Chapter 187 - Days Gone By

"Admiral! They are starting to move!"

"All fighters to the air! Round two is about to start!"

The admiral watched as the Separatist fleet started to move towards them, their Vulture droids already flying in front of them.

Several Republic V-Wings got out of the cruisers. Soon, the battle started, and sh.i.p.s exploded on both sides. The Sincerity stood behind, and the other cruisers advanced to compose the first line of defense. When he saw the enemy condemning all of his big sh.i.p.s to the frontal assault, Admiral Dao knew it was going to be a tough battle.

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Rozal spun his V-Wing, dodging a volley of red lasers. The battle had been raging on for more than two hours now, and no cruiser or frigate had been damaged beyond repair.

With a sudden stop, Rozal changed his course in midair, and confused the Vulture droid chasing him, allowing another Steel Battalion pilot to take care of him.

Followed by his brothers, he went searching for other droids to destroy.

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The freedom fighters and their new allies were almost on Lessu when the battle in the space started again. Along the way they had dropped off some of the Twi'leks, people that Syndulla trusted to help the clones on the outposts.

As bright explosions illuminated the sky, and the Separatist fleet appeared, the freedom fighters stopped to look at the battle. Many of them felt despair. How were they supposed to fight something like that?

"Move, come on! They are on space, they can't get us here. Let's go!"

Syndulla quickly ordered his people to move. If they watched for too long, they could lose all their confidence, and that might lead to their deaths.

Hell Squad looked at Dageer, who shook his head. He wasn't going to lie to them. The Twi'leks around him, especially Shouta, were looking at them anxiously, as if they could do something. Thankfully, General Di spoke before despair started to spread.

"People of Ryloth, do not worry! For as long as the Republic exists, we will not abandon you. We are here for you, and we will not leave."

"Uheeeaaa!!!"

"Iuhhuuu!!!"

Cheers sounded as General Di's words brought hope back to their hearts. The Separatist fleet might be big, but it was true that the Republic was doing everything it could to fight them.

Syndulla looked at his people and said nothing. Tram's face still showed discontentment, but since his leader said nothing, he also kept quiet. For the first time Miwy and Yate were hesitant in complaining about the Republic.

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"General Di, unfortunately, I don't think we can hold them back any longer."

"You did your best, admiral. You gave us enough time to perfect our defenses on the ground. Still nothing from the Jedi Council?"

"No, sir. I contacted them again today, but even though I told them our blockade was going to fall, they said it was impossible to send reinforcements."

"Then we fight with what we have, admiral. May the Force be with you."

"We will continue our battle up here, general. Admiral Dao out."

The admiral looked ten years older, even though only sixteen days had passed since the first Separatist offensive. The 303rd fleet was now severely depleted.

Of the more than two thousand starfighters, only seven hundred remained. Including The Resolute, four of the six Acclamator-class Cruisers had been destroyed. A Venator-class Cruiser had also fallen during the tenth day of battle, when a Separatist Munificent-class Frigate crashed into it. Several dozen CR90 Corvettes and other support sh.i.p.s had been destroyed.

The losses of the Separatist were even worse, but their fleet remained bigger and stronger. Of the ten thousand Vulture droids, about half became floating debris. Nine Munificent-class Frigates were taken out, and three Providence-class Dreadnoughts were wrecked. Even the Recusant-class Destroyer was damaged.

But now, the Separatist were about to break the Republic blockade. Even with them giving all they had, the 303rd fleet simply didn't have enough sh.i.p.s to cover the area.

They really couldn't be blamed, for they had fought bravely, and resisted for much longer than they were expected to. Each pilot had been so dedicated that even in their dying moments, with their sh.i.p.s and starfighters burning and breaking apart around them, some had resorted to suicide attacks, crashing their sh.i.p.s in hopes of damaging more the enemy. Any other army would have collapsed by now, but the clones were still persisting. As Admiral Dao said, and his men adopted, they all went out in a blaze of glory.

Admiral Dao now watched as several C-9979 Landing Crafts crossed the blockade. The Sincerity was in no position to help, as it was currently under siege by one dreadnought and three frigates. The cruiser had holes in several places, and many turrets were gone, but with the assistance of several V-Wings, it was still holding on.

The only ones going after the Separatist troop carriers were a small squadron of starfighters, the remainings of Steel Battalion.

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When Rozal saw the C-9979s, he gathered about ten pilots, all that was left from his entire battalion, and followed them without hesitation. They, in turn, were chased by several Vulture droids, but completely ignored them. Even without Admiral Dao's orders, Rozal knew what was Steel Battalion mission.

Truth to be told, Steel Battalion and Rozal were one of the reasons why the 303rd hadn't faltered before today. Every pilot gave their all, and the battalion was responsible for taking down two of the dreadnoughts, four frigates, and several smaller sh.i.p.s. The number of Vulture droids they destroyed was uncountable.

"One last effort, boys! Remember, each troop carrier we take down is a thousand droids less for our brothers on the ground!"

"Uhaaaa!!!"

"Let's get them!"

"These seppies don't know who they are messing with!"

Laughing madly, the clones pushed their starfighters to the maximum. They now didn't care for whether they died or not. They had accepted their destiny, and the only thing they wished was to kill more clanckers.

Rozal also laughed, and pushed the throttle to the maximum, increasing his speed to dangerous levels. The C-9979s soon entered his aim, and he fired his last two concussion missiles. One of them missed when a Vulture droid escorting the troop carriers entered its way, but the other hit the side of one of the sh.i.p.s, blowing up a hole.

Several other missiles and normal lasers followed his, destroying the escort and taking down two of the troop carriers.

"We got bugs on our tail!"

Suddenly, the Vulture droids that chased them announced their arrival by blowing up one of the V-Wings.

"Keep going! When they reach the atmosphere they will slow down automatically! Push forward!"

Entering the atmosphere too fast would cause a ship to catch on fire, systems would fail, and depending on the speed, the whole ship might blow up. Steel Battalion, however, didn't care.

Just before he entered the atmosphere, Rozal spun and stopped. The Vulture droids flew past him dangerously close, but as their circuits dictated, slowed down when they reached Ryloth's atmosphere. Taking advantage of this, Rozal fired wildly, destroying at least eight or nine Vulture droids before the second batch of them caught up.

Grinning, he speed up again, reaching maximum velocity almost instantly. With the corner of his eyes, he saw two of his starfighters blow up as the impacts from entering the atmosphere proved to be too much for the already damaged sh.i.p.s. His own V-Wing caught on fire, but held on.

His men were focusing their fire on one of the C-9979 Landing Crafts, so he followed them. He laughed wildly when the ship started smoking and lost control, although its destruction came at the cost of one more Republic starfighter.