Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 73 - Overpowering All Techniques with sheer force
"They're coming for us!"

The clone captain of the "Dauntless" spoke in a tense voice, his eyes fixed on the rapidly enlarging image of the separatist ship on the screen in front of him. "General! Please give the order!"

“Hmm.” Master Pro Kong uttered a steady nasal sound, as if confirming a known fact.

Beneath his breathing mask, his breath was long and steady, and ripples of the Force rippled silently around him, allowing him to clearly perceive every anxious emotion within the bridge.

The air on the bridge seemed to freeze instantly, a sense of anxiety arising from being clearly put on the defensive spread through the air.

Prokhor was able to understand their tension.

After the "Hydra tactics" caused repeated setbacks for both Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi, they had become infamous within the Republic Navy.

The Jedi Master of the Kael'dor family once again focused his mind on the Force, and a peaceful yet resolute power flowed across the bridge like a warm current, quietly dispelling everyone's unease.

The crew members' tense shoulders relaxed slightly, and their rapid breathing became a little calmer.

At this moment, the three vanguard detachments of the separatists had completed their maneuver and turn, like three deadly daggers, piercing straight into the heart of the Republic's fleet from three different directions!

The enemy ships launched missiles in a salvo, instantly illuminating the dark space with countless blinding propulsion plumes. Immediately afterward, the heavy turrets of the vanguard fleet also spewed out dense turbine laser beams, weaving together a devastating torrent of firepower!

The rays of light almost formed a continuous curtain, illuminating the deep space as if it were daytime.

Jedi Master Prokone remained as steady as a rock, his voice clearly piercing through the tense atmosphere: "Everyone, stay at your posts and stand with me."

His voice wasn't loud, but it had a strange penetrating power that reached the hearts of every crew member.

He closed his eyes again, immersing himself more deeply in the Force, letting his consciousness envelop the Dauntless, and then extend to the entire task force, connecting the soul of every crew member and every warship with his own.

He "saw" the gunner's fingers trembling slightly with tension, "heard" the engine humming from overload in the engine room, and "sense" the rapid heartbeat under the fighter pilot's helmet.

All of this flowed through his consciousness and was guided toward the same goal.

The next moment, the incoming missile crashed into the Republic fleet's dense point defense fire network.

The artillery fire from the point defense turrets became exceptionally accurate under Pro Kong's Force prediction, as if it had eyes, and its interception efficiency far exceeded that of usual.

Most of the missiles exploded in the void into brief, dazzling golden orbs of light before dissipating.

A few missiles that managed to break through, along with subsequent turbine laser beams, violently struck the energy shield of the Republic's warship, unleashing blinding light and boiling ionized gas, which were eventually consumed and absorbed by the shield with great difficulty.

Each impact caused the ship to tremble slightly, and the shield readings jumped wildly on the edge of danger.

However, under Prokhorne's unified coordination, neighboring warships were always able to share the pressure in a timely manner.

The Republic's fleet formation is quite unique, with the outer layer consisting of heavily armored, shielded heavy cruisers and star destroyers, while the inner layer is deployed with agile light destroyers and frigates.

This is quite different from conventional fleet formations, but these fleets have a clear purpose.

Heavy capital ships can concentrate their energy to reinforce overlapping shields in one or two main directions, relying on their massive size and robust defenses to forcibly tear apart the enemy's lines.

Once a breach is established, the inner light warships can quickly flood in, creating chaos within the enemy ranks and expanding the gains.

This "hedgehog" formation, which combines offense and defense, was meticulously designed to counter the multi-pronged encirclement by separatists.

More accurately, it was designed to counter the 'Hydra tactics'.

This experienced Jedi master knew that this tactical approach was essentially similar to the "Trident" robot attack swarm assault tactic commonly used by separatists (using numerical superiority to break through defenses).

However, the Republic Fleet's coordination, under the guidance of the Jedi Master, reached a level that even machines could hardly match.

More importantly, this formation ensures that the pressure on the Republic's warship group is relatively balanced no matter which direction the enemy launches an encirclement attack from, avoiding the risk of a single point being breached.

Separatist firepower came from three directions, but the Republic's fleet acted like a solid reef, dispersing and neutralizing the impact.

Commander Wofi strode back from the combat command center below to the main bridge: "General, the enemy's vanguard firepower is exceeding expectations, and the 'Resilient's' shields on the left flank are about to overload!"

Before Warfie could finish speaking, Master Procon, through the Force connection, had already discerned his entire intention: "All flank gun positions, target the enemy cruiser that poses the greatest threat on the left flank, fire!"

He pinpointed the specific target precisely.

The moment the order was given, the specially modified heavy SPHA-T self-propelled guns, hidden in the massive hangar of the "Dreadnought," roared into action!

The thick energy conduits flashed with a blinding blue light, and a heart-pounding vortex of energy gathered at the muzzle.

A massive, terrifying beam of energy tore through the darkness, striking precisely a separatist "Generosity-class" cruiser that was blocking the way of the "Dauntless"!

The ship was as if it had been cleaved in two by a giant blade, breaking into two pieces from the port side to the starboard side!
The massive explosion instantly engulfed the warship, and the surging shockwave even sent several nearby fighter jets flying!

The pressure on the "Resilient" shields eased dramatically, and the captain confirmed this gratefully over the communications channel. Immediately afterward, over twenty equally powerful beams of light shot out from the Republic fleet's formation, sweeping across the battlefield like the Grim Reaper's scythe, slamming into the unsuspecting enemy!

The pitch-black space curtain seemed to have been scratched by an invisible paintbrush, leaving behind huge cracks carrying destructive energy.

The ship exploded, and blinding flowers of light bloomed from the cracks!
The left-wing separatist offensive stalled.

"Match the relative speed of the enemy fleet after deceleration, shut down the main thrusters!" Pro Kong's voice was flat, as if stating a given fact. "We will rely on our existing inertia to charge into the core of the enemy formation, transferring all the energy saved from the main engines to the auxiliary power and weapon systems!"

He needs stronger firepower and more agile maneuverability to break through the last line of defense.

"Sir?"

The captain had some reservations about this audacious order.

Losing main propulsion means relying more on initial kinetic energy, and it will be difficult to escape once entangled by enemy ships.

Master Pro Kong did not explain, but simply tilted his head slightly, intently examining the status readings of the fleet's shields through his goggles.

The separatist detachments from three directions are concentrating their firepower on several key nodes of the Republic fleet's shield.

He waited, precisely calculating the critical point of shield saturation.

As the reading approached the danger threshold again, his command sounded once more—

"Attention all fleet! Rotate 33 degrees to port along the longitudinal axis of the 'Dreadnought' as the axis of rotation!" Pro Kong decisively ordered. "Repeat this maneuver until the shield energy drops to a dangerous level. Prioritize channeling the shield energy saved from the maneuver to the forward turret array!"

This exquisite micro-management is like dancing on the tip of a knife.

The command was executed swiftly.

The massive Republic fleet, in its arrowhead formation, began to rotate to the left as a whole, with each warship moving two positions to the left, cleverly altering its relative position within the enemy's fire network.

The rotation was as smooth as a planet's rotation, with the distance between each warship remaining perfect, without the slightest chaos.

This sudden change in position instantly disrupted the separatist fleet's fire lock-on.

The Separatist fleet could no longer continuously bombard the same weak point in the shield, which gave the Republic fleet's heavily burdened shield generators a precious respite to recharge.

The new shield layer was generated in time, tenaciously maintaining the integrity of the entire fleet's defense system.

Although the separatist attacks were fierce, they were like punches hitting cotton, unable to cause decisive damage.

"Understood, General!" The captain of the "Dauntless" immediately straightened up, his voice filled with excitement.

The Jedi Master's tactics were beginning to show results, dispelling his worries.

The tense atmosphere on the bridge eased somewhat, replaced by awe at the Jedi Master's art of command.

Prokhor nodded slightly.

Soon, the massive hull of the "Dauntless" plunged headlong into a death storm consisting of chaotic ion contrails, scattered ship debris, and fiercely fighting small fighter jets.

The ship could be heard making dull thuds from time to time.

That wasn't a laser cannon bombardment, but rather the wreckage of a destroyed fighter jet, or even fragments of a robot fighter jet that crashed into us after going out of control.

The shards of metal pounded against the heavy portholes and armor like hailstones, making a teeth-grinding scraping sound.

Outside the viewing window, the flashes of light from explosions were dazzling.

With its sturdy bow and powerful shields, the "Intrepid" bravely forged ahead through the storm.

Its enormous form appeared and disappeared in the flashes of the explosion, becoming the most conspicuous target on the battlefield.

Then, their gazes collided head-on in the void with the hostile gaze from the bridge of the enemy flagship!
The Vengeance.

The two flagships faced each other across the raging flames of war, like two dueling warriors locked onto each other.

“Captain, bridge command is now yours,” Master Procon turned abruptly, his cloak tracing an arc. “Maintain continuous firepower to suppress the enemy flagship’s shields! Wofi, immediately organize an elite boarding assault team! Equip them with heavy armor-piercing weapons and energy shields! At the same time, notify Master Tien that we are about to launch a direct boarding operation against the Separatist flagship ‘Revenge’! Have his fighter squadron provide cover and clear out the enemy ship’s outer defenses!”

His commands were clear and swift, with each step pointing towards the ultimate goal.

It's time to end this fight.

Pro-Kong's gaze was sharp as a sword, fixed firmly on the "Revenge" through the porthole.

(End of this chapter)