AN: DOUBLE RELEASE TODAY
Whilst the ground assault was underway, Corvus was wrapping up the engagement in space.
Between the Starcrusher Corp, and the remaining 28 enemy vessels was a minefield. Tiny devices coated in anti-tracking materials, they were almost impossible to detect via scanners. Thankfully, they were well aware of the minefield thanks to shared intelligence reports.
Currently the majority of Imperial starfighters had been blasted into stardust, and the opposing fleet were trying their hardest to escape the interdictor field, and reach the point of egress away from these sinister machines, so that they could escape into Hyperspace. However, whoever was directing their fleet seemed to realize it was an impossible task, and they had begun to turn on the interdictors.
Possessing only two per Legion, the interdictor cruisers were extremely rare, expensive pieces of equipment. Losing one would be an extremely bad strategic blunder, especially so early in Corvus's campaign. Unfortunately, to be most effective, they had to be relatively close to other ships if they wanted to prevent them from jumping to lightspeed. As such, they would be at risk of destruction within moments if they stuck around at their current positions.
With over 25 Acclamators & 3 Venators bearing down on your position, few ships could withstand such concentrated firepower! However, should the interdictors about-face, then their anti-lightspeed capabilities would become null, and the Imperial fleet would slip away! Essentially, the two forces were playing chicken. The interdictors were daring the enemy to close with them, hoping that reinforcements would arrive before they were blasted to bits. Meanwhile, the Imperials had no choice, and were throwing an all or nothing hail merry, praying that their gamble to take out the interdictors would pay off.
Seeing the situation unfolding, Corvus felt his blood run cold as he realized that the speed of the Starcrusher Corp was too slow to overtake the minefield. Their capital ships wouldn't catch up in time.
"Captain Clip, how many starfighters remain operational?" Corvus said in concern as he pushed the throttle of the Falcon to the maximum, and began to rocket towards the brewing conflict.
"Approximately 1,900 have been rearmed, refueled, and had their shields recharged, General, sir." Clip's professional sounding voice instantly replied.
"And the remaining enemy fighters?"
"800."
Corvus bit his tongue. Initially, he had wanted to overwhelm this side fleet with a divide and conquer strategy. However, the necessity of interdictors to prevent the Imperials escape, and prevent any leaks of their 'betrayal' from becoming common knowledge, he was going to have to take some risks.
"All starfighters, follow me. Prevent the destruction of the interdictors at all costs." Corvus kept it simple, and then began to once again meditate.
The Falcon-juiced up on the genius of Tech-was much faster than the ARC-170's, and he soared through space like a bird of prey. Reaching, and surpassing the interdictors, and a dozen Acclamators acting as guards, Corvus knew that he was virtually the only pro-Republic starfighter in this pocket of space, and that even with all his skills, even he wasn't arrogant enough to drive the Falcon into a 1v800 scenario.
However, after confirming that [Energy Resistance] worked on coating his ship, he got to thinking. When he used his Jedi Shadow innate ability to turn invisible, it covered him in a manner almost identical to that of any other Force power. In fact, during his fight in the Inspectorate, the Sith Acolyte was able to cloak both herself and Huego!
Meaning maybe he could do the exact same!
Corvus eagerly licked his lips, and then calmed himself down to recite the mantra of the Jedi Shadows.
I am at Peace; for I know Emotion.
I have Power; for I also have Knowledge.
I have Passion; for I am Serene.
I can embrace Mortality; for I know Death.
I am balanced through the Force.
As soon as he finished his recital, and focused on expanding his cloak of invisibility to encompass his ship, the Millennium Falcon turned invisible to the naked eye!
Continuing on his flightpath, Corvus bypassed a swarm of ARC-170's, and then did a u-turn so that he was behind the rear-most unit. At the moment, the Imperial forces had just begun their attack run on the interdictors, but had no clue that he was behind them at that very moment!
Locking onto two dozens ships flying in tight formations, Corvus unleashed 24 concussive missiles into their rears. As soon as the torpedoes left the Falcon, his ship became visible, however, as the enemy was caught unaware, all 24 missiles were confirmed hits!
Capitalizing on this surprise attack, he proceeded to blast his way through three more Squadrons over the next five minutes, catching them unaware. His primary guns were extremely powerful, and without exception, each of the ARC-170's had placed all their power into their forward deflector shields. As such, he literally destroyed each enemy starfighter with one shot apiece!
720 starcraft were remaining, however the troopers almost entirely ignored Corvus in favor of taking out the interdictors. Their charge was suicidal, and was all in an effort to save their fleet. In a way, Corvus admired these men for their courage and bravery. No man would go to such great lengths other than a Jango clone.
Corvus shook his head in pity over the poor SOB's, but didn't let that discourage him from his mission. If he allowed his compassion to cloud his judgement right now, then the Imperial fleet really would escape, and that was a can of worms Corvus did not want to deal with.
Firming his resolve, Corvus began to unleash hell upon the flanks of the remaining ARC-170's. Oh sure, the rear gun turrets tried to take him out, but between his incredible speed, precognition, superior shields, invisibility, and overwhelming firepower, he blasted his way through wave after wave of unprotected ships.
By the time the Republic starfighters arrived, half of the enemy number had been culled, and their reinforcement had acted as the death blow. The Imperials gamble had failed, the remaining 28 capital ships would not escape.
Although he once again had to admire their tenacity. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, an entire squad had kamikaze'd an interdictor. Severely damaged, the expensive ship was temporarily inoperable, and looked like it required serious repairs, but it could still fly.
At that moment, turbolaser fire began to rain down atop his position, forcing him to dodge. The remaining enemy capital ships had finally closed within their most effective range, and began to bombard his position.
Unfortunately for the Imperials, the Starcrusher Corp had circumvented the minefield by this point, and were hitting them from the left and right.
"Captain Clip, if possible, I want to capture those ships. Enough bloodshed has been spilt today, I'm ordering you to use the ion cannons." Corvus said over the comms.
"Yes sir." Clip replied in a somewhat thankful tone.
Corvus nodded his head to himself after cutting the line.
Morale was a tenuous, ephemeral thing. Just because the clones had their inhibitor chips removed, were raised to respond to orders without questions, and had sworn their loyalty to the Republic, didn't mean Corvus could rely upon them to have his back. It was one thing to give fiery speeches, deliver flowery words of praise, and make promises to the moon. It was an entirely different thing when it came to walking the talk.
If Corvus were to truly make the Starcrusher his, he would have to make a good impression, and deliver on his words. Fighting alongside other men, and risking his life was a good first start. But he needed to do more. By his estimation, saving what clones he could would go far to cement his authority. Men-all true men-wanted to exist in a society where they were recognized for their merits, and that they operated under a system of fair & just laws. Corvus intended to give that to the clones, and if it meant sparing some of the Imperial clone troopers to achieve that goal, then Corvus didn't mind putting in a little extra work to assure their loyalty.
But of course, it wasn't only loyalty, respect, and an improved morale that he was after!
Given that they currently outnumbered the enemy fleet two to one, they had an overwhelming advantage. By using ion weapons, and temporarily disabling their ships, they would be ripe for the picking! Despite the victory that they had achieved here above Malastare, their starfighter casualties had been rather high, and Corvus was in search of new tools with which he could wage war.
At the moment, his current forces could only field one Legion. However, he had 9 ½ Legions bound to slow moving transport ships. The GR-75 Transport had a Class-4 Hyperdrive, meaning it took four days of travel time across a 'square grid' on the galactic map, whereas the Venator's Class-1 only took a single day. Additionally, the transports had few weapons to speak of. In conclusion, Corvus was in desperate need of warships so that he could field his massive army.
Keeping this thought in mind, he began to make the Falcon invisible, and then began to use the Force to feel out where the shields on the enemy cruisers were weakest. Once he discovered those points, he would direct R-3 to use the twin ion cannons on the top/bottom of the Falcon to target those places.
Ordinarily, this tactic would be difficult against a ship that was at rest, and had spread their shields across all sections of the ship. However, since they were taking heavy amounts of fire from the Republic fleet, Corvus was able to slip in, land devastating blows on their electronics, and then zip out before their point defense systems could do anything.
Within an hour of conducting such a strategy, the entirety of the Imperial fleet-all 28 capital ships-were floating listlessly in space, most of their systems were disabled, and only a handful of lights flickered out windows as backup power kept the air cycling.
"Captain Clip, prepare the marines for boarding protocols." Corvus said over the comms.
"Aye, General." Clip responded, and tens of LAAT Gunships began to congregate around the Falcon.
Before he gave the order to attack, Corvus decided he would give the Order 66 clones a chance to surrender.
Opening a frequency to all channels, Corvus decided he wasn't going to wax lyrical this time. He was going to keep his message short, and brutally honest, because every second wasted here, was time he could be spending fighting on the ground.
"Clone troopers, this is General Revan speaking. Surrender to the Grand Army of the Republic, and you will be treated fairly. Failure to comply shall result in termination. Enough blood between brothers has been spilt today, as your siblings are my witness, I shall not be cruel to you should you choose peace. You have 10 minutes."