Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Star Wars. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not created with commercial aim. I make no money from it.
Phase 17: Homecoming
=RK=
Part 1
=RK=
A Screaming Blade safe house
Nar Shaddaa
A bit of thinking over the situation had me reining in my temper and desire to see a Hutt or two made an example of. Doing so would be a damn cathartic, however it would be a distraction I didn't need. We were here for a reason and picking fight with the slugs unfortunately wasn't on the to do list.
That decision made, I gathered HK along with the more knowledge locals and what passed for intelligence assets we had.
"There is always the odd inconspicuous smuggler's route. The trick is finding it." Ideally, I would be using the Force for that, however after I ravaged my body and for most intents and purposes I got myself killed, again, that wasn't in the cards unless it was no way around it. I needed to conserve my strength and give time for my restored body to further recover before doing anything more strenuous than dispatching a bunch of gangsters. A fight at Randon if we couldn't somehow bypass that system and any other choke-points captured by the CIS as a part of their offensive before we could break into friendly space would tax me and I had to be fresh enough for when we got to Mandalore. After that vision... I channelled my rising temper into cold fury. There was going to be a fight at Mandalore when we got there and I would need a strong enough force remaining that it could make a difference. Hopefully, we could pick up some reinforcements on the way there, though that wasn't something I could rely on before we got out of Hutt and CIS controlled space and saw for ourselves how bad the situation was.
"That's likely the case, Lord! It's just that we don't know of any good way to go to where you need us. The Separatist are aware of all the traditional smuggler routes and has them and the primary approaches monitored. We believe that information was bought from the Hutts as a part of the deal for giving them access to slaves from Ryloth." One of the senior cultists explained. Incidentally, he was a smuggler too, so he knew what he was talking about.
That certainly wasn't what I wanted to hear. It was a good thing that I was never a believer in strangling or frying the messenger bringing bad news unlike more than a few Sith I knew. Almost always, those ended up bit in the ass by things they should have been told about but no one dared. Curious that.
"Send people to all smuggler haunts you know and ask for captains able to bring shipments through Separatist controlled space to the Republic and Mandalore. Keep your eyes open and find someone who knows a way that won't end with us smashing through a fortified and likely heavily reinforced enemy system."
Randon was the only really useful gateway into the Republic from Hutt Space. The enemy was well aware of it and they knew that this fleet would need to go home sooner rather than later. While our supply situation wasn't as bad as it used to be after Joanna had munitions and fuel redistributed through the fleet and got the worst off ships cannibalized for both parts and crew, we weren't in a stellar position either. That dry dock ship we would be meeting shortly would help tremendously, it was just too bad we couldn't afford the time for it to properly fix a significant part of our ships. Still, we would delay long enough to get an additional Silencer system or two depending on how long that would take and available parts while using the brief respite to rest and further repair battle damage.
That was the plan anyway. We would see if the enemy would get a vote.
"Right away, Lord!" The cultists chorused and ran to gleefully obey after I gave them leave to do so.
"A curious bunch." Rex shook his head in exasperation. "How did you get them so loyal to you?"
"Once upon a time, a Sith Lord made them believe he was their prophet if not outright a god. I ended up clashing with this group in order to get to him and after I eventually killed him, I got elevated to his position. Those people's ancestors were often useful when I had to work on Nar Shaddaa, however they weren't as bad as this bunch in the devotion department."
"That is one way to put it, Master." HK added his two credits.
"Shush you. We're going to procure as much fuel and ship-grade weaponry as we can buy or steal. Which are the best places to buy such things?"
"We can't really afford the good stuff, not if we want to get as much fuel and Tibana gas as we can."
"Stealing it is then, if there's anything worthy of our time. HK, I know you. You've already scouted all the best weapons dealers on this moon and not just those selling personal gear."
"You never know when you want to make a ship, a building or a whole district vanish with a nice, loud bang, master." HK smugly said. "I in fact have a list of the best places to visit."
"What can we get here that the fleet isn't already equipped with?" Rex wisely asked.
"One thing you should keep in mind about the largest militaries in the galaxy – logistics reigns supreme. It's much cheaper and thus affordable to have a limited number of weapon systems that you can easily resupply even when cut off than a great deal of somewhat more effective ones that would make logistics even greater hell than they are at the best of times, when no one is shooting at you and gleefully raiding your logistics infrastructure. At the very least we might find enough ordnance to replenish missile stocks, which are critically low."
=RK=
Gord's Bigges Gunz!
Nar Shaddaa
HK led us to one of the many docks spread around the moon. This one swarmed with people and equipment, some of it was even perfectly legal. The place even had uniformed security provided by a respectable mercenary outfit on a long term contract to keep the peace and thus the supplies rolling in all directions.
When you think about it, it made sense. For all the hell that Nar Shaddaa could be, there still were billions living upon the moon and the place couldn't feed or water even a fraction of these numbers with its natural resources. Water recycling could do only so much when there wasn't a proper government to oversee and direct maintenance and refurbishment of the infrastructure, much less expansion to keep up with the increased population. As a consequence, the preventable death toll was enormous and a large reason for the Dark Side miasma clinging over everything on the moon. If it wasn't for trade, which was usually kept largely unmolested because it made the Hutts controlling the place too much money to be otherwise, a great deal of the population would die off in a short order.
HK-117 led us through a third of the docks until we reached a row of connected warehouses which had conveniently placed landing pads for transport shuttles and smaller cargo haulers.
"This is the place, Master." My assassin droid pointed forward. I followed his direction and stared at the sign.
A memory from long ago surfaced at seeing it. "Are we meeting Ork arms-dealers?" I asked incredulously.
"What are Orks, Master?" HK inquired. "Are they better than average meat-bags?"
"Never mind. Is this really the best place to find ship-grade weapons?"
"I wonder the same things." Rex added.
"It certainly is. The last time I was here, there were all kinds of curious ordnance." HK eagerly nodded.
Knowing him, that was saying something.
We got in without trouble. HK was apparently a regular visitor and with what was happening in the galaxy at large, no one was surprised to see a bunch of Mandalorians come to such a place. The Siege of Mandalore was apparently very profitable for certain parties.
When we got in, we found no Orks, which was a relief. On the other hand, if there were any, they would likely consider this the antechamber of Orky heaven. There were Guns, with capital "G", on display everywhere. All kinds of missiles and other ordnance. The place was vaguely reminiscent to a weapon expo held on a civilized world instead of a not quite black market on Nar Shaddaa. A lot of the weapons looked heavily modified if not outright Orkyfied too.
This wasn't the kind of gear that would be good idea to have as a standard across a whole fleet, much less any significant part of the Republic or Mandalorian navy once we got around rebuilding it. However, this might just be what the doctor prescribed for getting us back home reasonably intact.
"HK, you did great." I smiled.
=RK=
Part 2
=RK=
Gord's Bigges Gunz!
Nar Shaddaa
All the concentrate mayhem within Gord's warehouses was enough to warm this old Sith's heart. After browsing for an hour, I had an extensive wish list. The only issue was that we were quite light on liquid assets, especially those that could be spend on Nar Shaddaa. Republic Credits weren't something that most merchants here would take on a good day. Since the war began and the Republic's war effort apparently went downhill, let's just say that any and all accounts with Republic credits that I still had access to were useless. While I did have some other liquid assets, most of those were locked behind the informational blockade back in the Core. Most money we had left would be going for fuel and Tibana gas anyway and that didn't leave us with many options.
It would be criminal to leave all those goodies for just anyone to buy. It simply wouldn't do for someone aligned with the Separatists or just pissed off at me to get their hands on a lot of the weapons on display.
"HK, tell me about Gord."
"He is one of the largest and most successful arms-dealers on Nar Shaddaa. Gord specializes in heavy weaponry, primary vehicle and ship grade. Complains about his products have been few and far between and not just because his clients got killed because of them. On the contrary, those who can afford it, often come back to buy more."
"I didn't ask for a sales pitch. If he wasn't reasonably reliable, you wouldn't have brought us here, HK."
"Master, you are about to see for yourself." The assassin droid nodded to my right.
I looked in that direction and immediately saw what I meant. When HK said that Gord was one of the largest arms-dealers on this moon, he was literal in both senses. A huge Gamorean flanked by a small pack of bodyguards walked ponderously, yet purposefully towards us. He was the tallest and broadest specimen of his kind I've seen and a great deal of his bulk was made of thick muscles. That made him look downright odd with the plainly enormous belly, that was a testament that despite obviously working out a lot, Gord ate even more than the stereotypes of his species would suggest.
To top it all, he wore an expensive suit that wouldn't be out-of-place among the high society on Coruscant and Corellia, yet he had it all ruined by a leather sleeveless jacket he had on top. In garish green that made his skin tone look downright healthy.
When you think you've seen it all...
"Mandalorians!" Gord rumbled happily from somewhere deep in his chest. He had a large set of lungs somewhere in there too, because I doubt that there was a single deaf person in the whole warehouse complex who didn't hear him. "My friends, back to by more?" He grinned toothily at us.
Previous experience with Gamoreans made me happy that I wore a sealed helmet. Most tended to consider guzzling copious amounts of alcohol the height of dental care. On the other hand, Gord at least attempted to look more sophisticated than most people would expect from one of his kind.
"That we are. Do you have any ships available for sale that could utilize your wares?"
Gord sighed, and shook his head, a move that made his polished tusks gleam in the light. "I told you people before, I do have various ships for sale, however so far they've been consistently out of your price range."
"Let's talk specks and price."
The Gamorean grinned widely displaying an impressive number of sharpened teeth. "This war is very good for business." He waved with a large clawed paw. "Come with me, let me show you something." He led us towards the far end of the warehouse, which we hadn't checked yet. "You need gear to break the Confederate siege of your world, don't you? I have something that you might find quite useful, if you can afford it. A couple of years ago, one of our local warlords decided he was smarter than everyone else. He had been quite successful up to that point and was hungry for more. However, his ships, even with the best weapons and shields on the black market, weren't up to slugging it with dedicated warships." Gord snorted. "He wanted to hit big. Go after the more well off local governments, perhaps hit a Confederate convoy or two if he could find one that would be worth his time."
Well, that sounded like an amusing story. "I have things didn't turn out like he envisioned them."
"Well, not quite. He did commission the design of a new type of destroyer based of some old schematics he found somewhere. He even got a small production run complete, however while that was happening, certain parties figured out they were on the list of potential targets and took measures. Instead of going after the ships, they hired couple of your boys and two weeks later, said warlord's palace went up in a mushroom cloud."
"Then those poor orphaned ships somehow found their way into your hands I take it."
"Them's the breaks, hummie." Gord made a credible attempt to look innocent, however all the fangs and the grin that never left his face ruined it. "Here's what we're talking about." He pointed at a large silver slab of metal that was about five meters tall and almost as long as the wall, so over two hundred meters give or take a few.
It took me a few seconds to gather exactly what I was seeing and a bit more to make sense of the glyphs painted on the side.
"Enough Dakka to make your troubles go boom!" HK helpfully translated.
"This is one big gun." I whistled.
"Ain't it just?" Gord spoke with a gleam on his face. "It's tinkered up railgun. It shoots fifty kilo rounds at thirty percent of light speed. They have no trouble bypassing deflectors, have enough kinetic energy to wreck soft targets using inert rounds." He then pointed at an ellipsoid dark form that was easy to miss beside the huge weapon. "When you want to wreck the day of a true warship, you use one of these – a fusion round. It packs the punch of couple concussion missiles. The round is outfitted with particle shield that should protect it for a moment during impact allowing for detonation once it has either pierced the enemy armour or even embedded itself into the hull itself."
I could see the utility – even if Guardian could intercept and ruin the internals of a fusion round, that would still leave a large chunk of metal flying at the ship at relativistic speeds. It would be even worse for the solid inert slugs – those would need to be either evaporated or at least broken enough that the armour could tank some smaller chunks while others might be deflected enough to outright miss the target. The dumb rounds would be much, much cheaper than missiles too, a few orders of magnitude sturdier because they would be solid slabs of metal that might even be the same as ship-grade armour.
On the downside, those things were so large that they needed to be spinally mounted and thus would greatly constrict the effective firing envelopes. They would be practically useless in close quarters slugging matches and those tended to happen with distressing regularity. On the plus side, such weapons were perfect for hit and run raids as well as bombarding more or less fixed defences... and the first time the enemy faced ships outfitted with them, they would naturally have their deflectors up and particle shields at minimum strength making them sitting ducks. Another useful trait would be complicating the life of enemy commanders because with those things in play it would be no longer a no-brainier to keep the deflectors up during any engagement. And if you got your particle shields raised, well that would have your ship open to be ravaged by turbolaser fire.
I could use those weapons, especially if they came with ships ready for deployment.
"That's a nice sales pitch, Gord, my new friend. How many destroyers, what else are they armed with, do you have escorts, a ready supply of ammunition for those beauties? While you are at it, how much and do you make discounts for bulk purchases?"
I let eagerness seep into my voice. Gord didn't need to know that I intended to take possession of those ships even if I lacked the money to pay for them.