บท 54: Senses
Half of the space around Kamino was filled by big and small ships and starfighters, red and blue lasers, all in the still and noiseless vacuum of space.
Steel Battalion was one of the many groups of starfighters, and they were about to pass straight through a group of Vulture droids double their number.
Rozal spun his ARC-170 to the left, doing full three-hundred and sixty spins, all the while firing.
"Spark, fire straight ahead. We have to cut a path in their midst. Steel Battalion, focus all your fire upfront!"
"I am not sure I can do that sir, I've lost my gunner!"
"Do what you can. Every kill counts on this battle."
"Captain, they hit my stabilizers! I am losing contr... Ahhhh!"
"Steel 7! Ferit!"
"We lost him, captain."
Rozal wanted to curse and mourn at the same time, but the Vultures were already in front of him. Luckily Spark has turned the turrets right on time, and they blitzed their way through the remains of a Vulture.
Shadows passed by him, almost invisible in contrast with the dark space, if it wasn't for the blur their red, cold, mechanical eyes left behind.
For a few moments, he couldn't even see what he was shooting. Just beside him Steel 81 and two Vulture droids crashed on each other leaving almost nothing.
And then they were out of the cloud of droids. Rozal made a sharp turn, passing awfully close to some of his own brother starfighters.
The short encounter had left behind many remains of Republic and Separatist combatants. And the big toys haven't even entered the fray yet.
As the pilots of the 303rd made the turn, the Vultures kept going without looking back, straight to the Republic cruisers.
"Come on brothers! Their objective is our home below us, but they have to pass by our cruisers first. We can't let them do that. Let's play catch!"
Rozal speed up his ARC-170. The battle had only started.
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Feral didn't have much to do now besides watch and analyze. As the admiral of the 303rd, his focus was on his legion ships, but he still kept an eye for any Republic cruiser needing reinforcements.
"Report!"
"Yes admiral! We lost a lot of pilots on the first engagement, and Raste Battalion was hit pretty hard by some torpedoes. But overall we took more of them than they took from us. We are still tabulating the exact numbers."
That was similar to what Feral was seeing outside. Clones and Vultures had passed by each other, both sides suffering severe losses, but the droids more than the Republic.
However, now was the time for the clone pilots to show their specialty, persecution. Their analysis of the Vultures patterns of flight, and their instincts - or, as the soldiers liked to call: senses - made they much better at pursuit. As if to prove his thoughts an officer screamed from below the bridge.
"Vultures incoming sir! They should be trying to destroy us and invade the planet. ARC-170s on hot pursuit!"
"All turrets open fire. Cannons hold for now. Charge and wait for their frigates to come into range."
What Feral was really worried about were not the Vultures, but the big ships of the Separatists. Even if some small droids passed through their blockade they wouldn't be able to do much damage. But if just one of the Munificent-class frigates got to the surface it could destroy dozens of installations and murder hundreds of thousands of embryos and newborn clones. Not to talk about what a Providence-class dreadnought would do.
Feral ordered the Republic fleet to hold ground, not actively attacking, but focusing on destroying the incoming Vulture droids.
Some of the Vultures passed really close to The Sincerity, but their small lasers didn't do much against the shields. And those who came close enough to fire were also on the range of The Sincerity turrets.
But the droid navy was relentless and knew no fear. They kept coming despite losing hundreds, and soon their proton torpedoes started amounting for something.
One of the CR90 sent a call for help, but even when the back up arrived it couldn't hold. Its shields went off, and a round of torpedoes blew it.
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