Chapter 33: Defense of Felacat
OOM-9 had been suddenly summoned to the planet Raxus, the capital world of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Though OOM-9 didn't know why he had been summoned. The battle droid general was quick in his compliance with the request, so he had taken a gray and blue advanced E-STAP starbomber and traveled to Raxus on his own. OOM-9 certainly didn't need an escort to Raxus; being the capital, it was supposedly the safest and most well protected place in the Confederacy.
Raxus was a picturesque image of a healthy and beautiful planet, the opposite of Raxus Prime. It had clear skies, green plains and striking blue oceans. None of it made any difference to OOM-9, Raxus was no better or worse than Raxus Prime to the battle droid. Though OOM-9 was sure most organics would prefer the temperate climate of Raxus to the toxic one of Raxus Prime, but battle droids didn't have to worry about such details.
Upon his arrival, a squad of security battle droids had taken OOM-9 to meet with some of the Confederacy's most prominent leaders. Senators Zok Zuuk and Mina Bonteri were present for the meeting. Those two had about as big of opposing views on the war as two Separatist senators could get. Zuuk completely supported the war and did everything in his power to increase the budget for the Separatist Army and Navy. Bonteri was known for trying to find a way to offer peaceful solution to the war. Count Dooku rounded out the group. Whatever was going on must have been important.
"Count Dooku, Senators Zuuk and Bonteri, it is an honor. How may I serve you?" OOM-9 asked.
"We have received information that the planet Felacat is going to be attacked by the Republic in retaliation for siding with the Confederacy," Dooku said.
"I recommended you for the operation," Zok Zuuk said. "The Felacatians have the potential to be great allies to the Separatist Droid Army and the Confederacy, so we cannot allow the defense of Felacat to fail."
"We're putting the wellbeing of billions of Felacatians with you," Bonteri added. "I've supported Senator Zuuk's recommendation that you be sent, General. I do not believe that Grievous is up to this particular task."
"Your fleet is to move to protect Felacat immediately," Dooku said. "Do not make your movements public to any except Felacat's leadership." Of course it was implied that OOM-9 could inform his own officers.
"Yes, Count Dooku," OOM-9 nodded.
"The Republic doesn't know that we will be ready and waiting for them. I want it to stay that way. Do not fail us, General," Dooku was rather cryptic in his last sentence.
"I will not fail you, Count," OOM-9 nodded again.
OOM-9 had no idea that it was Darth Sidious that had leaked the information of the Republic's planned attack on Felacat to Count Dooku. Sidious was allowing Dooku to select an officer to test and that officer ended up being OOM-9. OOM-9 was not directly Dooku's choice, for once, the Count allowed the Separatist senators to make the decision. Though Darth Sidious and Count Dooku both knew that there was something other than OOM-9's abilities that were going to be tested on this operation.
Soon after OOM-9 departed from Raxus the 8th Fleet was set up in orbit around Felacat, though one capital ship from the 8th Fleet was not guarding the Separatist-aligned planet.
The Munificent-class star frigate the Kuzack was in orbit around the planet Zorva. Zorva was a quiet Separatist-aligned planet in the Zorva system, not too terribly far from Felacat. Seven of Zorva's nine continents were covered in tropical jungles. Zorva hosted a few refineries and mining facilities that exploited the world's natural resources. Zorva had a small population primarily consisting of humans, Neimoidians and Koorivar with a strong Ithorian minority. The humans, Neimoidians and Koorivar living on the planet were attracted by the jobs and money while the Ithorians were attracted to the planet's interesting flora and fauna.
Captain Melissa Sledge had been attracted to the planet for the donuts. When Zako, Katen and Sledge had discovered donuts on the planet Zeltros, they took the circular cakes with them and the foodstuff started to spread throughout the organic CIS ranks and then to the civilians of Separatist worlds. Donuts were becoming increasingly popular in Separatist space, and there was a fine donut shop that had sprung up on Zorva.
OOM-9 knew that the 8th Fleet had run out of donuts for its human members and had not been able to get resupplied yet. But OOM-9 couldn't let Sledge take the Kuzack and go just for a donut run. Officially Sledge was getting fuel and other supplies from Zorva. Though they were legitimately getting other supplies, the donuts were the real reason for the short trip to Zorva. The secrets OOM-9 and his most trusted subordinates kept from their military weren't exactly sinister.
The Kuzack had been filled with the needed supplies and was going to leave Zorva for Felacat shortly when the quick mission was interrupted.
"Incoming ship. Just exited out of hyperspace," a pilot droid told Melissa Sledge. Captain Sledge was initially calm in the command chair of the Kuzack, but she suddenly sprung out of her seat in surprise.
"What the? What is that thing?"
"Unknown ma'am," the pilot battle droid said. "It isn't one of ours and it matches no known ship profiles in our database."
"Look at the size of that thing! It must be at least ten thousand meters long. Try and open up communications with them," Sledge said.
"Roger roger."
On the bridge of the Mandator II-class star dreadnaught, in command of the massive Republic capital ship, was none other than Captain Disraeli.
Captain Disraeli had been through a lot since his defeat and retreat on Kile II near the beginning of the Clone Wars. Things had started to get better and he had the unique opportunity to ditch command of the Acclamator assault ship Universal Justice and take command of the Solar Pyre. The Solar Pyre was a Mandator II-class star dreadnaught, a massive new warship developed by Kuat Drive Yards for the Galactic Republic.
Another positive aspect, other than the fact that the warship was the largest constructed by the Republic so far, was the fact that it was crewed almost entirely by non-clone personnel. Disraeli had never liked the clones, he found them to be ineffective pilots and overall creepy to deal with. On the Solar Pyre, the Jango clones only filled positions as foot soldiers and pilots; all other roles were filled by birth-born recruits.
"Captain, we are supposed to rendezvous with the rest of the fleet in the Hikil system," an officer said.
"The Hikil system is hardly friendly to the Republic. We might as well have been assigned to meet in the Korseg system." The Korseg system was of course openly aligned with the Confederacy.
"But the rest of the fleet will be in the Hikil system, sir."
"And we're ahead of schedule. This planet will offer no resistance to us. We can send a team down to get our donuts and go." Captain Disraeli was on a mission to test the Solar Pyre by bombarding the planet Felacat into dust. The Felacatians had the potential to be dangerous enemies of the Republic and thus their homeworld was slated for orbital bombardment. The Solar Pyre was supposed to meet up with a Republic fleet in the Hikil system before moving on to the Felacat system. Though Captain Disraeli took his ship on a detour to Zorva first. He had recently heard about a new food called donuts that were sweeping through the Confederacy. Disraeli had also heard that Zorva hosted a somewhat famous donut shop. There wasn't much else the obscure planet was famous for.
"Sir, there is a Separatist frigate orbiting the planet," a crewman interrupted the two officers.
"What? How could they have known we were coming? This planet isn't important enough to warrant its own defense fleet," Disraeli snapped.
"It could just be coincidence sir. There's only one ship."
"Fire! Destroy that thing. We can't let it warn others. I will not let our sneak attack be compromised because we randomly ran into a single Separatist frigate."
"Yes sir."
"They're not responding," a pilot droid said.
"Only the Republic could fund a ship of that size," Sledge was thinking aloud. "Bring up the shields, now!"
"Raising shields!" the pilot droid was half drowned out by the sounds of laser fire hitting the Kuzack just as the shields were up.
The Banking Clan frigate rocked violently as it withstood the initial salvo of laser fire from the Mandator II dreadnaught.
The various pilot droids that made up the bridge crew starting giving Sledge a string of readouts on the situation.
"Shields holding at fifty percent."
"One of our hypermatter annihilation reactors is offline."
"Fires on decks two, three, and five."
"Deploying firefighter teams to affected locations."
The Kuzack lurched forward and around the right side of the massive ship, trying to make a break for it.
A second volley of lasers hit the Kuzack as it passed by the Mandator II dreadnaught.
"We've lost long range communications and sensors."
"All twin turbolaser cannons are offline."
"They've hit the main power converters. We can't go into hyperspace."
"Launch all fighter squadrons," Sledge commanded.
Sledge paused for but the briefest of moments. "Rotate the ship thirty degrees to port." Sledge had sent the Kuzack slowly turned back towards the planet and the massive Mandator. "I want everyone to get to the escape pods or the transports. I am ordering a full evacuation. Tell the firefighter teams to leave the fires."
The warning sirens calling for full evacuation were sent blaring throughout the entire ship.
"Abandon ship. Abandon ship. Abandon ship," a droid's voice was heard throughout the Kuzack's intercom system.
"That means all of you too, go!" Sledge yelled at the bridge crew.
One of the pilot droids stopped in the doorway from the bridge and turned around. "Captain, aren't you coming?"
"No. I'm going to stay and take care of the ship. Now get to hurry up and get to the escape pods dammit!"
"Roger roger." The battle droid turned and left as he was ordered.
The Kuzack's crew were all rushing to either the various escape pods or the hanger where the shuttles and transports were stored.
"Go go go!" a command droid waved droid and human crewmembers into an escape pod.
Larger droids like dwarf spider droids and crab droids had to take the Neimoidian transports parked in the hangar.
The Mandator II unleashed two squadrons of V-19 Torrent fighters, but they were far outnumbered by the CIS fighters fleeing the Kuzack. Captain Disraeli didn't really care if the Torrent fighters survived or not, he didn't care about the lives of the clone pilots. They clones were all expendable from Disraeli's perspective. If clones died in large numbers, then the factories on Kamino would just provide more.
The Kuzack's escape pods started ejecting and headed back towards Zorva. Sheathipede shuttles, type B escort shuttles and Neimoidian transports left the hangar and fled towards the planet along with the escape pods.
Sledge contacted one of the Kuzack's Scarab squadrons. "Blue Leader, do you read me?"
"Yes, Captain Sledge. What are your orders?"
"I want you and Blue Squadron to turn around and get to Felacat. You have to warn the 8th Fleet about that thing."
"Roger roger. Complying with your orders." The squadron of gray and blue colored Scarabs broke from the battle and was soon fleeing into hyperspace. The other fighters stayed and protected the transports and escape pods from the V-19 Torrent fighters.
"I am not losing my crew!" Sledge had turned the Kuzack fully around to where it was pointing directly at the planet and the gigantic capital ship. She planned on providing a distraction to allow the escape pods and transports to pass down to the planet below. Sledge gunned the engines.
"They're moving into attack position," one of the Republic officers on the bridge of the Solar Pyre noticed.
"Shields up," Disraeli commanded. A crew operator effortlessly flipped a switch that brought up the ship's shielding.
The Solar Pyre continued to hit the Kuzack with laser fire, but the Munificent star frigate continued to barrel down at the Mandator II.
"They're not moving to attack, they're gonna ram us!" an officer yelped.
"They're heading straight for the bridge!" another officer said.
"Intensify all batteries, I don't want that ship getting through," Disraeli commanded.
Though its shields were long gone, the Kuzack continued to withstand the merciless beating the Solar Pyre was dishing out.
The burning Munificent star frigate continued to grow larger in the viewports of the Solar Pyre's bridge.
"Intensify forward firepower! Blast that ship into star dust!" Disraeli half screamed.
Disraeli's face was coated in a thick and sudden stream of sweat as the Separatist warship screeched ever closer to the bridge.
The Kuzack broke apart at the last possible second; the large pieces of the ship missed the Mandator completely and fell towards the planet.
Disraeli let out a sigh of relief before barking orders to his crew. "We depart for Felacat immediately."
"What about our fighters? They're being overwhelmed by the droids."
"Leave them. We don't have time. We have to get to Felacat before anything else goes wrong."
"What about meeting the fleet in the Hikil system?"
"What part of 'we don't have time' do you not understand?" Disraeli snapped at one of his subordinate officers.
When Blue Squadron arrived at Felacat and informed the others, the exact threat to the planet and its people was made crystal clear. The Republic would never win in a ground war with the Felacatians, it was clear that they intended to use the massive capital ship to bombard Felacat from orbit.
"Have you started an evacuation?" Commander EEK-176 asked King Prrt. OOM-9 had sent EEK-176 down to the planet in order to effectively communicate plans with Felacat's leadership.
"No. There are billions of Felacatians. We don't have enough ships. We mostly get small trading ships to our planet. I assume your warships are filled with battle droids. Even if we had the ships we wouldn't be able to go anywhere. Hyperspace would not be an option for ships carrying thousands upon thousands of Felacatians."
"What other options are there?" the command battle droid asked.
"We are not stupid. An orbital bombardment could spell doom for our race. There are underground shelters, but they can only hold a few million. But surviving the actual attack won't help us if they kill the planet's ecosystem."
"What about defenses?"
"We have a few anti-orbital cannons, but I doubt they'll stop a ship the size your squadron described," King Prrt said.
"Or they won't stop it before it does serious damage to our planet," King Prrt's daughter, Miaria Prrt, added.
"We leave our defense up to you," the king said.
"Right right. Evacuate as many of your people as you can to the shelters," EEK-176 said. "We'll deal with that Republic ship."
In orbit, the Separatists were trying to figure out a way to stop the gigantic warship without sustaining massive casualties to the 8th Fleet. Major Katen was already on a rampage from the thought that her friend Sledge had been killed. She was ready to take on the entire Republic Navy on her own.
"General, I have an idea," KJZ-8267 stepped forward.
"What is it Lieutenant?" OOM-9 asked.
"What if we board the ship and take control of it?"
"We would likely lose our fleet in the process. It would take a lot to capture a ship that size," OOM-8 stated the obvious.
"Just the command bridge. The larger Republic ships are mostly all designed around a similar pattern. We could easily find the bridge, even if it's a new ship we haven't encountered before. I say we take a few fighter squadrons and Droch boarding craft and take control of the ship before it even reaches the fleet. Then the boarding party will set the ship to jump to hyperspace into the system's star," KJZ-8267 explained.
"Your proposal is risky," Dr. Quartz said. "But I can't think of a better plan. I need more time."
"We don't have any time," KJZ-8267 countered.
"I think it's an excellent plan," OOM-8 said.
"I concur," OOM-9 agreed. The Separatists didn't have a lot of options and KJZ-8267's was by far the best they had heard.
After the Separatists' plan of action had been finalized, the Mandator II-class star dreadnaught exited hyperspace. The ship had come out of hyperspace far from the planet, the result of a quick jump. Captain Disraeli had insisted on speed over precision. The 8th Fleet and Felacat's local defense cruisers were already in defensive positions around Felacat.
"Alert," a droid crewman on the bridge of the Scrapyard warned OOM-9 and OOM-8. "A large capital ship has exited out of hyperspace."
"The CCC predicts the vessel will be in firing range of the 8th Fleet in eighteen minutes," another droid said.
OOM-8 looked to OOM-9, who gave a nod to begin the operation.
"Launch the attack group," OOM-8 commanded.
Squadrons containing various fighters and bombers left the 8th Fleet for the Mandator II dreadnaught.
"Squadron leaders, report in," OOM-9 transmitted.
"Black Leader, standing by," Commander Zako was the first to answer.
"Bronze Leader, standing by," Lieutenant KJZ-8267 was second.
"Silver Leader, standing by," Major Katen was next.
"Red Leader, standing by," Captain SSA-719 reported.
"Gold Leader, standing by," a Vulture droid starfighter beeped in his droid language.
"Blue Leader, standing by." Blue Squadron had wanted to participate in the attack to get revenge for their home ship, the Kuzack.
"We're nearly at the ship, lock into attack configurations," Zako ordered. The order was really only meant for the Scarab starfighters and Vulture droids, the only ships of the group that could configure between combat and non-combat flight mode.
"Black and Silver squadrons are going in first. We're going to cut across the surface and draw their fire," Zako said. "Bronze Squadron, be ready to hit them with your bombs. Go for the anti-starfighter cannons when you can."
"Roger that," KJZ-8267 responded.
Scarab fighters and Mankvim-814 interceptors flew over the large Mandator II dreadnaught. The capital ship's turbolasers and anti-starfighter cannons targeted them first, just as the Separatists wanted. As the CIS ships flew by, the turrets continued to try to track their movements, leaving the turrets vulnerable to assault by the E-STAP droid starbombers came up after the Mankvim-814s and Scarabs. The bombing run was successful and several anti-starfighter turrets were destroyed.
Katen was being particularly aggressive. Even though her squadron was supposed to be a distraction, she still took several shots at the dreadnaught with her interceptor. Katen even managed to destroy an anti-starfighter cannon.
"Katen! Pull up!" SSA-719 exclaimed when he saw that her Mankvim interceptor was getting too close to the hull of the dreadnaught. Katen pulled away.
"Are you alright?" SSA-719 asked.
"I'm fine!"
Combat sirens blared aboard the Solar Pyre.
"Captain, the capital ships aren't moving to attack. They're sending fighters and bombers instead. They're so small they're evading our turbolasers and they're purposefully targeting our anti-starfighter cannons."
"We'll have to destroy them ship to ship. Get the pilots to their fighters," Disraeli said.
"Right away, sir."
"All squadrons," OOM-8 transmitted from the Scrapyard. "We've picked up a new group of signals originating from the capital ship. You have enemy fighters coming to intercept you."
"My sensors read negative," SSA-719 said.
"Watch your visuals," Zako said. "Here they come."
Sure enough, several squadrons of V-19 Torrent fighters rushed out to meet the Confederate aircraft.
"Found them!" Gold Leader beeped. Several of the Vulture droids from Gold Squadron were able to score a few early kills on the Torrent fighters before everyone completely broke formation.
"I've picked one up!" Zako said. The Torrent fighter started shooting at his Scarab.
"If you've picked one up, watch it!" Katen yelled.
"I can't see him!" Zako replied.
"Hang on," Katen was able to flip around past a potential Torrent opponent and blast away Zako's pursuer.
"Thanks Ashley."
The Torrent Katen had passed had also made a sharp turn and was now tailing the major.
"Now I got one on me," Katen growled.
The Torrent fired and scored a light hit on the Katen's interceptor.
"I'm hit. My shield absorbed it but I'm in trouble over here!"
"Hang on, Katen," KJZ-8267 said.
"He's on my ass tight, I can't shake em!" Katen drove her fighter this way and that, but no matter what she did she couldn't lose the V-19 Torrent fighter. A steady stream of blue blaster fire almost made contact with her ship.
"Blast it Karl, where are you?"
The clone pilot chasing Katen was so focused on tailing his prey that he didn't even notice the E-STAP droid starbomber come right at him. Katen pulled sharply to the right and KJZ-8267 blasted the Torrent fighter and flew right through the resulting explosion.
"Thanks, KJZ-8267. At least I can count on someone around here."
"Boarding group one is approaching the ship," SSA-719 reported.
A trio of Droch boarding craft carrying super battle droids started the approach to the Solar Pyre. The trio was able to get past the capital ship's turbolasers and anti-starfighter cannons. Though a passing Torrent starfighter was able to blast one of the Droch craft into dust.
SSA-719 swung around to blast the fighter, the security droid's Scarab was able to graze the Torrent, sending it into a tailspin that sent the Republic fighter careening right into the remaining two boarding ships as they passed. One Droch ship was destroyed by the impact, while the other was knocked off course and then destroyed by the Solar Pyre's turbolasers.
"We're losing boarding craft, keep them guarded," KJZ-8267 said.
"We've analyzed their attack sir," an officer approached Disraeli. "They're trying to send boarding craft right to our command bridge."
"I don't trust those clone pilots. I will handle this myself," Captain Disraeli turned and left the bridge.
The other officers on the bridge didn't know quite what to make of Disraeli's decision to join in on the battle personally, but none of them uttered a word of protest as their captain left.
"There's a lot of anti-starfighter fire still coming from the port side of the ship," SSA-719 warned.
"We'll take care of it," KJZ-8267 and his E-STAP bomber squadron formed up.
"We'll cut across first," Gold Leader said.
The Torrent fighters were starting to wear thin. The Solar Pyre set loose another three squadrons right before Disraeli took off in a yellow BTL-B Y-wing.
"Stay in attack formation," Disraeli told his two V-19 Torrent wingmen. Disraeli had chosen two non-clone pilots to be his wingmen. The gunner on his Y-wing was also birth-born.
"Yes sir," one of the wingmen answered.
The various Separatist fighters were doing well against the V-19 Torrent starfighters. Disraeli kept his small group away from the main fight; he was waiting specifically for the Droch boarding craft to approach.
Two more Droch boarding craft approached the Solar Pyre. These two were filled with BX droid commandos instead of B2 super battle droids.
"Two more Droch ships coming in," Commander Zako said. "Keep an eye out and intercept any enemy fighters."
One V-19 Torrent tried to pull away from the main fight toward the pair of Droch ships, but was shot to smithereens by a Vulture droid starfighter. A pair of V-19s chased after the Vulture to exact revenge, but were cut down by a trio of passing Mankvim interceptors.
The Droch craft started flying over the hull of the Mandator dreadnaught. The ships were fast and small enough that they easily whizzed by all turbolasers that tried to shoot them down. That's when Disraeli made his move. The CIS starfighters were too preoccupied to notice that the guns on the dreadnaught had ceased firing upon the two Droch boarding ships. Captain Disraeli and his wingmen had come up from behind.
"Tighten up formation," Disraeli ordered. The non-clone pilots were complete professionals. Disraeli far preferred their skills to the clone pilots. Though the clones were serving their purpose of keeping the Separatist starfighters busy.
Disraeli was calm and patient. The Republic officer hadn't personally flown a starfighter into a serious battle in a long time but his piloting skills hadn't waned any. Disraeli's Y-wing closed and locked in onto one of the Droch craft. As soon as his shot was assured by the targeting computer, Disraeli let the blue blaster bolts fly. The boarding craft was destroyed but Disraeli had caught the attention of the CIS flyers.
A Vulture droid cut down from the upper left, but the two Torrent wingmen didn't budge from formation. Disraeli's gunner shot down the attacking droid fighter with the utmost precision.
The remaining Droch ship was getting closer to the Solar Pyre's command bridge. But before the boarding craft could make it, one of Disraeli's wingmen was able to blast it to pieces. A few BX droid commandos were thrown from the explosion and could be seen drifting in space.
"Blast it," Katen growled as she tried to go after the group led by the Y-wing. Before she could reach them she was blocked by a pair of Torrent fighters.
The Solar Pyre launched another two V-19 Torrent squadrons from its hangar bays to replace the ones that had been lost in the fight so far.
"Estimated time to firing range, five minutes," a pilot droid on the bridge of the Scrapyard announced.
OOM-9 and OOM-8 exchanged glances. The battle wasn't going well. The attack group had one Droch-class boarding craft left. If they lost that last boarding craft, then their mission would fail and the 8th Fleet would have to take over the fight. That meant casualties, large casualties.
"General," a pilot droid suddenly said.
"What?" OOM-9 asked.
"A single ship has suddenly left the one of the hangars."
OOM-8 noticed that Dr. Quartz had disappeared from the bridge of the Scrapyard. For how long the Skakoan scientist had gone missing, the command droid didn't know.
"We have one boarding craft left, we lose that and we're finished," KJZ-8267 completed another successful bombing run on the Solar Pyre's turrets.
"We won't," Katen blasted a Torrent fighter.
A Scarab blasted a Torrent, causing it to veer off into another of the Republic fighters.
"Nice shot, Blue Two," KJZ-8267 complimented.
"We request a dedicated escort," Commander KLO-657 transmitted from the final Droch ship. The last boarding ship carried a squad of Z1 special ops battle droids. If the last boarding ship was vanquished, not only would the 8th Fleet have to fight the Mandator II, but also a lot of expensive Z1 droids would be lost.
"I'll take care of this myself," Commander Zako stated.
"Copy, Black Leader," Black Two said.
Commander Zako pulled his Scarab up behind the Droch boarding ship. The pair had no trouble from the Solar Pyre's turbolasers.
"The turrets have ceased firing," SSA-719 warned. "Watch for those fighters."
"I see them," Blue Leader reported. "They're coming in from behind again."
"Roger that," Zako acknowledged.
Disraeli's Y-wing and the two Torrent fighters at its sides closed in on the Scarab trailing the Droch ship.
"I'll take them myself, cover me," Disraeli commanded.
"Yes sir," one of the non-clone pilots answered.
"Hey, I need someone to come get these guys off me," Zako said.
All the CIS fighters were preoccupied with the V-19 Torrent fighters.
The Droch ship didn't have time for maneuvers, it was making a straight line for the command bridge. Time was running out before the Mandator II made contact with the 8th Fleet. Zako kept his Scarab weaving left to right, moving just enough so that the fighters behind him couldn't lock on to his fighter.
Slightly aggravated, Disraeli opened fire, hoping the shots would bypass the Scarab and hit the boarding craft. But as soon as the Y-wing attacked, the Scarab had purposefully moved right behind the Droch ship and absorbed the hits.
Disraeli stopped his attack and Zako went back to weaving back and forth, the break in the attack allowing his shields to fully regenerate.
"I could use some help," Commander Zako called out to his allied fighters.
"This one is skilled. That is no droid pilot," Disraeli said. The Republic captain fired again, with the same outcome.
The Y-wing's gunner kept away a pair of Vulture droids that came to assist the Scarab.
Disraeli watched his targeting computer. He was determined to kill that pilot and then finish the small boarding ship. As soon as the computer confirmed a lock, Disraeli fired a proton torpedo.
The torpedo hit the Scarab dead on.
"I've lost my shields!" Zako wailed.
The BTL-B Y-wing's bubble turret continued to keep all CIS fighters at bay.
"Where's my cover?" Zako sounded extremely stressed. Beads of sweat trickled down his face. Zako kept the Scarab weaving back and forth, but another hit like the previous one would spell his doom.
"Can't anyone get to him?" Katen asked. She was busy trying to shake off a Torrent fighter.
"I'm trying," KJZ-8267 blasted through four enemy fighters. But the pilot droid's E-STAP bomber wasn't close to Zako's Scarab.
"Where the hell are you guys?" Zako demanded.
"Stay with us, Zako," KLO-657 said.
"Don't worry, Commander. I'm not leaving you."
The Scarab kept weaving but the Y-wing seemed smart and sure of itself. Disraeli kept his cool and waited for the right moment to strike again.
"Wait….wait," Zako panicked as the systems on his Scarab started to fail.
"I have you now," Disraeli declared.
Suddenly a stream of red laser fire came pouring in from the side. Disraeli's right wingman was destroyed and his Y-wing suffered a score of hits.
"What?" Disraeli looked up at his attacker.
A black Belbullab-22 fighter came zooming down from above and to the side. The CIS fighters could hear a transmission of a Skakoan pressure suit vocalizer autocorrecting.
"Look out," Disraeli's remaining wingman warned before the Belbullab fired again. The Y-wing smashed into the Torrent fighter and both spun out of control. The Torrent fighter smashed onto the hull of the Mandator II dreadnaught while the Y-wing spiraled off into open space.
"You're all clear," Dr. Quartz said.
The Droch boarding ship pierced the command bridge. Z1 special ops battle droids started pouring out onto the deck. There were only four armed clone troopers standing guard on the bridge, none of which were a match for the special ops droids. KLO-657 and his elite troops were quick to kill the clones and the rest of the bridge crew.
One of the Z1 droids ran and locked to doorway to the bridge. Then he planted a pair of HX2 mines in front of the door in case anyone broke through. The other special ops droids set about altering the course of the dreadnaught and downloading any information they could from the bridge's computers.
"The 8th Fleet is in firing range of the capital ship. The 8th Fleet is in firing range of the capital ship," a pilot droid aboard the Scrapyard announced.
"Begin contingency operation," OOM-8 announced. Droids and organic crewmembers went about their various assigned duties.
Combat sirens aboard the capital ships of the 8th Fleet started to blare.
"No, wait," OOM-9 stopped OOM-8. "Just, wait."
The special ops droids had altered the ship's course, and were rushing back to the Droch ship. The last two Z1 battle droids used their immense strength and pushed the ship out of the hole it had created in the bridge. They then hopped in and the boarding ship took off, hurrying to get out of the way.
The crew of the Solar Pyre had figured the Separatists had done something and were hurrying to try and re-enter the command bridge. A squad of clones forced the doors open, and was blown up by the mines planted on the floor.
The Solar Pyre started to veer left, off from its previous course. Then the Mandator II dreadnaught jumped to hyperspace right into Felacat's star and was suddenly nothing more than a short small sizzle against the surface of the massive star.
Disraeli finally regained control of his Y-wing and fled into hyperspace away from the Felacat system as soon as he could. The remaining V-19 Torrent fighters were stranded, not having hyperdrives and no home ship to retreat to, they quickly surrendered.
A few minutes later the Republic fleet from the Hikil system showed up at Felacat. When they realized the Mandator II was gone, they quickly turned tail and fled from the 8th Fleet.
That night a grand celebration was set up at the royal gardens of the Felacatian palace. Felacatians, Separatist humans and battle droids celebrated. Overhead, the E-STAP droid starbombers that passed by released fireworks from their bomb bays. Felacatians danced and played music.
The clone pilots that had surrendered after the Solar Pyre had been destroyed were released to Felacat's general populace. The CIS made sure every Felacatian was aware that the Republic had planned to bomb them from orbit. The clone pilots were torn limb from limb by some of Felacat's civilians.
The party at the palace gardens was getting started when the tactical droid TH-1066 and B1 battle droid 3B3-888 entered the estate, with Sledge walking in between the two. Katen rushed up and hugged her friend. OOM-9 had sent the Komusai to investigate Zorva and search for survivors.
TH-1066 moved to give his report to OOM-9. "General, our mission to Zorva was successful. All hands were able to evacuate the Kuzack before destruction and have been retrieved. Captain Sledge attempted to sacrifice herself and her ship to in order to save the crew. The command bridge stayed intact when the Kuzack was destroyed and then survived entry onto the planet."
"How is Captain Sledge?" OOM-9 asked.
"The medical droids report no major injuries. She sustained only superficial cuts and bruises," the tactical droid reported. "She is fit for combat duty."
"Good." OOM-9 liked Sledge and was glad she survived her ordeal. Though OOM-9 considered giving her a lecture about self-preservation later.
OOM-9 then moved to address KLO-657, who was now approaching.
"As you know, my droids were able to extract some data from the computers before altering the ship's course," the Z1 command droid started. "We were able to obtain partial schematics for the ship. This Mandator II-class star dreadnaught is a new vessel. Though the cost of it should prohibit the Republic from using them in large numbers."
"After what we did to that one, the Republic may scrap any future plans of using this ship class in the future," OOM-8 said.
The super battle droid 8EX came up and lifted Sledge into the air, giving her a bone-crushing hug. Katen gave KJZ-8267 a kiss on what could be considered the droid's cheek for saving her during the space battle. DSD-08 rocked back and forth, the dwarf spider droid's attempt at dancing. Zako and Quartz shook hands. Miaria Prrt had convinced SSA-719 to dance with her. King Prrt was talking with EEK-176.
The war was far from over, and given the ship they had just faced, was growing more dangerous than ever. Though tonight the Separatists celebrated.
Author's Note: The Mandator II star dreadnaught is mentioned in the Revenge of the Sith: Incredible Cross-Sections, but has never made an actual appearance in Star Wars as far as I know.
Miaria Prrt and the planet Felacat first appeared in the comic Bad Business that appears in Star Wars Tales 8.