**Chapter 764: metal and sparks**
**Scene 1: Mygeeto – City of Shahab**
Kvan Torvun, militia captain of the Mygeeto Muun Defense Force, was stunned by the nearby explosion and struggled to his feet. The destroyed enemy vehicle was burning, blanketing the bridge platform in thick clouds of smoke. There would have been a breeze to clear it, but as luck would have it, there wasn't a breath of wind. Picking up his blaster rifle, the man raised it to his shoulder. The enemy had to be there, on the bridge.
"Pew! Pew! Pew!" The blaster didn't react at all to the next movement of his finger.
"The battery is dead..."
At that moment, clones emerged from the smoke. From the other side, militiamen were advancing.
"Beat the bastards!" someone's cry cut through the air.
Kvan, gripping his rifle like a baton, lunged forward and smashed the nearest clone across the helmet. The mining master never complained about his strength. Red-tinted plasteel shards flew in all directions. The "meat droid" dropped his weapon and collapsed onto the platform slabs. Torvun was immediately forced to dodge a blow from a vibroknife.
Hand-to-hand combat ensued. The militia and the clones — up to a company of fighters on each side — fought with whatever was available: rifle butts, knives, clubs... Some tried to shoot, hitting both their own and enemies. The clones were more skilled fighters than they were. But then reinforcements arrived for the city's defenders, and the militia regained their spirit, beginning to push back the clones. However, the clones suddenly retreated, disappearing into the smoke.
Kvan understood the reason for this act immediately. A grenade landed right at his feet. The last thing he saw was the cheerful glow of the detonator…
**Scene 2: Mygeeto Orbit – Northern Hemisphere**
An alarm rang, breaking Barak Vakar's thoughts over his morning cup of caf. Before he could reprimand the negligent subordinates who had caused the disturbance, a slight tremor announced that someone was testing the shield of his flagship, the *Baryshnik*.
Fate hadn't been kind to him. Never. Vakar was born into a family of ordinary Arkanians — but the race's numerous genetic experiments had meant that, while he possessed the basic characteristics — white hair and white eyes — his hands... they had five fingers, not the four of purebred Arkanians. Because of this, in his homeland, Vakar was considered no better than the half-breeds and genetic mutants who lived outside the big cities and did menial labor.
So, having matured a bit, he left Arkania and began searching for a better life. He had few talents, but one did allow him to rise. Barak was skilled at controlling sentient beings. The Muuns noticed him and hired him, first as captain of one of their ships, and then, during the outbreak of the Separatist Crisis, Vakar became commander-in-chief of the Pearl's defense fleet. This position greatly boosted his self-esteem and allowed him to realize many of his dreams: expensive clothes, jewelry, women. And the fact that his subordinates disliked him... Ha! They have to follow orders, the rest is irrelevant.
Having put on a special device over his eyes that allowed him to see in the normal spectrum, the man plugged the connectors into a special port protruding from his right temple.
Activating the holographic communication system, Barak saw the shaking Muun. "What's happening?"
"Republic! They attacked! A large fleet."
Realizing that he couldn't get much out of this coward, the Arkanian disconnected him and began giving orders through a private communication channel.
"All defensive fleet forces! Commence repelling the enemy attack! Launch Vultures! Call for reinforcements from nearby systems! Contact Count Dooku and request reinforcements! I will proceed to the bridge immediately and assume command of the battle!"
Turning in the direction where the enemy ships were supposedly located, Vakar shook his fist at the wall: "Republican bastards! I won't let you ruin my life."
Before he could even realize it, a blue beam pierced the bridge of his flagship, vaporizing him, and then his ship exploded.
**Scene 3: Bridge of the Devastation – Mygeeto Orbit**
*Uhh, an organic or a few was on that ship. No matter, they were Separatists,* Dagon thought as he watched the new upgraded tech with the SPHA permanently mounted on the Venator — an experiment he was calling the Silencer project.
"Well," I said, switching the tactical table: the near-space hologram was replaced by an image of the planet's surface. "This is Mygeeto. Eleven cities. We're interested in four of them. First, Sahab, the second largest city, located two hundred kilometers from the capital, Jigat. Second, Tarsus, south of Sahab. Third, Sarkem, to the west; and finally, Arsam. These four cities will be our first footholds, after which we'll begin our advance. But, as I said, we must capture these four cities first. The difficulty of the assault lies in the fact that operating on the planet's icy surface is impossible due to the aggressive fauna. Anyway, Lee Noriega, report your attack plan."
The red-haired woman nodded.
"The attack plans for each city are virtually identical, as their structure follows a template. A fairly flat base, about two hundred meters high, sits on rocky plateaus jutting out from the ice. Beneath them are tunnels and shafts. Above them are cylindrical towers of varying heights connected by bridges and featuring numerous landing pads of varying capacities. This is due, on the one hand, to the fact that all communication between the cities is by air, and on the other, to the fact that supplying the cities requires a large amount of imported goods. All of this is protected by powerful shields. Each city has several dozen defensive turbolasers; the capital has almost a hundred. However, these are fairly outdated weapons: their firing range is just under one hundred and twenty kilometers. The bad news is that the capital has five dozen J-1 proton cannons deployed, so a direct assault would be impractical. Plus, some enemy fighters have retreated to the planet: at least four hundred Nantexes and two thousand Vultures. However, that's not all we'll have to face: the planet's garrison still has a couple thousand starfighters, about a quarter of which are manned. As for infantry, we can count on ten to fifteen million battle droids and up to a million militia."
"The enemy was prepared for anything — except a swift attack by the paratroopers. The paratroopers, maneuvering with their backpacks, attacked the enemy wherever and however they wanted. Most importantly, they disabled the air defense guns. Nothing complicated — one or two grenades, and an anti-aircraft gun is out of action; in some places, they had to plant explosives — on large or multi-barreled mounts. Hmm... And there were guards near the air defense guns. Not many, since the anti-aircraft gun platforms themselves were modest in size — but they were enough to wear down the paratroopers. Then the forward detachments, reinforced by armored vehicles, went into action, and then the main force of the landing force arrived, so the KNS commanders suddenly had no time for the paratroopers. The paratroopers took advantage of this, having a field day with the paratroopers. It took them almost five hours to assemble them…"
Dagon leaned forward, studying the live feeds from the surface. "Good work so far. Push the advantage. Vanko's rocket troopers and the UA-TT walkers are clearing the corridors. Keep the pressure on the remaining orbital platforms. We take those four cities, and the rest of Mygeeto will crack."
The battle for Mygeeto was entering its critical phase. The Dragon had the initiative, and he intended to keep it.