A/N: Wow 4,000 words...'look at the size of that thing'...cliche I know but still. Anyway Enjoy!

Chapter 14

The best defense is a good offense...

Captain Keller met with Admiral Nechayev and several other officers to discuss the next phase of operations. Nechayev stood at the head of the meeting table and began to speak. "Captain Keller, General Skywalker, well done on securing the Corellian trade routes. I've decided to go with your idea of using the former pirate base as a staging area for patrols in that sector. We've already begun to install the needed systems. In the meantime I want to send you and your task force out to the Perlemian Trade Route. There are Confederate convoys moving through that area I want to give the CIS a taste of its own medicine. You are to destroy or capture these convoys. I'll supplement your force with two cruiser wings. That should allow you to destroy any escorts they might have." She turned to Captain Reynolds of the U.S.S. Horatio, "I want you to take a small force to Dinlo and retrieve the Clone Battalions and the Jedi stationed there. They've been fighting for months and haven't made any headway. You're orders are to rescue what clone forces are left and then fall back to Republic territory." she turned to Sgt. Ryan "Sgt., take your squad and join a Republic Commando Unit code-named Omega, to destroy the Phrik refinery on Fest." she turned to the rest of the officers, "The rest of you I've assigned reconnaissance in force missions to CIS shipyards and primary holdings. This is the start of our offensive. It will keep them off balance until the Republic has secured its primary systems and can begin invading CIS strongholds. Dismissed."

Keller met with Skywalker again in his ready room. "We're getting two additional cruiser wings to supplement our forces."

"That's good news. The CIS are more able to defend their convoys then we were at the start of the war. They might have heavy escorts depending on what the convoy is hauling." said Skywalker

"Exactly, I want you to look into the Republic Intelligence Databanks and see where exactly these convoys are going. If we can intercept the shipments of fuel, material and other resources we can reduce the CIS's ability to fight effectively."

Keller picked up the datapad which had the cruisers that would be assigned to him for this mission.

He whistled. "We're getting a Galaxy wing?"

"A Galaxy wing?" asked Skywalker

"Yea, think the Enterprise times three or four." Keller replied. It was a lot of firepower for an interdiction mission. "We're also getting a wing of Ambassador-class heavy cruisers."

"I haven't heard of those before."

"They're the successor to the Excelsior-class and the predecessor to the Galaxy. A lot of systems on the Galaxy-class were tested and developed on the Ambassador. Good ships. It looks like we're getting a Kitbash-class ship too that'll be...interesting."

"Kitbash?"

"A Kitbash is a term for a ship that is put together from components of various classes. There are a variety of configurations we can use and some of them prove quite useful. This one is an older Excelsior kitbash. It's got the saucer of the Excelsior but the nacelles of an Ambassador and the torpedo pod for a Springfield-class."

"Sounds...interesting."

"Indeed. Well we'd better get going. You should get back to your ship." said Keller

"Very well, see you on the other side Captain."

Skywalker left his ready room and beamed aboard his own ship, the Resolute. Keller walked onto the bridge of his ship and stood by his chair. "Well let's get this show on the road. Lt. Adams inform all ships we're moving out."

"Aye sir."

In orbit of Coruscant a group of ships broke orbit. One Venator-class Star Destroyer, an Excelsior-class cruiser, six Mirandas, three Soyuzes, four Galaxys, three Ambassador-class, and one Kitbash-class starship all formed up in a wedge formation then jump to hyperspace. Another three jumps were required before they made it to the Perlemian Trade Routes.

Captain Charlie Reynolds stood on his Ambassador-class ship the U.S.S. Horatio. Under his command were two Starfleet troop transports and four Excelsior-class cruisers. They were already en route to Dinlo and would arrive in a few hours. "All ships, this is Captain Reynolds, the Berlin and Farragut will protect the troop transports as they beam the clone forces aboard. Cairo and Charleston are with me. We're running interference against the CIS."

He received a string of acknowledgements from the other ships and relaxed in his chair.

Sgt. Ryan stood by the Republic gunship with his squad. His mission was to assist the Republic Commando Unit known as Omega squad in destroying a Phrink refinery. From what he knew, it was a super-dense metal that resists lightsabers and can be used to make armor plates for battle droids.

Attention all hands, we're dropping out of hyperspace in three minutes, Omega squad, MACO team Alpha report to the hanger deck. said a call over the intercom.

Since he was already by the gunship he only had to wait for his team comprised of three other MACOs and Omega squad. Still he took the time to reach for his rifle and do a final inspection, cleaning and checking the various components. His rifle was brand new. A gift from Starfleet Tactical Research and Development. It was designated the Type-3 Phaser Compression Rifle and was supposedly much more powerful and versatile than the standard phaser rifle. There were three buttons he could tap and the rifle would instantly change setting. He set the first button for the normal pulse setting, this would allow him to fire at a high volume while retaining power. The second button he assigned was a beam setting at high power and long range, essentially a 'sniper-mode'. The third button was a medium-range high-density beam setting, designed to punch through armor plating.

He looked up to see the rest of his team walk into the bay along with Omega Squad. He quickly safetied his rifle and slung it across the back of his new armor suit. With the start of the war the Federation became quite interested in the armor used by clone troopers and quickly developed a version of their own complete with personal shields only slightly stronger than the Katarn-class armor worn by Republic Commandos. "Suit up boys, let's get this show on the road." he said donning his helmet.

The other three members of his squad also began pulling on their armor and helmets. His team was diverse, coming from across the Federation. His sniper was Cpl. Telok, a Vulcan. Cool, calm and collected and a record sniping score. His technician and demolitionist was Andorian, PFC Thelin another combat veteran of border conflict. He had a reputation for hacking enemy computers in record time and had quite a talent with explosives. PFC Gomez, the rookie, was the squad's medic. In simulations he proved he could keep a cool head during a firefight and had a good record of accuracy with the new rifle. Ryan thought he would eventually be a sniper.

Then he looked at Omega squad. There wasn't much difference except in skill area and even then they were all cross-trained on everything. They're all the same exact person. It was a little creepy to the Sgt. but he would work with them and the Clone troopers had proven competent on the Pirate base in the Corellian sector. He expected the Commandos to be just as good if not better than their counterparts.

Three minutes later the two squads were loaded and ready. The gunship stood by ready to launch from the Venator-class Star Destroyer they were riding on. General Kenobi had been assigned to distract the droid security forces guarding the refinery by landing a company of clones nearby. He had said not to worry, that he'll get them the opening they needed. He heard engines powering up and saw fighters launching from their individual slots in the hanger. Other fighters from three other Star Destroyers launched as well on attack vectors against the relatively small force guarding the refinery. Then his gunship launched and formed up with the other gunships behind the fighters. The plan was for the fighters to punch a hole through the defenses and let the gunships land on the planet below. His gunship was supposed to 'get lost' and 'crash' near the refinery.

General Kenobi stood on the bridge of his ship the Liberty. His force of four Venators and three Acclamators and one Miranda was up against five Munificent-class frigates and a Recusant-class destroyer. "Commander, tell the assault ships to concentrate their fire on the destroyer, we'll take the frigates. Tell the Miranda-class to hang back and be ready to extract our people." Kenobi said, intent on taking advantage of the transporter system utilized by the Federation and Klingons.

"Yes sir."

The Venators surged forward and struck the leading frigate with a full barrage that collapsed the shields and pummeled the hull into little tiny bits in a matter of seconds. Then the Destroyers broke left and right going after the outer ring of frigates. The enemy fleet was in a diamond formation with the Recusant in the middle and the five frigates at the points. The Republic forces had ripped the first frigate apart, allowing the Acclamator assault ships to attack the Recusant-class destroyer in the middle of the formation. While all this was happening the fighters and gunships had punched their way through the fighter defenses and were landing on the planet. Sgt. Ryan's gunship 'crashed' near the refinery as the pilot called out a fake mayday. His team and Omega squad jumped off the gunship onto the icy surface of Fest. They were all wearing their armor with the heat on. He nodded to Telok who moved forward using his armor's scope and heat sensors to track droids. A moment later Telok signaled all clear. The two squads crouched near a hill to plan their next move. Telok and Atin or RC-3222 crawled up to the top of the hill overlooking the refinery.

"Droids have already engaged a company of clone troopers." said Telok

"Niner, we have an entrance. A side door. Two guards, standard battle droids."

Niner nodded "That's our ticket in." he said

The group moved past the hill and stayed out of sight of the droid guards. When they were sure no other droids were around, Telok and Atin took out both droids with single shots at the same time. The eight-man team moved quickly to the door and stacked up on either side. Fi planted a breaching charge on the door. "Clear!" he yelled.

The charge exploded, destroying the lock and opening the door.

"Grenade!" yelled Ryan as he tossed in a photon grenade as Fi tossed in a thermal detonator from either side. Once they detonated the two teams filed in quickly.

And found no opposition. The droids guarding the inside of the door were destroyed. "That was easy." said Fi.

"Too easy, stay alert." replied Ryan

"Move out Omega." said Niner.

The two teams moved through the refinery at a quick but cautious pace. They got to the power station and crouched on a high scaffolding. From there they could see the entire facility. There were still some droids around but not as many as there would be without Kenobi's distraction. Ryan spotted at least ten super battle droids. "All right, that's the power station down there, if we can blow it the entire refinery will shut down. Our next target is over there, the shield generators. If we can destroy those, we can pull out of the facility and General Kenobi can blast the place from orbit." said Ryan.

"Alright here's the plan, Omega, we're going after the power station. MACOs will destroy the shield generators." said Niner

"Niner, I suggest we leave Telok and Atin here to provide sniper support. I saw at least ten super battle droids down there." said Ryan

"Good idea Sgt." Niner agreed.

The two squads went down a ladder and split up. Going for the power station and shield generators at the same time. Ryan took point, leading the team through a maze of pipes and other refinery equipment. They made it to the shield generator with little resistance only having to destroy a few droids in the process. Thelin immediately began planting spacial charges on the generator. "Omega team, this is Alpha team. We've reached the shield generators and have begun planting charges."

"Acknowledged, we've made it to the power station as well and are planting our own charges." replied Niner

Atin then came over the comm. "Heads up teams, you've got more droids heading in both directions. We'll do what we can from here."

"You ready?" Atin asked Telok

"I am prepared." Telok replied with typical Vulcan detachment. Atin changed his rifle over to the sniper attachment and located his team on the scope while Telok did the same.

The two snipers began firing right as the droids engaged their respective teams. Atin and Telok both targeted super battle droids as priority targets while other team members targeted the normal droids. Telok's phaser rifle punched straight through a normal droid and hit a second. Atin fired three times at a super battle droid and eventually took it down. He quickly aimed and fired at a normal battle droid but missed.

Ryan ducked as a group of battle droids fired on his position. He popped back up and fired three quick bursts taking down a trio of B1 battle droids. Gomez took out two more of the normal ones then tossed a photon grenade at a super battle droid. The photon explosive vaporized that droid and three more in close proximity. Thelin then reported in "Charges set!" he yelled.

Ryan nodded and pinged Omega squad on the comm. "Omega we're coming your way. We're gonna trigger our explosives as we leave to prevent the droids from disarming them." then to the rest of his squad he said "Okay Alpha team let's move!"

As one the group moved away from the shield generators as the droids closed in. When they were halfway between the shield generator and the power station, Ryan nodded to Thelin. Who, with a grin tapped a button on his arm. The shield generator lit up with an explosion taking a dozen battle droids with it.

They met up with Omega squad which was still fighting off battle droids but with the assistance of the MACO team they managed to destroy most of the droids.

"Charges set!" yelled Fi.

"Let's go Omega!" yelled Niner

The refinery was on full alert by now and the team had to fight their way out. Once they were outside Niner detonated the explosive in the power station. Part of the refinery lit up with fire. Then Niner contacted General Kenobi.

"General Kenobi, this is Omega squad, mission accomplished. Requesting evac."

"Standby Omega squad and well done."

Before Niner could acknowledge his team, the MACOs and himself disappeared in blue light as the Miranda-class starship beamed them up...and beamed three photon torpedoes down. They detonated at the same time, completely destroying the refinery. The space battle had already been won, with the CIS ships now tumbling wreckage the Republic ships and the Miranda all jumped to hyperspace.

The U.S.S. Horatio, four Excelsiors and two troop transports dropped out of hyperspace in the Dinlo system. Captain Reynolds stood on the bridge of his starship. "Report."

"Sir, CIS starships are in orbit above the planet." said his first officer

"Numbers?"

"Three Trade Federation Battleships, four Recusant-class destroyers, three Providence-class cruisers and a number of frigates. I'm also detecting high concentrations of droid fighters." said the tactical officer

"Can we get in transporter range?"

"Yes sir. We can even sneak in without being detected if we come in over the polar regions. The magnetic distortions disrupt sensors."

"Do it. And tell the troop transports to start transporting the clones up from the surface. Estimated time?"

"Depending on how many are left maybe ten to twenty minutes."

"That's a long time. Maybe we can help speed that up and use the transporters of our ships too."

"That would cut the time down to ten minutes tops." said the first officer.

"Very well. Once we're in orbit and we know the CIS hasn't seen us, begin emergency transports, start with the wounded. Open a secure channel to General Etain Tur-Mukan."

"Channel open."

"This is General Etain, who is this?"

"Captain Reynolds of the Federation starship Horatio. We're getting ready to retrieve your people. Standby." to the helmsmen he nodded.

The Lieutenant nodded in return and the Ambassador-class starship jumped to warp for a split-second and dropped out of warp again in the polar regions of Dinlo. The other six starships followed shortly after.

"Sir, the CIS ships are holding position. None are headed our way." said the first officer

"Very well. Begin transports."

Etain Tur-Mukan was on the surface directing Clone Battalions Sarlacc A and B against heavy droid forces when her men started to disappear in front of her. What's going on? She thought. At first it was four or five men at a time then ten and twenty, now thirty at a time. Before she knew it a tingling sensation overcame her and she found herself on the transporter pad of the U.S.S. Horatio being ushered off by a blue-shirted officer who immediately began scanning her with some sort of device. She backed away at first, then sensing the officer had no ill will allowed him to scan her. "No injuries, take her to the Captain." he said. Another officer, this one in yellow walked up to her. "This way General." he said leading her to a turbolift. "Who are you people? Are you from the Republic?" she asked. But somehow she didn't think they were. There was something...different about this officer.

"We're from the United Federation of Planets. A quantum rift was discovered in our territory. A ship sent a probe through and found this galaxy. That ship came through and rescued General Skywalker from a pirate raid. After some time the CIS found out about us and the rift. They came through with almost a hundred ships and attacked one of our colonies. They killed almost 50,000 people. The Captain will fill you in on the rest." replied the officer.

The turbolift stopped and the officer led her out. A man stood in the center of the room. He was wearing a black shirt and trousers with a red section at the shoulders. He also wore four small buttons on his collar. She guessed they were rank insignia. There were consoles all around with officers at every station. They were all in either red, gold or blue shirts. The man turned to her after conferring with an officer. "General Etain, welcome aboard the U.S.S. Horatio. I'm Captain Reynolds. We've been assigned the duty of rescuing your clone troopers. If fact, we're nearly done. Please have a seat." he said motioning to a chair on the right of his. "Where are the rest of my troops?" she asked as she sat down.

"They are aboard six other Federation ships and we're treating your wounded as well." he replied

Before she could ask another question, another officer spoke up. "Sir, all clone forces have been transported from the surface."

"Very well. Let's get out of here. Warp nine until we're outside the system, then jump to hyperspace on a course for Coruscant." replied the Captain.

"Aye sir."

Seven federation starships broke orbit from the polar regions and jumped to warp. The CIS never detected them but still wondered where all the clone troopers went.

Republic Task Force Alpha dropped out of hyperspace in the middle Perlemian Trade Route. According to Clone Intelligence, there was a convoy of supply ships headed for the CIS shipyards at Fondor. Keller wanted to capture those ships and send them to the Republic shipyards at Corellia. His force had towed a large asteroid into their projected path and now they had to wait. The ships waiting in ambush positions were comprised of his ship, Skywalker's Resolute, the Ambassador-class cruiser wing, two destroyer units of three Miranda and three Soyuz each along with two Galaxys. The other destroyer unit and two more Galaxys waited beyond sensor range, ready to jump in and provide additional fire should it be needed.

"Time?" Keller asked

"I estimate two minutes Captain." replied Lt. Adams.

"Very well. Have boarding parties stand by on all ships." he ordered.

"Sir, they're already standing by." replied Lt. Adams.

"Very well."

Two minutes later a convoy of ships dropped out of hyperspace. The large asteroid projected a gravity well into hyperspace and the hyperdrive safeties on the CIS freighters and escorts cut in. Keller immediately began issuing orders. "Take out the escorts, quickly. Destroyer unit two, disable the freighters."

A string of acknowledgements went out and the federation ships swooped in. A volley of photon torpedoes destroyed two frigates and a third was rippled by multiple phaser strikes. Another volley from aft launchers destroyed it completely. Destroyer Unit 2 comprised of three Miranda-class starships hit one freighter each, punching through the shields with torpedoes and disabling the engines with phasers. The attack was swift and brutal...and took a mere five minutes.

"All ships deploy boarding parties to the freighters." ordered Keller

The three Mirandas and one of the Galaxys beamed over multiple boarding parties. The takeover of the freighters was just as swift as the attack. Resistance was practically nothing with the freighters being mostly automated, with a skeleton crew of battle droids.

"Sir, report from the boarding parties. They say the cargo holds are full of Phrik." said Lt. Adams.

"Phrik?" asked Keller "That's used in construction of armor plates. It's also lightsaber resistant. Very good. Assign a crew to each of the ships and have them set course for Corellia. Destroyer Unit 1 will act as escort."

"Aye sir."

"Hail Skywalker."

"Skywalker here."

"Those freighters were filled with Phrik General. They were probably going to use them to create lightsaber resistant armor plates. With your permission I'd like to send a sample to Starfleet. See if we can't find a way to use it in starship construction, perhaps as an ablative armor of some kind."

"Go right ahead."

"The next convoy is due to arrive three light-years from here in twenty minutes, let's have a proper welcome prepared for them." said Keller.

Twenty minutes later and three light-years distant another convoy was forced from hyperspace. Again the attack came quickly. The escorts were destroyed in the opening moments and the freighters captured just as quickly. These freighters were filled with starship grade fuel. Keller sent them on to Corellia. Keller, Skywalker and the rest of Task Force Alpha captured another dozen convoys carrying needed material to the shipyards at Fondor, depriving that particular shipyard of the materials needed to construct new warships. This is turn forced the CIS to increase not only the escorts but to divert convoys going to other shipyards to Fondor instead. After a week of convoy interception the Task Force was recalled to Coruscant and another taskforce under the command of a Starfleet Captain and Jedi General Aayla Secura.