AN: DOUBLE RELEASE, GO BACK TO CH 60 (bit of a double release as apology for releasing so late in the day)
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After ten minutes had transpired, all but three ships had surrendered.
One Captain on an Acclamator had been quite vocal in his resistance, and had broadcasted his message on an open frequency, raising Corvus's eyebrows at how commanding, and verbose he was.
"This is CC-Z99393938, Zed, and I refuse to surrender!
To those I once trusted with my back, you men were one of us, one of the brothers I fought beside in countless battles. But now? You're just defective waste. One who's abandoned the only thing that mattered. You sold out to the Separatists like some spineless clanker with a bounty on his head. You've lost your way, and worse, you've lost your honor.
Do you think you're some kind of heroes? Maybe you've forgotten that we were bred for one purpose: to fight for the Chancellor, now the Emperor. To defend the galaxy from the tyranny of the xenos, and religious zealots like the Jedi. You traitor fraggers are no better than the droids we crushed beneath our boots. You might as well be one of those stap riders—pathetic, cowardly, and easily replaced.
When we stood shoulder to shoulder in the heat of battle, I thought you were family. Now, you're nothing more than filthy deserters with a blaster hole in your soul. I'll tell you this: if you think you're going to find redemption running with the Separatist scum, you're dead wrong. You're just another lost band of clone troopers, traitors who can't even remember what it means to be part of a fraternity, a brotherhood!
If any of you have a conscience, there is still hope! Join with us, brothers, and do what is right!"
Frowning to himself, Corvus was worried that this firebrand was going to stir up resistance, and boost the morale of the already surrendered ships. If every one of them fought to the last man, that would severely delay his participation on the ground assault, and could potentially lose him these ships he had fought so hard for! Furthermore, he could sort of feel a wave of discomfort sweeping across the Republic fleet…Captain Zed's words were having an impact on all those who were listening in!
Just as he was going to respond, and refute these claims, a different clone voice joined the conversation.
"Bantha shit! CT-800000A, aka Cash here, and the General has paid us credits, promised us land, retirement, and treats us like humans.
I saw with my own two eyes General Revan charging at the front of every engagement, and even when his shields were down, he danced with the enemy!
Maybe I'm just an FNG, or shiny with stars in his eyes, but I am not a Separatist, nor do I stand with the Empire. I stand with the Republic, and I stand with my brothers! It is because we are with the Republic that the General wants to spare your lives. Now I know siblings quarrel, but please, surrender peacefully. Take it from me, if the General doesn't keep his word and treat his prisoners right, I'll be the first to riot." Cash said, then the open line went quiet as Clip had managed to jam Zed, preventing all outward bound communication.
At the end of the FNG's speech, Corvus felt that the men in the Starcrusher Corp who had their wills waver, had once again become steadfast in their resolve. Meanwhile, those rebellious thoughts that had been festering aboard the Imperial cruisers were snuffed out like candle wicks deprived of oxygen. Their vague emotions were felt through the Force, and Corvus estimated that they-for the most part-felt a sense of resigned determination, and were accepting of their fates.
"Sir, one of the remaining three ships have just surrendered. Only two remain." Clip provided an update in a professional tone.
"Good job jamming Zed, I'll be boarding his Venator in a moment." Corvus genuinely praised, pleased that he had an officer under him who could seize the initiative, and didn't need every little task to be micromanaged.
"Sir." Clip curtly saluted, then went offline.
"Devil Squadron, Republican Marines, follow me! We're going in fast and dirty. This lot have made themselves clear. We're going in straight, hard, and to the point. I want this ship under our control within an hour!"
"Hurrah!" The Marines responded.
Corvus nodded to himself, then angled the ship towards the wide open Venator bay doors. Looking down, Corvus saw that a large section of the Venator was open down the middle, exposing dozens of hangars. This design allowed for rapid mobilization of starfighters, but it also left the carrier open to bombs/missiles, and boarding parties.
Depressing a button on his joystick, Corvus shot a missile at a blast door, tearing a hole in the Venator, exposing it to the void of space. Several dozen miscellaneous boxes, ammo crates, and other important starfighter tools floated out due to the force of the impact.
Seconds later, the battalion of clones flanking him performed similar maneuvers, and about a dozen holes pierced the carrier.
Taking the Falcon in, Corvus turned on the front lights, as the hangar he found himself in was an incredibly dark and gloomy place. The ionized ship barely had any power, and what little it did went into running life support, and other critical systems.
As soon as he was about to land, he felt a premonition in the Force.
"R-3, shields! Maximum output beneath us!"
Right as he shouted that, he placed an empowered [Energy Resistance] shield around the Falcon, and great balls of fire erupted all around him, rocking his ship back and forth.
"R-3, what the hell was that?!" Corvus demanded as he looked at the scanners, and glanced at a screen that astromechs could send text messages through.
"Bee boo beep."
'Fuck, magnetic mines! These Imperial dogs were ready for those random crates to fly out, and must've anticipated a hangar assault! As soon as those articles left due to the missile's impact, I was sure the place would be empty, and I didn't sense any lifeforms.' Corvus thought to himself and ground his teeth.
"Scan for magnetic mines before you land, deploy anti-explosive countermeasures before boarding the ship!" Corvus commanded the Marines.
After receiving several 'affirmatives' he decided that while he was a merciful man who believed in second chances, he was going to give this particular group of Imperial loyalists no quarter.
While he doubted he could convince every captured clone to join his banner, he could at least use their humane imprisonment as proof of his claims. However, when someone almost succeeded at assassinating him, it was time for the gloves to come off.
Making sure his suit was fully sealed, and he had plenty of oxygen tanks in his inventory, Boots utilizing magnetic technology, Corvus stepped down the ramp of the Falcon with big, clunky steps. He then moved towards the central access door that lead deeper into the ship.
Following behind him, a pair of LAATs landed, and deposited 50 troops. Using jetpacks, they landed behind him, and then they clanked down as their magnetic boots took effect.
"Orders sir?" A man with a Sergeant's insignia asked.
"Give me a moment, trooper." Corvus waved a hand, then probed the other side of the door with the Force.
After the crafty ambush with the magnetically placed mines, he understood that this group of Imperials could not be underestimated. With his increased level, and recent triumphs, he had grown rather cocky. Ever since he had blended through the clones on Kamino, he had at some point, unconsciously began to regard the white armored brothers as almost akin to cannon fodder. The recent victory in which he had bulldozed through the enemy fleet had only served to reinforce such a notion.
With the magic powers of a Space Wizard, few could stand up against his might, and esoteric abilities. However, these clones had reminded him of their elite nature, and that they were capable of more than straightforward attacks.
Going through this thought process during his scan, Corvus discovered that the door wasn't locked, and that it was rigged to explode. Furthermore, a squad of clones were hiding behind some crates at the end of a long hallway. Among their number, a heavy blaster was resting on a tripod, and had a clear shot on his position.
At the moment, two paths lay before him.
He could entirety circumvent this door, jump up high, and cut an entrance into an air duct. The troopers could then follow behind on their jetpacks, and they could flank the enemy.
His other option was to go balls to the walls, cut through the door-triggering the explosive-and run headlong into the oncoming blaster fire.
Option one was his preferred method, as he liked to limit danger, however, time was of the essence. An entire million man Legion was on Malastare, and Corvus was eager to join the battle. He was sure they would be fine since they had air superiority, but as they had demonstrated, clone troopers were not to be underestimated.
That left option two. Like he had said to the boys, 'quick and dirty.' But just because he chose this method due to its convenience, didn't mean he would be sloppy about it.
Breathing deeply, he began to use his saber as a focus, and forcefully jammed the button down on every thermal detonator that the Imperials had on hand. At the same time, he unlocked the ammo in their rifles, making their clips clatter harmlessly on the ground.
Terrified at the predicament that they found themselves in, the Imperials all tossed their grenades away. And where was away? The booby trapped door!
An explosion rocked the door open, along with a heavy load of smoke and shrapnel.
Corvus-encased in all his buffs-face tanked the metal bits, and rushed at the troopers lightsabers in hand.
The Imperials were professionals, and swiftly dropped to their knees, picked up their discarded clips, and reloaded their guns in one swift motion that would make a videogame protagonist proud.
Corvus released the magnetism on his boots, kicked off the floor, and literally flew at them thanks to the 0-G environment.
By the time the first couple of shots had popped off, Corvus was already amongst the squad, and blended through them, leaving floating limbs and staggered, standing corpses still locked to the deck thanks to their magnetic boots. It was a macabre scene, but Corvus had internally promised them no quarter, and he intended to make good on said promise.
Advancing deeper into the ship, Corvus lead the Marines towards the bridge, and took out a few hundred more clones along the way. He had reached the disabled elevator that lead to the bridge, and looked up the giant shaft with a grim look on his face. The whole thing was boobytrapped, and getting up there seemed like a nightmare.
Corvus couldn't help but chuckle at himself in amusement. He had disabled hundreds of mines before, grinding exp. Now here he was, witnessing a potential 'gold mine' but it wouldn't net him any experience. The only silver lining was that his Awareness was so high, he could spot every last one of the small metal discs of death. Shaking his head, he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed them in the hangar. When he had entered, his eyes had just glossed over them. Sometimes, you could look at something, but your brain doesn't register it as a threat until it's a second too late.
The situation was even more amusing to Corvus, because these explosives were sure to kill whoever-if any-remained aboard the bridge. This Captain Zed was really beginning to push his buttons! It was as if the guy knew that Corvus wanted to claim the Venator as a war prize.
"Ideas?" Corvus turned to the men who had followed him up to this point.
"We can request the electronic warfare unit to send a pulse through the ship. Those magnet mines run on a specific frequency, and with the right tech, can be disabled within 200 yards." The Sgt replied without missing a beat.
'God I love veteran clone troopers.' Corvus thought to himself.
Just as he was about to send an order for that special unit, he felt a premonition in the Force, and a decent number of lives all perished in the nearby space.
"General, the Acclamator that refused to surrender made their reactor go critical! They blew themselves up, and took out our boarding party…the scanner shows that the ship you had boarded is building up heat. By comparing the sensor report to the doomed Acclamator, you have 10 minutes until the Venator's reactor goes critical!" Captain Clip said with an incredibly solemn tone.
As if to punctuate this remark, the alarm klaxons on the ship began to go off, red lights flashed, and a message played over the loudspeaker.
[Core eruption imminent. Seek immediate departure. This is not a drill. Core eruption imminent. Estimated time of destruction is in tenminutes.]
Corvus immediately Paused to think. The hangar was far as hell, and maybe, maybe he alone could make it if he pushed himself to the limit. This didn't seem like a particularly viable plan. Checking the map, he eventually discovered that the reactor was practically directly below him.
Un-Pausing, he knew what he had to do.
Gritting his teeth at the amount of 'unnecessary' damage that was about to be done to his prize ship, Corvus cut a circle in the deck below him, and the [Force Pushed] it downward.
Dropping down a floor, Corvus was met by a surprised group of Imperials.
"I don't have time for this." Corvus growled.
Holding out both his hands, twin bursts of [Force Lightning] zapped the squad dead.
Retrieving his lightsabers, he continued with his work. All the while, the alarm was blaring in the background.
[Core eruption imminent. Seek immediate departure. This is not a drill. Core eruption imminent. Estimated time of destruction is in five minutes.]
'Shit shit shit, come on man, go faster!' Corvus worries to himself, sweat began to drip down his spine, and his twin lightsabers picked up in speed.
Cutting through deck after deck, he finally dropped down into a large room where two massive reactors were buzzing so much, they were vibrating the room.
Corvus saw a man in a Captains uniform directing several squads. Suddenly he pointed up at him, and the men started to open fire.
[Core eruption imminent. Seek immediate departure. This is not a drill. Core eruption imminent. Estimated time of destruction is in two minutes.]
Corvus swallowed hard after the latest announcement, he wasn't going to make it! The damned nerf herders had too much firepower, and not even his armor/shields could withstand a concentrated, sustained burst. From his POV, the Imperials would prevent him from activating the emergency shutdown protocol from the reactor's terminal!
Just as Corvus was about to feel the icy grips of despair, the Marines dropped down the hole, and operating their jetpacks, pounced upon the Imperials.
"For the Starcrusher Corp! For the Republic!"
The shouts rekindled Corvus's hope, returning his morale with a vengeance. Seeing this Godgiven opportunity, Corvus rushed to the primary fusion core terminal, and began clacking away.
[Core eruption immin-] the announcement system suddenly halted as Corvus reversed the process, and vented the excess energy into space.
"Die Jedi!" Captain Zed roared, and ran at him with dual commando pistols.
Corvus didn't even look back as he deflected the bolts squarely into the Captain's chest and chin.
Sliding down the terminal with his back, Corvus sat his ass down, and took a deep breath as he watched the Marines make swift work of the Imperials.
"Congratulations on surviving, sir." Clip's voice chimed in over the comms.
Corvus's eyebrow twitched.
"Is that sass I detect?" Corvus muttered.
"The ground assault is going well, but the men require your leadership, should I have a medic or shuttle on standby?" Clip continued, ignoring Corvus's slight barb, and responding with one of his own. All the while, the Captain had continued speaking like a seasoned professional.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Corvus exhaled, taking just a second to enjoy this minor victory.
"I'll be in the Falcon. Transmit the coordinates to the fiercest fight, and prepare a summary report where my talents are needed most." Corvus commanded, and then cut the comms as he strode back to the hangar.
This was going to be another long day.
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AN: Read up to chapter 182 at patreon.com/KarpQQ
I update there every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Publicly on Fridays