Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 98-99 - The Territory of Consciousness (Second Update)

Auriel Sector.

Deep in hyperspace.

General Severn Tann stands like a statue in front of the observation window on the bridge of the USS Negotiator.

Outside the window, the ever-distorting and shifting blue energy vortex of hyperspace surged silently.

She stared expressionlessly at the familiar yet timeless scene.

As a Keith navigator, she understands better than anyone the breathtaking grandeur of hyperspace and the deadly dangers lurking within.

The dangers, especially when navigating in "chaotic areas" that deviate from stable routes.

Those horrific scenes could be vividly replayed in her mind.

But in the Wild Space, the situation is quite different.

There are many stable and relatively clear hyperspace routes there.

If the Qis Expansion Fleet could see the dense network of shipping lanes in the wild space, it would probably be envious.

Tann had that feeling.

She often pondered the sacrifices made by the early Jedi Order expeditions and those fearless explorers of the wild spaces over countless centuries to create this interstellar map that is now taken for granted by later generations.

The physical laws governing hyperspace are no different for the Qis and the inhabitants of the Milky Way.

The difference lies in the mode of navigation.

Jumping in the chaotic region requires a high degree of manual navigation, as deadly gravitational anomalies and energy turbulence abound there, hence the name "chaos".

Even an experienced navigator like Tann, with a top-notch navigation team, has very limited course corrections he can make during a hyperspace jump.

To navigate the invisible labyrinth of gravitational traps and nebulae, countless short "micro-jumps" are often required.

Navigating in the wild space seems... relatively "empty".

It feels like the difference between a high-speed car chase in the narrow, crowded steel alleyways of the Casapra Spaceport and riding a horse across the vast, open plains of Laxus 2.

Although he occasionally needs to avoid a nebula or a distant star cluster, Tann can generally "see" their existence in advance thanks to his navigator's perception.

Of course, Wild Space is by no means absolutely safe, but in regions far from the galactic plane of the Milky Way, the distribution of matter in real space is indeed more sparse.

As long as they remain within the boundaries of the spiral arms of the Milky Way, the difficulty of navigation is relatively reduced due to the smaller shadow cast by the mass of large celestial bodies.

Tann believes that the biggest obstacle to large-scale exploration of the Milky Way is actually the decline of the adventurous spirit of intelligent beings.

In the fervent era when the Hyperspace Drive was first popularized, the "Great Expansion" of Wild Space witnessed countless pioneers embarking on their journeys with unwavering passion for the unknown.

Today, the prevailing view is that everything that needed to be discovered has already been discovered, and the mysteries of the edge of Wild Space have become irrelevant.

The passion for exploration has cooled, and the universe seems to have shrunk considerably in people's minds.

But as a leader of the Qis, she is neither bound by nor can be bound by such mental constraints.

Pols Tonis had already beaten her to it.

She had to reach Kolumex before the Confederate First Fleet under the command of Tonys.

From a physical perspective, hyperspace routes are similar to water flow, always following the path of least resistance.

This means that while they are safe, they are usually not a straight line.

If a completely new and more direct route is opened up, she could shorten the journey by tens of thousands of parsecs!
Unfortunately, Tann's navigator abilities still have their limits.

Although the Qiss fleet is small in size, she can only guide a few dozen warships to take this "shortcut" adventure at a time, provided that the overall hyperspace synchronization field of the fleet is maintained.

However, this suited her perfectly.

Because in hyperspace, the speed of the entire fleet depends on the slowest hyperspace drive.

By leading only her "Ascension Task Force," comprised of the thirty-three fastest warships under her command, she could ensure that she outpaced the cumbersome First Fleet.

Severn Tann slowly closed her eyes, letting the Force envelop her consciousness like a warm, thick blanket.

Count Dooku once told her that everyone perceives the Force in a unique way.

Some see it as a soft lullaby, some as a raging storm, some as a deep ocean, and some even as a towering tree rooted in the earth.

If Dooku did her any "favor," it was that he forced her to delve into the essence of the Force.

In Tann's unique perception, cosmic energy is a vast, boundless, dark void.

The stars are the anchors of her memories, the nebulae are the illusions of her thoughts, and she herself is a pure consciousness that traverses freely in this infinite territory.

This was her unique freedom. The Force answered her call.

Spacetime, guided by her consciousness, subtly warped, leading her to the gravitational coordinates of a nearby star.

What are you searching for?

A thought spread through Tann's mind like ripples.

"Is it a location?"

"Or...someone else?"

Tann skillfully wielded the Force, while simultaneously scanning countless possible future paths with his Eye of Consciousness.

Fragments of the fates of those she didn't know, those she had forgotten, and those she had left behind flashed before her eyes.

As she dived deeper into the sea of ​​energy, the boundaries of her self-awareness became increasingly blurred.

Tann knew he had to stay clear-headed and never let himself be lost in the illusions of his vision.

Then, it appeared clearly.

An unprecedented battle, like a giant painting splashed in the void, took shape on the "walls" of her consciousness.

That was a massive fleet battle unlike any seen in thousands of years.

The star representing Kolmogoth shone with a dazzling, vibrant light in her perception, like bait attracting moths.

Tann stood silently on the shore of consciousness, becoming a silent witness to the desperate defense of the separatist forces and the frenzied attack of the Republic's army.

She clearly "saw" the moment the Confederate First Fleet arrived at the battlefield.

“I must get there before him,” Tann thought to himself, his mind returning to reality. “And I can only be one step ahead. Everyone must believe that I led the First Fleet into battle in time, so that I can gain enough leverage and influence in the council.”

When she regained full consciousness, Tann found herself still standing on the deathly quiet bridge of the USS Negotiator.

A slightly ironic thought crossed her mind: this Jedi-designed cruiser seemed to think that the captain didn't need a fixed seat.

Tann turned sharply, her footsteps echoing crisply and lonely in the empty alloy corridor. She strode resolutely through the abandoned combat intelligence center toward the turbine elevator.

With her abilities, it wouldn't be difficult for her to accurately calculate the time of arrival at Kolumex and use the arrival of the First Fleet to create momentum for herself.

But considering Dooku's cunning and the pawns he has planted, that alone is not enough to truly stand out in this game of power.

To fully realize her grand ambitions, she must become the first key force to arrive on the battlefield.

She has an ace up her sleeve.

A card that only she can play.

Upon arriving at the mainframe hangar, a scene of efficient preparation for battle unfolds before one's eyes.

Logistics robots are precisely delivering tons of ammunition and fuel to each ship.

In the distance, a legion of combat robots stood in formation in the assembly area, emitting a neat and cold hum.

In the very heart of the hangar, quietly moored like a sculpture displayed in an aristocratic art salon, lies the unique stealth frigate "Carrion Spikes".

No other ship in the galaxy is similar to it, and for various reasons, Tann does admire its unique and deadly design aesthetics.

When Brigadier General Ryan Buntry reported to her that the ship had been captured, she took it into her own hands.

However, it is not the core of the plan.

Tann's gaze swept past the "Rotten Spikes" and landed on the wider space of the hangar.

What was parked there were not starfighters, but rows of "Destroyer" combat robots that had undergone special space adaptation modifications!

Thanks to the fact that the traction beam technology and the anti-gravity device work on the same principle, and that all the operators are combat robots, this modification is technically feasible.

Although her staff did not speak highly of the captured Republic "Jester-class Star Destroyer".

However, as a pragmatic fleet commander, Tann values ​​one of the core capabilities of the Jagdpanzer class.

It perfectly fulfilled its original design purpose, enabling the deployment of massive numbers of war machines in the most efficient way.

This means that she can fit four regiments (about 456 units) of anti-gravity modified "Destroyer" robots into a "Jerusalem"-class ship!

A barely perceptible sense of irritation swept through her mind, causing her to furrow her brow slightly.

The future was rushing toward her at an alarming speed, constantly twisting and deforming before her eyes.

If she doesn't want to be left behind by the surging tide of the times, she must arrive at that crossroads of fate on time.

(End of this chapter)