Ilius Terbon frowned in dissatisfaction: the low hum created by all the officers in headquarters, though barely audible, had gotten under his skin after three days of endless meetings and frantic activity.
The Twelfth Sector Command, following instructions from Coruscant, had stepped up its operations. Only slightly, though—the Confederacy was advancing on all fronts. Thanks to intelligence reports, two days earlier they had managed to repel attacks on Uuter and Maltar. But their own offensive on Metalorn had failed miserably. Intelligence had miscalculated, and reinforcements for skakoans arrived earlier than expected. Even without that, there had been too many surprises…
Metalorn was a factory planet under the control of the Skakoans. It produced a wide range of goods, but more importantly—now, during the war—thousands of combat droids and dozens of Techno Union warships were rolling off its assembly lines. Intelligence suggested that Metalorn was supplying almost the entire northern Outer Rim with its IG-series droids. Losing it would be a major blow to the Separatists.
The moment for the attack had been chosen perfectly. Only four Lucrehulks were in orbit, and another squadron of eight Munificent-class frigates was positioned on the far side of the planet. The plan called for a swift strike with light forces: a dozen Consular-class light cruisers were to cover the assault by eight Pelta-class frigates equipped with missiles and torpedoes, allowing them to carry four medium launchers with a reserve of four torpedoes per barrel. This detachment was supposed to sweep away the Lucrehulks, after which ten Acclamator ships would clear the orbit and begin ground operations…
But everything went down the drain. The light cruisers and frigates were forced to hastily evade a collision with a massive ore carrier that had appeared in their path at the worst possible moment. This delay gave the enemy time to react, and they launched their fighters. However, these were not the usual Vulture droids, but Geonosian Nantex starfighters. In the ensuing battle, almost half of the attacking ships were lost, and the squadrons from the arrivingAcclamators barely managed to drive off the remnants of the light forces. At this time, the heavy ships of the CIS arrived at the battlefield.
It was a miracle they hadn't lost a single Acclamator, but casualties among the crews and landing forces were enormous—many of the Acclamators had been damaged. There were over fifteen thousand wounded alone... The planet's hospitals were overflowing.
"Sir, General Plo Koon is on the line."
"Put him through," Terbon ordered.
A hologram of a Jedi Master—a Kel Dor—appeared before him. Terbon snorted inwardly, revisiting a familiar thought. There are several ranks within their Order, yet they still can't sort out proper military titles. Generals…
"Moff Terbonn. We've just received your message, but we'd like to know the details."
"We know no more than you do," Terbon replied. "But according to our calculations, the squadrons from Jabiim should arrive in Lantilles' orbit within ten minutes. If you're willing to wait, you'll hear the details firsthand."
"I prefer to wait," Plo Koon said, inclining his head. "What do you think happened?"
"Too little data. Commander Rinaun's message stated that they evacuated a detachment commanded by General Vikt from the planet. No numbers were specified. The general gave the order to abandon orbit. The report also noted that, a few hours earlier, the Separatist fleet had likewise withdrawn from the system."
"Most likely, they received information about our offensive on Muunilinst and are hastily transferring ships there from other sectors."
"Do you think they'll succeed in thwarting the attack on the planet?"
"Out of the question. It will be over much sooner. Our fleet has destroyed the enemy's orbital group and disabled their defensive platforms. An offensive is already underway on the planet's surface."
"Sir," their conversation was interrupted as a communications officer approached, "two squadrons have entered Lantilles' orbit. One of them is ours, under the command of Commander Rinaun. He's requesting a direct link."
"Connect him to the central terminal immediately," Ilius ordered.
After a few tedious minutes, Rinaun's hologram flickered into existence.
"Moff Terbonn," he saluted, then turned slightly. "General Plo Koon. I—"
"What happened, Kernatuan? Why did you withdraw the squadrons?"
"Sir, it was General Vikt's order. He… just a moment… he'll join us now."
Terbon turned toward the newly forming hologram. He didn't recognize Vikt at first—he wasn't wearing his armor. And he didn't look… well.
"General Vikt," Terbonn said evenly. "Would you care to enlighten us as to what happened?"
"We lost Jabiim," Vikt replied. His voice was hoarse, drained by exhaustion. "Due to the futility of further combat operations and the enormous personnel losses, I made the decision to evacuate the remnants of my force."
"Knight Vikt," Plo Koon said, leaning on the edge of the tactical table, "what about the other Jedi units? They may still require orbital support—"
"The dead don't need help, Master," the Jedi snapped.
Terbon noticed that the background noise in the command center had died away. Many of the officers had drawn closer, listening intently. The Moff understood them perfectly well—this was the kind of news that froze a room.
"What did you say?" Plo Koon asked quietly.
"I'm saying there are no Jedi or clones left on Jabiim," Vikt replied. "Alive, at least."
"General," Terbonn paused for a heartbeat, choosing his words. "More than three hundred and fifty thousand clones, along with a significant number of Jedi, took part in that operation. Are you telling us—"
"Yes. They're all dead. With me are fewer than nine thousand clones—five thousand of them wounded—my Padawan, and two others I managed to pull out. That's all."
What a pice of sit! It took a great deal to shock Ilius, but a defeat of this magnitude would leave few indifferent.
"The Force…" Plo Koon exhaled softly. "What happened?"
"After Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker…" Vikt paused. "By the way, do you know their fate?"
"They were compelled to flee the planet," Terbonn replied. "Their rescue mission was trapped by Count Dooku's mercenaries. They reached orbit, where Admiral Arkani's ships extracted them. After that, the Jedi Council assigned Master Kenobi to lead the attack on Muunilinst."
"I see," Vikt said after a moment. "So their unit was destroyed as well?"
"Yes. Sadly. But what about the other Jedi?"
"As far as I know, Norcuna and Leska were preparing an assault on the city of Choal, the capital of Jabiim. One way or another, they were defeated. As far as I know, Alto Stratus personally severed Norcuna's head."
Ilius exhaled sharply, noticing out of the corner of his eye that several young officers had turned a sickly shade of green. You could have spared us those details.
***
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