Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 14 - Adaptability
"Estimated time to reach the lunar perigee region: three minutes. Activate the reverse thrusters," Taylor said. "Prepare for pulse acceleration."

Despite the spacecraft's inertial dampers working at full capacity, Ryan was still firmly pressed into his seat.

The robots didn't get that treatment, so they clung desperately to the control panel.

Little Tower grabbed the back of his chair.

Ryan suddenly realized a question: "How much standard gravitational acceleration will we experience? Will I die?"

Little Tower: "You'll feel very uncomfortable."

"Feeling very unwell...and then died?"

"...You have a low but not negligible chance of suffering temporary cognitive impairment."

"You didn't tell me before because...?"

"Because I'm not a medical robot, I'm not qualified to say that."

"Go to hell," Renn muttered. "Raise the compensation to ninety-nine."

The pressure on my chest eased slightly until Taylor suddenly announced, "Initiate pulse acceleration, duration two minutes and fifteen seconds."

Even though Ryan was already leaning back in his chair, he was still violently shoved into the seat.

All the air in my lungs was squeezed out.

He could barely breathe.

It felt like an anvil was pressing on my chest.

If it were based on standard inertia compensation, he would definitely be dead.

Despite his vision beginning to blur, the thought flashed through his mind with unparalleled clarity.

The only thing Raine could feel was the pale knuckles of his fingers gripping the handrail tightly.

He wanted Xiaota to increase the compensation, but he could barely open his mouth, let alone make a clear sound.

Once this is over, he'll definitely dismantle that bastard's behavior matrix.

For two minutes, he kept reminding himself that even though his consciousness was becoming increasingly blurred, he just needed to hold on for two more minutes.

The metal chair back began to dig into his skull, so he struggled to lift his head, then everything went black and he passed out.

……

Asagi Ventress disliked heroism.

It's not that she hates heroes themselves.

It's not even about disrespecting them.

She simply loathed the concept of a hero.

Sacrifice rarely brings reward, but is often exploited.

The sacrifices Ki Narek made for the people of Ratatak meant nothing to the Jedi Order, who simply let him die there.

At that time, he was Asagi Ventress's mentor and her only friend.

In the end, Ki Narek was just another pawn to be sacrificed.

Those Jedi Council scum, for their own benefit, are willing to send an entire battle group to serve the biggest slave owners in the galaxy.

But what about those slaves themselves?

What about the innocent people?
Her homeworld, Ratatak, is innocent, but the Jedi don't care if the planet is flooded with blood.

In fact, it was already soaked in blood.

Therefore, when Ventress saw that the Jedi Luminara Unduri did not have any heroic fantasies, a twisted yet warm feeling welled up in her heart.

An entire "Cheerleader-class" troop transport ship hovered overhead, forty LAAT gunboats had already landed, and dozens more were pouring out of the hangar in the hull of the troop transport ship.

This Jedi master didn't see it as a rescue operation, but rather as a planetary invasion.

Thousands of clone soldiers descended from the sky, completely overwhelming her meager robot battalion.

It seems that Onduli intends to solve the problem with brute force and overwhelming firepower.

To some extent, Ventress appreciated this.

“What do you think, Ki?” she asked loudly, watching the monastery engulfed in battle around her.

What do you think of those Jedi who abandon you and let you die, yet give up everything for a Hutt?
Apart from the sound of the wind in the mountains and the roar of the plasma beam, there was no response.

Ji is already dead; perhaps that's for the best.

He wouldn't want to see the Jedi Order in its current state...

“Or like me,” Ventress said thoughtfully. “But you’ll understand, won’t you? I know you will.”

"Madam?" the reconnaissance robot 4A-7 asked, "Who is Kee?"

“You don’t need to know.” Ventress stroked her lightsaber. “Just do your job and find some solid evidence.”

"Things aren't easy these days, ma'am..."

However, the robot still managed to escape.

Ventress only needs a holographic image of evidence of wrongdoing by the Jedi and the Little Hutts; anything that can convince Jabba that the Jedi are at fault will do.

Anything is fine, be rough with Rota, make him cry... This little snotty-nosed boy cries a lot, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

If all else fails, she can always use the dead Hutts to frame the Jedi.

That way, there will be no chance of anything going wrong.

But Dooku wants the little slug to go back alive, so she has to try.

Even if the odds of winning are slim.

If there's really no other way, it doesn't matter if Dooku gets angry at her afterwards.

The electric shock was only temporary; she had survived it many times before. The important thing was that she absolutely could not enter the outer ring.

Sometimes, she was surprised that she could go to such lengths, even to the point of killing an innocent child.

But in Latatak, this is commonplace.

Countless children died in battles fought by enemy warlords, whether innocent or not, whether they were on the front lines or not.

It doesn't matter.

There, life is cheap as grass, and the Jedi don't even bother with it.

Except for Ki Narek.

The holographic receiver flashed and lit up, and Count Dooku appeared, asking, "How's it going, Asagi?"

Ventress looked up at the Republic's troop transport suspended in the atmosphere.

“We are outnumbered and lack firepower,” she reported. “The forces Andoli brought are enough to launch a planetary assault. The plan cannot be carried out.”

Dooku pondered her words for a moment, “...This is certainly for their counterattack against Christophersis. For Onduli, it's just a side trip, unfortunately, it just happens to be near her main target.”

Two fragmentation missiles, capable of killing personnel, whizzed overhead and crashed into the courtyard, turning every robot within a radius into parts and scrap metal. Ventress instinctively lowered her head.

Each time she looked towards the fierce battle in the monastery, the number of robots dwindled while the number of Republic soldiers increased.

“The Jedi can’t escape, Asagi,” Dooku told her. “The same goes for the Little Hutts if the situation demands it. You will succeed, not because you’re afraid of my displeasure, or worried about what will happen to me if we fail, but because you understand why we’re doing this, and you understand that better than I do.”

“The republic’s dictatorship must fall,” Ventress said. “You’re right, Master.”

Dooku smiled.

According to Ventress, it was a sincere and compassionate smile.

If they have anything in common, it's their shared vision of a more equitable society.

Asagi Ventress waited for the hologram to disappear before contacting Captain Bontri.

What appeared before her was his tactical robot.

"This is Ventress. I urgently need reinforcements and air support. All the Vulture robot fighters you can provide."

"Please wait a moment..." the robot replied, "We are expected to arrive in thirty standard minutes." The holographic projection flickered and then went out.

She tried to contact them again, but to no avail.

The signal is being interfered with.

Thirty minutes is too long.

Why is Ventress talking to a robot? Has Bontry lost his ability to move?
Or does he still think she's not worthy of speaking to him directly?
Ventress's abilities with the Force are more focused on the physical level, such as telekinesis.

This was shaped by her upbringing.

However, Ventress is usually able to passively perceive the intentions of those she works with.

Few people are completely unfathomable to her:
Dooku...

Now there's another one, Bontri.

If Bontri hadn't been insensitive to the Force, she would have believed he was a Jedi Master; his control over his emotions was incredible.

Throughout the hyperspace journey, Ventress tried to probe his thoughts, but to no avail.

He was like a vacuum in the Force.

Like his crew, he was like a robot.

She would be lying if she said that Ventress felt no unease working with him.

But that doesn't matter.

The captain clearly valued competence as much as Ventress did, and the understated professionalism of his crew was something she rarely saw elsewhere.

If it weren't for the fact that he could sense Tann's disgusting hand manipulating everything behind the scenes, Ventress wouldn't mind cooperating with him again.

Currently, she believes Bontri will come to her aid.

This is his duty.

Ventress unsheathed her lightsaber and ignited the deadly red blade.

Fulfill your responsibilities.

……

Raine rubbed his temples.

I felt as if I had been hit by a flying motorcycle.

As the fog of his unconsciousness gradually dissipated, he saw the disproportionately large chassis of the small tower and quickly regained consciousness.

"How long have I been in a coma?"

“Three minutes and twenty-six seconds, sir,” Little Tower replied without hesitation. “We’re in trouble.”

“As expected.” Renn snorted. “Speak, what’s the trouble?”

“We’re moving too fast,” Little Tower said bluntly. “And we overestimated the satellite’s gravity. Even with reverse propulsion, our escape velocity is still too high for our original return route.”

Renn looked down at the tactical display screen and stretched his neck.

Ideally, their flight path should be approximately U-shaped to intercept the TIS-1 satellite, but the current path is too shallow.

No, it's too shallow for Repulse and Reputation, but Resistance is deep in the gravity well of the TIS-2 satellite, and it can succeed as long as they continue to push in the opposite direction.

Judging from the fact that their course is steadily curving to get closer to the expected course, they are making an effort to do so.

Ryan raised an eyebrow.

He quickly calculated and analyzed the readings on his tablet and realized that it wasn't that they couldn't continue to advance to reach the ideal route, but that doing so would consume too much speed, thus rendering the maneuver meaningless.

"'Repel' calling 'Resistance'," Taylor said, if robots could show panic, he certainly would now. "Stop advancing immediately! Repeat, stop advancing immediately!"

“We can succeed, Taylor.” A modulated voice came through, “My crew has already calculated it.”

“You can,” Taylor looked at him, almost pleading, “but we can’t!”

Ryan asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"

“Commander B-1-3-1 attempted to temporarily adjust the course,” Taylor replied. “We anticipated that we might miss the target, so we calculated a backup plan in advance. The ‘Resistance’ disregarded orders and tried to reach the ideal course, but the advance time was too long. Even if they succeed, the previous calculations will be completely…”

“It’s no use,” Ryan said, “They’ll have to improvise for the rest of the maneuvers.”

"'Adaptability' is not in my dictionary—"

"Be flexible, improvise, and act according to circumstances," Ryan said sternly. "Call them whatever you want, get them onto my communications channel."

Taylor turned around, and a moment later Ryan's communicator started flashing.

Ryan asked bluntly, "3-1, do you know what you're doing?"

"Yes, sir."

Looking at their flight path on the display screen, Ryan asked, "Are you sure you can adjust the second gravity boost at the last minute?"

“We’re working on it, sir.”

"It must be done."

After saying that, Renn ended the communication.

Robots think rationally; if 3-1 believes they can succeed, it must be based on accurate data.

If Ryan doesn't trust him, it would be irresponsible to both the crew of the Resistance and himself.

Moreover, he can make the plan work.

"Sir?"

Xiao Ta asked, puzzled.

"Let's advance with the 'Renown' until our course intersects with bearing 000," Raine ordered. "We're forgoing the second boost. We'll attack the enemy fleet directly from the rear."

“There’s 500,000 kilometers of open space with no cover,” Xiaota warned. “The probability of being discovered early is 87.57%.”

“You’ve been working with me for too long.” Ryan gave a dry laugh. “In naval tactics, 500,000 kilometers of open, unprotected space is common. Now is not the time to back down. That’s an entire Republic battle group. If we destroy it, we can eliminate a strategic enemy force, allowing us and the ‘Resistance’ to arrive at the same time and form a pincer attack.”

At that moment, Taylor called out, “Renown, please respond.”

“We’re with you, ‘Repel’.”

Zinis immediately reassured him.

Ryan always trusted Zinis.

"The data is still being synchronized; we are now proceeding with the process."

……

As they circled the satellite, Tess was like a purple marble that he could hold in one hand.

However, three small black dots ruined the beautiful scene.

Those are the Republic's warships.

Ryan straightened up from his seat, feeling his soaked uniform clinging to his back.

He periodically reassessed the acceleration of the "Repulse".

At this moment, the speed is approaching 300 kilometers per second.

As the "Resistance" gradually disappeared into the distance, its sub-light-speed thrusters emitted a blinding white light.

Little Tower: "We can't miss the target. If there were a second boost, we would bypass the planet, but right now we're directly intercepting the trajectory."

Taylor: "We won't miss it; this route is easier for us to control."

“The timing for a reverse advance isn’t that hard to grasp,” Raine agreed. “We have a shorter acceleration time, but we’re also closer. The current plan is to distract the enemy and let the ‘Resistance’ attack their flanks. Besides, you calculated it in advance, didn’t you? We have a backup plan.”

"Yes, sir."

Ryan smiled with satisfaction, set a countdown timer on his timer, and began counting the minutes.

(End of this chapter)