Sorry for the delay. Real life had been a major pain and I have been having some problems with my sleeping pattern. Regardless, I apologise and hope this chapter can make up for it.
Oh and you definitely reached the goal... XD
So, yeah, I'll probably be making another chapter or two of this today or tomorrow... Stick around to find out!
Anyway, have a good day or night and hope you enjoy!
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Travelling in Hyperspace was very boring. This was something all three of us found out after experiencing it for two days straight. Sirius was now slowly going mad with the lack of things to do, his legs bouncing up and down as he sat. Whilst Harry chose to experience Force meditation during this period and soon found himself asleep on his chair, a little bit of drool spilling from the corner of his mouth.
I, on the other hand, was periodically checking the navigation controls and running thought experiments with different materials. I had considered multiple combinations that could be very powerful... One such combination was a tungsten-aerogel material that would have the strength of the former and the weight of the latter. Another combo I was dabbling with the idea of was spider silk and Titanium fused together to make casual clothing that could bounce bullets but get folded like normal cotton clothes.
The conceptual reality of the ideas were awesome, the ability to create them leaned heavily on me however. I would need to invent an entire industrial creation process to make them separately and possibly sell them. Unfortunately for me, I had twenty four hours before we passed the Expansion Region of the Galaxy.
"Hey! What the fuck!?" Looking up from my watch I looked out through hyperspace. The light that was streaking past before was slowing and warping around the ship. A sharp tug on the ship slowed us down even further, Harry now waking up from his prolonged nap in confusion.
Looking at the console I soon discovered what was happening.
"We're getting pulled out of Hyperspace by a substantial gravitational force." Sirius blinked at my description, looking out as real space slowly filtered into perception once again.
"Is it natural?" Harry asked as I quickly shut down the Hyperdrive to avoid being torn to pieces.
"From what we can tell? Unknown... I suppose we'll find out." The two wizards shot each other a look as I rapidly spooled the sub-light engines in hopes that we could avoid being captured if this was an interdiction force of the Empire or something.
Our perception of Hyperspace died as real-space flickered into view.
"Fuck... That is, awesome!" I stifled my chuckle at Harry's exclamation.
"That is a space battle between the Republic and the CIS... Confederacy of Independent Systems. It looks like we're in the middle of the Clone Wars." Both of them just looked at me as if I were mad for thinking they knew what I was talking about.
The battle was massive. The Republic forces consisted of 200 Venator-class Star Destroyers, 20 Victory-class Star Destroyers and 400 Acclamator-class assault ships. The CIS on the other hand had 40 Lucrehulk-class battleships, 450 Recusant-class destroyers and 120 Providence-class Dreadnaughts.
Fighter groups were dogfighting in-between massive melee exchanges, vulture droids hot on their tails as proton torpedos and blaster rounds splattered against deflector shields. Lucrehulks brawled with Venators in eerie efficiency, hundreds of tibanna-gas fuelled columns of plasma slamming into already exhausted shields and armoured plating.
Below this knife-fight was a singular planet that glimmered like a yellow marble. The Assault ships of the Republic were descending onto the planet amidst a cacophony of turbo-laser fire. Entire ships exploded or split down the spine as the CIS ships attempted to refocus their fire. The exchange didn't last long however as the Assault ships entered lower orbit and soon transitioned into atmosphere. All that was left in orbit of the world was the immense battleships and star destroyers, interspersed with a ton of secondary support vessels.
"I don't have words..." Sirius soon went silent as we watched a Lucrehulk start imploding on itself, the concentrated fire of three Venators descending upon it like vultures would a corpse.
"Can we run? I don't think we can survive a fight like this for too long." Harry's words made me check the navigational console again. It was hopeless, something was generating a massive gravitational field, preventing all Hyperspace travel in this region.
"Nope, we're stuck." I hummed out.
"Well, that is shit." I laughed at Harry's tone. The teenager was clearly over it all and I couldn't blame him. We became True Sith just two days ago, he joined a Multiversal Chatroom and now we're in the middle of a huge space battle.
"Do we try to land on the planet?" I looked towards Sirius and winced.
"No. They just landed millions of Clones on that world. Which means that there is going to be an extensive conflict that may well span the entire planet." The old dog grimaced at the idea of a planet-spanning war.
"We could contact the Republic fleet and try to run to their back line." Harry's suggestion made several lights inside my head go off. If we were trying to get to the Jedi anyway this would be a good way to do that. The Jedi were the Generals and commanders of forces like these, which would mean that we could get an escort back to Coruscant pretty easily.
"That's a good idea. Jedi lead these type of battles, it would help us get to Coruscant, most likely." The kid grinned as Padfoot leaned closer to the battle in hopes of gaining more clarity on the battle's current state.
"Should I broadcast my force presence to get the Jedi's attention?" I shrugged at the teen's suggestion.
He must have taken my gesture to mean 'go ahead' because he immediately dropped the veil over his force presence and projected it outwards towards the Republic Fleet.
"If they didn't know we were here before, now they certainly do..." Sirius deadpanned.
~~~
Obi Wan scraped a hand through his beard as the bridge around him moved like a Geonosian hive struck by seismic charges, something which he had only witnessed once at the start of the war.
His eyes drifted over the cacophonous movement of clones and officers around him, anchoring several times upon the distant explosions and detonations in the formation. This deployment had been a hasty mess for the 212th and 501st... Not only had the Republic received garbled information about a blockade along the Perlemian Trade Route but it had failed to account for the presence of Ventress.
Even now he could feel her murky, insipid, presence squeezing its way through the battle and influencing the efficiency of the droids. The dark side and light side were quivering as he stood there embracing the living force. Clones died and he could feel them fade into the force. Droids burned out and a sharp scent of stillness suffused his mind, the usual hubbub of battle pressing in on his senses and clouding his meditative search through the force.
"General, the 501st have reached the capital city of Cartao. They're under heavy fire sir." Obi Wan turned to listen to Cody, the clone commander's presence serving to sharpen his focus once more.
"Logistics Cody, what are they facing and how can we help?" The commander nodded and initiated the holo-map of the world below, transmitted from several spy-ships that were protected by the fleet.
"The capital city itself houses 20% of the planet's population, roughly averaging at 300 Million citizens. Several of the starports are currently locked down and protected by CIS or Resistance elements in the city. Currently General Skywalker and the 501st have taken several of the outlying starports and are securing a beachhead as we speak." Obi Wan rubbed his beard once more as he looked over the Nabooan-like city. Many of buildings showed signs of structural damage and blaster fire. The main administrative complexes were made of marble and spired, jutting into the sky like Coruscanti Sky Duplexes; tall and wispy.
"What of our adversary...? Do we have numbers on the ground forces or supply routes?" Cody shook his head whilst pressing another button on the holoprojector, the blue static image stretching out until it showed the continent that the city was based on.
"All we are certain of for now is that the separatists have Heavy Artillery entrenched along this canyon." He pointed to a long impression on the projection before continuing. "General Skywalker has attempted several bombing runs with his forces but all have failed, it seems that they have a one-way shield General."
Obi Wan halted his ministrations of his beard and frowned at the problem before them.
"Yularen." A man with a handlebar moustache and the attitude of a Senator waved away several adjutants and stepped up beside Cody.
"Yes, General?" His tone was practically venomous in its disdain.
"Do we have any Venators that could potentially bombard an Artillery position?" The Admiral paused for a moment and then looked down at his data-pad, his fingers clacking against the transparisteel as he searched for an answer.
It was a moment later that he stopped hitting the pad and he regarded the Jedi and Clone again.
"We have a single Venator that has recently been pulled from the front line. It currently only has half of its ordinary ordinance available... Will that be enough?" Obi Wan gave a thin, mirthless smile before turning to Cody with a raised eyebrow.
The clone commander looked at the projector and then towards his General before slowly nodding. "It'll have to do. We just need sustained fire on the location to ensure that the beachhead isn't annihilated from the start." Yularen tapped a single finger on his data pad and waved some of the officers standing nearby over, quickly relaying the orders to the spare Venator.
"Any progress on narrowing down which Separatist ship is creating the interdiction field that has us stuck like Marsh flies on a Spinners web on Dagobah?" Yularen straightened his spine at Kenobi's words and visibly huffed at the perceived slight at his efficiency, his moustache quivering as his emotions spiked.
"Not yet." He responded in a clipped and frustrated tone, his beady brown eyes bearing down at his data-pad once more as several communication officers dragged him away to do force knows what.
"Cody, I want you to go and reinforce Anakin on the ground." The commander nodded as Obi Wan moved the projector back to the stilled image of Cartao's capital. "I want you to take over the energy grid and lock down these three entry points. We'll use the plains outside the city as a staging point and create a logistical corridor through the city... From there we can easily reinforce or pull back our forces."
"It'll be done General. I've had the men ready since the battle started." Obi Wan nodded and softly waved Cody away, the commander rushing off towards the hanger bays.
The space combat was slowing down now, as most do. Most conflicts in orbit have a rhythm to them, much like the rhythm inside one of his master's old plants. First contact is usually exuberant, powerful, impactful and deadly. Ships on both sides trading losses and victories before the two fleets start truly playing Dejarik.
This phase of combat was usually the most surreptitious and nasty. Both fleets would begin ground warfare and naval support. Escorts would engage eachother in static combat that would prevent certain support from reaching the warfare on the planet below. Capital ships become staging points for reinforcements and bombardment whilst periodically engaging in fleet-to-fleet engagements spanning the entire orbit of the world and usually the satellites; the moons.
Obi Wan had made a name for himself as a fine player of this 'game', now his skills were being put to the test once more. Now he just needed to know who his opponent was. Ventress, whilst a Sith Assassin and adequately skilled in lightsaber combat, was not a tactician nor was she a leader... She wouldn't be his foe for this particular match.
"I want Arm one of the fleet to array itself in orbit above the capital's continent. The Second Arm will provide a screen between the planet's lower orbit and the Hyperspace lane. The central contingent will be the vanguard, we'll be the ones intercepting attacks and launching counterattacks. Any critically damaged vessels are to stick with the first arm and attempt repairs." Numerous officers sprinted for their consoles and began transmitting the orders. The beginning strokes of the battle were dying off and now the war for Cartao and the Perlemian trade route had begun.
Obi Wan turned to face the bridge once again, his eyes tracking the Separatist ships breaking away for the opposite side of the world. The force was singing and he softly enveloped himself in its tune...
Until that tune was blasted into his ears and shaken into his mind, an immensely powerful presence of freedom and power washing over him. His eyes widened as his heart thundered in his chest. Adrenaline rushed through his veins with the same fervour that the force did. Unknowingly he had rushed to the very edge of the command deck until his face was practically smudged against the transparisteel windows.
Out there, in the onyx darkness of space was a force sensitive that should have reeked of the dark side and yet was completely separated from it.
"What in the force!?" Several officers were staring at him in confusion and trepidation. Not many of them had ever seen a Jedi act like this, let alone Obi Wan... Until today that is... And they didn't know how to feel about that.
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