Chapter 51 - Rain

Rain kept falling over the platforms, buildings, and clones of Kamino. In fact, it had started raining even heavier. The Aiwhas - native creatures of Kamino, used by the natives for locomotion - were jumping happily out of the water.

Dozens of platforms were currently occupied by thousands of white armored men. The rain made heavy thuds when it hit their armor.

From one of the compounds, a bunch of clones led by a Nikto walked out. Some of them went to join the already there clones, while the rest followed the Nikto.

They arrived at the central platform, way bigger than the others, and where the cruisers landed when they needed to refuel. When they stopped they all looked up at the same time.

Above them, on the distant space, massive Munificent-class frigates and Providence-class dreadnoughts, and many of the smaller Gonzati-class cruisers jumped out of hyperspace one after the other.

Welcoming them were large Acclamator-class cruisers and Venator-class star destroyers, together with the small CR90 corvettes.

General Di turned to his troops and lifted his lightsaber.

"Soldiers! Get to your positions! I don't think I need to explain how important it is that we defend Kamino! Am I right?!"

"YES SIR!!!"

After the resounding response, the clones started to move and spread, and General Di turned to Keeli and Dageer.

"Now let's hope that Admiral Dao can keep those sh.i.p.s away long enough for us to prepare our defenses. May the force be with us."

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Up and above, past the black clouds and the green sky of Kamino.

On The Sincerity, a navy officer with many different symbols on his uniform was observing the starry space, now occupied by droid warsh.i.p.s. His short, military-style hair gave him a strong and dangerous look.

Behind him, another officer came running and gave him a datapad. He didn't even look at it.

"What is the situation lieutenant?"

"Bad, admiral. Our scanners detected three Providence-class dreadnoughts, twenty-six Munificent-class frigates, and one hundred sixty-five Gonzati-class cruisers. Their fighters numbers are unknown by now, but according to our calculations there should be..."

"Enough. Their numbers are unimportant. General Di orders are to defend Kamino till our last starfighter, and so we will."

Admiral Dao walked back to the hologram table, taking his eyes off the magnitude sight of both Republic and CIS sh.i.p.s about to collide.

"Connect me with admirals Yazeb, Shan-To and Yularen. We will be responsible for holding section 3. Sections 1, 2 and 4 will have to find their own ways."

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Rozal's ARC-170 was heading Steel Battalion one hundred and eighty-three starfighters. Each ARC-170 needed three crew members plus an astromech to work perfectly.

Rozal had divided Steel Battalion into three groups, each with sixty-one starfighters, arranged on the usual 'V' attack formation.

The Republic had many similar battalions, scattered all around the planet of Kamino, but even so, they were nothing compared to the number of Vulture droids about to be thrown on them.

They had an advantage that made up for this though. The Vulture droids flew on a different number of patterns, but the pilots were able to grasp them quickly.

Batch after batch of Vultures left the hangars of the Munificent-class frigates and the Providence-class dreadnoughts, not to count the many Gonzati-class cruisers, smaller but still lethal.

Rozal, who was piloting, called his co-pilot, in the seat behind him.

"Hey, Bat, how are you doing there?"

"Systems online captain. We are ready to go."

"Spark, how is my favorite gunner doing?"

"On standby to blow some droids captain."

Rozal pressed a button on his panel, connecting him to the rest of Steel Battalion.

"Steel Battalion, this is Steel 1. Light up your engines."

"Steel 2 ready."

"Steel 3 on standby."

"Steel 4 can't wait."

"Steel 5 locked and ready to go."

...

...

...

Bat confirmed that Steel Battalion was prepared, and Rozal passed on the information to an officer on the capital ship, The Sincerity.

The officer wrote down everything he heard from all battalions and screamed to the top part of the bridge.

"Admiral! All sh.i.p.s ready and on standby!"

Admiral Dao responded simply.

"Wait for confirmation."