Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 71 - Two Generals
Blinding white contrails occasionally streaked past the portholes at high speed. The hull of the USS Dreadnought trembled slightly from the explosion at such close range, and the shield generators hummed on the verge of overload.

But in the data center beneath the bridge, Master Procon enveloped all the crew members with a profound tranquility brought by the Force, allowing them to continue working in an orderly manner.

"Order all ships to tighten their formation! Place the 'Dreadnought' at the forefront!" Master Seth Tion's booming voice rang out from the bridge, carrying an unquestionable authority. "Have you confirmed the enemy flagship?"

“Yes, General,” the clone commander, Warfield, replied immediately, “it’s that ‘Conqueror-class’ warship right in the center of their rectangular formation. The Separatist commanders seem to have no intention of hiding their command signals to the entire fleet… but I think such communication is essential to maintaining such a precise and complex battle formation.”

"Have you found the ship's name?"

Wofi leaned over to check the intelligence scrolling on the main console of the data center: "Sir, the ship's name is 'Revenge.' There are currently no combat records for it in the database. It looks like a new ship that has never been in battle."

“Indeed,” Master Procon opened his deep eyes, his fingers gently tracing the lower edge of his breathing mask, and pondered, “The accuracy of the missile launch system they used this time is clearly not as good as it was before. I think either they haven’t been able to properly install this new weapon on this new flagship, or they haven’t had time to complete the precise calibration and debugging work.”

“Is that all?” Master Tien grumbled, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “Judging from the combat reports sent back by Christopher Sith, the potential threat level of this weapon is quite high. What I’m worried about now is that this means that every newly launched Separatist capital ship may be equipped with this weapon.”

This is indeed worrying.

Master Prokhor sighed inwardly; this weapon posed a catastrophic threat to the Republic's fleet.

When his former flagship, the Victory, was first attacked by this weapon on Christophersis, he and the members of the Wolfpack squadron were still fighting on the planet's surface.

Then, they received an emergency evacuation order from General Yularen.

But to be honest, Pro Kong didn't need this order as a reminder.

At that time, he had already clearly foreseen, within the Force's vision, the horrific scene of the "Victory" dragging raging flames as it crashed through the atmosphere like a meteorite.

It wasn't until he transferred his flagship to the "Vanguard" that he truly experienced firsthand the devastating impact this weapon could have.

He watched helplessly as the powerful warships of the "Iron Spear Fleet" were reduced to floating scrap metal before they even had a chance to fire back...

What other option is there besides retreating?

Today, Admiral Wurtz is missing, and the remnants of the "Iron Spear Fleet" have also vanished without a trace.

"General!" A sensor operations officer rushed up the main bridge from the data center, his voice urgent. "Our long-range scanners have detected five 'Pathfinder' reconnaissance ships patrolling at the very edge of our firing range! The separatists seem to be trying to scan and confirm our specific ship type and identification signals!"

"Order all air squadrons to prepare for battle!" Master Tien turned around immediately, his movements swift and clean, his cloak billowing as he did so.

He looked at Prokhor: "Master Prokhor, command of the 'Dauntless' is temporarily in your hands."

Both Procon and Seth Tion were among the Republic's top starfighter ace pilots.

Today, their brilliance may have been overshadowed by rising stars like Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but many veterans still remember how their names were celebrated as heroes of the Republic during the Stark Hyperspace Wars.

As time goes by, their fame may not be as great as before, but their flying skills, ingrained in their very bones, have never become rusty.

"Good luck on your hunt, Master Tien." Procon nodded solemnly, and after watching Tien leave, he turned to the clone captain of the Dreadnought: "Order the fleet to adopt the 'Arrow' assault formation. We will strike directly at the enemy's core... the 'Revenge'!"

“General,” the captain straightened up, his tone tinged with concern, his gaze instinctively glancing towards Commander Woffi for help, “we are facing a tightly packed battle formation of the separatists. Wouldn’t directly attacking the center of their formation play right into their hands?”

“Every battle formation has a fatal weakness, which is its command core,” Master Prokone’s voice was calm and confident, his deep gaze seemingly able to penetrate the bridge’s portholes and look directly at the distant “Revenge”: “As Commander Warfield said, the enemy must require all ships to be connected to a central command network to maintain such a precise formation.”

He paused, then continued, "This is essentially no different from a slave control circuit. If we can successfully capture or destroy the 'Revenge,' then the entire enemy fleet will be ours."

The captain opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to argue, but in the end it just turned into a helpless sigh, and his tense shoulders relaxed.

"Yes, General!"

He quickly straightened his gray uniform, gave Prokhorn a standard military salute, and then strode towards his command post.

“General, his suggestion was out of duty and caution,” Commander Wofi whispered to Pro Kong after the captain left. “Not all captains are familiar with the way tactics are developed in collaboration with the Jedi.”

Prokhor understood this.

Through his current state of combat meditation, a wisp of his consciousness could clearly perceive everyone on the bridge.

Every breath they took, every whispered conversation, every thought that flashed through their minds in tension, even every drop of cold sweat that slid down their backs and stuck their hair to their foreheads.

This is an excellent crew, one of the elite among the elite of the Republic.

But they are living, breathing beings, not machines programmed with pre-set instructions.

Beneath that facade of strict discipline and meticulousness lay a heart filled with fear.

They have every reason to be afraid.

Although the deadly rain of missiles had dissipated, the massive rectangular array of hundreds of separatist warships outside the window was now charging toward them at full speed with breathtaking efficiency.

The sight itself was enough to send chills down the spine of even the bravest warrior.

However, despite the fear, these brave men and women will fight to the end for the Republic.

Pro-Kong's gaze drifted out of the observation window to the Republic fighter jets speeding past the "Intrepid".

No one was braver than those clone pilots in the cockpit, wearing identical helmets.

He knew that beneath each identical helmet beat a unique and unwavering heart. No one was braver than them.

Prokhor thought to himself.

He gently extended his senses through the Force, allowing his warm and unwavering intentions to touch the consciousness of every pilot.

He memorized the spiritual imprint of each of them, in case this was the last time they would meet.

He felt a spiritual response from Seth Tion, a rock-solid conviction that seemed to shake his hand tightly on an invisible level.

The two massive fleets continued their head-on collision at maximum acceleration.

Jedi Master Prokhor was no stranger to the deathly silence and oppressive atmosphere preceding such a large-scale massacre.

……

"Jedi General Prokon!"

Ryan read out the information that had just been identified on the display screen in a low voice, and the data stream stabilized on the tactical panel.

“That cruiser… ‘Dreadnought’, is confirmed to be the flagship of Jedi General Seth Tear.”

On the battlefield, Prokhor always led from the front without fear.

He would lead the charge into the enemy lines, using his courage and strength to inspire morale and make the clone soldiers willing to follow him closely.

He not only had outstanding command abilities on the land battlefield, but was also quite accomplished in air combat.

He is skilled in piloting various interstellar fighters, flexibly responding to enemy attacks in space battles, and adept at combining air and land warfare to achieve multi-dimensional combat deployments.

Seth Tion was an ace pilot known for his tactical agility and ability to quickly adjust his tactics according to different battlefield situations.

In various complex combat scenarios, he can keenly detect the enemy's weaknesses and changes on the battlefield, and change the battle plan in a timely manner, making it difficult for the enemy to predict his moves.

As a Jedi general, he excels at cooperating with clone soldiers, fully leveraging the advantages of the clone army's well-trained and disciplined nature. He also combines the Jedi's special abilities with the clones' tactics to create a formidable fighting force.

Both of them experienced the Stark Hyperspace Wars.

Raine silently pulled up the detailed files on the two Jedi masters in the database.

In fact, he already knew something about these two people.

In the movie "The Great Evolution Kizuna: Revenge of the Sith," which I watched a long time ago, they were all important members of the Jedi Council and had distinguished achievements on the battlefield.

Moreover... their style of doing things is extremely distinctive.

'Looks like this battle won't be easy!'

Raine looked thoughtful, and although he was facing two renowned Jedi generals, he did not show much worry on his face.

“Sir, we have lost contact with Pathfinder I and Pathfinder III,” Goldell calmly reported. “At the same time, we have detected that the enemy carrier is releasing a large number of starfighters.”

Ryan nodded without responding, but simply checked the distance and speed readings of both sides again.

Although the fleet's acceleration is limited by the slowest ship, it is still acceptable overall; however, changing course takes time.

The two fleets are speeding toward each other at nearly 200 kilometers per second, and the vanguard fleet is expected to enter effective firing range in ten minutes.

The question now is, where should this point of confrontation be set?
"Order all surviving 'Pathfinder' scout ships to immediately charge into the enemy fleet's formation and create as much chaos as possible." After a moment of contemplation, Rein decisively gave the order, "All fleets, execute the modified combat order five! 'Revenge' will command the first basic squadron; 'Beautiful Queen' will command the second vanguard squadron; the 990MT battlecruiser will command the third vanguard squadron; 'Renown' will command the fourth vanguard squadron!"

The moment the order was given, the massive rectangular battle formation was as if sliced ​​open by an invisible blade, quickly splitting into four independent parts.

The largest basic first squad firmly occupies the central position, forming a flat oval shape with rounded corners.

The second and third forward squadrons moved upward and backward in sync, retreating to the side and rear of the first squadron, and each solidified into a tight elliptical formation on the horizontal axis perpendicular to the "Revenge".

Meanwhile, the fourth vanguard squad, led by Zenit II, moved downwards and backwards, forming a sharp wedge shape.

If an ancient Ondronian were standing on the planet Metalon at this moment, gazing at the stars, they would see a constellation appear in the night sky.

It was a Heragscythe Beast with its three heads raised backward, luring a Drex Dragon to charge at its seemingly fragile body.

Raine's gaze swept quickly across the tactical hologram, confirming that all four parts of the "White Hand Fleet" had entered their designated positions, were operating at maximum efficiency, and were strictly following the precise course and speed set by the "Revenge".

A slight smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

“Maintain the current course until contact with the enemy vanguard,” Raine continued to reiterate to all personnel on the bridge. “Release all our starfighters and order them to conduct defensive patrols around the base squadron one.”

At this time.

He saw the flagships of those Jedi.

He knew they would be absolutely unable to resist the allure of the central core.

(End of this chapter)