Chapter 20: The Road to the Ocean
June 6
The time for the next campaign was approaching.
Lothal now had a new space station built in its orbit, mostly built with materials converted from the Imperial Dome, which now had been fully dismantled.
The ships that the allies had captured during the battle over Lothal had now been given to the newly formed militia of the planet, which was being trained by the Rebel Army. However, the Bellator required a lot of manpower to be operated efficiently, and while there were thousands of volunteers signing up for the militia, they still need training, especially for the defense fleet. So, for now, the dreadnought was sitting anchored at the space station.
Manpower was never an issue, because the hopes of Ryder and the heads of the Federation and the Alliance became true: every day, civilian ships loaded with refugees and people who was trying to escape from the Empire were finding their way toward Lothal, in the hopes of starting a new life outside of the imperial authority.
Many of these refugees also came to enlist in the Rebellion. The siblings were quite surprised to see how many admirers they had. Many or the newcomers had heard of the two Jedi siblings that were capable of defeating the Empire and many wanted to meet them and fight under their command.
The victory in the space battle had weakened the Empire in that region of the galaxy, so Jaral wanted to exploit the opening left to start the campaign to liberate Mon Calamari.
She had convened multiple times with Admiral Raddus and Vice-Admiral Ackbar about everything she needed to know about the planet and the sector. The officers had particularly stressed out how it was vital that they found and rescue their King: Lee-Char, who had been a hostage to the Empire for more than a decade, now.
The Federal fleet had been advancing in the last few days, not only securing its hold on Kamdon, but also conquering the orbit of the planet of Sanctuary, which sat at the intersection between the major lanes Rim Run and Tidal Circuit. Nimbus had informed the allied forces that the Moff of the Calamari Sector, Tan Hubi, was amassing his fleet over Mon Calamari, while also keeping a fortress on Pammant. This fortress was hosting hyper-velocity cannons, which could have damaged the allied fleet very much, so the planet had to be taken before proceeding with the main objective.
In Camp Garibaldi, Ezra and Sabine were heading toward the airfield, where they were supposed to meet with a team of rebel special forces, the Rangers,that Ezra had to command for the upcoming mission on Pammant.
"So, Commander," Sabine nudged him lightly as they walked toward the area they had been told. "your first time in charge of a real army. How do you feel?"
Ezra made a lopsided grin. "I just hope they won't look at the fact that I'm most likely younger than them."
"If they have any doubt, I'll kick their ass for you." she joked.
"Easy, my war goddess, besides if you do that, they'll respect you more than me, in that case."
"You'll do fine, Ezra. I mean, you led us to conquer the Imperial Dome."
Ezra feinted a bit of arrogance. "Yeah, I guess I am awesome."
Sabine playfully rolled her eyes as they kept going. Over their heads the rumble of two X-Wings flying in an exercise had them lift their gazes for a moment. Over the base there was a massive traffic of transports, fighters and small ships.
Camp Garibaldi was built right next to the ocean, which had been restored in record time thanks to the Guardians. The sentient ships had left Lothal, for now, though there were rumors that the Empress wanted to use them again in the future, to help the galaxy rebuild from the devastation of the war.
Over the ocean there were various ships belonging to the Rebel Alliance, including some ships sold by the Federation: a couple of Turian frigates and three York-class cruisers, painted with a different pattern of colors. They surrounded two Mon Calamari cruisers, including Ackbar's Home One and a regular MC80 battle-cruiser.
A familiar voice recalled them.
"Hey, you lovebirds!"
They turned in that way to see Zeb waving at them.
"Zeb!" Ezra greeted him as they approached him. "Having fun training inspecting our troops?" he asked.
Because of his experience and his rank as a Captain, Zeb had been integrated into the Army, as had Rex. Which meant that Hera was now pretty much the only member of the Specters, along with Chopper, left on the Ghost.
Not that she wasn't seeing the rest of the family, on the contrary. Now the houses around the tower had been finally built. They were small, but equipped with many commodities. Hera was checking in every two weeks with Mira to make sure that the baby was fine, and while the Doctor insisted that Hera took some more laid-back task, and even Jaral was offering her one repeatedly, Hera intended to keep flying for as long as she could.
In fact, Phoenix Group had now been expanded and it now included two Nebulon-B frigates, an MC-30 Calamari frigate and two corellian missile corvettes. Plus there were two squads of X-Wings, one of A-Wings and a mixed squadron of fighters and bombers.
"Eh, they are not the Honor Guard, but I must say, our friends in the Milky Way know how to train soldiers."
"Have you already seen my squad?"
"Yeah, they are tough enough. We should be able to accomplish the mission without problems."
"We? Are you coming with us?" Sabine asked.
The Lasat grinned. "Jaral asked me to babysit you two."
Ezra shook his head with a smile. "Of course she did."
Zeb quickly led them into a fenced area of the airfield, where the teens spotted a group of soldiers with armors that differed from that of the regular troopers. They were also wearing their helmet, and all of them had a different scheme of color on the plates.
"Atten-tion!" Zeb yelled.
The group of six soldiers immediately formed a line and compelled with the order.
"Go on." Zeb said to Ezra, extending his right arm to make him pass.
Ezra kept his head uncovered, while the rest of his body was still into the armor. Sabine followed him at a short distance, her helmet underarm as the two passed in front of the squad.
Ezra made a passage in front of all of them, then stopped and turned around.
"At ease." he said.
The soldiers complied.
The Jedi walked back in the middle of the line, so he could face all of them.
"Is it okay for you to remove your helmets, or…?" he asked carefully, but the soldiers removed them without problem.
They were 4 males and 2 females, all Humans, since the armor was designed for them, though the Rebel Alliance was planning to create something similar for other species.
"Okay...who is the Squad Leader?"
The man on the right end of the line (according to Ezra's perspective) stepped forward. He wore white plates.
"I am, sir. Lieutenant Poshur."
Ezra nodded. "Nice to meet you. I'm Commander Ezra Bridger, this is Sabine Wren. But perhaps you already knew that?"
"We did, sir." Poshur replied. "And allow me to say, it will be an honor for us to serve under your command." he added with a sincere tone and a small grin.
Ezra made his own grin. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Now, have you been informed about the mission at hand?"
"All we know is that we're to infiltrate on Pammant." Poshur replied.
"Exactly. The Empire has a hyper-velocity cannon on the surface that could be a serious pain in the side for the fleet. The INS Constantinople will use its cloaking device to drop us and a squad of Legionnaires on the surface. We blow up the cannon, we signal the fleet and then we get out of there. At least, that's the plan."
"At least?" one of the women said.
"Because I'm sure everything will go terribly wrong." Ezra quipped, quoting one of his Master's favorite adages.
The group of soldiers looked at each other in confusion.
"Just do what we do, guys, and you'll be fine." Sabine reassured them.
"Y-Yes, ma'am." the officer replied.
"Very well." Ezra concluded. "We're leaving in two hours. Until then, how about we get to know each other, very quickly?"
So far, all that the task force had found was destroyed settlements and other signs indicating that the unknown planet, which had been temporarily called 'P-762', indeed hosted a civilization and that the monstrous aliens, nicknamed 'Hybrids' because apparently they had human genomes in their DNA, must have been born by a factor external to the planet.
The captured battleship had been kept around for just a few days before Iulius decided to have it brought back inside imperial territory as soon as they understood how to maneuver it, thought it would need to be towed by one of the Star Destroyer since its engines were down and, apparently, had no hyperdrive. But anyway, to study that technology they would need a suitable research facility and shipyard that the Task Force certainly couldn't bring with it.
Iulius was a bit more interested in the hive mind of these creatures. Mara seemed thoroughly convinced that there was one, controlling all the hybrids. Admiral Tanis couldn't help but think that this entire species was fabricated by the Grysks, since he had been told that they enslave the will of other species, literally shaping them to fit their purposes.
And the hybrids were originally Humans. Would the entire galaxy turn into those things if the Grysks were allowed to reach it?
That thought was driving his resolve to accomplish the mission even further.
The main problem, though, was that communications with the rest of the galaxy were still impossible. Though the supply chains had been restored, for the moment, using the pathway that Mara had showed to lead the fleet here, it was still impossible to call the Emperor to inform him of the recent developments. Mara said she was sure this was the place where her master wanted them to be, but the Admiral would have preferred to receive clear directives about it.
For now, Qathora had asked him to reach the laboratory, where the biologists had apparently made some more discoveries.
As the Admiral stepped into the conservation room, he saw both his Togruta servant and Mara, who was inspecting the two corpses of the hybrids as well.
Because of the implant on their backs, the bodies had to be laid on their bellies. The inside of the room was guarded by two stormtroopers while the small team of scientist was running their tests.
Iulius stepped between the two tables where the corpses were laying and reached Qathora.
"So, what do you have?" he asked.
"Doctor Kerson has just finished his exams and...we might have an answer about these implants." she said, pointing at the smaller hybrid on her left.
Iulius turned toward the head scientist, who was waiting in the room.
"Report, Doctor." he ordered.
The man with a pair of tech-goggles stepped forward.
"The machines of the Hybrids appear to be heat reduction systems. We tried to revitalize part of their tissues and, while we can't be completely sure, it would appear that the aliens' metabolism is way faster than that of Humans."
"What does that implicate for us?" Iulius asked.
"Well, according to the reports of your servant and that of the troopers who were aboard the battleship, these creatures were more agile, stronger and...this one," he said pointing at the bigger one, which had been nicknamed 'Steel-head' because its head was covered by what seemed to be optical implants made of steel. "had an incredible capacity of withstanding blaster bolts. If their metabolism is as strong as I believe, it would mean that these creatures might have a limited healing capacity."
"You mean, they can heal their wounds quickly?"
"Yes, Admiral. Maybe in the span of seconds, but I could verify this theory if only I had a living specimen."
Iulius hummed. "I understand, Doctor. But I'm not accepting one of those things alive on any ships of the fleet."
"Oh, I concur, Admiral. We would need a containment facility that not even the Star Destroyers possess. Unless you do decide to establish a base on the surface." he said.
It was no secret that Iulius indeed wanted to go deeper into this matter. However, what if he was going to waste time and resources for a threat that perhaps wasn't the one he was looking for? He would've liked to report this to Emperor and have him make the decision, but in the end, didn't the Emperor himself give him full autonomy?
The Hybrids were now without their ships in orbit. With all the firepower carried by his fleet, Iulius could easily choose to erect a base in the middle of a plateau he had already spotted from orbit. There they would have a defensible position on land and the fleet could just provide orbital bombardments to cover them very easily, and a solid base on the surface would be the first step to try and make contact with the indigenous human population on the planet.
Iulius paced very slowly around the room, and everyone understood that he was thinking about taking that decision again.
"You are right, doctor. We have waited long enough." he concluded. "I'll consult with the other Captains." and he headed outside of the lab, followed by the two women.
June 7
The Constantinople left hyperspace and engaged the cloaking device. In front of it stood Pammant, a world made mostly of volcanic rocks that gave it a dark-gray color from orbit. It had one peculiarity, though: its gravity was lower than most of habitable worlds, more like that of a moon.
Despite being a primordial world, it already had some indigenous plants that created oxygen, thus making it possible to walk on the surface without vital support systems, but it was better not to count too much on it. So all the members of the strike team kept their helmets on, or the breathing mask in Zeb's case.
The team of Legionnaires announced by Ezra were, of course, Jordan and his three Legionnaires of the Marine detachment.
As the ship slipped past the Imperial Fleet standing around the planet, the strike force was aboard one of the Kodiaks, which then lifted itself and went out into space from the hangar, diving toward the surface of Pammant.
It was at that point that the Turian pilot called Ezra.
"Commander Bridger, you're getting a call from the Grand Marshall."
"Let's hear it, then." the boy said from behind his helmet as he stepped into the cockpit to use the video feed in there.
The holographic screen appeared on the control panel, showing Jaral from the shoulders to the head.
"Ezra, tell me you have not landed yet." she said with urgency.
The young Jedi was a bit surprised. "Uh, we're descending toward the objective right now."
"Scrap that. I've got a new target for you. Nimbus has just come in with the coordinates for the planet's main generator."
While she spoke, she also sent the new coordinates and Ezra motioned the pilot to follow them.
"It's a geothermal implant placed right beneath a dormant volcano, and it powers the entire defense system on the planet. The hyper-velocity cannon but also land-to-orbit turbolasers and other stuff that might give more headaches to the fleet."
"A dormant volcano? I would prefer going for the cannon right away." Ezra said sarcastically.
"Look, I wouldn't ask it if I didn't know you guys can pull this off. Besides, it should make it easier to destroy the implant. Put a charge in a critical point and the lava will do the rest."
"I just have the Mandalorian for the job."
"Be careful there. Once you are ready to blow that place up, signal me and I'll send the fleet in. They're waiting in a nearby system, they will be there three minutes after the signal."
"Copy that. We'll soften the Imperials up."
"Good. Jaral, out."
And the feed disappeared.
Ezra walked back into the cargo bay, where the rest of the squad was waiting.
"Change of plans, people." he announced. "We know where the main generator of the planet is, so we're going for that."
"Where is it?" Jordan asked.
"Inside a dormant volcano. It's not what we anticipated, but if we play our cards correctly, it should be easier to destroy it."
"Uh, I always wanted to demolish something with the help of a volcano." Sabine commented.
"Of course you did." Ezra quipped, then activated his omni-tool as he received new intel about the structure.
"Nimbus is really a life saver...we got the schematic of the generator, I'm sending it to your omni-tools."
Soon, everybody else lightened up their omni-tool and received the schematic and started analyzing it.
"Here." Michalina said, highlighting a section of the schematic. "The main reactor is deep inside the mountain."
"We're gonna need to set a time charge or we're going to be buried alive." Jordan noted.
Sabine hummed. "I think we can settle with a remote detonator. The point is, there is only one way in and out. Someone has to keep the main hallway open."
"I agree." Ezra replied. "Dad, you and your squad will keep the door open for us."
Everyone looked at him a bit confused.
"Uh, you know they are our strongest, right?" Zeb asked.
"Yes, but I want to test our new guys. So far, all our Army has done has been taking over Lothal after we forced the Imperials to surrender." he said calmly. "It's time to see what you guys can do on your own, no offense."
"None take, Commander." Poshur replied. "In fact, we have been waiting to kick the Empire in the buttocks for a long time, ain't that right, Rangers?"
Rangers was the official name of the special forces of the Rebel Army. The rest of the team, call-sign 'Rhino', yelled "Uh-Ah!"
Ezra turned toward the Lasat. "Zeb, you and Sabine stay behind us. Protect her until we reach the demolition point. We'll try to keep our profile as low as possible, but if things go south, we will lead the way."
"Aye, aye, boss." Zeb said half-joking.
A little less than two minutes later, the shuttle finally approached the destination. It was going to leave them some 900 meters away from the generator's access tunnel, into a canyon, where the shuttle wouldn't be noticed by the sentinels because the difference in height hid them.
As the shuttle touched down, it opened its doors and the group disembarked, going one way or the other. The area was clear of imperial presence, so there was no problem for them to get down and let the shuttle fly away, waiting for their signal for a pickup.
Following the GPS signal transmitted by the Constantinople, the group marched toward a hill west of their landing zone. A couple of TIE fighters flew over their head, but thanks to Jinx alerting them in time, the strike team could hide and avoid their detection.
They kept marching, until they finally saw the entrance to the tunnel in the distance.
Ezra led the squad behind a massive rock standing no more than 200 m from the entrance and peeked over.
He spotted a platoon of stormtroopers and an AT-ST guarding the door.
"I can easily take it out." Private Olbien, who was carrying a rocket launcher on his back, said.
"Explosions tend to draw attention, and if they discover us right now, they're going to seal the bunker and call up reinforcements." Ezra replied.
"Maybe you can use the Force." Thabo suggested. "This planet sometimes has weird gravity phenomenons, it should be easy for you to lift the walker and have it trip over without them realizing it was you."
The others looked in disbelief, but Ezra hummed interested.
"Yeah, then they'll likely call for help from the bunker. As soon as they open the door, I slip inside with the cloaking device and then you guys take them out."
Sabine shrugged. "It's not the craziest plan you had in your life."
"That's the spirit." Ezra replied. He dematerialized his TL-50 and engaged the cloaking device.
Then he moved in sight of the AT-ST and extended his hands. Through the Force he got a grasp of the walker and the lesser gravity of the planet really helped him to do the job. Ezra started to lift the walker. He could perceive the fear of the pilots on board and the alarm into the stormtroopers as he turned the machine on its side and then let it fall.
He saw the stormtroopers immediately rush to open the hatch while the commander was calling for assistance from inside the installation.
Without wasting a second, Ezra dashed toward the door, keeping a light step to avoid being detected because of the sound. He easily bypassed the distracted guards and posted himself near the tunnel's access door.
It didn't take long for a group of engineers and Army troopers to come out of the structure and get near the AT-ST. The pilots had already been rescued, but they still were trying to figure out what happened, since that area of the planet was considered safe from the gravitational anomalies.
Ezra used the opportunity to get on the internal side of the door.
"Guys, now." he whispered loudly into the comlink.
Ezra stood still, waiting for when the attack would start to take down the two Army troopers guarding the hallway.
A few moments later, the hissing of a rocket and then a loud explosion destroyed the AT-ST head and sent many imperials flying in all directions.
Ezra ignited his lightsaber, making his cloaking disappear, then quickly slashed the rifles of the guards and Force pushed them against the walls, making them pass out. Meanwhile, the rest of the group attacked with a frontal charge the few stormtroopers left, who were caught completely by surprise. They fired back a few bolts, but Jordan and the Legionnaires were at the head and while their shields easily absorbed the bolts, they made short work of the imperials.
Ezra slashed the controls for the door and had Jinx intrude the internal system so that the Imperials couldn't close it from a distance. When the rest of the squad entered, they left the Legionnaires to cover the exit while the others charged in, with Ezra at the head.
It wasn't long until the rest of the troopers, from Army, Navy and Stormtrooper Corp, rushed toward them from the other hallways, only to be met by an incredibly precise wall of blaster bolts from the Rangers, while Ezra used his directional shield and his lightsaber to provide cover for his underlings. Slowly but steadily, they made way toward the inner core of the generator.
"Admiral, my brother has just entered the generator, we're leaving immediately!" Jaral ordered as she sat down in a meditative pose on the bridge of the Profundity, with her eyes closed to focus on the bond with her brother.
"Yes, ma'am." the Calamari Admiral replied, then rotated his chair toward his Lieutenant to give the order.
The Rebel Fleet was waiting along with its allies in the system of Sanctuary. In order to reach Pammant, they would need to pass between two other systems along the Rim Run: New Heurkea and Mantan. Both were systems devoid of any strategic asset, so the Empire wasn't occupying them, but the fleet would still need some 20 minutes to reach the system. It should've been enough for Ezra and the strike team to take out the generator, but the fleet had to arrive before all the Imperial Forces on the planet fell on him like a hammer.
And during the voyage, she kept contact with Ezra through the bond. She followed him as he and his squad of rangers got their way toward the interior of the geothermal plant, how they were about to be surrounded by the garrison, so Ezra ordered Sabine to detonate the charge a little earlier while he and Thabo used the Force to keep the lava at bay while Jinx shut down various blast doors of the hallway to slow down the eruption.
"Marshall, we're about to leave hyperspace." Raddus announced and Jaral snapped out of it.
Confident that Ezra was in a situation where he could easily get everybody out without injuries, Jaral stood up and prepared herself.
Soon after, the Profundity left hyperspace. She was already in between of the allied formation, composed by a mixture of Human, Turian and even Geth warships. The Rebel Alliance was going to take the center, as Edrix and Raddus had come up with an aggressive encirclement tactic that used the superior range of the Milky Way's ships to hit the Imperial vessels.
On her flanks, the Profundity was escorted by a group of peculiar spaceships: two Dornean gunships, Braha'tok-class, with an armament that was incredibly effective against the swarms of imperial fighter-crafts; then there was the Home One, an MC80 Star cruiser under the command of Vice-Admiral Ackbar.
Hera and her Group were on the right wing of the formation, along with a group of federal fast cruisers and frigates and the rebel ships provided by the Federation. They were to escort a group of four Human Dreadnoughts and even a Geth Dreadnought, which was slightly bigger than those of the Alliance.
In front of them stood Pammant and its moon, along with the Imperial fleet. It was mostly composed of cruisers of various classes. There was only one Star Destroyer, which was the center of the imperial formation. The Empire also had an outpost in orbit and it was going to be the final objective of the attack, since without that, the imperial garrison on the surface would only have to starve to death or surrender.
The battle didn't seem too difficult, since the allied forces had a 3:1 advantage in ships (there were still many reserves waiting just outside of the system to enter the battle if the Admirals needed it), but Jaral had learned never to underestimate the enemy. She let the Admirals lead the battle while she focused onto the battlefield, using the Force not only to communicate with Ezra on the surface, but she was also working on refining a new Force Ability.
Recently, while searching into Kanan's holocron, Ezra and Jaral had come up with the notion of a Force Ability called "Battle Meditation". Apparently, this ability had the power to increase the effectiveness of someone's allies, while also eroding the enemy's will to fight.
Of course, it was an ability that required years of training and practice. All she could do for now, was to try to connect just with the crew of the Profundity and try to see what she could do. She thought that she could use this ability to remove any distraction or fear of defeat from the minds of the crew, which could bring to an overall increase in the efficiency of the ship.
She closed her eyes, simply leaning a hand on the wall next to her as she focused on all the Force signatures on board.
While she was doing this, the battle started. The Imperial defense force was the first to open fire. They tried to attack the right wing of the allied force, since they saw the light ships, but Raddus immediately ordered the center to engage the front-line of the Imperials. On the left wing, Admiral Edrix was leading his old flagship, the INS Invictus, since the Protector was to be used for the attack on Mon Cala.
The central formation now scattered to avoid the barrage coming from the Star Destroyer. The Profundity kept at a relative safe distance, if nothing else because the Grand Marshall was on board.
Both formations launched their fighters, but the Imperial ones still suffered from the same problem of their comrades during the battle of Lothal: both the Federation and the Rebellion had objectively better fighters, and the Federation could count on vast numbers of them. The pilots on both sides could be considered equally well-trained, meaning that, in the end, the technical superiority of the allied forces easily gave them the upper-hand quickly.
Hera as well was busy with leading her fighters against an imperial attack on her side. A group of twelve cruisers was trying to destroy the escort to the Dreadnoughts before those ships could get into position, but Hera's tactical ingenuity had the TIEs quickly destroyed and left the cruisers completely vulnerable to attacks from the small space-crafts and the other ships.
After losing half of their ships and only managing to gravely damage a Nebulon-B and two Asari frigates, the Imperials had to pull back, chased by Hera's fighters until they were in reach of the rest of the Imperial formation.
As that occurred, Jaral received a good news. Ezra reached for the bond and called her.
"Sis, we are aboard the Constantinople right now."
"Is the generator gone?"
As if to answer her, one of the Calamari officers reported a new development on the surface of Pammant.
"Marshall!" he said quite urgently. "The volcano where Commander Bridger was supposed to be is...erupting."
Jaral turned her head toward him and reassured him. "Don't worry, Chief. Our guys have already left."
"Losses?" she asked.
"Everybody is fine and accounted for. Not a single scratch." Ezra replied quite proudly.
Jaral made a mental chuckle. "I knew you had it in you. Now get up here, there is a battle to win."
"Yes, ma'am." her brother concluded with an amused tone.
As the battle raged and the allied forces kept moving to encircle the Imperial formation, the latter started to break. The remaining cruisers started to turn tail and flee before the enemy grasp closed around them and headed to the hyperlane leading to Mon Cala. The Constantinople scared one of them with a shot of the Thanix cannon before rejoining the fleet.
Remembering one of the focal points of the Art of War about leaving an escape route always open for your enemy in order to avoid fighting people who would have no other choice otherwise, Jaral ordered the two wings to not complete the encirclement and let the Imperials retreat.
However, the Star Destroyer remained. Not only: the ship charged against the left wing, which was the closest to it.
Jaral reached out and saw that the Captain was simply led by pure fanaticism. He wanted to go down in a blaze of glory, maybe take an enemy ship with him, too.
"Admiral Edrix, the Captain of that ship is trying to ram into your formation!" she warned.
"Thanks for the advice, Marshall. All ships, evasive maneuvers." the Turian replied.
The Invictus and the other dreadnoughts on that side of the formation opened fire against the Destroyer, while the starfighters and bombers released everything they had onto it.
"All ships, engage that Star Destroyer." Raddus ordered.
The Star Destroyer did manage to inflict a casualty, though. The Federal cruiser INS Targoviste suffered heavy damage to her reactor and eventually lost all power, but that was all it could do.
After an unprecedented rain of fire that lasted two minutes, the Star Destroyer was completely crippled and started to fall into pieces.
The allied fleet then proceeded to capture the imperial outpost, which had been evacuated when things started to go really bad for them.
Finally Pammant was in the Allies' hands. Next stop was to be Mon Cala. The Calamari and the Quarren on the fleet rejoiced as the liberation of their home-planet was finally in reach.
Jaral complimented with everybody but also ordered the preparations for the next battle to be started. The Targoviste was irrecoverable, so it had to be evacuated. Luckily around 80% of the crew had survived.
Still, the Allies had lost a total of eight small ships and around 15 starfighters with relative pilots. Very limited casualties, yes, but Jaral felt the urge to make a very quick prayer to the Force in her mind, mostly to put her conscience at ease.
After that, she had the Constantinople dock with the Profundity so that she could rejoin her brother and father and relax a little before going back to prepare what seemed to be a battle way more bloody and harsh than the ones she had seen so far.
The Empire wasn't going to give up Mon Cala without a fight. If that planet fell, the Rebel Alliance would have acquired the planet's shipyards and resources to build a fleet capable of fighting the Imperial one head-on. Perhaps the other Moffs would go over their proverbial rivalries and send some support to defend the planet, but even without additional ship, the Calamari Sector Fleet was one of the biggest in the galaxy, and there wasn't just that: Mon Cala would have to be taken by ground assault.
This time, the Rebel Army would have had its real baptism of fire, and thousands were certainly going to die.