A/N: The Final battles are here. After Mustafar and Felucia is Geonosis and the story will end there...for now...Read and Review Please!
Chapter 19
Battle of Ryloth
Admiral Nechayev stood in front of the assembled Fleet and Ground commanders. "This will be the final push gentlemen. Intelligence indicates the remaining CIS forces are gathered around Mustafar, Ryloth, Felucia and Geonosis. They have no shipyard facilities and the majority of their droid factories are destroyed. Make no mistake, we'll take heavy casualties, but on the other hand they could sit in orbit of those bases rebuild shipyards and come out again in three to five years and overwhelm us with ships and droids. General Secura, General Kang, you will break the blockade at Ryloth and destroy all CIS forces. Generals Kenobi and Skywalker, you will attack Mustafar with Captains Keller and Riker. General Yoda and Captain Picard will attack Felucia. Once those planets are secure, all ships will rendezvous at these coordinates..." a screen came on and a specific point near the Geonosis system lit up. "From there we will proceed to Geonosis and destroy the CIS. Any questions?" she looked at every commander in the eye. "Good luck and may the Force be with you." she said
With that the various commanders and Captains beamed up to their respective ships and Jedi took up gunships and fighters. With each task force however was a group of Jedi Padawans who had recently gone through a Starfleet-style combat training course to familiarize them with ground and space combat. These courses were part of an agreement between the Jedi Council and Starfleet. While the Jedi would continue to train Padawans in lightsaber combat as they grew up, when they reached the age of eighteen, they went to Starfleet Academy and were trained in conventional combat and tactics. The groups that were assigned to the three task forces were the first class of sixty Padawans to graduate. After the war ended, the next class would be larger and have a longer curriculum. Masters and Knights would take Advanced Tactical Training Courses in infiltration, hand-to-hand combat and intelligence gathering.
Jedi Commander Juokas formally a Padawan, strood onto the bridge of General Secura's flagship. He snapped a crisp salute. "Commander Juokas reporting for duty."
Secura returned the salute just as crisply. While the Jedi were not a formal military for the duration of the war they had adopted some military customs, such as saluting a superior officer in this case Master/General Secura. "Welcome aboard Commander. Congratulations on your graduation. Are you ready to end this war?" she asked
"Yes ma'am." he replied
She nodded, "Get down below and get yourself situated. We have a twelve-hour hyperspace jump and then a five minute jump to our target, Ryloth. I want you to read over the intelligence reports from the Klingon, Starfleet and Republic intelligence databases. Pay specific attention to the fleet in orbit. I want a plan of attack ready in six hours." she said
"Yes ma'am." he replied
"Dismissed." she said.
Juokas executed a perfect two-point about face and walked to the turbolift. He lead a group of thirty Jedi Commanders in various positions within the fleet. Some were ground commanders others led wings of starfighters, three more including himself were ship Captains. He entered his quarters and sat down at his desk. There were readiness reports stacked up on the desk but he decided to tackle those later. He pulled up the list of ships assigned to the task force under Secura. Then he pulled up combined intelligence reports of Ryloth. He was somewhat shocked that the droids were being ordered to use Twi'lek civilians as human shields. Then he turned his attention to the fleet in orbit.
General Secura's flagship the Centurion was joined by General Kang's Vor'Cha-class ship, the Maht'Ha to form the leading ships of the fleet. With them were twenty-five Venator-class Star Destroyers, fifteen Acclamator-class assault ships, three of which were retrofitted with extended hangar decks and carried more starfighters than clone troopers, and almost one hundred Consular-class cruisers for anti-fighter support. The Klingons had assigned four hundred Bird of Preys to the fleet along with three dozen Vor'cha-class battlecruisers. Also with them were dozens of D-7, K'Vort and K't'inga type cruisers. There was a reserve Federation fleet of two hundred ships that could be called upon if needed. A total force of seven hundred ships not including fighter support.
The enemy force guarding Ryloth consisted of twenty-five Munificent-class frigates, thirty-six Recusant-class destroyers, twelve Lucrehulk-class battleships and eight Providence-class cruisers. Juokas immediately tagged them as priority targets. Those ships usually served as flagships and were very powerful. He recommended a force of at least three Venators or twenty Klingon ships be dispatched to each of the enemy flagships to destroy them quickly. Reports also indicated that there were more than two million battle droids available to the enemy but only about half-a-million droids were actually deployed on the planet itself. He tagged the Lucrehulk-class ships as priority targets as well as they held the majority of battle droids in storage.
Using the training he received from Starfleet Academy he put together a plan to destroy the fleet quickly and liberate the planet, then reported to General Secura on the bridge.
As he strode onto the bridge he saw they were still in hyperspace. He approached Secura and snapped a quick salute which she returned. "Report Commander." she said
"Ma'am I've studied the intelligence databanks and I've come up with a battle plan to liberate Ryloth. However in all honesty we don't even need one, the enemy has a force of barely eighty ships in orbit while we have a little over seven hundred. We could roll them under before they knew what hit them." he reported.
"True, however we should keep an eye out for additional forces." she replied
"Yes ma'am, I suggest we come out of hyperspace just outside the system and dispatch scout ships to confirm the disposition of enemy forces. Then we can drop out of hyperspace at four different points and split their forces. I've taken the liberty of tagging priority targets like Providence-class cruisers and Trade Federation battleships." he said
"Good work Commander Juokas. Now get some rest, we'll be making our second hyperspace jump in about an hour, then it's only three minutes to the new coordinates outside the system." Secura replied.
The Republic/Klingon fleet dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the Ryloth system. Five scout ships equipped with cloaking devices entered the system. They took passive scans of the ships in orbit and droid positions on the ground then jumped back out of the system. Later, General Kang relayed the report to General Secura. "The enemy fleet is just what we expected with the addition of fifteen Munificent-class frigates, ten Recusant destroyers and four more Trade Federation ships. Not that those reinforcements will matter. We will destroy them all quickly and efficiently. Using Commander Juokas' recommendations I've assigned twenty Bird of Preys and six Vor'chas to each enemy flagship. I also agree with the idea of splitting our forces and entering the system from four different points, we can surround them and destroy them with few casualties. Then we land troops on the ground and destroy what droids are left." he said
"Agreed. We should commence the attack immediately." she said
"Qapla!" roared Kang.
With that the connection cut and the fleet split into four distinct groups and jumped to hyperspace. The first group with General Secura's Centurion in the lead decanted from hyperspace over the eastern hemisphere. Directly in front of her was a portion of the enemy blockade. "All ships, launch fighters. Stand by to attack. Commander Bly report on enemy strength?"
"Ma'am, we're facing two Providence-class cruisers along with ten Munificent frigates, thirteen Recusant destroyers and three Trade Federation ships." he replied
She shook her head, "Versus our five Venators, five Acclamators, twenty Consulars and nearly a hundred Klingon ships. Right...all ships, all fighters, full impulse, attack pattern Delta." she said
Almost one-hundred fifty ships surged toward the CIS blockade. Droid fighters launched and surged ahead only to be met by tricobalt and photon torpedoes wiping the majority of the fighters out before they reached the enemy. Then the ships launched troop transports. Commander Bly immediately noticed and reported it. "Ma'am, enemy ships are launching troop transports." he said
"Boarding craft?" she asked
"No ma'am, they're heading for the surface. They probably know we'll destroy their fleet so their saving as many droids as they can for the surface battle." he said
"Vector some fighter squadrons to intercept. The fewer droids we have to deal with on the surface the faster we can liberate the planet." she replied
Bly nodded and issued the appropriate orders. Several hundred ARC-170 fighters broke off from the main engagement and pursued the transports. Then the leading Klingon ships hit the enemy fleet. Photon torpedoes and disruptors mixed with turbolasers and proton torpedoes. Many Klingon ships were disabled and destroyed but not before they themselves destroyed eight Munificents, five Recusants and heavily damaged a Trade Federation ship. Then the Republic ships hit even harder, destroying an additional three Munificents, finishing off the Recusants and Two Trade Federation ships. Then nearly a hundred ships turned on the two Providence-class cruisers and swarmed them and the remaining Trade Federation ship. Those ships exploded after ten minutes.
"Ma'am, report from the rest of the fleet. We took some casualties but we managed to destroy all Providence-class cruisers and Munificent-class frigates. Only four Trade Federation ships and ten Recusants remain-correction no Trade Federation ships and three Recusants remain. Several ships have begun landing troops on the surface and encountering heavy resistance. They've also made contact with Twi'lek resistance fighters who have joined our troops. Ground commanders reporting droids using Twi'lek civilians as meat shields." Bly said
"Order our troops on the ground to take extra care with ordinance. We don't want any civilian casualties. Make sure the Klingons understand that as well." she replied.
"Yes ma'am."
"Casualty reports?" she asked
"Heavy casualties among starfighter units and Bird of Preys but only two Venators an Acclamator and ten Consular cruisers were destroyed or disabled." he replied
"Signal the reserve Federation fleet, have them jump in and beam down medical personnel and supplies. I want every village cared for. You have the bridge Commander Bly. I'm going to the surface." she said and walked off the bridge.
A moment later a single Jedi Starfighter launched from the R.S.S. Centurion and landed on the planet surface. The Jedi Master walked to a nearby house, untouched by the conflict and knocked on the door. An older female Twi'lek answered. "Yes?" she asked
All Secura could say was... "Mother?"