"One More for the Confederacy"
The distance explosive booms continued erupting one after another as the Republic army continued its advance toward the gathering of Confederate droids. It was tactically idiotic to gather all these troops to fight in a single battle but neither would stand by and have their small outposts be defeated in detail. With every detachment of clones rallied behind this final battle a whole battalion of droids were deployed to meet them, for every AT-TE there were two AATs, the only thing left out were any form of air support. At the rear of the Republic lines and all but irrelevant to the battle a Jedi and Separatist clashed for a third time with any hope for support gone with the clones that marched on; not that either desired it.
Wire had already taken care of the disoriented clones, the carelessness of their leader brought them to their death and now it was only the three including himself and the two duelists. He watched with his blaster pointed directly at the force wielder but refused to pull the trigger. Watching his master dodge and block the attacks from the deadly weapon was certainly a sight to behold as few could say they could go toe to toe against a member of the Jedi Order. Every time the lightsaber met the vibroblade, a light spark erupted from their impacts together and neither the snow that lightly stung their faces nor the corpses and wreckages of both clones and droids stopped their fight. Kvetina had stopped to catch her breath but the Jedi did not let up, on the defensive she could feel her muscles burn, screaming for her to take a break but she stubbornly defied its pleads with her will now set on her quest to avenge her people. It would seem that fatigue too was starting to wear on the Jedi except he still had plenty of energy and stamina to spare; no doubt thanks to his use force and training she thought. One of the young captain's only advantage, other than field experience, was her successful swings leaving painful cuts across her opponent. It was a luxury the Jedi didn't have however, should a single attack break through her defense it was almost certain she will not survive for even a few moments at best. She felt the weight behind each attack until finally being pushed down to a knee but after seeing the destroyed body of her droid, Sparks, it only reinvigorated her to stand back up and slash across the Jedi's torso. The sudden response was quick and had drawn blood once again. Caught off guard the Padawan stumbled back leaving himself open to the raven haired woman. Taking the chance, Kvetina disarmed him with a slice across the forearm and the pain ensuing causing the Jedi drop his weapon in the snow. Following her first attack came another across his leg, having him collapse to the ground, and finally with her vibroblade brought in the air poised to taste blood the Jedi raised an arm to repeat his escape like last time. Only this time there was no bomber causing Kvetina to hesitate, and there was no other enemy that could stop her from bringing the blade down and slicing through his neck. Clawing at his throat the apprentice lay dying and the Captain finally could catch her breath with one heel pressed down into his chest to stop any chance for much needed air. She felt satisfied with struggles of the Jedi eventually ceasing, it felt to her far more rewarding than cutting down clone after clone after all they were just as nameless as the millions of battle droids that made up the Confederate army. Taking the weapon hilt that lie on the ground Kvetina looked out to where the rest of the clone army went and began her walk. She would only make it a few steps until a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"I need to find the other." She stated, gaze still on the distant clone army. "I'll-"
"Captain, I cannot allow such an action." Wire interrupted, "The probability of your survival is zero percent should you encounter the clones on your own."
"Sparks-"
"Can still be retrieved. Captain, should you be killed his sacrifice will have been in vain." This got to Kvetina, clearing her thoughts as to remember the strike that would have ended her life. A strike that Sparks willing took in place of his owner. Sighing, she went along with her droid to what remained of Sparks. "He may be rebuilt Captain." Looking to Wire with wide eyes full of surprise and a sliver of hope she had just remembered. All this time together she had forgotten about how fixable droids could be; a feature not widely available to the living inhabitants of the galaxy. Still though, she knew there was only one way to bring her the robotic member of her family back but that was only if his memory core was undamaged but finding out would only be safe if they had a spare chassis. "I have already called for a transport Captain. It appears the Republic fleet is on the move."
Though the battle on Agamar's surface still went on it was clear that the Republic's desperate assault had been halted by the might of the Confederacy; a victory that the General was pleased to hear about. While Wire went to secure Spark's remains in a safe place the Separatist fleet was already reorganizing into an attack formation with the many smaller vessels forming the 'frontline' of the fleet with the larger combat vessels evenly spaced out as to avoid both crossfire and have the Republic unable to target multiple ships in a single volley. Vultures swarmed around the warships protectively, ready to intercept any bomber or fighter that tried to damage them while the Hyenas, escorted by Vultures, were waiting for the order to strike the Venators that approached. Even if this was the first large space battle she would participate in Kvetina was still impressed by the coordination of a single Super Tactical Droid, a feat she would have thought impossible given past experiences with regular Tactical Droids. Being ordered to the left flank, the Captain waited for the massive fleet composed of Venators, Acclamators, and other classes of ships she could not recognize that made up the smaller corvettes and frigates. With enough spare time on hand, the woman contacted the General for a status report on the more or less successful mission she was assigned on. Upon asking why she was assigned to command her ship in the ensuing battle the only answer was the she wasn't needed for mopping whatever was left of the Republic ground forces.
"I congratulate your minor victory over a Jedi, I would have assumed you to be killed by the him however it would appear I was wrong in this assumption. Nevertheless, the battle is not over and I expect this to be the final effort for the Republic, follow my orders and I can assure you we will emerge victorious for the Separatist Alliance with minimum expected losses."
"Yes General, over and out." Kvetina said followed by the transmission ending. It was estimated to be one standard hour before the two fleets were expected to engage one another. It was during this time that tension grew with either side just waiting for the first shot and fire it did. The first volley of turbolaser fire destroyed a number of frigates and corvettes on each side and afterword the Vultures would move to intercept Republic bombers while the Hyenas struck enemy batteries and other hardpoints. Although the relatively small Munificents tried standing against the Venators many had failed to deliver killing blows, but in their valiant effort that still managed to deal great amounts of damage which left the Republic ships weakened for the Providence and Recusant to destroy. Ships on either side finally gave out to the constant barrage of fire until breaking apart or exploding in a fiery boom. Despite all the destruction and chaos, the bridge of the Indomitable was quiet with the only sound being its turbolasers ringing throughout the interior. Thankfully it had had not been touched by enemy weapons save for a few squadrons of fighters that were dealt with by missiles and the swarm of Vultures. The Republic fleet had been focused on cutting off the Separatist fleet's head, that being General Kalani's flagship, by doing so had fell right into the droid General's plan. He had called for the flanks to move in capturing the Republic warships in a net of red laser fire and now all but surrounded the agile Munificents that remained had a total of hundreds of cannons raining down on all sides of the forward vessels of the fleet. Following orders Kvetina ordered her ship to position itself just over a passing Venator alongside two other frigates. The three vessels fired their dozens of turbolasers at the already damaged Republic vessel destroying its bridge, punching holes through its ventral hangar and hull until finally it broke apart with an explosive shockwave that even the Confederate could feel from her ship. Next in their line of fire was an Acclamator who launched a series of missiles of its own against the ship next to the Indomitable but were blocked by the selfless Vultures that destroyed themselves defending it. With their strongest ships caught in the net of red laser fire and constant Hyena bombings it wouldn't take long for them to realize their mistake and flaw within their attempted strategy. The Acclamators and Venators that tried to retreat found the Confederates hot on their tails targeting engines to cripple the remaining Republic ships' movement until being devoured by the swarm of droids and frigates. A single Venator was all that remained now of the Republic fleet and being at the front of the pursuing fleet Kvetina could see the tiny LAAT dropships scrambling to at least be in the hangar before it fled. Before any more damage could come to the enemy vessel it had jumped away into Hyperspace. Floating debris still lingered around and the wreckages would likely stay around Agamar for years but the Battle of Agamar was over once again, this time with a Confederate victory. Returning to a standard formation the Confederate fleet started to lick its wounds and reorganize whatever forces were remaining however they now had plenty of time to make repairs and regroup. Staring out into the still flaming, charred wrecks and debris Kvetina sat back in her chair and took a breath. "It's over." She told herself.
"Negative Captain, the War still rages on but yes, our mission is over." Wire's monotone voice came up from behind her which caused her to turn her head to face her last surviving companion.
"What of Sparks, can he be repaired?" She asked still worried whether her companion could indeed return to her.
"Affirmative Captain, while the original chassis is beyond repair, thanks to the Jedi's weapon, the memory unit is still functional if only a little damaged. I suspect he will return with only a few errors in programming that can be corrected with future maintenance." Informed the commando about his droid sibling. Before being able to breathe a sigh of relief once again Bit cut the brief silence.
"Incoming transmission from the General Captain!" Bit called out before putting the General on the channel.
"General Kalani, what can I do for you?" Kvetina asked curiously, she would have thought he would be busy reorganizing the fleet and taking count of what remained of Confederate forces but instead here he was. Stood tall and confident the Super Tactical Droid spoke first.
"Well Captain, it would appear your reassignment here will no longer be necessary. I am releasing you from my command to return to your previous post." He stated immediately. No flavorful words as expected of the droid but of course it was still good news to the lowly captain from a mid-rim planet.
"Yes General, shall I leave immediately?" She inquired, wondering whether or not the droid would need her for a final task or two. She doubted it, after all Tactical Droids liked to do things themselves so perhaps Kalani was no different; except for being better at doing his job.
"Within one standard hour yes, I have dispatched a transport over carrying equipment for your use in the future. Once it is delivered you are free to leave the system." He said.
"And what of you sir?" Kvetina asked the seemingly never-ending series of questions which somewhat bothered her by its monotony but thought it necessary to have the information available for whatever reason.
"By the Count's orders I am to remain here to safeguard Confederate space from further Republic advances. Thanks to our efforts on Agamar the southern territory is one of the few remaining places not pushed into by the Republic push into the outer-rim. I expect our chances of meeting again in the future are none so this will be our final farewell." Kalani responded coldly. In his defense Kvetina's display of commanding an army had been a 'screw up' to put it gently, even in her own mind she felt stupid for taking such an ambitious position which had cost the droid fleet a lot in the way or resources and equipment.
"Very well General, though I can't say I did much in the battle I am still honored to help the Confederacy achieve another victory. Farewell." With her final words ending the transmission she could only now wait for the transport she was told of to deliver its cargo before she could leave, an hour at most but an hour that seemed to drag on for eternity. Even with the long wait it would still pass by and now her ship was ready to depart the system.
"Still never got to kill that Jedi..." Kvetina muttered, upset that her goal was just in reach yet once again slipped through her grasp.
"Indeed Captain, but you did kill a Jedi. There will be another time, but I believe you have already done enough." Wire comforted his master. He knew she wasn't satisfied until the perpetrator that invaded her world was truly dead but he kept reassuring her that she did 'get revenge on the Jedi' by killing one of their own. It wasn't the same number of casualties back home but if anything, he could tell her she accomplished what countless would have thought impossible. The woman patted the stolen lightsaber hilt, giving herself a sense of satisfaction with what she had done. She had struck back at the Order and won, for now that was good enough for her like Wire had said.
"What are our orders Captain?" Asked the commander droid Bit who was typing away at a console. General Kalani had given her the clearance to finally leave and her original mission of transporting reinforcements of battle droids had ended the moment the Republic arrived in system. Kvetina had thought of it as quite the adventure, at least a larger one than she was used to being all but stuck back home. Speaking of which she was supposed to rendezvous there almost two weeks ago now. The Captain had started to feel her native planet pull her back toward it with a little bit of homesickness and with the unknown delivery given by the droid General there wasn't much more of a reason to stick around, let alone stay away from the warmer climate that was her home world.
"Take us home." She instructed, receiving a gleeful 'Aye Captain' from Bit. After her final view of the ice-covered planet below her, the Indomitable turned to face the endless sea of darkness and stars before making the jump to hyperspace.
A.N.: Alright immediately I know the chapter feels rushed scene-wise, and I mean really rushed, and for that I dislike it but there wasn't much else I could do except 'pad for word-count' which I believe would have been a worse solution. At first I wanted split this apart into three separate chapters- 12 being just vs the Jedi, 13 being the space battle, and 14 being the 'epilogue' of sorts- but when I wrote it I found that they were way too short to justify being their own chapters. Perhaps that's just me needing/wanting to improve? Holding high standards of my own works? Regardless, that's enough of myself rambling on. On the bright side it is the longest chapter in the story! If that counts for something.
This has certainly been a first. Don't really know how to compare it as there aren't any (at least to my knowledge) stories that show the C.I.S. point of view in the war. It's 'alright' maybe? As previously stated I have a few other works with their first chapters 'ready' but haven't gone much farther than that. I will have a little coin toss debate with myself whether I will decide to post them, but I can't guarantee I will regularly work on them unless I get motivated with inspiration as to where to take the stories which is why I'm hesitant in the first place.
Anyways, I hope those of you reading liked the short little story and thank you for taking the time to read it! As always, enjoy!
~Firetoast312