Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 40 - The "Rotating Wheel" Space Station
"Rot" space station, Besh Gorgon system.

Mardrud Sector.

Raine looked at the holographic screen, reviewing the war in the Sabo Sector.

General Tann led the Confederate Second Fleet in a second major offensive, codenamed "Operation Flanking".

Because separatist forces recently lost access to the Hutt space, their supply lines to the tailspin region collapsed, leaving many important star systems, such as Andor, Farin, and Arantern, isolated and vulnerable to attacks from the Republic.

Faced with an imminent crisis, the Second Fleet took a desperate gamble, breaking through the Republic's encirclement and re-establishing a hyperspace route directly connecting to Hopavuy, the Confederate's main northern territory.

The first stage.

The Second Fleet will be redeployed to the Orté node, where it will launch a counterattack against the Republic's Iron Spear Fleet in Christophsis and defeat it, before pursuing it to Lelito.

Separatist General Grievous pursued the Open Circle fleet to Rangnick before being recalled to Panmant.

Meanwhile, the Confederate First Fleet will be strategically redeployed from the foundry to Nixdale to support Operation Flanking, and will be placed under the command of Separatist Admiral Pols Tonys.

The forces previously commanded by Admiral Tony were incorporated into the Second Fleet.

Phase Two.

The Enterprise Alliance forces ambushed the Ironspear fleet in the Mandalorian system, causing minor damage.

Although this small-scale conflict ended inconclusively and was, to some extent, a losing proposition, it successfully achieved its goal of forcing the Iron Spear fleet to retreat into the depths of the Bosa space.

The First Fleet launched an attack on the pro-Republic planet Dalang.

The third phase: Bosavuy's offensive.

The First Fleet continued its advance toward Rangnick, dispatching a satellite force to ensure the safety of the Gamor route.

A detachment of the Second Fleet occupied Drexel, while the main force advanced into the Bosa space, successfully gathering the enemy forces in one location within the Bosavui system.

The primary objective of the Second Fleet is to rebuild the logistics supply lines, while its secondary objective is to seize the Bosa space and eliminate the notorious Bosa intelligence network, which is believed to serve the interests of the Republic.

Staff officers are drafting invasion plans for Bosawui, Cortels, Munus Mandel, and other pro-Bosa planets. Before that, the Second Fleet must first break through the joint defenses of the Republic and Bosa.

……

"Sir, we have arrived at the 'Rotation' space station!"

At this moment, Raine's fleet entered the docking bay of the space station and snapped out of their reverie.

In the Star Wars universe, the Maldrood space station is an important location.

This space station is one of the outposts of the Separatist Alliance, and in the story, it is an important strategic location used to support separatist operations.

The "Repulsion," "Reputation," and Renown's new warship "Revenge" stand out like black swans among the luxury liners, space yachts, and private transport ships moored around BDT-0978.

BDT-0978 is a massive space station shaped like a wheel.

More commonly known as the "Rotation," it is an extremely large space station whose core structure, as its name suggests, is shaped like a slowly rotating giant wheel.

A robust central cylindrical fuselage rotates smoothly around its long axis, providing a simulated gravity, while two enormous metal spokes, internally filled with pipes and tracks, extend outward from the central fuselage and connect to a wide circular corridor.

Nearly a hundred docks of varying sizes extend from the corridor like tree branches, large enough to accommodate spacecraft of any size, from shuttles to giant cargo ships.

The entire space station is the size of a small satellite, orbiting the star Besh Gorgon in a carefully calculated orbit.

Its permanent population is estimated at around 300,000, not counting the huge number of visitors who come and go every day.

Hundreds... perhaps thousands... of spacecraft of various types are docked around the space station, moored to countless automated buoys that offer cheaper berthing services.

Countless small shuttles, cargo barges, and luxury ships, like busy insects, shuttle back and forth between the space station dock and the outer buoys, transporting all those who yearn to enjoy the ultimate comfort and luxury offered by the "Rotating Wheel".

The queue waiting to enter the official berth could be even longer, forming a huge halo of light composed of the faint glow of the spacecraft engines, stretching out around the star Besh Gorgon under the star's brilliance.

Through the viewing window, Ryan saw countless types of spaceships.

From brightly lit giant passenger ships to massive container ships, and even aristocratic shuttles adorned with different family crests or corporate logos...

You could find all sorts of people here: businessmen, self-important VIPs, and shady black market dealers...

However, they could only silently step aside in front of Raine's interstellar frigate, without even uttering a complaint.

Because "the wheel" is an independent entity within the space of separatist power.

Strictly speaking, since the "Rotator" enjoys a great deal of autonomy, even if ships of the Republic Navy enter this star system, they will theoretically not be attacked as long as they do not take the initiative to attack.

Some might ask, how did Cody Sun-Child, the space station administrator, manage to circumvent direct oversight from the Separatist Confederation?
The answer is simple: he regularly paid astronomical "taxes" to the Confederate government, amounts far exceeding the contributions of ordinary planets.

Moreover, Sean Child himself was a separatist, which also provided a great deal of help.

All of this means that there are very few regular naval vessels in the Besh Gorgon system.

When naval warships appear in this star system, all wise captains will choose to keep quiet and make way.

This is because it usually means that a serious event has occurred, or that an important person has arrived.

In other words, Rennes doesn't have to wait in line.

This is privilege.

As expected, when the Revenge's retractable gangway smoothly docked with the top-level berth of the space station, Administrator Sean Child was already there with a small team of space station security personnel in smart uniforms.

Sean Child was quite short, with fair skin, long, pointed ears like an elf, and a tuft of white hair braided on top of his head.

Rein couldn't immediately recall his specific race. "Captain..." His small eyes quickly scanned the newly added brigadier general insignia on Rein's uniform shoulder, his voice tinged with feigned surprise, "—No, brigadier general! I heard you returned to Lacus, but I'm ashamed to say I didn't expect you to personally grace 'Wheel's Sphere' with your presence... What brings you to our little place? I hope it's not anything bad?"

So, this means that Sunn-Child has informants in Lax... no, more accurately, inside the Lax space station.

Ryan thought to himself without showing any emotion.

But that's not surprising.

He hadn't heard about Ryan's promotion, which meant he wasn't paying particular attention to Ryan.

This is also expected.

Raine had previously been deployed to the war-torn Southern Sector, while Sean Child was clearly more focused on interests near his own territory and those who could influence his business.

As the alien spoke, his gaze subtly swept over a small squad of combat robots that were marching swiftly up the metal ramp and forming ranks to enter the space station.

A tiny bead of sweat slid down his temple, leaving a faint, glistening trail.

Despite his attempt to appear calm on his round face with a double chin and a well-trained smile, Ryan could still detect a hint of suppressed panic in his rapidly blinking eyelids and slightly taut jawline.

Looking at the richest person in this space region, the capitalist who owns the "Rotating Wheel" space station, he suddenly realized that he was no longer the biggest fish in this small pond, which was quite interesting.

Ryan deliberately remained silent for a few seconds, his gaze calmly fixed on Sean Child, just to see his uneasy expression.

“No.” Renn smiled expressionlessly. “I hope it’s not a bad thing. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the regular patrol fleet rotation in this sector is about to be canceled, and my fleet will temporarily take over the defense. I’m just here to make sure everything is running smoothly, it’s routine, do you understand?”

His tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority.

Sean Child must have heard about it.

With hundreds of Confederate ships suddenly mobilized and departing, a shrewd businessman like him could not possibly miss such a dramatic turn of events.

He returned a nervous smile, his hands unconsciously rubbing together. "Of course, sir, it would be our honor to have you use all the facilities on 'The Wheel'."

He bowed slightly.

Sean Childer's anxiety is understandable.

What was originally a lenient system of controls that could be funded with credits has unexpectedly turned into a strangulation.

There is no doubt that he had long bribed many captains and commanders in the region to turn a blind eye to his... shady business dealings.

For him, Rennes was a complete unknown.

A seasoned combat commander from one of the most intense and brutal corners of the galaxy is suddenly replaced by the incompetent nepotists he knew.

Sean Child doesn't know if Ryan will participate in the unwritten "rules of the game" in this "waterway".

Or are they planning to overturn the entire card table?

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Ryan replied casually, his gaze sweeping over the spacious berth platform with its polished metal floor. “I hope you don’t mind if I requisition this harbor.”

Rennes had no intention of paying the parking fee.

Even the standard fee would be an astronomical sum for a fleet of his size to be moored in the top-tier berth of the "Rotator".

It is at least ten times the price of a similar public space station.

“Ah…of course not, Your Excellency.” Sean-Child tried to keep his voice calm. “If you would like, I can immediately send my most capable assistant to show you around and let you experience all the top-notch amenities of the ‘Wheel’? Restaurants, theaters, casinos…”

“No need, thank you…” Ryan suddenly raised his voice and spoke in an authoritative tone, startling the alien. “Taylor, set up a cordon on this level! Clear this area. I don’t want anyone lingering on this level, understand!? After that, you can continue dealing with the ‘Reputation’.”

"Yes, yes!"

Taylor gave a warm salute, then went to direct the growing number of combat robots that were lining up to enter the space station.

“Hal, Orpheus, come with me…” Renn gently grabbed Sean-Child’s shoulder, turned him around, and forced him to walk with him toward the passage leading into the space station. “Manager, I have an appointment to keep and I’ll be leaving tomorrow. You continue to do your job well and maintain order at the space station. You don’t need to come with me.”

After being semi-forced away from his familiar "home ground" by Ryan, Sean Child seemed to finally calm down, a look of sudden realization appearing on his face.

He almost let out a long sigh of relief, but he held it back in time, swallowing the breath and glancing nervously at Renn's profile to make sure the brigadier general didn't notice his momentary lapse in concentration.

The "Wheel" security personnel who had been following behind Sean Child exchanged nervous glances, but none of them dared to make a move in the face of the heavily armed super combat robots and elite guards surrounding Rein.

Turning the corner and entering a transport tunnel, Renn found a sleek, luxurious airship suspended on magnetic tracks waiting for him.

He, Hal, Baris, and four super battle robots got into the car.

The airflow doors slid shut silently, and as the car sped away, Ryan nodded through the window to the bewildered administrator, Sean-Child.

“Welcome to the ‘Rot’ space station, sir.” A soft but clear synthesized female voice came from the hidden speaker inside the vehicle. “I am the master program, the administrative control system of this space station. You have obtained the highest access privileges on the space station. Do you have a destination in mind? I can plan the best route for you and provide a guide.”

Ryan paused briefly to consider whether the control program still remembered his last visit.

Most likely not.

Its core database needs to handle massive data flows from millions of visitors every day, and he was dressed casually when he last came.

Raine leaned back into the soft, air-cushioned chair and said slowly, "Take me to the 'Under the Dome' space lounge."

That wasn't the most luxurious place on "The Wheel," but it was still considered a mid-to-high-end social venue.

For a newly promoted brigadier general like him, the expenses there should have far exceeded the budget, but they wanted to splurge, so they pooled their credits and booked a private room with a view of the starry sky.

It's about reminiscing about the glorious past.

(End of this chapter)