**Chapter 762: Iron and Blood**
**Scene 1: Bridge of the Devastation – Mygeeto Orbit**
"General?" Lee Noriega was the first to notice my gaze. The others turned at her voice. Behind me, Tallisibeth perked up.
"It seems we have a little respite," my voice was hoarse from fatigue. And my throat was simply dry.
"How small?" Kinaun asked.
"About eight hours," I decided to leave a small gap. "I advise you to spend this time usefully. For example, by relaxing." Standing up, I automatically glanced at the overview panels... and froze. "Wow... how many of them did we chop up?"
At some distance, along the entire length of the formation and to the sides, hung the wreckage of enemy ships. Large and small, easily recognizable and not so much. For the most part, these were Munificent-class frigates: their bony-rib structure was unmistakable from any other ship. Among them, the more or less intact half-donuts of Lucrehulk-class battleships and the arrows of Recusant-class Light Destroyers stood out like veritable icebergs. But for the most part, the wreckage defied identification. And all this was spiced up with a fair number of Vulture pieces, scraps of Hyenas, and other CIS fighters, as well as droids of various models; some had fallen out of the ships' interiors, and since they were mostly fleet-spec B-1s, without shoulder power batteries, they had simply shut down. In short, there was enough scrap metal to form something like an asteroid belt around the planet. Judging by their trajectories, some of them could very well crash into the planet in the near future.
"We've destroyed four hundred and eighty-nine enemy ships so far. Another forty-seven have escaped with various damage; sixteen... fifteen ships, to be precise, have been captured. Six of those have been reactivated," Tarkin reported.
"What are our losses?" I helped Beth up.
"Four Venators, ten assault frigates. No losses among the transports. Among the smaller ships: six Marauders, ten Consulars, three Arquitens-class light cruisers, eight Lancers, and five CR-90s were lost. The remaining ships sustained varying degrees of damage," Grace replied. "We're still confirming the losses of fighters and other small aircraft."
"Get the report. I'll look at it later. What's in it?" I jerked my thumb behind me.
"The landing of troops was carried out in full accordance with plan. Reserves are at combat readiness level two. The delivery of necessary supplies is proceeding according to schedule. The wounded are being transported to medical frigates."
"That's good." Looking closely at the officers, I saw the same haggard faces, circles under their eyes, and the symptoms of repeated stimulant use. "Therefore, our presence on the bridge is not overly necessary," I said, oh, how I overstated it. "So — get going and get some rest."
"We're military, of course, and gifted, but we need to know our limits. Even droids can fail from excessive strain, let alone humans."
**Scene 2: Mygeeto Surface – Tarsus City Lower Levels**
Having mentioned the Hutt, Charlen jerked the controls, aiming the walker's weapon at the enemy that had appeared. A shot from the twin blaster cannons sent the B-2 crashing to the corridor floor. Bolts had pierced the walker's "body," turning it into a useless pile of scrap metal.
"What are you wasting your time on? Move forward! The infantry is just waiting for us!" Lieutenant Doufu's voice blared through the headphones.
"Yes sir!" the man reported habitually. "Zi, let's move forward slowly." The green ball-droid, secured in a special socket, beeped:
"Got it, got it!"
The AT-RT began moving forward down the corridor; a turn was visible about thirty meters away, and it didn't take a genius to tell that CIS battle droids were already waiting there. Charlen grinned. He had something to surprise them with...
Even though he was born on Metellos, Charlen never complained about his fate. With the help of his parents, he managed to simultaneously complete his studies and earn money by working part-time as a loader at a small firm. His future path was essentially predetermined, but a series of chance events led him to join the security forces of a planetary corporation. There, he found a job as a combat walker driver. The work was easy and the pay was good. Just keep your equipment in good order and show off to your superiors.
It was then that the war broke out, the logical outcome of the Separatist Crisis. Along with his unit, which was nominally part of the Metellos Defense Force, Sun was recruited into the Grand Army of the Republic. After being assigned to Coruscant, they remained there, in the nascent Mern-Thirteen, while he and his little one were assigned to a battalion of AT-RT walkers attached to the 3rd Regiment of the 2nd Auxiliary Brigade.
It was a reliable machine, designed and manufactured on Kuat. The first models had been released thirty years earlier, but the man had assumed the walker wouldn't become obsolete for just as long. His own, however, had been produced only ten years earlier. Reliable armor, powerful weapons, stability, and speed. Yes, it had its drawbacks, including the inability to fire while moving, but with the advent of these droids — ZZ-2s — which, when mounted on the walker, took over partial control, allowing the pilot to focus on firing at the enemy rather than on where to place his foot, fighting became much easier. This was precisely the kind of modernization their battalion had implemented. Technicians had also solved the grenade launcher's ammunition supply problem! Now, behind the pilot's seat, there was a special box with a feeder sleeve connected to the grenade launcher itself. This allowed the ammunition supply to be increased from eight to seventy grenades. However, less than half of the remaining supply remains...
The Second Brigade had landed in Tarsus five hours ago. While the clones stormed the city from the outside, regular soldiers led the assault from within, infiltrating through captured towers into the city's lower levels. This is where the AT-RT walkers came in handy. In a typical situation, when Republic infantry encounters CIS droids in confined urban spaces and on ship decks, the latter still have a slight advantage due to the larger number of droid models. Of course, Charlen had heard about the new power armor for clones, but the regular infantry hadn't received any, for obvious reasons. However, this is where the AT-RT walker comes into play. Its design allows it to operate in those very corridors; it was originally designed for use on ships. And on Mygeeto, where the ceiling height was designed for Muuns, whose average height was close to two meters, the walker felt perfectly at home.
"Sergeant Ornit, are your men ready?" Sun called out to the infantry squad assigned to his vehicle through the external speaker.
"Fully armed, sir," he reported.
"Then get ready... Zi, let's slowly move forward and to the left."
"Forward, forward!" the walker began to move. Charlen pressed himself against the glass panel, where the targeting system for the blaster cannons and grenade launcher were displayed. To the left of the walker, a pair of men advanced along the wall. One of them was carrying a B-1's head. A method tried and tested over hours of combat, it had so far failed. The AT-RT slowed at the turn. The soldier swung and turned, throwing the head somewhere into the corridor. ZZ-2 without hesitation brought the walker into position, spinning deftly in the corridor.
As in other cases, the droids waiting for them were distracted by the head of their fellow. Even a pair of dwarf spiders aimed their blaster cannons at the object that suddenly fell before them. This delay was brief, but it was enough for the man to open fire first. Although his target wasn't a DSD-1, but a pair of B-2s equipped with missile launchers. These were far more terrifying opponents.
The blaster cannon barrels began firing streams of fire at the droids, one after another. The cooling system hummed softly. A second later, the B-2s fell to the floor. One managed to fire a missile, but it exploded on the ceiling. The craft shook noticeably.
"Those bastards!" Charlen grinned with glee and lobbed a high explosive grenade into the crowd, then continued firing his cannon, this time at the dwarf spiders trying to get into the viewing slit — the only place they were guaranteed to hit the AT-RT. Luckily, the transparisteel pane in question was small and thick.
"Let's move forward, bitch! Little by little!" Sun backed up slightly. Still, the walker wasn't as smooth as he'd hoped, and there was a risk of slamming his head into the windshield. However, Zi clearly didn't care about the pilot's discomfort. The walker took just a couple of steps and then froze, giving him the opportunity to open fire again, only to take another step in five seconds. The infantry began to gather behind them. Using the walker's hull as cover, they opened aimed fire at the droids.
The tin cans couldn't withstand such a barrage, and within a minute the corridor was clear. The walker stopped in front of another turn, which turned out to be a fork. Enemy militiamen were just retreating from the next turn. Without thinking, the man fired a grenade at them. The explosion scattered several people — or whoever else. Seeing them surrounded, the enemy dropped their weapons.
The Republican infantry deftly captured the prisoners, and they headed to the rear under escort. Charlen took a closer look. They were ordinary workers, wanting to protect their home. In a way, he felt sorry for them. But no one had forced them to take up arms and try to kill him.
**Scene 3: Bridge of the Devastation – Command Oversight**
"Excellent, Colonel. Your subordinates have accomplished the task assigned to you. You could even say they've exceeded it. I've already ordered the release of reserve fighters trained with rocket packs, as well as our existing stock of these very same packs."
Yves Vanko shrugged. His shrug was impressive. He wasn't much taller than Dagon, but his shoulders were broader and more muscular. Hence the presence.
"We don't need much. We managed to salvage some of the equipment; the only thing we can't use is what was destroyed. But we'll have to push the fighters hard to keep up with the 'old-timers.' Field training is one thing..."
"Real combat experience is a completely different matter," Dagon finished for the officer. "You're the commander, so the cards are in your hands. But if you need anything, just let me know."
"How much time do we have?" Vanko got down to specifics.
"Three weeks, if not a month," Dagon replied. "We simply won't be able to complete the first stage any sooner."
The colonel chuckled.
"You are the commander, you know better."
Dagon returned his smile.
"Well then. Rest for now. I have to go."
As Vanko departed, Dagon turned back to the holomap. The battle for Mygeeto was far from over, but the first major blow had been struck. The Muuns would feel the pressure. Dooku would feel the pressure. And the Confederacy would be forced to react — exactly as planned.
The Dragon's eyes narrowed behind the mask.
The trap was set.
Now they just had to wait for the prey to step into it.