Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 7 - Skywalker

Ryan was somewhat surprised. "It's ahead of schedule."

“The information you’ve given me proves that we must act quickly.” General Worm was clearly pleased with himself. “However, I regret to inform you that Jedi Anakin Skywalker has escaped with Senator Bail Organa and a squad of clone soldiers. Since my planetary radar cannot locate them, they must have used the cloaking ship you reported.”

Raine's smile froze for a moment. "I understand. Thank you for your efforts, General. I will try to locate and intercept this Jedi."

"I hope we can discuss this in more detail later, Captain."

"of course."

Ryan shut down the communication and breathed a sigh of relief.

It's obvious that Anakin Skywalker will escape.

And he even brought Bell Organa with him!
Isn't he Princess Leia's father?
Wait... no, he's Leia's adoptive father. Obi-Wan entrusted Leia to him.

In any case, Raine can't blame the general for letting them escape.

In this situation, no matter how capable you are, it's useless.

He wouldn't blame himself if he let them get away too.

“Where is the ‘Charedonia’ now?” Renn asked.

“On the night hemisphere of the planet,” Little Tower said.

Because Lysis' orbit around Christophsis is tilted almost vertically to the plane of the solar system, the Charedonia is "below".

“Cancel the orbital maneuver,” Ryan sighed. “Pitch down 90 degrees and roll 90 degrees to starboard.”

We will burn in the anti-normal direction until we round the pole, and then head directly in the direction of the 'Charedonia'.

Let's plan the flight route.

As the robot input data into the navigation computer, Xiao Ta looked down at Rein and said, "I calculated the probability of intercepting the stealth spaceship to be zero—"

“Alright, alright, alright,” Ryan waved his hand to interrupt him. “I know, little tower, I know it’s like finding a needle in a haystack, but for the sake of the resume, we have to make a show of it and get the ‘Resistance’ and ‘Shadow Price’ to start scanning the magnetic signal.”

"Yes, sir."

The Resistance and the Shadow Price were two of several ships he had deployed at the "bottom" of the planet, so that when enemy reinforcements jumped in, they could pounce on the unsuspecting bottom and deliver a crushing blow. Their being in the right position at this moment was purely by luck.

But it's no use.

To be honest, searching for things in space is almost futile unless you already know exactly where they are.

A small space submarine that can hide itself? Don't even think about it.

Their scanning was nothing more than shouting in random directions, hoping for a response.

If he were Anakin Skywalker, he would fly within the planet's atmosphere, using refraction to interfere with the scanner, and then escape by bursting out of the atmosphere where there are no warships.

Sure enough, half an hour later, as the "Repel" sped toward the "Resistance" position, a sensor reading suddenly spiked.

“Kronau radiation detected, sir,” Taylor said, his voice deepening. “A hyperspace jump a few light-minutes away.”

Clearly, they couldn't even determine the approximate direction of the jump, only the approximate distance.

"...Inform General Losamon to prepare planetary defenses in response to the Republic Task Force, hoping they will abandon the operation when they see there is no beachhead left, but I have my doubts," Raine said. "Hmm...Alright, let's get back to our posts, and I'll go see what the general wants to say."

"How is Admiral Trench, Captain?" General Worm asked.

“He will definitely survive, sir,” Ryan whispered, gesturing for the medical report, “but whether he will make a full recovery is still uncertain.”

Taylor entered the report into Ryan's data panel and handed it to him, who immediately frowned upon seeing it.

“Your expression tells me his situation is complicated, Bontri,” Worm noticed.

“Uh… well, it looks like the Admiral needs some prosthetics,” Raine said weakly. “We need to get him to the planetary medical facility as soon as possible. He’s stable right now, but he won’t wake up anytime soon.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have time,” Worm said. Oh, I see.

Renn scratched his head.

To be honest, he should have expected it.

Clearly, General Worm wanted to sideline Trench.

Both were highly decorated officers, well-known among the separatists, and direct contenders for the position of supreme commander.

There is no doubt that Worm hopes to gain an advantage in the competition once Trench is incapacitated.

For Worm, this must have felt like a lucky accident.

"Can I assume that the retail core group will now take over Christopher's?" Ryan tried to change the subject.

“Yes, I think so…” Worm drawled, then suddenly said, “Captain Bontri, how can I convince you to support my campaign? You know what I’m talking about.”

Rein resisted the urge to slump his shoulders. "Sir, I don't think now is the time..."

“I don’t think so.” Worm’s holographic image leaned forward and squinted.

Damn it, this guy just isn't going to give up, is he?

Renn gritted his teeth.

Xiao Ta deliberately ignored him, busy arranging shifts.

Renn didn't care.

But this still put him in the position of facing an ambitious army general who was trying to persuade this naval officer to support Worm's faction.

He knew perfectly well why Worm was bothering him, a mere captain, but he didn't want to think about it.

“Excuse me for speaking frankly, sir,” Raine said stiffly, “I’m just a captain—my support carries little weight in the General Staff, and everyone knows that General Tann is the most likely candidate; she was personally handpicked by Count Dooku!”

“Count Dooku can only nominate candidates, Captain Bontri,” Worm said gently, as if lecturing him, “but the appointment must be approved by Parliament. General Tann’s candidacy has not yet received majority support in Parliament.”

The key is here: Parliament.

When will that cyborg general Grievous appear?
Ryan remembered that Griffith was the Supreme Commander in the movie... He hoped that guy would show his ugly face soon and get rid of this trouble.

He has already had this conversation about three times.

“I don’t have as much say in parliament as you think, sir,” Raine protested.

“If you can arrange for me to meet with Senator Bontri, I will owe you a great favor,” Worm insisted.

This idiot.

Ryan wanted to shout: He would never risk his career for Worm's "benefits"!
The Confederate Congress can be roughly divided into three factions.

There was a faction led by Voye Attel, which Ryan liked to call the hardliners.

They would support any officer capable of giving the Confederacy a real chance to defeat the Republic, including Trench and Worm.

Then there are the corporate factions, who only support their own candidates.

As a member of the retail core group, General Worm's main support base is here.

The real problem lies with the moderates, who are widely believed to be led by MP Mina Bontri.

She is Ryan's aunt.

He wasn't quite sure what they wanted, but it was probably something like "a swift and bloodless secession from the Republic."

They currently do not support any candidate, and their ideology is that if they acknowledge that the Confederation needs a supreme commander, it would be tantamount to acknowledging that a full-scale war with the Republic is inevitable.

(End of this chapter)