o.o.o.o.o
Korsk Los'ean
Silber Continent, Krant
Korsk sighed as he sat down against a tree with a camo net over himself while Linay slept, laying against him as per usual.
Their earlier conversation was still on his mind. Linay had told him time and time again that he was being irrational about bringing her into the relationship between himself and Kelia.
And she was honestly right, even if her talk about kriffing in the field was mostly her messing with him.
He was being irrational but he couldn't help it. He wasn't from Clan Aean by birth and he wasn't a perpetual degenerate going against the grain like Linay.
His upbringing had been conventional for an upper middle-class Bothan. Admittedly he hadn't been as aggressive at attaining influence as his brother, but that was also largely because of his interactions with Clan Aean in his youth.
Hell, he had to be talked into letting Linay kriff him and Kelia on their wedding night. Mostly because Kelia's anxiety was proving intractable and he felt pressured to commit to the consummation. It wasn't something he regretted after the fact, but he'd been reluctant to consider anything more serious since then.
Sighing, he scanned about via carefully positioned passive sensor nodes outside the shroud as another STAP buzzed overhead somewhere.
Thankfully the two Bothans remained undetected under their cover.
Anyway... He liked Linay.
Her, Kelia, and himself had been friends since...
Kriff, he couldn't remember a time he hadn't known those two. Must have been the random luck of their families all having to interact due to political and economic concerns leading to the three practically growing up in eachother's company.
Even though Kel was easily the one who could most logically be considered 'nobility', at least by Bothan standards.
Not to mention they all lost their virginity to eachother. Which was an entirely separate crate of rals he didn't wish to open.
Still, as far as he saw it, the issue with committing lay with himself.
Korsk looked over at Linay as she slept, her helmet resting on his shoulder.
Of course Linay would undoubtedly point out that he shouldn't have had a problem with it in the first place.
Korsk frowned behind his RIS mask.
He'd come to this epiphany before.
And, to his chagrin, it was almost always followed by him backing out of following through on having a comfortable life with two attractive females who genuinely cared about him.
Out of what? Self-spite? Idiotic adherence to taboos? Stubbornness? Stupidity? Actually caring what other Bothans thought about his relationship?
Wait, stupidity covered three of the other four as well.
Kriff.
["Golm give me strength... Because I am an idiot..."] He sighed softly.
Oh what the hell, not like he had anything to lose by actually going for it.
If Linay wasn't just spouting shtak then he'd make a push for it when they reconnected with Kelia.
Hearing as soft whisper issue from Linay's helmet vocoder, Korsk felt somewhat reassured having her next to him.
The one issue still lingering on his mind was Kelia, she was anxious but also fairly impulsive at times. Whenever she was truly set on something nothing could stop her.
Whether that was committing to a course of action or actively avoiding it, there wasn't much anyone could do to change her mind.
Frowning behind his mask, Korsk didn't know what she would make of the offer.
He hoped he was making the right call here.
Stars save him from Kelia's family if he wasn't.
o.o.o.o.o
RSD Kestrel, Denon Orbit
The Kestrel slowly slid close to an orbital platform over Denon after an entirely uneventful trip. As it did, a set of MandalMotors model TUG-314 space tugs nudged the massive star destroyer up to a massive docking port with their immensely powerful tractor beams.
Finally, after several heart-wrenching moments, the Kestrel safely locked in with the station and began to attach extended resupply tubes and the main loading gantry to bring aboard vehicles and supplies.
In turn the Star Destroyer's hangar doors opened to allow squadrons of Clone piloted BTL-T Y-Wings, Z-95R Headhunters, and Cord-class light starfighters to land in the main bay, further augmenting the Kestrel's force of V-19s, LAAB/es, and LAATs.
o.o.o.o.o
Kelia Los'ean
RSD Kestrel, Denon Orbit
Kelia grumbled as she sat in her office, Dan'lya working quietly at her own desk.
"Can't believe I can't go down to see the new ships." She half-growled in a disgruntled tone.
Her aide looked up at her. "You have paperwork to do, ma'am." Jural pointed out. "Let Commander Wardog handle his duties." She told Kelia, using the CSG's chosen nickname for emphasis.
From the moment Kelia gave her XO his name, it had opened up a metaphorical floodgate for the Clones to name themselves.
"Fair enough." Kelia conceded as she reclined and turned her attention back to her terminal just as the door slid open to allow CT-42/122 access.
"Sir! CT-42/122, reporting as requested!" He uttered while issuing a salute, his stock Fett Clone features visible with his helmet off.
Kelia returned the salute after standing for a moment and then sat back down. "At ease Sergeant..."
She paused as she realized she had forgotten what she was supposed to say to him.
Dan'lya sighed. "Remember, you called him up here to put him on emergency boarding duty like the last seven squad leaders." She reminded Kelia.
"Oh right! Those orders!" Kelia uttered.
"New orders?" 42/122 asked.
There was a slight nod as Kelia tapped away at her terminal. "Came in just after we decanted from hyperspace."
She pulled out her datapad and turned it to face 42/122.
He leaned in and read what was written.
[ENCRYPTION KEY: NOBLE-JASPA-OSH]
[FROM: 13TH ARMY HQ, MANDA]
[TO: RSD RETALIATION. RSD KESTREL. RSD HAWKBAT.]
[SUBJECT: TRANSFER ORDERS]
[CLASSIFICATION: RESTRICTED]
[RSD Retaliation battlegroup and all component units are to escort convoy DD-1 from Denon to Dressel via the outline route in the following file. Upon arrival, all vessels not operating as part of the Republic Navy or on contract as such are to be handed off to Bothan Marshalcy and Bothan Sector Militaries for the remainder of their journeys.]
The second file was locked behind a password, but what was visible was good enough.
"Interesting sir... What forces do we have and what's the size of the convoy?" He inquired.
Kelia tapped her datapad, showing the size of the convoy at nearly a hundred vessels of varying size and class. "Here's the convoy."
She promptly hit a few buttons and then switched to the overview of the battlegroup.
Three Venator-class Star Destroyers: Retaliation, Hawkbat and of course, the Kestrel.
Three Proclamator-class heavy cruisers: Myako, Ailon's Hammer, and the Fa'rey.
Two fully laden Acclamator-class assault ships: Havoc and Bothawui
Six Arquitens-class light cruisers: Intruder, Contruum's Pride, Blastbug, Last Shot, Riptide, and the Windwaker.
For lighter ships there were six Pelta-class frigates modified as flak barges, two more outfitted as EW craft, three CR90s, three DP20s, nine Consulars with Vanguard c20 retrofits suites, and finally eighteen Consulars with Charger c70 retrofits.
"Not a lot of our ships sir." The Sergeant noted grimly.
Kelia sighed. "We don't have many to spare, most of the Navy's likely still working up at this moment." She pointed out. "Our taskforce should be three times this size but there's just not enough ships."
She paused for a moment, Jural shrugging at her in a sort of pseudo-acknowledgement of it. "Anyways. I want you and Rori to keep your squad ready to go."
"Rori? You mean CT-56/1102?" 42/122 inquired, curious as to why his brother suddenly had a name.
Kelia nodded. "He said he'd been looking up Naboo and its moons, and that he wanted to go to Rori one day. So I just gave him the name and he liked it."
She decided not to mention her dislike of the Naboo given their refusal to properly defend themselves even a decade after being invaded. Still, they'd at least bothered to shield their cities and upsize the RSF to a degree.
42/122 contemplated that. "Sir, why do you insist on naming us… We're just Clones."
The Bothan stopped and shook her head. "You're not some mindless drones, sergeant. The fact that you ask questions, get curious about things… You're sentient, and that's what matters."
He stopped behind her in surprise, his surprise becoming more visible after he saw Dan'lya's contemplative look.
Kelia looked over at 42/122. "I still don't believe you didn't give eachother names before I kickstarted everything, but it's not really my place to press… Every time I ask you men about Kamino you start getting nervous."
42/122 suddenly seemed a lot more sheepish, causing her to raise a curious eyebrow.
Kelia's time being friends with Janson, Marn, and Ielec had given her a good insight into typical humanoid body language. So it was safe to say she understood better than most Bothans how to determine tells.
That Clan Aean had a substantial human minority didn't hurt either.
"Well… There's reasons for that, but I do have one. It's Sabre, sir."
"How'd you earn that?" She inquired, genuinely curious.
Dan'lya's ears perked up as well, clearly interested.
He laughed, and knowing that Kelia wasn't as strict as the crew thought she was, he loosened up a bit. "Well, during a major exercise my blaster malfunctioned. So I dove into a sand-filled trench and began to whack the training droids with it while holding the thing by the stock."
Sabre saw her confusion before addressing it with an explanation. "DC-15As have good weight distribution to enable them to be more easily used by younger Clone cadets for familiarization. So naturally some of my brothers thought I was pretending to be a Jedi."
"Hence the Sabre?" She laughed back.
"Yes sir. Not everyone gave eachother names though, the Kaminoans thought it was disruptive to discipline."
Kelia nodded. Still, she was mildly off-put by the statement about the Kaminoans given how the more she learned about them, the less she liked the picture it painted.
A cough from Dan'lya reminded her that idle chatter wasn't the rule of the day. "Anyways. Your standing orders are to have your squad on standby to help board any disabled freighters and off-load passengers and movable cargo."
She almost frowned as she realized it had taken her way too long to get to the point.
As Sabre nodded in confirmation Kelia suddenly heard her comlink chime. She quickly hit the answer key after pulling it out. "Los'ean."
["Captain, your presence is requested on the bridge."] Perth's voice called from the other end.
"Roger that, I'll be there ASAP." Kelia replied, giving Sabre a nod as the two of them made their way to the closest transit tram just as a Nu-class cargo shuttle, a bulkier variant of the personnel transport version, came in for a landing.
o.o.o.o.o
Melik Fer'tannen
AA-9 Freighter, Ilisk Noc'tannen, Denon Orbit
Captain Melik Fer'tannen frowned as he stepped to the fore of his freighters bridge. As he did, his first officer glanced over at him from the controls.
"We're ready to go Captain. All systems green." The human, Amihsay Iraim, reported as she turned her attention back her work.
"Right…" The ash-grey and black furred male sighed as he sat down in his chair, casting his heterochromatic gaze over the bridge.
Aisfr from the two there were four other bridge crew members. Two systems engineers who were manning monitoring consoles and a comms operator and a navigator.
The latter two were currently coordinating between themselves and Denon control to get proper route headings.
Aside from Iriam, the entire bridge crew were a mix of Torolisian Bothans from various clans.
"Nervous sir?" Iraim asked, looking up from her pre-departure checks after seeing a wary twitch of his fur.
"I have over thirty-thousand souls aboard, most of them hoping to get to Bothan Space before the Seps launch an attack… We'd honestly be safer flying alone than in a Republic convoy, at the mercy of CIS droid brains."
"I feel that sir." The human agreed as she flicked several master control switches on. "But with the Thaere sector having seceded…"
"Corporate doesn't want to take the risk we'd be attacked anyways by the Seps." Fer'tannen sighed as he pulled up his headset and activated the PA.
["This is the Captain speaking. Ladies, gentlemen, and any beings who don't adhere to normal humanoid standards of sex, we're now preparing to depart Denon for direct refugee service to the Dressel system. Please observe the orders of any Bothan Marshals aboard the ship as well as those of the flight crew and overseer droids. Thank you for your time."] He stated in Bothese, repeating the message once more in basic before shutting the line down.
"You did well enough."
"I was kriffing nervous the entire time." He growled, smoothing out the fur on his neck with a brush of his hand. "We're way out of our depth this far outside the Slice. Sooner we get out of here the better…"
Iriam nodded in agreement. "At least we don't have to transit via the Gamor chokepoint."
"I'll say... One thing those kriffing Askars are useful for is their nav data from working exploration and survey duties." He agreed, knowing that Gamor was likely being heavily fortified by the Separatist Navy as they spoke.
"Right, so the route's taking us from Deneb to Hoylin via the back routes, then through Beris up to Shador, then via an Askar bypass to Bresnia, then to Dressel." Iraim noted as she checked the charts.
"Not a reliable route. At least not for routine use as a hyperlane. Though I doubt most will care for now since my clan and Clan Onel will object to its use by non-neutral ships. As would the Askars… And probably those bucketheaded Aeans will too now that I think about it."
He let out a breath. "But for now they'll let us use it to get this convoy through."
She nodded at him as she continued her checks. "Alright, final checks complete… All boarding hatches sealed and pressurized, waiting for final disposition from dock… Looks like everyone made it aboard according to the porters." Iriam read off as she checked a message screen.
"Right…" Fer'tannen flicked on the PA again. "All hands stand by for departure."
o.o.o.o.o
Kelia Los'ean
RSD Kestrel, Denon Orbit
Kelia and Dan'lya strode into the bridge's information center, where Perth was standing next to the main holoprojector.
Admiral Zsinj, Captain Gressler, and a younger human male she didn't recognize were speaking to him though blue-tinted holos.
"Captain Los'ean, reporting." She uttered as she walked up.
["Ah, good, we're all here."] Admiral Zsinj acknowledged, the woman turning to look at Priv Gressler. ["Captain Gressler, please reiterate your suggestions for Captain Los'ean's sake."]
The older human nodded gruffly.
As he did so, a sidelong glare at Kelia, or more likely her holoprojection, snuck into his expression. ["As I said before, our best bet would be to engage in close defense around the convoy while in realspace. Preferably engaging any Separatist raiders long enough to allow the convoy's component groups to jump away."]
Kelia nodded in understanding, ignoring the man's animosity for the moment.
It was a practical arrangement design to defend as many ships as possible with the assets they had on hand. Which were a bit more substantial than a typical convoy escort.
But even Kelia held no delusions that they had enough ships to protect the transports if they had to pass through a CIS strongpoint. There were simply far too many ships for the taskforce to protect without reinforcement.
So it was natural to keep the warships close to the convoy to deter attacks.
Some gut instinct nonetheless told her she was making a mistake, even as she squashed it.
As the most junior of the ranking officers, she felt too insecure in her own
"Any word on additional ships joining us?" Kelia asked, it was unlikely, but she could always hope they'd have help.
["Negative, the other taskforces and fleets in the region are busy shuffling in preparation for blunting possible Separatist offensives."] Admiral Zsinj stated bluntly. ["Not to mention the Navy's own potential plans of attack. At most we have the Fei Hu sector forces to aid us until we reach the Dressel Belt."]
Deflated, the Bothan looked down meekly. "So, we're on our own." She whispered, flinching when Gressler issued a glare in her direction.
Dan'lya seemed to shrink behind her datapad, wanting to go as unnoticed as possible in the midst of her superiors having a disagreement.
["It is rather a risk…"] The unidentified human muttered softly after mulling the subject. ["Can we even successfully defend so many ships?"]
"Can we afford to not?" Keila inquired softly, attracting attention from the rest of the taskforce's leading officers.
["Captain Los'ean has a point. We indeed cannot afford to not. The abandonment, capture, or destruction of the convoy will be an immense propaganda coup for the Separatists."] Maarisa Zsinj noted ruefully, her brow furrowing as she contemplated the point further.
Kelia's fur rippled anxiously as she went deep into thought on the matter.
["While I appreciate the merits of our discussion Admiral, and with all due respect to Captains Zsinj and Los'ean, we have a timetable to keep."] Gressler pointed out.
Kelia almost raised an eyebrow involuntarily at the phrase 'Captain Zsinj'.
Had the Admiral put her son under her command as a direct subordinate?
Still, Kelia agreed with Priv, endless talking would get them nowhere but trouble. The more time they spent discussing the matter, the more time the Seppies had to discover the route and intercept them with whatever forces they could deploy.
Even if they didn't sink a single warship, the loss of a substantial number of transports under heavy escort would be as Admiral Zsinj said, a propaganda coup.
So, she made the call she hoped was right. "I agree with Captain Gressler… We don't have time to discuss this anymore ma'am. We should set out as soon as we're ready."
["Very well then. I'll be transferring orders for each component group to their respective captains, as well as assigning a third of our vessels each to the Retaliation, Hawkbat, and Kestrel for them to serve as command vessels. Dismissed."]
Kelia's fur twisted nervously. Simulator exercises with exploitable AI was one thing, it was quite another issuing orders to living beings with individual ways of doing things. "Understood, Admiral." She said automatically as the call ended.
Preferably she wouldn't have to interact much with them.
If she was to say anything else, it would undermine Admiral Zsinj's confidence in her ability to lead.
Not for the last time would Kelia wonder if she was ready for this, and not just from a 'am I truly fit to lead' standpoint.
"Captain." Perth called out.
She shook her head, adjusting her cap after a moment. "Yes?"
"We're prepared for departure."
Kelia nodded and strode past him to the front of the bridge. "I want fighters and bombers on standby alert. Inform station control we're departing once the last of the supplies are aboard."
"Sir!"
"Helm!" Kelia called out as she stopped at the head of the bridge. "Ease us out slowly once our moorings are clear."
"Understood sir!" The lead helmsman replied as the dull thunk of docking clamps and connecting tubes disengaging reverberated through the ship.
The Kestrel's engines thrummed as the massive star destroyer slowly edged away from the docking port on the supply station with the aid of several tugs. Once she was fully clear, the massive banks of ion drives kicked on in earnest with a dull roar, driving the warship towards the steadily growing convoy.
The Venator took up position at the center of her task group on the convoy's right flank, a Charger c70 slipping underneath her ventral surface before itself taking up position near the Acclamator-class assault ship Bothawui.
With the convoy formed up, and the jump point not much farther ahead, it was now a matter of reaching it within the next minute or so
There was a gentle tap on Kelia's shoulder, the Bothan turning around to see Jural handing her a headset suited for Bothan use.
She beamed at Kelia.
Kelia smiled back at her and took it. Removing her cap for a moment to put the headset on and activate it, Kelia checked her datapad to ensure that the ship's navicomputers were coordinated with the rest of the convoy.
Satisfied, she tapped the mic key. "All hands stand by for the jump to hyperspace."
Alarms blared throughout the Kestrel's hyperdrive motivators warmed up.
The ship lurched under her feet as the pinprick lights of stars suddenly stretched into a million lines, and then smeared away into a blue haze seconds before the Kestrel's bridge viewports opaqued as the ship leapt into hyperspace.
o.o.o.o.o
Senior Captain Turr Tone
CSS Extellius, Shador System
Captain Turr Tone hummed softly, gently stroking his chin as he sat back in the command throne of his Auxilia-class pursuit destroyer Extellius, a faster and more combat optimized cousin to the Captor-class carrier, as it underwent replenishment at a Separatist orbital station sitting one of Shador's moons.
The rest of the ship's patrol flotilla, consisting of another seven Auxilias, four Captor-class light carriers, sixteen C-9949s, corvette cousins of the more famous C-9979 lander, some Trade Federation Waylander-class superfreighters refitted as Escort Carriers, and twenty Lupus-class missile frigates, were also docked nearby.
His now 'ex' Trade Defense Fleet force had been perfectly positioned to isolate Republic aligned shipping along the Gamor run when war broke out, locking up hundreds of ships in the systems between Shador and Merren.
Combined with pirates and various uncharted hazards running along the minor lanes that linked the Gamor Run to the other areas of the Galaxy, it meant that the big corporate vessels wouldn't dare step out of line.
Only the fastest or craftiest of tramp freighters had a chance to get past his pursuit forces if they tried to get to Bothan Space from the Fei Hu sector.
Even then, said chances were slim with the junction world of Daalang hosting a substantial Confederate Naval base.
For a Neimoidian who had made his career running down and heavily fining those attempting to operate independently within Trade Federation jurisdiction, whether they had a license or not, it was the ideal hunting ground.
At his side, an OOM Command Droid strode up, carrying a datapad.
"Sir." It's monotone voice, typical of older model B1s and OOMs, droned. "New intelligence just came in from Daalang Command."
The Neimoidian took the datapad and frowned. "You're certain this data is accurate?" He asked, furrowing his brow ridge around his data goggles.
"Affirmative sir."
Tone cracked a mirthful grin. "So, the Bothans have begun moving supplies and beings back home… While normally I would be happy to let such freighters go past us, they have had the misfortune of requesting a Republic escort…" He uttered without letting his smile fade.
It was a transparent excuse, one which would leave the Confederacy with relatively clean hands given he would have attacked the convoy either way.
His orders were clear, no vessels were to pass through Shador without Separatist authorization. Why, he didn't know. Nor did he care.
Bullying helpless freighters was a specialty of his, and it was something he enjoyed making a habit of.
"Contact the U-412, their group should be on patrol in the Beris system." Tone ordered. "I want them to test the convoy's defenses. Sink any ships if they can. We'll handle the rest."
The droid bobbed its head in understanding. "Roger roger."
o.o.o.o.o
Kelia Los'ean
RSD Kestrel Beris System
For the second time that day, the Kestrel decanted from hyperspace, this time in the Beris system.
The main hangar doors of the Venator slid open to allow twelve Z-95Rs to depart, followed by twelve Cords.
With the ship's combat vacuum patrol up, Kelia turned her attention to monitoring control. "I want our electrotelescopes scanning for anything our sensors can't pick up." She ordered, deciding for once to err on the side of caution rather than aggression.
"Understood, sir." Sweep responded before turning back to his station.
"A little difficult to manage sir, but we can do it. Any reason why?" Perth asked as the Kestrel moved into position to shield a small group of freighters with its bulk.
She looked over at a nearby monitor showing the layout of the system, which had many tightly packed asteroid groups mixed with debris fields from space battles and pirate attacks.
Frowning as she observed the debris fields that lined their path to the next jump point, Kelia's fur bristled nervously as she realized it was an ideal ambush point for missile frigates and other hard-hitting raiders.
"Call it a hunch but get our flak guns and point defense grids ready, set all turbos to power setting two, maximize effective rate of fire." She ordered before pausing and then making a decision. "Bring us up to orange alert and warn the rest of the convoy. I want some of our corvettes on sweep duty."
"Yes sir." Perth acknowledged as alert alarms droned throughout the Kestrel's halls.
o.o.o.o.o
Jural Dan'lya
RSD Kestrel, Beris System
Jural froze as the klaxons began to blare, hearing the patter of bootfalls outside Kelia's office as Clones rushed to their alert stations.
Pausing for a moment, Dan'lya's fur flattened as she realized how out of place she was.
She didn't really have an action station as she was noncombat staff.
All she could do was sit in her seat.
And wait.
A shudder ran through her fur as her aggravation spiked at her uselessness.
o.o.o.o.o
Lieutenant Bru Caaks
CSS U-412, Beris System
Bru Caaks frowned as he sat in the conning tower of the U-412, a Lupus-class missile frigate of the Confederate Navy, as it drifted serenely in one of the Beris system's several debris fields.
He had rigged the vessel for silent running and attached several decorative sections of debris to the hull, which made it look like it too was an ancient piece of wreckage drifting in the void.
The ship's sub-section of the pack, consisting of itself, the U-241, the U-723, and the U-981, lied in wait for the Republic convoy to approach their sector.
The eight OOM Pilot droids scattered around the helm sat silently and motionlessly at their consoles, set to minimal power draw by the internal computer.
One of them suddenly activated and turned its head to face him, the sensor manager if he remembered correctly.
"Sir, several escorts have moved ahead of the main convoy and have commenced active sweeps of the debris fields." It reported, a tinny higher pitched voice compared to the more soothing monotone of the older models, issuing from its vocabulator.
"Are our anti-scan measures holding?"
"Yes sir."
He felt a nervous twang but controlled himself. "Then return to low power draw until I give the alert, they'll detect you otherwise."
"Roger roger." It acknowledged before resetting to its prior position.
Outside the viewports, Caaks made out at least one Consular-class edging closer to his ship's position, turbolaser turrets twitching anxiously as the vessel swept the debris field.
As it rounded a blocky chunk of some ancient ship, the vessel came in on a direct heading straight for the 412.
Clenching his hands, the Gran grit his teeth as the Consular continued bearing down on his ship. In his minds eye, he imagined the crew aiming its frontal laser cannon turret directly at his bridge.
Snapping under the pressure, he panicked and gave the order. "ENGAGE!"
Every light inside the 412's interior flared on at once as the droid crew sprung to life.
The gunners immediately went into action, sending six streams of red bolts blazing from the frigates anti-fighter laser cannons once they'd acquired a lock on the oncoming Republic ship, which swerved violently to steer clear of the barrage.
The Consular's turbolasers returned fire as it came about, turret guns flinging blue streaks of energy towards the 412.
Several shots bracketed the missile frigate, one just missing the bridge.
Before the CIS vessel could begin evasive maneuvers, the Republic corvette found the range and fired the fatal shots.
In an instant, a pair of sapphire bolts punctured through the 412's still unshielded hull and detonated its missile magazines.
Caaks knew only the briefest instant of heat and flame.
And then oblivion claimed him and his ship.
o.o.o.o.o
Kelia Los'ean
Beris System
"Sir! Corvette Flippant reports coming under attack from enemy raider! Confirmed Lupus-class missile frigate!" Yap, the chief comms officer, reported from his position in the crew pit.
Kelia bared her teeth. "Great… I just had to be right…" She huffed. "Order them to withdraw before they get hit by any other ships, then send out an alert to the convoy to raise shields to combat levels! I want the Intruder to take that frigate out! The rest of our squadron are to take up warhead intercept formation!" She barked, the Clones carrying out her orders.
A flash erupted in the debris field. "Corvette Flippant reports they've sunk the enemy vessel."
"Right, belay last orders to Intruder. Tell Lieutenant Commander Veyn to rejoin the defensive screen."
Yap nodded and sent the new orders to the light cruiser's commander.
"Captain!" Sweep, the sensor chief, yelled out. "Three more Lupus-class vessels have exited debris field Aurek! They're firing heavy anti-ship torpedoes!"
Kelia froze, fur flattening hard against her skin in fear as the ship's alarms began to blare. Even worse was the procedure word that accompanied it over the PA, repeated thrice.
["ANZAT! ANZAT! ANZAT!"]
"DEFENSIVE FIRE! NOW!" She screamed, the fact that she was being shot at for the first time in her career never once crossing her mind. She had no idea what kind of warheads those torpedoes were packing. "ALERT THE CONVOY!"
And force willing, she hoped she never would.
o.o.o.o.o
Melik Fer'tannen
AA-9 Freighter, Ilisk Noc'tannen, Beris System
Melik frowned as the alert came through. "Alright, divert power to deflector and particle shields… Hopefully we can take at least one hit." He growled nervously.
"Sealing bulkheads now to contain damage from any potential hits." Iraim chattered away. "All passengers are in main holds and away from the outside edge of the ship."
Fer'tannen's fur swirled nervously as his first officer continued her work.
And then it flattened in fear as the Venator in front of them opened up with seemingly every gun it had that boasted a starboard firing arc. A brilliant barrage of sapphire-colored energy streaming outwards while twelve pinpricks of light screamed inwards, as if challenging the guns.
"Oh shtak!" He yelped as he resisted the urge to yank on the controls, instead merely hitting the automated collision alarm button.
It was the closest he could do to giving his crew and passengers an impact warning alert, one that came just in time for what followed.
Several light freighters scattered in a panic as the warships started shooting, one careless Ghtroc clipping a GR-75's command pod, knocking the module out of alignment and sending the now out of control light freighter spiraling off into space.
Melik grunted as it skipped off of his ship's dorsal hull.
By chance, an outgoing heavy turbolaser blast from a light cruiser impacted the wayward Ghtroc-440 and blew it apart in a spectacular fireball, ending any attempt to bring the craft under control.
"Zhąr Ghųlm 'vųyąr!" ["GOLMS FIRE!"] Fer'tannen shouted in a half yelp, half-growl as the flash faded. "What ship was that!?"
"The tramp freighter 'So I heard you're lucky?', operating under a Denon license." Iriam reported after a quick check of the convoy register. "Only had three crew aboard…"
"And the other ship it hit?"
The human female frowned. "GR-75 freighter Ke'tak, Askar Merchant Fleet out of Ulkani in the Both System. They're reporting six injuries among the crew. No fatalities thankfully and no hull breaches. Same on our end."
Fer'tannen winced. He didn't like the Askars, but that was a long way from wishing any of their clan dead.
Three more flashes, exploding missiles, erupted in the distance, followed by another four of rapidly increasing brightness within decently quick succession.
Melik's ears folded back as he counted five remaining drive flares, just as the closer ranged point guns of the Republic warships began to engage.
Eerily silent walls of blue laserfire tearing across into the void towards the missiles, which continued closing rapidly by the second.
Not good odds.
o.o.o.o.o
Kelia Los'ean
RSD Kestrel, Beris System
Kelia grit her teeth as the Kestrel's guns continued blazing away at the incoming missiles, the streams of laserfire slowly drawing towards individual points as the missiles closed.
Even as the pounding of the guns reverberated through the ship, Kelia instinctively knew it wouldn't be enough to stop all of them.
The first warhead slipped through the combined barrage from the Kestrel and the assault ship Bothawui as it passed through the minimum firing arc of the lighter escorts.
The missile shot across the Venator's bow and impacted an Action V freighter carrying ammunition for the Kothlisian Navy. The resulting detonation consumed the boxy ship and everything aboard in a massive fireball as the entire load of starfighter grade proton warheads went off.
Horrified, Kelia and her bridge crew watched a dozen beings die, helpless to do anything about it.
The remaining four missiles, which had been fired a few seconds behind the one that'd gotten through, continued to race towards the convoy.
It was then, at this critical moment, that four searing beams of bluish light lanced out from just above the base of the starboard side of the Kestrel's superstructure, spearing all four missiles and destroying them.
The point lasers had engaged just in time, though it sickened Kelia to know that the computer had only engaged to destroy the greater bulk of the warheads.
Or that was what it was supposed to do.
Fragments from a not-entirely vaporized missile shot past the Kestrel and slammed into the engine banks of an AA-9 freighter at high velocity.
One of those pieces was the missile's warhead, which slammed directly into the ship's starboard outboard engine.
And then detonated.
o.o.o.o.o
AN: The Z-95R is the Clone Headhunter, while the BTL-T is my new name for the BTL-A2 from my old version of FOTK. Fits better in with the BTL-B Y-Wing instead of making it an A series variant.
Likewise the Vanguard c20 retrofit for the Consular is based on Ranulph Tarkin's 'Light Assault Cruiser' Invincible from the Stark Hyperspace War comics as well as the similar refits seen in Jedi Council: Acts of war issue 4. Though in TCW Consular colors.
And finally the EW Pelta is just a Pelta with more radar dishes and the flak-barge one is basically the Phoenix home's fittings but with even more guns and no hangar.