**Chapter 819: Thunder on Riileb**
**Scene 1: Bridge of the Iron Wolf – Triumph-class Star Destroyer**
Captain Zsinj strode across the wheelhouse of the *Iron Wolf*, his boots ringing against the deck plates. He stopped at the forward edge of the bridge, overlooking the two instrument pits where operators stood frozen at their consoles, eyes locked on their displays.
"Time?" Zsinj asked sharply, staring into the swirling blue tunnel of hyperspace.
"Ten minutes to exit point, Captain!" First Lieutenant Arek Rain, his deputy, reported without hesitation.
Zsinj's blood sang with anticipation. "Combat readiness number one, shipwide! Everyone, take your positions!"
This was it. Finally, a chance for revenge. Zsinj didn't care that the enemy were mostly droids. He would wring blood from them anyway. He hadn't bothered memorizing the full battle plan—only his part in it. Task Force Sword, under Fleet Admiral Claymoor, was tasked with a direct frontal assault. Other groups—Shield, Banner, Lance, Dagger—would execute their own roles in the intricate symphony devised by General Major Lee Noriega. Her strategies belonged in textbooks. Zsinj had no doubt they soon would.
"Turrets one through seven, firing sector zero-two-two…" the chief gunner, Second Lieutenant Lasek, suddenly spoke with unnatural precision, his usual accent gone.
Zsinj chuckled. Battle Meditation. He had never cared much for the Force or Jedi mysticism, but right now he was grateful the General was on their side. Dagon could predict exactly where the enemy would emerge. The guns were already pre-aligned. The gunners only needed minor adjustments. Those precious extra seconds often decided battles.
"Two-minute readiness! Report to systems!" Zsinj ordered.
"The reactor is normal! Hyperdrive operating normally! Shields ready to activate! Torpedo tubes loaded and ready! Air wing number two is ready!" Reports flooded in.
"One-minute readiness."
The final countdown began.
"Three… two… one… Exit! Hyperjump complete!"
"Begin target acquisition!" Zsinj commanded, eyes devouring the tactical display.
The *Iron Wolf* emerged into realspace amid the chaos of the Riileb system. Armored blast doors slammed down over the conning tower for protection, replacing the view with holoscreens. Enemy markers bloomed across the display.
The droids had deployed their standard blockade defense: Lucrehulks at the planet's edge, a ring of Munificent-class frigates along the equator, and mobile groups of Recusant-class light destroyers supported by Providence dreadnoughts. Over three hundred enemy warships total, but at this precise emergence point, only about fifty were in immediate firing range.
Directly ahead, ten kilometers out: two Starhawk battleships, twenty-five Recusant heavy destroyers, and five Providence dreadnoughts. Twenty kilometers further back, a thinner line of Munificents. Above the capital, six Lucrehulk battleships loomed.
The first turbolaser rounds from the Sword Group lanced out. One hundred and forty heavy torpedoes from seven Triumph-class ships streaked forward like deadly silver spears.
"Torpedoes away!" Zsinj grinned.
The enemy managed to intercept only a third. One hundred struck home. A Starhawk disintegrated in a brilliant fireball. A second lost two engines and its lower heavy turbolaser batteries. Ten Recusants and three Providences vanished from the board. Five more ships burned, heavily damaged.
"Excellent result!" Rain shouted. "Forward! Break through! Fire on the Starhawks, then finish the Providences! Maneuver number two!"
The *Iron Wolf* angled downward at ten degrees, exposing two-thirds of its main battery while staying out of the enemy's axial firing arcs. The droids began turning, but it was too slow.
"Enemy fighters in sector zero-zero-two! Up to three tri-fighter squadrons!" the sensor officer warned.
"Barrier fire into the sector!" Zsinj ordered. "Raise the corpuscular shield!"
"Allied forces arriving!" Rain announced. "Dagger Squads one through six moving into attack line. Shield and Banner Squads have emerged!"
The second torpedo salvo was nearly ready. Ten minutes for a full reload was the price of safety—armored doors, careful inspection, separate detonator storage. No catastrophic chain reactions if a hit landed.
The Sword Group pushed deeper. BTL-B Y-wings from the Venators swooped in behind them, hammering the exposed enemy flanks as the droids tried to turn.
The Munificent screen crumbled in under five minutes. Five destroyed, five more crippled. Reinforcements were coming, but too slowly.
"Torpedo tubes ready!" the gunner reported.
"Fire when ready!" Zsinj snarled.
The *Iron Wolf* plunged onward, a spear aimed at the heart of the Riileb defense.
**Scene 2: Riileb Surface – Gunboat Descent**
The gunboat shuddered violently from a nearby explosion. Red battle lighting bathed the cramped troop bay, illuminating rows of clones gripping their harnesses. The space was so tight there was no room to fall even if the ship took a direct hit.
"This is what a landing usually looks like," Clone Lieutenant Spearx muttered to his platoon. "But not today."
The Endorser-class Accumulators had entered the atmosphere cleanly. Door shutters were open, giving the clones a clear view of the sky and dozens of other LAAT/i gunships descending in formation.
"Recon, ten seconds! Infantry, thirty!" the pilot called.
"Attention, boys!" Spearx turned to face his men. "Landing!"
The rear ramp dropped. A lone AT-RT scout walker leapt out first, its repulsors flaring as it hit the ground running. The gunship skimmed low over a ruined park on the edge of the capital. Side doors slid open. Clones poured out in perfect order.
Spearx took cover behind a shattered wall, raising his macrobinoculars. "Kilo! Forward—scout the situation! We're right behind you! First squad, front! Second, left flank! Third, right! Fourth, perimeter! Set up the E-webs!"
The clones moved with practiced efficiency. These were veterans of Mygeeto and other hellholes. No panic. No wasted motion.
One sergeant bent over an oblong shape in the grass. "Sir… civilian. Dead. And more bodies over there."
Spearx grimaced. "One of the J-1 batteries was here. The Accumulators are working on the enemy now." He pointed upward where streaks of heavy turbolaser fire rained down from orbit. Massive explosions bloomed in the distance, sending thick black smoke into the sky.
"We're having a real holiday today, guys," Spearx said.
"Nothing like this on Mygeeto," Sergeant Nevalyashka noted.
"Maybe they finally decided to save our asses," Sergeant Caliph muttered. "I heard there's barely half our generation left… if you count the pilots and ship crews. Less than a third of the infantry."
The platoon pushed forward, AT-RTs leading the way, E-web emplacements covering their advance. Orbital fire continued to soften the enemy positions. Today, the clones were not just surviving—they were conquering.
**Scene 3: Riileb Capital City**
Alpha ARC Trooper Puck crouched behind a shattered fountain in the capital's central plaza, his enhanced armor scarred from earlier fighting. The Riileb Self-Defense Force—technically a militia but well-equipped and numerous—had slowed the Republic advance, but they were breaking.
"Sir, enemy speeder tanks approaching from the east!" one of his troopers reported.
"Send in the Rhino tanks!" Puck ordered. "Where are the speeders?"
Heavy repulsor engines roared as the new Rhino tanks—heavily armored beasts mounting twin heavy cannons and rapid-fire machine blasters—rumbled forward. Their thick frontal armor shrugged off enemy fire while their main guns tore into the lighter Riileb speeders.
Puck commanded a reinforced company of Alpha ARC Troopers augmented by Jedi ARC troopers—Force-sensitive clones trained in the new breathing techniques. Their coordination was lethal.
"Jedi squad, flank left! Use the thunder breathing to close the gap!" Puck commed.
The Jedi ARCs blurred forward in bursts of enhanced speed, lightsabers flashing as they carved through droid and organic defenders. Puck himself led a charge down the main boulevard, his custom DC-17m barking precise shots.
The Riileb forces fought stubbornly—loyal to their world and the credits the Hutts had promised—but they lacked the Republic's discipline and orbital support. Rhino tanks crushed their barricades while ARC teams cleared building after building.
"Push them back to the government district!" Puck shouted. "No prisoners until they surrender!"
Above, the sky burned with continued orbital bombardment. The capital was falling, street by street, block by block.
The Dragon's war machine rolled on.