Trachta burst out laughing.
"Greedy as ever, Vikt… All right. Out of respect for you, I can offer twenty-four Dreadnaughts. The ships are currently undergoing modernization at the Alland shipyards and will enter service in three weeks."
I looked at Trachta in confusion, and he clarified:
"Rendili-built Dreadnaughts."
"Does that make a difference?" I stared at the officer in surprise.
"You bet it does. Rendili StarDrive sold construction rights for the Dreadnaught to many companies back in the day, so there are around twenty different models. The Rendili ones are the best. And this particular model is especially good. Although they were released quite a while ago, but they're very similar to the ships Rendili produced for the Republic—Katana fleet. Well, you've heard about the missing fleet, right?"
After I nodded, Trachta continued.
"So, all the ships share the same dimensions regardless of the series, but the internal systems differ. First of all, these have armor that's about ten percent higher in quality, and it's also slightly thicker—around forty centimeters. They say the designers used the same armor distribution method as on the Mandalorian Kandosii-type dreadnaught. Because of that, this modification is more angular than the standard Dreadnaughts, which have rounded hull lines."
"Is that a lot?"
"On the newest Venator, the most heavily armored section—the belly—is made of thirty-centimeter plates," Dikeimus explained. "Most other Dreadnaughts only have about twenty centimeters of armor… Second, these ships had their armament replaced: now they carry six heavy turbolasers in turrets and eight mounted in the hull; fourteen light quad-turbolaser turrets; sixteen light twin blaster cannons; and twelve medium missile-torpedo launchers. The ammunition load is only four torpedoes per launcher, though. Plus, they finally managed to squeeze in a reasonably sized hangar for twelve starfighters into the Dreadnaught. What's more, these ships can also land on a planet—on a prepared landing pad, of course."
Hm, quite a decent ship it turned out to be… or was? Why the hell did they ruin such a vessel? Or rather—how could they manage to spoil it?
"All right, I'll take them. Anything else?"
"Unfortunately, that's all… Although there is one ship—I honestly don't know where to place it," Dikemius said, running a hand through his hair.
"What kind of bucket?"
"Ah…" the moff waved his hand dismissively. "Three-thousand-year-old junk—a dreadnaught of the Invincible-class. Honestly, it's a relic. Modernizing it would cost about fifty million credits, but… for that money you could build a brand-new Venator, so no one's going to give us that budget. No, don't get me wrong—the ship is tough. Nearly two meters of armor plating. The problem is that its weapons are hopelessly outdated, and its deflector shield is weak against modern ships. They were built during the penultimate Alsakan Conflicts, and those guys preferred kinetic weapons over turbolasers and blasters. In its prime, the Invincible could easily withstand a full salvo from an Alsakan Katt—that's four three-hundred-kilogram slugs traveling at eight kilometers per second! So, even modern missiles and torpedoes aren't much of a threat to it either."
A hologram of the ship appeared before me.
"The problem is that for a ship two kilometers long, it doesn't have enough guns. It's perfect for chasing pirates, but against something like the Separatists' Recusant destroyers it's already a bit weak. The ship's name is Exquisite. Right now it's drifting near Centax-2—the second moon of Coruscant. If you want it, you can take it. You're a smart guy—you'll find somewhere to put it."
I sighed.
Worse junk than a Dreadnaught… But. Two kilometers… Two damn kilometers… And two meters of armor… I want it.
"Fine. I'll take your Exquisite."
"Then we have a deal. By the way, you could contact the Alland shipyards where those Dreadnaughts are being modernized. It's about three hundred light-years from here along the Metellos hyperspace route. They could easily take the Invincible and modernize it—assuming you have the money, of course. But that shouldn't be a problem. The Jedi bought an entire army—surely one ship won't break the bank…"
"I have a couple of ideas. But I'll need to think about it. What about smaller ships?"
"Oh, I can spoil you there. Thirty-six brand-new Arquitens light cruisers, twenty-four upgraded Gozanti transports, twelve Pelta-class medical frigates… Let's see… another twelve Sienar Marauders for patrol duties, and thirty-six Star Shuttles as supply vessels."
"Well… that's something, I suppose. Ships are good. What about infantry and vehicles?"
"We've got plenty of vehicles—especially heavy ones. They've piled up, you see. Here's the list: you can sort through it yourself and decide what you need and what you don't. Though you're allowed to purchase or order equipment you need, right?"
"Yeah. There are a couple of things I'd like to change…"
"Hm… by the way, you could look for companies on the same Alland as well. It's an industrial planet—they manufacture everything from agricultural machinery to tanks and speeders. There were supply disruptions after the war began, of course… but they managed to work around it. Senator Malcolm Cressent pulled some strings, and now they recycle everything we capture on the battlefield—Separatist droids and ships go straight into the smelters."
My datapad chimed, notifying me of a new file: a list of about a dozen company names—Alland TechSystems, Blast-Arms, OPP, AAM, Karvon BattleTech…
"Oh, thanks. I'll take a look."
"Now, about the infantry… right… one clone corps and three auxiliary corps?"
"Exactly."
"As for the clones: I'll assign you one legion of experienced troopers—the 416th. But the other two will be brand-new, from the latest batch—they'll arrive in a week: the 2101st and the 2102nd Legions. Well, you'll also get a couple of space marine regiments and two regiments of clone scouts. That's about it. As for the 'civilians'… that's trickier. We'll have to pull a regiment from each planet—or even just a battalion in some cases. That'll take about a month, and… well, you understand—their coordination will be terrible."
"I'll have to come up with something."
"Excellent. In that case, that problem's settled. Where will the formation be assembled?"
"Military District Three, landing pads BA-1 through CQ-12," I replied from memory.
"All right then. I've sketched a draft—I'll hand it off to my secretaries. I'll approve it tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow you can start receiving the ships. Once the redeployment plan for the auxiliary forces is ready, I'll send it to your headquarters."
"Excellent."
Damn, that's right.
"Didn't you say something about a shortage of officers?"
"Yeah. For the higher positions you might find someone—there are about fifty sitting in reserve here on Coruscant," Trachta said, sending a list of forty-five names to my datapad. "As for the rest… I'm not even sure. Try flying out to Anaxes. The academy graduates in eight months, but…"
"Right. I'll just narrow my eyes angrily, puff out my chest with a nice medal bar, and they'll present the best cadets to me on a silver platter," I grumbled good-naturedly.
"You read minds," Trachta smirked.
***
The officers gathered in the tactical hall were energetically discussing the new undertaking.
"What do you think, Sumeragi? Is this even feasible?" Christen studied the hologram skeptically.
"Knowing our commander—it's quite possible. But the amount of work ahead of us…" Li Noriega tucked a stray red lock of hair behind her ear. "We'll have to do so much…"
"And don't forget that our commander has been promoted. We need to celebrate that!" O'Connor interrupted cheerfully. "By the way, where is he?" The Zeltron turned to Ahsoka Tano, who was enthusiastically playing a starship simulator game with Tin man.
"Master's busy. Some kind of meeting… right! First he was going to the First Sector Headquarters, and at noon he has a meeting with Palpatine…"
"With the Chancellor?" Mirro asked.
"Yeah…" The Togruta drifted out of the conversation again.
"Who do you think will command all those ships?"
"Definitely not us."
"Won't we get promoted?"
"I think we will, but… the general is a perfectly reasonable man and understands that we don't have enough experience for something on this scale," Lichtendal muttered.
"All right," Sumeragi said, clapping the edge of the table to get their attention. "Call Blam—where is he stuck this time?.. Let's think about what we can do right now…"
***
Reaching the landing platform in front of the Senate building, I couldn't help tilting my head back to take in the size of the structure. Up close, the impression was… impressive. Though I wouldn't be lying if I said the Jedi Temple looked even more imposing.
"General Vikt?" A guard in blue armor stepped in front of me. "Follow me."
Half an hour later I found myself in a small but luxuriously furnished room. Red tones dominated the interior, which clearly pointed to its owner: Palpatine, like Amidala, was from Naboo and retained a fondness for white and red.
Settling into one of two identical armchairs, I waited.
My mood, however, was rather upbeat. Among the officers currently on Coruscant was none other than Kernatuan Rinaun himself—apparently they'd shoved him here after promoting him. Idiots… I'll slap an admiral's insignia on him and he'll toil for the good of the homeland. They'll all envy me for having unearthed such a talented officer.
Suddenly one of the doors—not the one I had entered through—opened. I turned my head and was already about to stand and greet the Chancellor when…
My worries about meeting Darth Sidious vanished instantly.
Well, damn… That wasn't what I should've been worried about. Palpatine? A trifling matter.
Sly Moore walked into the office.
Notes:P@treon: SadRaven
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