Star Wars

The Revenge of Qymaen jai Sheelal

Chapter 5: The Republic Strikes Back

Grievous began to shout orders to the crew on the bridge, and was giving messages to the other ships. The Republic cruisers were set in an offensive attack pattern, the five Acclamator I-class assault ships made a V in shape, and the Venator-class Star Destroyer was in the center of the V, at a slightly lower altitude. The Acclamator I's were mostly troop transports, each held around 16,000 infantry and support personnel, as well as various support vehicles. But this was there only true use, as an assault ship, they were weak, as they had very weak weaponry and very few starfighers in comparison to the fleet the General now oversaw. But then there was the Venator, it was a good deal larger than the Acclamator I's, and were near equal size to his Providence-class destroyers, and also held around the same amount of total firepower. The Invisible Hand had enhanced firepower to the standard Providence-class ships, and could most likely take the Venator itself with a bit of effort. But where the power of the fleet really was, was in the Lucrehulk-class battleship. Each one of those ring-like behemoths were over four times the length of the Acclamator I-class and nearly three times as long as the Venator-class. Their firepower dwarfed every other ship in the area in sheer number of turret positions, and there was four of them in the CIS fleet.

In total number of fighters, the Republic was also outgunned, as the Acclamator I's only had light starfighers numbering near 156, and the Venator also carried mostly starfighers, and the only ships that carried proton torpedoes were the ARC-170 (Aggressive ReConnaissance-170) starfighter, and only 36 were carried onboard. Even if they were used, every one of Grievous' ships had point-defense systems of some kind, so most likely damage would be low. They had their advantages, and their starfighers were ready. Grievous began to give commands quickly, "Defense formation!" he barked at his captain, who began to give orders to the fleet. This defense formation was an inverted arch, the Lucrehulk-class ships were at the side, and the Providence-class ships were in the center. The Republic formation would be engulfed by their formation and would be destroyed quickly by the overwhelming firepower of the fleet.

The Republic ships began to break off their formation, but still were within range of the Lucrehulk's. "Fire at will! Destroyer the Acclamator-class ships! Focus ion cannons on the Venator-class, I want that ship to be taken as an example!" he ordered, watching as the battle began. The Vulture droid starfighters began doing their jobs well, swarming over the Republic starfighers with their incredible numbers, releasing discord missiles onto the unsuspecting starfighers and thus releasing onto them the buzz droids. Large groups of them were released at once, causing the Republic starfighers to lose control of their ships, and crash into each other, or other larger ships. The Lucrehulk's began to fire upon the Acclamator I's, taking down their shields quickly and tearing them apart, while taking little damage themselves. They were larger, and had several reactors, their shielding was far higher in power, and they had more firepower than most any other starship ever built. The Venator was completely useless at this point, the ion cannon shots had ruined it's systems, and now it was simply watching as the rest of it's fleet was being ripped apart, piece by piece.

Grievous watched with a slight excitement, the turbolasers firing against the smaller assault ships, each shot exploding on impact and taking a chunk of the ship with it. He watched dogfights between ships, normally being two or three on one, the CIS taking a major advantage in their sheer numbers and exploiting it completely. The explosions he could see were beautiful, and he cackled slightly to himself as he paced around the large viewports of the bridge, watching the battle as it proceed with a great deal of interest. Soon, one by one, the Acclamator I's began to lose power, then explode into massive fireballs, shrapnel flying everywhere, and impacting the particle shields of several of his ships.

Soon enough the Acclamator I's had been annihilated, and the Venator-class Star Destroyer was now completely defenseless. Tens of thousands if not a hundred thousand clones and personnel had been killed during the battle, and all that was left was a handful of fighters, still trying to cling to the hope of living...that would soon be corrected. Eventually the last ships were taken down, either by the fire of the battleships, buzz droids, or the fire of the droid starfighers, they were all gone. The space they had once filled was now a graveyard of scrap metal, floating in the now serene view, the Vulture droids scouting the area in groups of ten, and keeping an eye out for any other starships that might immerge from the Venator. The Republic starship had been bombarded by ion cannons for the length of the battle, it had not fired but a handful of shots the entire time, a witness to the destruction of the Republic fleet. All the while, Grievous laughed from the bridge of the Invisible Hand.

He turned to the captain, "Keep the ship as it is, continue to bombard them with the ion cannons, and you are not to stop until you are told by me. Is that clear?" he questioned his captain.

"Yes, General Grievous." the Neimoidian responded.

Grievous moved towards the doors, waiting for them to open before moving quickly through the halls, controlling himself enough to stay at a brisk walk and not a run, as it looked far too undignified. When he reached the hanger he continued at his quick pace towards Soulless One. He jumped into the cockpit and sealed the transparisteel canopy over him and began to lift off. He flew towards the Venator-class ship. The shielding for the hanger was still active. He fired a proton bomb at the shield generator and accelerated quickly into the hanger bay, before the massive durasteel doors sealed off the now vulnerable hanger . He landed slowly into the ship, and looked to either side. There was not a single ship left in the hanger, exactly as he had thought. This ship carried 2,000 passengers of clone troopers, at the least, and most likely they were defending the bridge. He opened the cockpit and leapt from the starfighter, and walked from the hanger to the aft portion of the ship, moving towards the bridge.

From within the halls he could hear the ion cannon blasts striking the ship, and most of the lighting would flicker as they impacted the hull, giving off an nearly eerie ambiance to the empty halls of the starship. Only to add to the sheer strangeness of the atmosphere was the sound of the Grievous' mechanical legs, the light sound they made as they rose, and the slight clicking as they struck the metal floor, the claws taking a subtle grip on it. He kept his eyes forward, his hands taking a very light grip on his lightsabers. Those clone troopers had to still be on board, but where they were was in question, but still the best bet was that they were guarding the bridge, and the turbolift that led to it. His cloak swirled around him, and his eyes stayed fixated before him, searching for the turbo lift that would take him to the bridge.

He stopped for a moment, he heard something running about the halls, they were boots, they were soft sounds, it was leather or cloth against the floor. It was no clone trooper, most likely an officer or official that was unable to get to the bridge. He chuckled lightly to himself, making sure that he could not be heard. He began to control his moments far more finely now, making sure that he was as silent was physically possible, while still keeping his audio receptors tuned to that noise. It was getting closer, and now he heard more than just one, but three, it was leather boots on durasteel. As fine as his hearing system was, he could not tell the direction, the echoes of the near-silent halls made it nearly impossible to tell with an certainty. He soon heard another sound, a sound to which he was very accustomed, the sound of an igniting lightsaber. He turned his head to the side slightly, eying the three Jedi behind him, one being flanked by two others. The one in the center had ignited his lightsaber and was pointing it at Grievous' head. "Ah, a Jedi General, I would presume.." Grievous said coldly to the Jedi.

"Yes, and now you will submit or perish." the young Cerean male said.

Grievous simply laughed, this very humorous to him, "And what is your name, you Jedi dog?" he asked coldly.

"Tarr Seirr, Jedi Knight, and Jedi General of the Republic." he responded to the droid.

Grievous took a look to the other two Jedi, they were both humans, and also male, and from the looks of them, they were both Jedi Knights also. Then he laughed again in his raspy synthesized voice. "I suggest you make peace with the Force now, as in a moment, you all will be dead..." he said cruelly, turning full towards the Jedi and towering over them, staring down at them with his golden eyes, filled to the brim with a dark hatred for them all...

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