captain Trek, commander of the ship and one of Veil's spooks was the dead giveaway on how the Mandalorian got those ships. The Clone grinned and offered the admiral a data pad.

Those two cruisers were extensively modified, that was plain to see when he landed and found out that there was precious little hangar space left. It wasn't until he met the captain and the man brought him to the CIC that Trek finally decided to explain or show as it was the case.

Pellaeon stared at the schematics on the pad and the notations about what the equipment was supposed to do.

"This isn't some kind of joke? Is the weapon tested?" The admiral asked.

"Yes, though only against asteroids and a few wrecks that were write offs. It performed up to specs." Trek declared proudly.

Pellaeon didn't even try to fight the grin that stretched his face.

"This changes things." Gilad said.

"Well, Mandalore couldn't possibly leave his capital world while he's out there saving the galaxy from monsters out of a deranged nightmare. The Mandalorians won't stand for it."

"I can see that." Pellaeon nodded.

"Besides, all those Basilisk droids bought the boss heaps of good will with the natives."

Pellaeon groaned. He was trying very hard not to think about the few hundred Mandalorians taking their brand new war-droids on joyrides all over his AO.

"Now all you have to do is figure out how to utilize the weapon system best before the enemy arrives. According to my agent we can expect uninvited visitors in the next two day." Trek informed his nominal commander.

"Damn it, I need more time to integrate all the ships the returning Mandalorians brought with them. Right now they're more of a mob instead of a fleet. That goes for the lunatics riding droids outside." Pellaeon grumbled.

"That's why they pay you the big money, sir." Trek shrugged.

"What big money? While my new salary is nothing to sneeze at, it isn't going to make me rich either." Pellaeon frowned and wondered if he had missed something.

"Ah, right, you're still getting pay from the GAR." A shiteating grin appeared on Trek's face. "We're getting paid by the general because we officially don't exist as far as the Republic is concerned. The boss is quite generous."

"Is this a sales pitch?" Gilad frowned.

"Are you open for a change of employer perchance?" Trek countered. "You're already working for the boss anyway."

=RK=

Republic fleet protecting Duro:

Third Core Fleet commanded by Admiral Dao

Flagship: Victory I Star Destroyer Victoria, the class namesake. Its the first fully upgraded and operational prototype to enter services. The rest of its division are being frantically outfitted at Kuat.

The fleet consists of:

10 Venator Cruisers; 200 fighter 50 bombers each;

21 Acclamator Assault ships;

9 Dreadnought heavy cruisers;

15 Light Cruisers;

44 CR90 frigates;

Outer defense ring – 12 Golan Arms battle stations circling the planet protected by minefields and 50 platforms each.

Orbital defenses:

10 Golan Arms battle stations protected by fifty weapon platforms.

Extensive ring of weapon satellites – approximately 400.

Starfighters based on Duro or its floating cities: 3350

Total: 5350 fighters; 500 bombers;

Weapon platforms and satellites: 1500

44th GAR Army group is deployed to Duro to hold the planet; They're reinforced by a Caamasi Armor division.

=RK=

Fleet defending Mandalore:

Rear Admiral Gilad Pellaeon in command

Flagship: Venator Cruiser Avenger – Silencer equipped;

Venator Cruiser Vengeance – Silencer equipped; both are nominally the only ships currently in the Mandalorian Star Navy;

Republic Eight fleet:

8 Venator cruisers 225 fighters 25 bombers each;

5 Acclamators; 60 fighters; 60 bombers;

11 Light Cruisers

36 CR90 frigates

1500 Mandalorian assault fighters;

160 small armed freighters and corvettes brought back by warriors who answered Mandalore's call to arms;

Two armies still in training equipped with Republic provided vehicles;

800 Basilik droids as aerospace assets.

=RK=

Confederacy fleet moving towards Duro and Corellia:

First Fondor Sector fleet; Admiral Trench commanding;

25 Lukrehulk Battleships; 1000 Vultures each /300 upgraded; 700 regular meant as meat shields or atmospheric combat;/ pulls 60 weapon platforms using tractor beams;

8 Lukrehulk Command ships; 1500 Vultures each /400 upgraded; 1100 regular/ pulls 60 weapon platforms using tractor beams;

19 Providence Dreadnoughts; pulls 20 weapon platforms using tractor beams;

36 Command frigates; pulls 10 weapon platforms;

368 Munificent Frigates;

50,000 Vultures spread among the frigates, all regular;

Total: 87000 Vultures:

10700 upgraded space superiority and strike craft platforms;

76,300 regular vultures;

Weapon platforms: 2720

=RK=

Confederacy fleet approaching Mandalore: Numbers unknown, estimated to significantly outnumber and outgun the republic naval presence in the system;

Part 4

=RK=

CIC

CIS dreadnought Conquest

First Fondor Sector Fleet Flagship

three light seconds from Duro

Admiral Trench waited for his whole fleet to finish its hyperspace transit and assume a pre-designated formation before he made his move. He spent the time studying the sensor feed from the vanguard and the fighters it sent to scout for any unpleasant surprises.

The Republic was acting as predicted. Trench would have preferred that the enemy dedicated more ships to protect Duro – each one he could destroy here would be one less to face when assaulting the primary objective of the whole offensive. More problematic was the reason why there weren't any more ship defending this world. The admiral would bet his remaining flesh and blood eyes that the Republic fleets at Corellia and Kuat were busy training. Simply gathering a Sector Fleet that has never properly worked as a single unit at one place and expecting them not to get in each others way as much as in the enemy's was wishful thinking at best. That's why Trench had been drilling the principal commanders of the offensive and their subordinates for months. He even delayed the lunch date for a week until everything was performing up to his admittedly high standards.

The tactical plot refreshed and Trench smiled. His fleet was in place. Finally it was time to put his theories to the test.

"This is admiral Trench to First Fondor Fleet. Talon One, execute."

From now on, unless he saw an opportunity or something unexpected happened, Trench was going to be a mere spectator.

=RK=

The Confederacy fleet divided into eight battle groups led by Lukrehulk Command ships. Those units consisted by three battleships and forty Munificents each. The remaining part of the fleet centered around the Flagship was Trench's reserve. Thanks to all the dreadnoughts being concentrated in one place along with twice their number of escorts, that gave the admiral an armored fist to use as he saw fit.

The bulk of the fleet assumed a crescent formation and advanced towards Duro. While the planet's outer defensive ring was made by twelve Golan stations, only four of them faced the Confederacy force. They were backed by a third of the Republic fleet – 3 Venators, 6 Acclamators, 3 Heavy cruisers and 14 Frigates. The stations themselves controlled 200 weapon platforms and were screened by minefields.

Unfortunately for the defenders, the Confederacy knew for more than a month the exact parameters of Duro's fixed defenses thanks to a traitor bought by CIS intelligence agents.

A single battle group moved until it was almost in the center of the Confederate formation and it launched two thousand standard Vultures as a screening force. They were followed by bombers which would be quite vulnerable if engaged by anything the Republic had, however that was accounted for and ten Munificent flew with them to provide Umbrella coverage until the strike craft could launch their seismic charges to clean up the minefield.

The only surprise during this opening engagements was received by the Republic forces. Their vanguard launched its fighters and sent them on the heels of heavy anti-fighter missile barrage. The Vultures were wiped out in short order and the Republic small craft went after the bombers. Once the Torrents were committed, the escorting frigates launched everything in their hangars, and they were stacked with droid fighters. More were sitting on their hulls and they were sent out too.

The whole purpose for the sacrifice was simple – to lure out the enemy interceptors in a killing ground and they took the bait. From the 600 Torrents launched by the Venators, 563 survived slaughtering the droid fighters. Perhaps it was arrogance, a belief that they could survive everything that then frigates could throw at them and gut the bombers before the latter could strike. Perhaps it was an underestimation of how effective the Umbrella system was because the Confederacy had been careful to test it only when it could be sure that there wouldn't be Republic survivors and the bulk of the navy received the upgrade only during the calm period that followed the debacle at Geonosis.

In the end it didn't matter. The Torrents had to contest with almost eight time their numbers while avoiding missiles launched from the Munificents. That they were on the edge of Guardian coverage didn't help either. The only saving grace was that they faced unmodified Vultures. The Torrent's missiles gave them a solid edge and they distinguished themselves before the enemy fighters swarmed them.

Two wings lived long enough to disengage and only the tattered remains of a single squadron made it back to its mothership. Between the Torrents and entering a proper Guardian coverage, the CIS lost almost 1800 fighters and the rest were wiped out when they dived into a suicidal charge of the minefields and the weapon platforms hidden there in order to screen the bombers.

Despite all their escort could do, a third of the strike craft perished before they could unleash their payloads. Half of the remaining bombers were blown apart while they attempted to disengage. The minefields were erased by overlapping energy waves that could be resisted by nothing less than capital ships shields or armor and most of the weapon platforms went out with them.

The ten Munificents entered hyperspace on the edge of enemy effective range and returned practically immediately less than twenty kilometers from the two Golan stations anchoring the Republic fleet. Instead of slowing down or trying to evade, they went in while overloading their reactors and pushing the engines beyond their limits. Every forward mounted weapon spoke in unison, every spark of spare power was fed into the shields.

To their credit, the defenders reacted immediately and a single salvo went in before it was too late. Two of the Munificents were crippled by the heavy firepower of Venators and battle stations and a third blew up when its shields were overloaded an a reactor with disengaged safeties went critical.

It wasn't enough. Seven practically untouched Munificents slammed into the Golans followed by the wrecks which couldn't be diverted in time.

A Golan weapon's platform is impressive feat of engineering. It doesn't need a hyperdrive or big engines, beyond those for station keeping. That left a lot of space for additional weapons and armor. They could take an awe inspiring amount of punishment before being destroyed. Usually it was much easier and simpler to go after their weapons in order to take them out of the equation.

Further, there was a reason why such stations were usually deployed withing gravity well – it was to make a ramming attack problematic.

The battle stations outdid every expectation. Their shields held until each was struck by a second frigate. Even then, thanks to their heavy armor and robust engineering, it could be say that the Golans weren't outright killed by the next frigate that rammed their armor with enough speed to be considered giant KEWs.

There was no question that the stations were dead when another Munificent slammed into each of them and the remaining frigates shredded themselves when they plowed through the debris field.

That was what the rest of the CIS fleet was waiting for. They executed hyperspace jumps of their own. Two battle groups targeted the remaining Golans in the area with the other five appearing in a rough semicircle around the Republic vanguard. Thousands of fighters nesting upon the Confederate ships launched and swarmed the enemy. They were another distraction followed by just enough shots to take out shields, engines and some of the weapons, because the next wave of the attack consisted by boarding pods chock full with Commando and SB droids.

It took admiral Trench only half an hour to break through Duro's outer defenses and the exchange rate was very much in his favor.

=RK=

Battle for Duro, losses after the first engagement:

Republic:

3 Venators /1 captured/

6 Acclamators

3 Dreadnought heavy cruisers /1 captured/

14 CR90 frigates;

600 Torrent fighters;

150 Y-Wing bombers;

4 Golan battle stations;

200 weapon platforms;

CIS:

34 Munificent frigates; 10 more with minor to moderate damage;

1 Lukrehulk with minor damage;

7000 regular Vulture fighters;

860 upgraded Vultures in bomber/strike craft role;

=RK=

Part 5

CIC

Republic Star Destroyer Victoria, Victory I Class

Third Core Fleet flagship

High orbit above Duro

Admiral Dao gripped the armrests of his seat as he helplessly watched a third of his fleet be swarmed and taken apart by unexpectedly coordinated enemy battle groups. His only option to help his people meant leaving Duro's inner defense perimeter and thus the coverage of the Golan's and weapon satellites. Doing so would require leaving the planet's gravity well and thus the relative security from hyperspace jumps in the face.

It also meant getting into a great position to be jumped by the CIS reserve.

The alternative wasn't something he liked either – stand in pace and at least continue existing as a fleet in being threatening the enemy's rear and more importantly logistics. The Confederate admiral would ether need to leave a quite strong blocking force to keep Third Core Fleet bottled in or accept the casualties that would come with assaulting Duro.

"Comms, sent our sensor logs of the engagement thus far to High Command as well as our forces at Corellia and Kuat. Launch all fighters and bombers, defensive pattern Lambda." Dao was surprised that he somehow kept his voice even.

His vanguard along the minefields were meant to prevent the enemy from carrying out successful ramming attacks on the Golans without getting a large covering force into range of both the stations and his ships. The admiral grimaced. He underestimated the enemy. Expected them to attack more or less conventionally. The infernal coordination of the CIS battle groups had nasty implications too. If their commanders could maintain proper C&C during a full fleet battle, they would be able to take apart most Republic forces that tried to stop them. While the Sector Fleets at Corellia and Kuat were training in similar tactics by necessity of protecting the spread out industry in those systems, Dao knew that they weren't ready yet. If the other Separatist fleets were proficient to the same extent as the one he was facing, it would be imperative to slow them down.

That's why he gave the order to launch fighters. Right now he had probably the best opportunity he would get to cut his losses and run – the bulk of the enemy fleet had their hyper-drives recovering from the tactical jumps they utilized against the Republic vanguard and the admiral was sure he could get most of his remaining forces past the enemy reserve and away in hyperspace before the rest of the enemy fleet can move in to crush him.

Doing so would be the sane choice. Perhaps the only one that would see either Dao or any of his people leave Duro alive. It was the right tactical call – to get his fleet out and preserve it so it could fight another day.

Unfortunately doing so was the wrong strategic choice. It was vital that the Separatists were slowed down and he had one way to do so or at least pin some of their forces down. He had to stand and fight.

Dao's decision let him watch helplessly how his ships were torn apart in the crossfire of four battle groups each of which had the firepower at least equal to that of the dying vanguard. He noted that the enemy was attempting to cripple the ships and glared at the holotank when they launched boarding pods.

"Captain, have security deploy across the ship. I want all vital areas fortified. Comms, make sure the rest of the fleet follows suit."

The Clone in charge of Victoria confirmed he understood the orders and began implementing them.

Half hour – it took that long for Third Core Fleet's vanguard to be taken out. The Separatists left ten frigates to look over the wrecks which were undoubtedly still contested, then dressed their ranks and faced the rest of the Republic Fleet.

In contrast with the enemy's opening move, there was little finesse in what followed. A dozen Munificents jumped at the edge of the minefields surrounding the inner defensive perimeter and shielding Dao's fleet. They immediately launched three thousand Vultures that simply flew at the defenses. Those fighters were followed by a thousand strike craft.

The Munificents died seconds after they launched the last of their broods and ten modified missiles meant to carry multiple seismic charges as replacement to their concussion warheads. Vultures burned by the hundreds as they ran afoul of mines and anti-fighter missiles. Half of the bombers followed suit before they could break through the outer layer of the minefields.

Weapon platforms opened fire with their laser cannons and some launched proton torpedoes at slower targets. For a few minutes the night sky above Duro was lit up by thousands of short-lived stars. When the dust settled, there was a wide corridor carved through the minefields and most weapon platform in the are were wiped out. The Separatists casualties were total, yet those were losses they could afford.

"Concentrate forward firepower on the breach! Launch bombers and have them cover it!" Dao ordered while the last Vultures were sacrificing themselves.

He spoke just in time, because seconds later a whole battle group made a perilously short jump through hyperspace. Its leading elements let Duro's gravity yank them back in real space and fifteen Munificents suddenly decelerated in front of the defenders. Four of them were dragged back out of hyperspace by intact interdictor mines and arrived in the middle of the intact portion of the minefields where they were blow apart before they knew what hit them. The other unlucky frigates died soon under the concentrated fire of the defenders.

Yet all those escorts did their job – they sacrificed themselves so more powerful and important ships could get into position practically unmolested. The remaining Munificents and the battleships they escorted launched their small craft – all seven thousand of them and opened fire on the Republic forces. Half the Vultures went for the minefields and weapon platforms. Most of them died clearing them up the hard way. The rest of the small craft slammed headfirst into a storm of anti-fighter and capital ship fire along with more than twice their number of Torrents. The droid fighters died hard and did their jobs – they kept the Republic bombers well away from the battleships which were so close that their Umbrellas couldn't possibly intercept enough of the enemy small craft. By the time the defenders could break through the Vultures, the minefields were gutted and two more battle groups jumped in the cleared space. Their fighters swarmed forward and jumped the two bomber wings that somehow managed to approach the enemy.

Half a squadron of Y-Wings actually survived long enough to execute their bombing run and they savaged the right flank of a battleship before a few hundred Vultures blew them out of space.

Then the three Confederacy battle groups closed the range even further while unleashing every single weapon they possessed at the defenders.

"Intensify forward firepower. Ignore enemy cripples and concentrate on disabling as many of them as possible!" Dao ordered. "Have the Duros sent all their remaining fighters to back our wings. Re-configure the Guardians to avalanche mode. Once our small craft have broken through, launch all remaining missiles at the enemy leading elements."

This was the kind of battle the Republic admiral had been counting on. He hoped that the enemy would commit to an assault, yet dreaded the prospect.

By now the CIS had lost at lest twenty thousand fighters to clean the minefields, but they finally managed it and two more battle groups jumped into range – one above and the other below Third Core fleet. Even when counting on the heavy defense around Duro, that was more firepower than Dao's fleet could face and survive even before you took into account all the weapon platforms the enemy ship dragged into range.

The Admiral smiled bleakly. He had the enemy where he wanted them.

Thousands of missiles launched from weapon pods bolted on Jyvus Space City which floated just below the battlefield and at lest for the moment was protected by the planetary shield. At the same time the 2000 Torrents Dao had left along with a thousand Duros' fighters threw themselves at the enemy on the heels of a thick swarm of anti-fighter missiles. The small craft added most of their remaining ordnance to the barrage, then approached to cannon range.

The whole fleet and the Golans shifted their fire as appropriate and all that concentrated firepower managed to punch a hole in the enemy fighter screen. In just couple of minutes thousands of Vultures simply vanished under the onslaught. Even more of the droid fighters jumped to close the gap but it was too late. The Separatists Guardian knock-off did its best, however the range was too small and there were too many targets.

The Republic and Duro pilots paid in blood to close to point blank range where they unleashed every single missile and torpedo they had left before going in guns blazing. They knew that there was no going back and many chose to seek an appropriate target to ram. Others dared the odds and continued to fight to the bitter end.

Back in his Flagship's CIC, Dao felt sick. He knew what he was doing when he ordered this stand. Knew the consequences when he sent his pilots on that suicide mission. And he knew if he had to do it again he would do so, because it worked.

The three closest enemy battleships were crippled by the missiles that struck them despite the truly phenomenal amount of defensive firepower they could put in space. Those Lukrehulk fell out of formation and would soon be replaced by another battle group that was slowly approaching through real space.

"Fire pattern Beta Five!" Dao ordered while the missiles launched by the city were still halfway to their targets. The defenders shifted their targeting priorities yet again and they trailed every weapon they could upon the Munificents escorting the battle group coming from below. A third of the frigates either died or were crippled before the missiles strike hit home. The enemy's Umbrella took a large chunk of the huge salvo, however there was too much incoming ordnance to stop. With the battleships so close to the planet and lacking time to change vectors, they simply couldn't escape by entering hyperspace.

A thousand heavy concussion missiles struck just four Luckrehulks. They were all built in the huge factories even now toiling on Duro's surface along with all the ECM and decoy birds that allowed them to reach their targets. Two of the battleships were relatively fortunate – the warheads slammed into their outer rings that were mostly empty hangars and storage spaces for supplies. Their Cores survived practically intact and they were able to detach from the ruined cargo sections.

The pair took at least a hundred missiles apiece at the spheres where their most important systems including the main reactors were located. While those sections were heavily armored, such firepower was more than they could take. The ships simply cracked and blew apart under the multiple missile strikes.

Setting up the stage for such success didn't come cheap for the Third Core Fleet. More than half its remaining ships were either destroyed or little more than drifting wrecks, with the rest suffering from various amounts of damage. Two of the Golans supporting them were silenced almost at the same time and a third soon stopped firing when it was swarmed by strike craft.

Without any fighter support left, their magazines empty and their coverage compromised by battle damage, the Guardians were unable to stop the remaining Vultures from swarming the Republic fleet. Then the remaining battleship groups entered the fray to replace their lost brethren and the fate of Third Core Fleet was sealed.

Victoria'sbridge was silent. The alarms were deliberately shut down. Most of the crew had gotten to the escape pods, while Dao had remained behind so he could keep commanding his fleet until the bitter end. Somehow despite all the enemy threw at them, the Republic forces held for twelve hours. Tugs had maneuvered the remaining Golans into range to provide support only to see them rammed by Munificents the hard way – going sublight all the way and sacrificing frigates to make sure others hit their marks.

The bitter smile that never left admiral Dao's face ever since his vanguard was taken apart remained while his Flagship was pounded to scrap by a whole battleship division.

=RK=

CIC

CIS dreadnought Conquest

First Fondor Sector Fleet Flagship

three light seconds from Duro

Fleet Admiral Trench stared impassively at the wreckage that used to be a powerful Republic fleet. It was mixed with the remains of Duro's inner defense ring along with those of too many good Confederate ships. The cost of this victory made him pause. If it wasn't all part of the overall strategy, Trench would be raging at all the ships wasted here. Almost a third of his battle line was either gone or crippled. The same went for his Munificents and Vultures. Only the reserve was intact and that was because there was simply no good opportunity to deploy it. The battle-space had been terribly crammed even without adding those dreadnoughts.

The Republic would believe that they have won a strategic victory here. That their admiral had crippled Trench's fleet and forced it to spent the next two weeks consolidating and securing the nearby systems while repairs could be carried on.

Such an assumption would be mostly correct. Trench lost more than he feared while reducing Duro's defenses. Yet it was a price that had to be paid. This planet had a strategic location. Even now, mere minutes after the battle was over, there were convoys en route from Fondor with replacement parts, supplies and the tools to turn this place into a fortress.

The most important planet in the system was already under assault with whole droid armies dropping to the surface and division landing in the floating cities. Element of the fleet were flying out to capture the industry in the outer and inner system while commando units were trying to take as much of the orbital shipyards intact as possible.

It remained to be seen how much of the system's industry could be taken before the enemy could destroy it. Something that might have been a smile passed over the admiral's face. He had a call to make to the Duros leadership with an offer of conditional surrender. After that he had to keep the system secure in case of a Republic counter-attack until the third and final stage of the offensive was ready to be launched.

=RK=

Republic losses during the Assault on Duro: Third Core Fleet destroyed; Duro's inner defenses – destroyed; Outer defenses – 4 Golans destroyed, 6 surrendered; 2 holding out;

Confederate losses:

1 Droid command ship destroyed; 1 crippled, 1 moderate damage; 1 light damage;

5 Lukrehulk battleships destroyed; 3 crippled; 4 moderate damage; 6 light damage;

98 Munificents destroyed; 11 crippled; 36 moderate damage; 24 light damage;

38,000 Vultures destroyed; 6544 damaged;

2783 Upgraded Vultures destroyed; 544 damaged;