Capítulo 203: The Last Battle
Kneeling, Dageer closed the eyes of Captain Jax, and gestured for two troopers to take him away. The captain was the latest of the hundreds of wounded troopers who weren't able to resist. But he wouldn't be the last.
It was at this moment that the entire camp became quiet. Before, it was bustling with movement, clones, and Twi'leks speaking and wounded moaning. But now it was quiet.
He looked around, and saw heads turned to the sky. When he looked up, Dageer couldn't help but curse. Dozens of ships had just appeared above Ryloth.
Separatist ships.
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"We just detected movement in the hyperspace, admiral. Two minutes until they arrive."
"Any word from the Republic? Are those ships ours?"
"We have nothing."
"Then those are enemy ships. Get ready! This can very well be our last battle. All fighters to the air, and don't spare ammunition."
"Yes, admiral."
Admiral Dao looked at the enemy fleet already there, and made a comparison. The result wasn't good. Of the entire 303rd fleet, only one badly damaged Acclamator-class Cruiser still remained, together with two Venator-class cruisers, The Sincerity and The Righteous. Meanwhile, the Separatist still had the Recusant-class Destroyer - very damaged, but still operational - and four Providence-class dreadnoughts, alongside with seven Munificent-class frigates.
If one were to compare the ratio of Republic starfighters to Vulture droids, it was even worse. Only one hundred and fifty-three V-Wings were left from the original two thousand and five hundred. On the Separatist side, about eight hundred Vulture droids could still fly.
Considering only numbers, the Republic fleet had caused a lot more damages than it suffered, killing about four enemies for each starfighter it lost, but in the end, a defeat was still a defeat.
Of course, nobody could accuse the 303rd of being useless. They were given a suicide mission, and they completed it to their best. By all means, they should have been destroyed days ago, but the determination they showed was enough to make even the merciless droid army falter. The enemy commander, the tactical droid, had already been informed that he would face punishment for taking too long to destroy a 'simple' Republic fleet.
The unfortunate TA-175 couldn't even argue that it was not his fault, because his circuits also couldn't process it. According to his initial calculations, they should have lost less than twenty percent of their army to conquer Ryloth, not the whooping sixty to seventy percent that they did. They shouldn't have taken twenty-one days to win this battle, but ten. Everything went wrong, and the tactical droid didn't know why.
TA-175 had the same problem that countless other tactical droids also had when facing the Clone Army. Their calculations took into account only numbers, but clones weren't just that. Each and every one of them were fighting for their lives, but also for the lives of others. That made them much stronger.
An alert sounded as the ships came out of hyperspace. Just like they expected, it was another Separatist fleet, bigger and stronger than the first.
This time, the enemy didn't wait to start the attack. Immediately after they exited hyperspace, the hangar doors opened, and thousands of Vulture droids left the ships. The commander of this new fleet seemed decided to crush the Republic's remaining forces completely. Well, Admiral Dao wasn't going to let them destroy the 303rd so easily.
For the last time, he turned on the speakers, transmitting his voice to every cruiser and starfighter of the 303rd fleet - what was left of it -. His voice carried sadness and sorrow, but also an unwavering determination.
"Attention, troopers, and pilots of the 303rd Attack Legion. This is Admiral Dao speaking. Ou enemies have received reinforcements. It is with the deepest of regrets that I inform you that we will not live to see another day. I won't lie to you and say there are reinforcements on the way. There aren't. But I will say one thing: you sacrificed so much for the Republic. Too much even. No one could have done more than you did for the Republic."
He paused, and sensed something hot on his cheeks. Surprised, Admiral Dao realized it was tears. He laughed lightly. Who would have thought that the battle-hardened admiral, a commander of the Old Republic, would cry? But he wasn't crying because he was afraid to die. He was crying because he knew that was the last time he talked with those soldiers, those brothers.
"But I have to ask you to do one more thing. I have to ask you to trust me. Since we can't win against the seppies, then we are going to make this the most painful victory they ever had. Now, here is what we are going to do. Cruisers, we will be in the front. All power on the forward shields. Fighters, you will be coming behind us. And bombers, you will be in the middle of the starfighters."
There was a collective gasp of surprise amongst the officers in the command bridge of The Sincerity. They understood what the admiral planed. It was suicide, but he was right when he said it would hurt the Separatist the most.
By putting the cruisers on the front, they would take the brunt of the attack, and most likely be damaged beyond repair, even destroyed. However, that would give the starfighters a chance of bypassing the Vulture droids, and directly attacking the big ships. That is where the Y-Wings bombers came in.
"I'm sure you know what I mean. Bombers your job is the most important of all. You won't stop for anything. Ships will blow by your side. Brothers will die. You will go on, understood? That is the only shot that we will have at avenging them. Now, get in your positions, and prepare to fight. And remember, if we are to go out, then let it be in a blaze of glory."
He turned off the speakers. He said all he had to say. Now, all that was left was to battle. On the three cruisers, nobody said anything. There were no cheers, no answer to Admiral Dao's speech. The pilots put on their helmets, resolve on their faces. Gunners and crewmen prepared the cannons and turrets.
The odd formation that the Republic got in confused the enemy commander, but when he realized what their plan was, he just laughed. The puny efforts of those clones were nothing before the might of the Confederacy Of Independent Systems.
The last battle of the 303rd Attack Legion started. That day, one of the top legions of the Republic Army fell, annihilated in battle. No ship of the fleet stayed in one piece, and no pilot survived.
It was a dark day for the Republic.
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