The siege of Anaxes didn’t end in some grand conflagration. There was no valiant charge or a glorious last stand, but a whimper. Trench assassinated. Dead to trickery and a skilled precision strike by Skywalker and a team of elite Clones. The droids under the Terror of the Perlimian’s command failing shortly after without the guidance of one of the most successful officers of the war. The Terror of the Perlimian’s lieutenants quarreling among one another almost as much as they did with the Republic counter attack.

  Yet while toasts were raised throughout the Republic to Skywalker, Kenobi and the other officers of the siege I was busy preparing defenses. The Separatists would likely try for another push into the Core from somewhere else and the ships formerly of Trench’s command would be returning to Sep strongholds along the Perlimian.

  Castell would likely become a Separatist stronghold once more while the rest of Trench’s forces raced towards Lantillies and Sector General Therbon’s command. All the while they would likely begin raiding worlds along the Perlimian and commit various diversionary attacks to stall the Republic counter. This lead to me holding the recently completed ships within my command close to my chest. And Maker those ships were enough to bring a tear to my eyes. What I would have done for even a third of them during the first months of the war.

  Five new Venators and another Invincible dreadnought, an actual Invincible, not a fleet tender as we had made of the other one. Two of the Venators would go to the 28th Battleship Section, it was about time Commodore Paok had her section filled out to its fullest. But the rest? They would make a fine reserve.

  Though those five battleships were certainly nice, it was the other ships that had me almost drooling. Twenty one Dreadnought heavy cruisers, ten M4-I and eleven M4-M, two Acclamators, a one and a two, two Arquitenses, sixteen Peltas, ten of which were armed for combat, six Gozantis, five of which were assigned to the 28th Battleship, four IPV-1 patrol cruisers and seventy three Sphyrna class hammerhead corvettes were now a part of my reserve until they could be assigned to a formation, be it an existing one or a reactivated one.

  It was a massive force. Enough to create an entirely new fleet. It felt almost a shame to divide them all up, but needs must, especially in these dark times. Saleucami was winding down, a simple mop up operation, leading to General Allie taking over more of the administrative duties of the command she was in charge of. Incursions into the north of the Tion Cluster Theater had ramped up too, another battle erupting at Felucia as the Seps’ seemed to be running out of steam.

  Neimoidia itself was under a full assault, the final of the purse worlds left in Separatist hands now gaining the ire of much of the Core. Mygeto was under siege once more, my friend Admiral Tennant leading the fighting in orbit as Jedi High General Munid lead the assaults planetside. Meanwhile, despite the inevitable Sep incursion towards his headquarters at Lantillies, Therbon was personally leading assaults on Euceron and Centares, hoping to crack open the Perlimian fortifications towards the Tion cluster. The South was still a bit of a chaotic mess, especially with sightings of General Grievous at Mechis causing a ruckus.

  Things were increasingly going the Republic’s way, as if the Separatists’ assault on Anaxes had been the only thing keeping them from their inevitable defeat.

  Senator Dededod was having a quiet stroll around the Senate rotunda when the alarms sounded and the voice of Clone Commander Fox echoed through the entire Senate district.

  “Attention all citizens. Separatist warships have been spotted in orbit. Move to your evacuation points and await further instructions. We will do our best to protect you. I repeat. Attention all citizens. Separatist warships have been spotted in orbit. Move to your evacuation points and await further instructions. This is not a drill, repeat, this is not a drill.”

  The Senator trips over his feet. Separatists? Over Coruscant? Mere weeks after they had been rebuffed from Anaxes? Where had they come form? Did they use some of the hidden routes through the Deep Core? If so, how? The Senator knew of a few that the polity of Abregado-rae kept as state secrets, but clearly there must have been more. Did the Givin of Yag’Dhul have some up their sleeves? If so, why had they kept them in reserve until now? Why not use them when the shipyards of Fondor and Bestine were still within the control of the Separatist government.

  “Senator, we have to leave.” His Aide says, yanking the Gados from his thoughts.

  “Yes, we must hurry.” The Senator agrees as the two turn from their standing to a run.

  As they passed by a transparasteel window the Gados stop in their tracks, starring up into the skies in a mixture of awe and horror. Over a hundred Separatist ships already blotted the skies above the Senate rotunda. Republic Venators, Dreadnoughts, Invincibles and corvettes racing to intercept them before they could unleash a bombardment upon the ecuminopolis.

  “We need to run.” Dededod mutters, before yanking himself away from the flashes of turbolasers and explosions in the distance. Already a Venator was crashing towards the surface, flames emerging from its broken hull. Dededod ignores it and the lingering question of how many would die from such crashes alone. There were thousands of levels on Coruscant. Trillions of sentients throughout the world’s countless slums, apartments and domiciles.

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  The Gados Senator finally makes it to his evacuation point, the hidden hangar already filled with various Senators, Aides and Representatives. Around the bunker like hangar were dozens of Clones and Senate Guards, each and every one of them trying to stem the chaos and get people onto their shuttles. Dededod shudders, a few turbolasers here and they would all be dead. A deep inhale, followed by two short exhales and the Gados straightens himself. There was nothing he could do but wait and follow the instructions now.

  I stare in horror at the datapad, the words involuntarily leaving my lips: “Maker have mercy.”

  “Sir?” Mi-Kus asks.

  “Coruscant is under attack.” I answer, the faces of my crew showing the same horror I felt at the thought. The center of governance and, depending on your beliefs, galactic civilization was under threat. This hadn’t happened since the Sith roamed the Galaxy and even then, it hadn’t even happened during the last Sith Wars. No, this was … this hadn’t happened for over three thousand years. It was almost inconceivable that the Separatists could manage this when thousands of Sith had failed time and again.

  “What … what do we do?” Lieutenant Hursk asks.

  I center myself, falling back on my training: “They will not succeed. Coruscant has never truly fallen to outside incursion. They have always been pushed back by the sheer scale of Coruscant’s tens of trillions of people and their density. Countless will die, have died, but Coruscant will not fall. After all, they have Fleet Admiral Honor leading them! If she can manage the entirety of Naval Operations and the politicians of the Senate, she can easily manage the Home Fleet and wallop the Seps like an a veteran does a raw recruit.”

  “But, sir.” Hursk tries.

  Mi-Kus shuts it down: “None of that Lieutenant. The Admiral has the right of it.”

  “What do we do now?” A Sergeant asks.

  “Now?” I say, “Now we prepare for the counter. Mi-Kus, send out the dossier on our Fortress Protocols Phases One through Three and Operation Vengeance to all officers on their dockets.”

  “Sir, both Vengeance and the Fortress Protocols have almost every officer more Senior than a Senior Captain within the command and multiple officers outside of the command on their dockets.” Mi-Kus warns.

  “And Fortress would destroy our morale, sir.” Lieutenant Hursk adds, “It doesn’t look good to abandon so much of our territory.”

  “We are being cautious, I plan on staking my career on what happens during the next weeks.” I reply.

  “Are you sure, sir? It may cost you your post.” Mi-Kus asks, unsurely.

  “Damn right I am. Send out the dossiers and get me in contact with General McClellan, General Allie, Sector General Therbon, Sector General Byluir and whatever bits and pieces from the Open Circle that are in the area. We have a couple days to burn and a Government to break!” I bark, the bridge jumping into a flurry of action as I lock onto the tactical display. Coruscant now in an angry purple catching my eye before they shift across the galaxy to the target of my ire. Raxus would either fall or burn, I’d swear to that, if nothing else.

  “We’re hereby awarding you the rank of Fleet Admiral and approving the plan you’ve presented as Operation Vengeance.” The Supreme Chancellor says, his voice tired and face seemingly aged by a decade after his failed kidnapping.

  “Thank you, your excellency.” I reply, I wasn’t sure if I bought the exhaustion. The rapid fire constitutional amendments seem to simply be giving the man more and more powers.

  “We’ve assembled a group of crack navigators to get you the requested ships within a few days, expect them to arrive at Mon Cala by the end of the week.” Fleet Admiral Honor says, her arm still in a sling from a bad fall when her ship had dueled with a Separatist Providence dreadnought over Coruscant.

  “That is fast.” I state. Almost suspiciously so, had the Fleet Admiral given the plan to the Supreme Chancellor and high command before I had? Were they preparing for it before I had even considered the plan feasible beyond a year from now?

  “You’ll end up with five Tectors, an Invincible class dreadnought, seventy eight Venator ones, twenty nine Venator twos, two CD-710 Destroyers, fifty eight Dreadnoughts, fourteen Victories, seventy eight Acclamator ones, fifty three Acclamator twos, your eight Fondorian cruisers, forty one Arquitenses, your trio of Mon Cala light ships, twelve Centax frigates, seventy one Peltas, three hundred and eighteen corvettes of various makes, four Corps, including Jedi General Koth’s 4th Assault Corps and an additional Division.” Tarkin says, his tone bored until the next words leave his mouth, “Will that be enough for you?”

  “I believe so, Admiral Tarkin.” I reply coldly, tensions were growing between the cliques. On the one hand, Fleet Admiral Honor had defended Coruscant, on the other one of our members had failed to report General Grievous’s incursion into the Deep Core due to thinking the Separatist Supreme Commander would simply disappear into the mess of black holes, rogue Stars and decayed hyperspace lanes that made up that area of space.

  It had caused increased fighting within the halls of High Command as members of the various cliques, be they HONO, Tarkin or one of the smaller factions, had moved from various verbal sparring to verbal smackdowns in meetings and the occasional duel. I could almost imagine how much worse it would be if Fleet Admiral Honor hadn’t successfully lead the defense of the capitol. Though millions of servicemen were dead, and at least a billion citizens had joined them in their graves, the Republic’s center of governance hadn’t fallen and all things considered, the damage could have been so much worse, if even a single Separatist Commodore or flag officer had ordered a bombardment on the ecuminopolis.

  “The arrangements have already been made. Admiral Z’timin shall be the second in command of the naval units and third in command overall, after yourself and Jedi General Koth.” Jedi High General Windu says, though his slight twitch at the current structure showed his suspicions with my person. He would clearly prefer it if it was one of his order in charge.

  “I look forward to working with the master of the Grey Ghost and General Koth.” I say.

  “After that we have Lieutenant General Krugwolt and Vice Admiral Sykes. Have you considered how you wished to modify the plan?” Isard asks.

  “I have, Director. However you especially will understand opsec. I do not wish to discuss them over holotransmission.” I avoid the question. Of course if the Supreme Chancellor ordered it I would have to admit my plans, but like Hells was I doing that willingly.

  “Begin finishing up your preparations. The last thing we need is the assault to fail due to supply chain bottlenecks.” Fleet Admiral Honor presses.

  “We’ve been preparing front line depots since the second year of the war. We should manage, though there were a few more to be established within the month. I’ll see about getting them finished within the week instead, though this entire operation and the new depots will increase our general supply needs.” I offer my ally the hook.

  She takes it easily: “Of course. The last thing we need is the Separatists to gain a second wind from a successful defense of their capitol.”

  “Then it is agreed.” The Supreme Chancellor says with a smile, “You’ll have a week of preparation, then, as the forces of Taskforce Vengeance arrive, you will begin the operation promptly.”

  A fake smile covers my face as my eyes show the real bloodlust I feel in my soul. Either way, the Republic was winning and all that was left was to root out the conspiracy at its heart: “With pleasure, your excellency.”