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Ch. IV: Fire Over Phindar

C.S.S. Ambitious, Orbit of Phindar

The atmosphere among the Confederate forces was an expectant one. Still high on their successful conquest of Phindar, the organic personnel had little doubt within themselves that they would be able to drive off the incoming Republic forces. Even the slight numerical disparity in the Republic's favor (it was ten Republic ships, four of which were Venators). How could they lose? After all, their surprisingly able commander had a plan. Or so the rumor went.

"I must protest against this course of action, sir," the tactical droid declared once again from its place at the table. "My calculations place the odds of success at under forty percent; our best option is a tactical withdrawal."

From his place at the head of the table, Vader kept his eyes glued to the holoprojector, which showed a representation of the Phindar system. Their forces were holding above Phindar, within the outer circumference of it's gravity well. The ships were arranged in a standard skirmish line, the four Munificents on either side of the Ambitious, which took the central position. Behind the Ambitious was the single Lucrehulk, giving the impression that it was hiding behind the other ships. This was certainly how he hoped the Republic would perceive it.

"Your concern is noted," Vader rumbled, before turning his attention to the five holograms standing around the table. "Now, what news of the enemy forces?"

A human male in the Confederacy's blue naval uniform with pins marking him as a captain on his collar began gesturing at the table. "Sir. Our scouts report that the enemy has jumped out of hyperspace near the seventh planet of the system. Along with the four battlecruisers that our scanners were able to pick out, we have also identified the rest of their ships. Luck is on our side, as three of their ships are Acclamator I's and thus unfit for combat. The other three are Acclamator II's, meaning in terms of combat craft they only outnumber us by one ship."

There were grins exchanged by the other organics in the room at this revelation. Even if they had a plan for fighting all ten of the Republic ships, hearing that three of them would be useless for the space battle was more than welcome.

One of the other holograms, this one a tactical droid, gestured at the highlighted position of the enemy ships. "Even with numerical parity, it will be difficult to engage the Venators while we only have one cruiser," it pronounced, dampening the grins of the organics. Its words were true; a Venator was more than a match for a Munificent. From what they had learned in recent battles, it was typically considered an equal engagement between the two classes if the odds were 2:1 in the Confederacy's favor. Suddenly the enemy numbers were more intimidating.

"That is why we will be going ahead with the plan," Vader announced, grabbing everyone's attention as he began manipulating the projection. He proceeded to review the plan he had presented earlier for the benefit of the organic officers. "Our forces will hold at their current position and wait for the enemy to engage."

The table showed the enemy ships moving across the system, engaging their own line at the end of the movement. Vader continued on. "Once they have made contact we will give the impression that they are breaking our formation. The Ambitious and the Dutiful will slowly edge back from the rest of the formation, bowing our line and drawing the Republic ships in."

The hologram adjusted, giving life to Vader's words. The flagship and their Lucrehulk slowly edged back from the line, baiting the Republic into charging headlong at them. One of the organic officer's eyebrows were slowly rising as he caught on to the plan. "As the Republic continues its charge, the four Munificents will slowly begin to edge around them, until eventually the Republic ships are encircled."

Now the Munificents began to move, and the Confederate formation slowly shifted from what could be described as a funnel to a closed vice, with the Republic ships in the middle of it. "Once that is done, the Dutiful will launch its fighters and bombers to attack the enemy from above, while all other ships launch their reserves to bolster the encirclement. Along with this, our planet-based craft will launch from the surface and attack the enemy from below. Then we will apply pressure until there is nothing left to squeeze."

The holographic ships all did as Vader said, and the Republic's forces were whittled down by the combination of Confederate small craft and turbolaser fire from all directions. The tactical droids simply looked on while the organic officers nodded. Finally, Vader's tactical droid broke the silence. "If I may make a suggestion, sir?"

At Vader's nod, the tactical droid began. "While the plan is sound, I would make a slight change to the loadout of the Dutiful's small craft complement. Even encircled, the Venators are a danger to our frigates. To minimize their threat, I recommend that ion torpedoes be loaded on the Dutiful's bombers. If they are able to deliver their payload, then the Republic ships will be helpless."

Vader nodded, slightly surprised. He had been planning to have that done anyway, but to be preempted by his tactical droid on this matter was unexpected. Perhaps he had been unfair in his judgement of their combat capabilities.

"I am inclined to agree with that suggestion," Vader said in reply, the other officers nodding. "Aside from that, are there any other concerns?" No reply. "Good, then to your commands. We have a battle to win."

The various holograms winked out, and Vader strode out of the room followed by his tactical droid. They were silent at first, but then Vader spoke up. "I was impressed by your initiative. I didn't think such an idea would be included in your programming."

"I merely suggested the wisest course of action, sir," the droid replied, its hands behind its back. "I apologize if it was out of line."

Vader waved the apology away. "What matters isn't who presents a plan, but that the plan brings victory."

The droid paused for a moment, its eyes flickering, before it nodded. "I shall keep that in mind, sir."

After that they remained silent the rest of the way to the bridge, conversation not reaching Vader's ears until they had stepped through the door. Immediately upon entering the tactical droid asked for a status report which was quickly given.

"Sir, enemy fleet is approaching at cruising speed. We estimate their ETA to be thirty minutes, perhaps less."

"And our own ships?" Vader asked, crossing his arms as the holoprojector showed the situation. The red dots representing the Republic ships were closing rapidly on his own fleet.

"All units report as combat ready, sir," a droid replied from its console. "The Dutiful says that they will have their small craft fitted with the planned payload in approximately forty minutes."

"Tell them to double time," Vader replied. "The slightest delay could cripple us."

As the droid carried out his request, the Sith turned his attention back to the hologram displaying the unit layouts. The world around him faded away into background noise as he concentrated not on the here and now, but on the universe itself, with all of its eddies and flowing rivers of light and vast mountains formed from stars.

This was the Force, that ever-present existence which the Jedi clung so fiercely in an attempt to find a purpose to their lives. For them, this was everything.

For Vader, it was simply another instrument in springing his trap.

He navigated the truly wondrous space with unerring precision, not allowing himself to get lost in the strong currents, which even then threatened to drag him off to knowledge untold and secrets desired. They did not contain the key to victory, so he ignored them all, focusing instead on his goal.

Eventually he found them. Thousands of life forms making their own way through the currents, all of them vibrant in their own way. Only one held his attention however, how could it not when it shone so brightly as to be blinding? He moved closer, realizing the presence's guard was down. They did not expect darkness here, how could they when he had concealed himself so thoroughly up to this point? If the Force was an ocean, then the Jedi were seals, carefree and marveling at the world above the surface. And if the Jedi were seals, then he was the leviathan lurking within the deep, setting out its lure and waiting for the chance to feed.

Like ink in water he burst into the Jedi's consciousness, drinking in their sudden fear and shock. He took a moment to revel in the emotional turmoil before withdrawing just as quickly. He raced away from the shining light of the Jedi, taking note of them only to see if they were following. They were.

Soon the world came back to him, and it was with a wolfish smile that he watched as the Republic ships began accelerating with abandon, their Jedi commander no doubt pushing them onwards to put down the threat they had discovered.

Come, come after me little seal, he thought with dark anticipation. Come so I can clamp my jaws down and feast.

This, CP-5479 (Rash) decided, was going to be an interesting day.

For one thing, the launch orders had been given a full twenty minutes before they were supposed to be, causing quite a bit of confusion amongst pilots and mechanics alike. They were pros however, so the fighters were out before too long.

Another thing that confused him was that, unlike they had planned, the fleet was charging headlong at the Clankers, their guns already traversing to pick targets. It was so unlike General Secura, who was known for being cool and collected even when the chips were down. Something must have spooked her.

It's not like the Seps will last long either way, he thought. With just one cruiser there's no way they can hold the orbit. This'll be a turkey shoot.

"All wings, report in," the voice of the flight leader echoed through his com, breaking Rash from his thoughts. He listened as the various squadron commanders sounded off, detecting the eager anticipation they were all sharing. It was time to scrap some Clankers.

"Echo-3, you're with me," another voice, this one belonging to one of his squad mates, came through. "First round of drinks says I get more than you today."

Rash grinned. He'd take that bet. "Copy Echo-4, and I look forward to you buying!"

Laughter was the response, until their squadron leader cut in. "Cut the chatter you two, enemy fighters have been sighted up ahead so stay sharp! We're going in with formation alpha. Also, Echo-3?"

"Yes sir?" he asked, wondering what the lead wanted with him specifically.

"When you buy the first round, make sure to include a Corellian Ale for me."

An indignant splutter was his only reply, while the rest of the squadron laughed. It soon cut out when they were able to make out the red ion trails from the Vulture fighters. There were thousands of them, and they were closing fast.

"Here they come boys! Look alive!"

Numberless blue and red shards of energy flashed across space in an instant, while numerous fighters on both sides ceased to exist in brief flashes of steel and flame. Rash lost sight of his squadron in the initial clash, though the readouts showed they were all still alive. It was just him and Echo-3 in the melee, and it was chaos.

Smaller dogfights soon began to form, involving anywhere from two fighters to two dozen. For their parts Rash and his partner flew in a crescent formation, keeping their eyes out for any targets of opportunity. Meanwhile the com had become a chaotic mishmash of reports, callsigns, and death cries.

"Blue-3, Blue-3, he's on your six!"

"I can't shake the bastard, he's locked on tight!"

"Gold-2, Fox 1! Fox 2!"

"Stay in formation, Red-5!"

"Kriff, he's on me, someone- AGH!"

Rash was able to tune out the calls that didn't relate directly to him and his squadron, instead keeping an eye on his scopes. He soon found his first target of the day, and his Torrent hungered for blood.

"Echo-4, I've found us a target, two Tri-fighters below us at 2'oclock. Let's give em a warm Republic welcome."

"I'm right with you, Echo-3. Hit 'em hard!"

The two fighters swooped down like hawks on the wind, their talons replaced with high-powered laser cannons. The droids were none the wiser as they searched for their own targets, and before long they were naught but debris floating through space. The Republic fighters soared by triumphant, already looking for a new kill to make.

It soon became apparent to the Republic pilots that the separatist fighters were not operating with their usual numerical superiority. There were thousands of droid fighters, yes, but with the ships the seps had deployed for this battle they had expected tens of thousands.

Maybe the defense fleet did a number on them in the previous battle?

Regardless, Rash and his wingman continued their deadly routine, scoring several more kills (though to their mutual chagrin they remained at a tie). Slowly the number of droid fighters began to drop even further, their case not being helped when Rash scored three kills at once through a lucky missile barrage on a trio of Vultures.

Suddenly the droid fighters began withdrawing from their dogfights, with many being picked off from behind as they raced away from their enemy. Rash was puzzled for a moment, but grinned when he saw the droids were running back to their capital ships, who even now were backing away from the onslaught of their own cruisers. None of the enemy frigates had been destroyed yet, but they were being pushed to the side. As for the Providence and Lucrehulk in the middle, they were putting up a desperate fight while slowly edging away from the Republic ships. They weren't quite breaking, but they were getting closer to it.

"We've got them on the backfoot!" he shouted into the general com. "Hit 'em with everything you've got! For the Republic!"

There was a roar of approval as the swarm of Republic fighters raced forward, eagerly joining their capital ships in the fight. As Rash and his partner regrouped with his squadron, a peculiarity of the separatist fleet caught his attention.

Strange, I've never seen them use a half-crescent formation before.

Putting the observation to the side as irrelevant, Rash grinned as he and his squadron entered a steep dive, coming down on the Providence and her fighter screen and spraying forth unforgiving blue bolts on their enemies.

And ever so slightly, the separatist line bowed in and around their unsuspecting prey.

C.S.S. Ambitious

The bridge was a cacophony of various alerts and called out reports. Droids worked resolutely at their terminals while organic officers rushed to and fro, occasionally leaning over a select droid's shoulder to peer closer at some readout or algorithm. The organic crewmembers, being somewhat green, were visibly nervous and stressed as they did their work. They even bumped into each other now and then, so engrossed were they in their work. But for all that, the Ambitious kept operating smoothly, a testament to the good training the organic crewmen on the bridge and throughout the ship had received and to the straightforward efficiency of the droids working hard at keeping the ship going.

A major factor in the ship's stellar performance (even as she feigned weakness and pulled back, she had managed to devest a Venator of half its main guns) was the towering figure standing in the center of the bridge, attentively dealing out orders as the situation required. The tactical droid stood next to him and doled out orders directly related to the Ambitious herself, allowing Vader to direct the fleet battle with more attention than he otherwise would have done.

The Sith lord jabbed his finger at a particular area of the Confederate formation. "Quicksure and Strikefast are veering too far from the planned route. Have them correct immediately."

A communications droid sent the orders, and a moment later spoke up. "Sir, Quicksure and Strikefast report that their shields are having trouble holding up against enemy fire in their current positions. They say they cannot hold where they are now."

Vader shook his head. "Tell them to siphon power from non-essential systems to bolster their shields if necessary. If we can bear the brunt of the enemy's barrage they can hold on a little longer."

As if to punctuate the Sith lord's point the bridge shook ominously as azure turbolaser bolts struck across the ship's prow. The shields held, though it was obvious they were under severe stress, and soon a retaliatory volley was fired from the Ambitious' own batteries.

It was proving rather annoying to get the organic captains to keep to the plan, though he could understand why. He was an unknown individual whose skill in command they had only limited knowledge of; he too would be at least somewhat leery of following risky orders given by someone whose competency he hadn't seen concrete proof of.

An organic technician called out to him this time, his voice grim. "Ardent reports that their shields are down to fifteen percent, they're requesting – scratch that, Ardent's shields are down, they're taking damage!"

Sure enough, the Munificent in question had minor explosions breaking out across her prow. She was barely hanging on, and Vader frowned as he saw the portside wing (and a good chunk of the ship's turbolasers and tertiary engines along with it) break off from the ship. He knew it wouldn't be long before the other ships began suffering damage as well.

Can we hold? he asked himself. Have I overstepped myself?

It would be beyond embarrassing to retreat from his first battle, after he had promised such an easy victory to Dooku no less. Even more than that, it would be tortuous to have his only taste of the war end with such bitter defeat. He had only just begun to savor the rush of battle, and he wanted more. To have it ripped from him so soon-

"Sir, our ships are in position. The enemy is encircled!"

Vader blinked once at the statement, and then grinned. It seemed the Force was with him today.

"Message to all ships. Execute 'Rat in the hole'."

"Yes sir!" a droid replied, sending the message. A sense of anticipation hung in the air of the Ambitious. The moment that would turn this battle into a victory had finally arrived.

Rash blinked rapidly. Even with the climate-controlled suit, he was sweating profusely from nervousness and tension. It was everything he could do to weave his V-19 through the storm of droid fighters that had suddenly appeared. It had all started when the enemy ships had closed themselves in a circle around their own fleet. This normally wouldn't have been a problem in a space battle, since ships in space weren't consigned to a single horizontal plain. However, it did seemed to be more droid fighters than there were airspeeders on Coruscant.

"Fierfek, where'd all these fighters come from?!"

"This is Blue-3, my squadron's totally KIA! I need backup from somebody!"

"Red-7, watch your tail, watch your tail, he's- damnit, Red-7's down!"

Rash grimaced at the chaos raging on the comm. Any semblance of cohesion in the Republic fighter screen had broken down as they were swarmed by a force of fighters five times the size of their own. It wasn't the numerical disparity that was the cause of it, rather it was the sudden and surprising nature of the attack.

We were had, he thought to himself. This entire battle has been nothing but a setup to lure us into this deathtrap.

His HUD suddenly tinted as a massive explosion burst out amidst the chaos, and with a feeling of shock he realized that they'd just lost the Wayward Haven, one of the Acclamators. A quick check revealed that all of their ships were suffering damage, as enemy bombers had taken advantage of their numerical superiority and surprise to launch runs on the Republic ships. Quite a few of them were armed with ion torpedoes, and a couple of Venators were beginning to drift even though they appeared to be in fighting shape. They were already being boarded from what he could see.

"Echo-3, you alright in there?"

It was his wingman Echo-4, and he never thought he'd be so happy to hear a familiar voice. "I'm here Echo-4. You heard anything from the squad?"

There was a short and heavy silence before Echo-4 replied. "All KIA in the initial wave."

"Damnit…" said hoarsely. It was every pilot's worst nightmare to be the only survivor of their squadron. They were like your family, the people you ate with, slept with, and spent your down time with every single day. A feeling of emptiness came over him.

"Hey, we're still here Echo-3, and we've got a job to do," Echo-4 said, the sadness making his voice raw. But it was also determined. "Also, I don't know about you, but I sure as hell don't plan on dying today. Either that, or I plan on making the tinnies regret the day they killed me."

Rash laughed weakly. His partner was right. "Copy that, Silo," he replied, breaching protocol and using his brother's nickname.

A voice suddenly came in over the channel, and Rash realized it was from the flagship. "Any available fighters, we have a new confirmed force of separatist small craft making their way from planet side. I say again to any available fighters, we have a new force of separatist small craft heading up from Phindar. Point defenses are overwhelmed, the capital ships won't be able to stop them on their own."

There were a few confirmations and callouts registering that someone was responding to the call, but there were very few of them.

"Control, this is Echo-3, Echo-4 and I will move to intercept new hostiles," he said, and a light blinking on his HUD showed that his wingman approved of the idea.

They would most likely die, but at the very least they'd get to choose how they went out. Hells, maybe they'd even make a few kills.

Angling their fighters to meet up with the others moving to intercept he newcomers, both Echoes 3 and 4 steeled themselves for what they knew would be their final flight, regardless of whatever bravado they shared with themselves and the other clone pilots around them.

His radar showed multiple contacts up ahead of him, and Rash could see the red ion trails of the droids fighters rushing towards them. There were far more droid fighters in that one group than there were in the ragtag flight of Republic fighters moving to intercept.

"See you on the other side, boys!" someone shouted. "For the Republic!"

The two formations met, and the clone pilots fought with all they had. Each man that had flown to that part of the battlefield scored at least three kills before going down. But, in the end, they all did go down, Echo-3 the last among them. Even as his fighter fell apart under fire he rammed a Vulture out of sheer spite, the words of Vode An on his lips.

But it wasn't enough. Even as Rash's group fought and died many of the droid fighters and bombers simply went around them, aiming directly for the Republic capital ships. The Hyena bombers unleashed their deadly payloads, and the Vulture fighters swept up what remained of the Republic's own small craft.

The Republic capital ships desperately fought on for another hour before they were all incapacitated in some manner. Their efforts severely damaged three of the Confederate frigates, with two of them requiring a month in drydock before being considered fit for active duty while the other had too be scrapped.

Soon all of the Republic ships which had participated in the attack were either drifting wrecks beyond repair or in the process of being boarded by Confederate battle droids. Most of them fell quickly, the weight of the droids' numbers proving too much for the security complements to bare. Resistance was fiercest on Aayla Secura's flagship, where she and her troops fought off the droids with particular vigor. It took Darth Vader himself boarding the ship along with a full regiment's worth of battle droids to finally quell resistance, though they paid dearly. Half the droids which had boarded the ship were completely scrapped, and Vader sustained a grievous wound to his shoulder before killing General Secura. It was only the death of their beloved general which broke the morale of the clones, and they surrendered soon after.

Against all expectations, the C.I.S. had beaten back the Republic's attempt to retake Phindar. It was soon after the battle that Confederate reinforcements arrived, completely securing their hold on the system. For the price of three frigates they had taken a key location in the war and robbed the Republic of seven fighting ships. Not a bad trade by any standard. But by far the most important gain for the C.I.S. in this battle was the service of Darth Vader.

Immediately upon his return to Raxus he was given a hero's welcome, greeted by the thundering cheers of the planet's citizenry upon his disembarkation from his ship. It was not every day that the Confederate citizenry received news of such victories as what Vader had achieved. Dooku himself met him at the landing platform at the head of a full honor guard to conduct the cyborg to the parliament building, with cheering crowds lining the streets on the entire way. Upon their arrival at the building, Vader was presented with a datapad containing a commission as a Rear Admiral in the Confederate Navy. He signed without hesitation, to the deafening cheers of the crowd.

On that day the Confederacy gained a Rear Admiral and nascent war hero to lead the fight against the Republic, while the Republic gained a new enemy to fight in its war to restore order. What no one realized on that day, however, was that a new path had been set upon. A special path, which would see the orgy of chaos and destruction gripping the galaxy only intensify to heights even Darth Sidious had not imagined. And on the other side of this path, the galaxy would emerge completely changed from how it had begun, for better or worse.

But for now, there was none of that. There was only the Rear Admiral, and his new role to play in the war. And play it, he would.

Author's Note: Good afternoon everyone! I hope this update finds you well.

I will be the first to admit that this chapter is a bit of a rush job, but frankly I didn't want to spend anymore time on what was only a stepping stone to the juicier parts of the story. One of the complaints I received while writing A Second Chance was that I devoted far too many words to describing minor events that didn't hold much relevance to the story. Case in point, the fact that the Battle of Naboo took two whole chapters while it only involved about ten or so ships. It quickly bogged down the story, which I only realized in hindsight. So, this is my attempt to circumvent that, rough around the edges as it is. If you guys have any suggestions on how I can find a balance between maintaining the story's quality while economizing on how screen time is used, I would much appreciate it.

On a different note, I've recently started watching the Clone Wars to see if there any elements I can use to enhance the story. Not bad for a kids' show, but by God do Padme and Satine make me want to rip my hair out in frustration. For people who say they want the war to end, they sure do a lot to make it harder for the Republic to actually fight and achieve victory.

But enough of that. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I look forward to your comments and thoughts.

Til next time.