The Chevauchée, the process of a medieval cavalry force burning and pillaging everything in front of them. Most famously used by the Black Prince of England during the 100 years war. I don’t know why I know this, but it is almost fitting to what we were about to do. The ships were fueled and we had enough food to last a month and enough spare hull pieces to rebuild an eighth of each ship in the fleet. Just in case we had enough ordnance to last just short of a continuous two week long engagement.

  Finally we had crammed eight AT-RTs and two LAATs within the Little Revenge and the Dagger. The entire mission had lead to Hope company being reshuffled. Captain Chain was still stationed aboard the Little Revenge with about fifty of his men, but the remainder had been moved to the Dagger for the first target.

  I had also bent the rules a tad and only sent my request for the mission as far up as it absolutely had to. I have the annoying feeling that there’s a leak within Republic High Command. So I only sent it up as far as my closest Jedi General, who happened to be Jedi High Generall Plo Koon. It only took a day for him to approve the plan. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Jedi aren’t used to the level of paperwork they’re being subjected to, because that was unreasonably fast.

  With all members of the section briefed and the final checks being made I stood at my usual position on the bridge. I readjust my officers cap before glancing out the window. One of Bastard squadron’s Y-wings had gotten slightly too close to the ship during their repositioning. Simultaneously I notice the Lucky Kelp being left by her last transport, the shuttle having brought a couple stragglers and munitions into her hold.

  “Sir, we’re ready for your orders.” I hear from Commander Mi-Kus.

  “Wonderful, put me on all our comms channels.”

  “You’re on sir.” I hear from Sargent Slas.

  “Members of the 347th it is time for a fine campaign. We will show the Separatists the error of their ways and help take pressure off of the other front lines. In the name of the Republic we will destroy the enemies’ production and protection. May the Force be with us and may the Maker preserve us. All ships make the jump to Munto Codru.”

  A moment later the 347th Outer Rim Section was swallowed up, one by one, by the swirling lights of Hyperspace.

  The section exits hyperspace piecemeal and assembles into a spearhead. The Little Revenge was on point, the duet of MC30cs on either side, the Buckler wedged in between the Lucky Kelp and the Little Revenge and the Dagger and Bastard Squadron in reserve.

  “Sir, scanners are not picking up any enemy presence. Our sensor buoys at the edge of the system are also not detecting any immediate movements.” I hear Mi-Kus report.

  “Excellent, move us into low orbit above the reported factory and prepare the orbital bombardment. We’ll keep Little Squadron in hanger for now.”

  “Yes sir.” I hear multiple voices bark in return.

  As we moved closer and closer to the planet I was getting mildly anxious. That the Separatists would build a factory without obvious defenses seemed quite stupid and I was already expecting to meet some kind of resistance. All ships had to cut shield power to successfully fight of the gravitational pull of the planet, a good time for the enemy to attack.

  “We’re in position sir.”

  “Is the factory in range?”

  “Yes sir.” Comes the reply.

  “All Ships, begin precision bombardment of 52 degrees 52 minutes longitude and 13 degrees 40 minutes latitude. Make it three volleys. You may fire at will.”

  I look through the window to see lasers, proton bombs and turbolaser blasts descend towards the planet below. The first volley smashing into the ground, throwing up debris, slag and stone into the air. The remaining two volleys disappear into the cloud of dust.

  “Report.” I demand.

  “First volley appears to have damaged outlying infrastructure and warehouses. It appears the enemy has shielded the central factory.”

  “Kark. Alright, we knew this might happen. Jam their communications. Captain Chain?”

  The clone moves closer to respond: “Yes, sir.”

  “Deploy Hope Company. Lieutenant Mi-Kus I want their landing zone cleared. Make a precision bombardment at Point Pot. Captain, you will deploy your men from the Little Revenge to secure the landing of the Dagger. You will disable the shield generator. I don’t care if you do it by disabling the power supply or by destroying the shield outright, but I want it gone.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  The clone nods before saluting and heading off. I walk over towards the center of the bridge and nod towards one of the bridge officers. A moment later the tactical display is up and is showing the ships in position above the factory.

  “Sergeant Slas, inform the Lucky Kelp, Prince’s Duty and Buckler to move outside the gravitational pull of Munto Codru. They are to assume a defensive position in case of an enemy counter attack, they will follow Captain Faxe’s command until we rejoin them. Keep an eye out for any Cronau radiation, I want to be informed if there is an inkling of an enemy attack.”

  “Yes sir.” The Mon Calamari replies.

  Now, time to trust the flesh droids. Who knows they might even impress me.

  Chain thought this was a bit over the top for a landing, but he wasn’t the type of Clone to question his orders. Senior Captain Dericote had requested the landing zone safe and if the Captain thought the best way to do that was to create a slag landing pad who was he to judge.

  “Sir, we’re green light in one minute.” The Clone heard through his headset.

  “Alright boys,” he started, “we’re going to clear the landing zone and allow the Dagger to unload the rest of us and the couple arms-men who have the guts to join us in this. I want the perimeter cleared and Besh Squad will start scouting around. Double up towards the factory.”

  As the Clones jump to do as ordered the LAATs return to the Little Revenge to gather up the last members of Hope Company. The Dagger meanwhile slowly begins to descend, touching down its landing gear with a series of thuds and opening her frontal cargo bay ramp to unload about a hundred Clones and a dozen Navy arms-men.

  The Clones and two dozen arms-men move into formation and begin heading in the direction of the factory. The foliage and hills of the planet giving the squads cover to move between and obscuring any movements the Republic ground forces make. They reconvene with the scouts Chain had sent ahead and carefully continue forward. Finally the command squad make it up to a small ridge overlooking the many craters the bombardment made around the still intact and shielded factory.

  Chain places the macrobinoculars to his helmet and zooms in on the enemy emplacement. Originally the factory complex had sat on three square kilometers. The shield had protected two square kilometers from the bombardment, leaving the occasional ruin among the craters before him. Maybe half a kilometer within the shield was a large generator, though it looked like a rush job to him. Scattered throughout the other remaining buildings were a couple bunkers and fortified walls, manned by B1s and the occasional B2.

  Chain returns to his men and starts giving orders: “Roll Squad and Mud Squad will cause a distraction near opposite of the target, call the LAATs for your evac when I give the command, they should have dropped off the rest of us by the Dagger by now. The rest of us will make an attack on the power generator. We run in and set up a perimeter around it and secure our entryway for later exit. Link Squad will place as many explosives as possible, so hand over any spare ordnance to them. After that we retreat back here and blow the thing. Any questions?”

  “No sir.” the Clone’s brothers reply. The Navy arms-men meanwhile mostly nod in affirmation.

  A few minutes pass then, “Contact made sir. Enemy are starting to gather on our position.”

  “Move out, FOR THE REPUBLIC!” Chain shouts as he and his men begin to rush inside the shield, dipping inside ruined buildings and craters as they run forward. A couple B1s move barely outside the shield and begin to fire upon the clones. A half ruined warehouse reveals itself as a droid rapid laser nest and the enemy blasterfire stops the advance for a moment until a couple Clones silence the nest with grenades.

  The droids return within the shield and Chain is the first Republic soldier who passes through the blue hue of the field. He shoots a blasterbolt into the head of one of the B1s and continues forward, firing all the way at any droid he sees. His men were close behind him, arms-man to his left and brother to his right. The assault had shaken up the formation more than expected yet still they advanced until they were fighting next to the generator.

  The droids continue to fire on their position. There were more of them now. Whoever was in command had seemingly realized the Republic’s actual target and was sending more clankers to try and recapture the area around the generator. Blue and red blasterbolts fly between the cover of the Republic force and the advancing droids of the Separatists.

  “Sir, the charges are in place.” Chain hears from his helmet comm as he nails another B1 in the chest.

  “Alright boys, let’s get the kark out of here. Quickly now!” He shouts.

  The Republic forces started to leave the factory complex. The way was still held open by the Clones’ brothers. Blasterbolts still flying all around the complex, impacting on the bodies of retreating Clones and advancing droids alike. The Clones were left where they fell, their comrades unable to risk the mission for the bodies of the dead. Finally they emerge from the shield and run through the rubble to the brush and foliage, where they could count on more cover.

  “Roll and Mud squad, call your evac now and return to the Little Revenge. The rest of the company will bunk on the Dagger. Lieutenant Bugs, contact the Dagger and inform them we will be arriving shortly. Whoever has the detonator may blow the damn thing now.” Chain orders.

  A moment later an explosion shakes the earth and makes a few of the men to stumble. Behind them the generator had gone up in flames and the shield started to fizzle out. Despite meeting their objective they weren’t out of the woodwork yet. A couple hundred battledroids were pursuing the clones through the brush. The Republic forces were in sight of the Dagger when the droids finally caught up with them, forcing the Clones and arms-men to take cover and return fire. After diving behind a log Chain punches in his comms codes before activating a miniature holodisplay. The display took a moment before depicting Captain Dericote in miniature.

  “Sir, we have eliminated the enemy shield, requesting air support about half a kilometer in front of us, roughly three from the Dagger. This is a danger close target, I repeat a danger close target!” the Clone shouts, trying to get the communications device to pick up his voice with all the blasterfire.

  “Understood Captain. Bastard Squadron has detached multiple bombers to support you. They will be informed on the required accuracy. Helmsman bring us about. Dericote out.” The man replies.

  Chain could see the Little Revenge reposition itself a bit as a quartet of Y-wings break off and head towards the droids. As the first turbolaser impacts the ground kilometers away the Y-wings unloads their payload across the battledroid line, turning the droids into slag, scrap and debris, flying in all directions.

  Chin sighs in relief. The fight was over, now all that was left was to finish the evacuation: “All right men, get onboard. Besh Platoon look for any survivors outside the target area of the bombardment. Rest of you hurry up.”

  Chain looks around to see the destruction surrounding him. It had felt like a blur, like the battle should have taken longer. His armor was stained with ash and grime and he looked around to see maybe half the company moving back to the Dagger.

  “Fire at will. The battery with the best fire rate at the end of this will be given bonuses and commendations.” I inform.

  The turbolasers impact on the factory again and again, turning the installation to a sea of craters, rubble and slag. I wait patiently for them to finish before looking at their work. Scanners were reading nothing, no functioning electronics, lifeforms or anything else of note.

  “Excellent, inform Captain Chain of my compliments on his good work and request a preliminary casualty report from him. Tell Captain Sicato he is to pick off as soon as possible. Bring us into orbit and assemble the Section, if possible I want us gone within the hour.”

  “Yes sir.” Comes the reply of Sergeant Slas.

  As I watch the planet grow farther and farther from us as we move into the void. Shields returned as our systems normalized and I felt myself release some tension I didn’t know I had. It only took another twenty minutes for the Dagger to rejoin the formation.

  “Sergeant Slas, inform the fleet we will jump to our next objective. Helmsman bring us to the exit point. Prepare for jump.”

  Another five minutes and we were in the relative safety of hyperspace.