C2P10

"Retreat! Retreat dammit!"

Trask thought it had gone well enough after they hit that makeshift command post like a sledgehammer, blowing away the droids inside like so much toilet paper. The Marauders must have taken thousands of blaster bolts and the battledroids could do little to stop their charge.

After that, they continued to move forwards, taking out groups of clankers as they went. The droids fell back again and again, with more and more sectors falling under their control again.

With the Marauders at the front and clone troopers supporting them, they were invincible.

But then everything went to shit. He should have recognized the signs, but the elation of their victories blinded him. They were forced to leave behind small garrisons of troops to secure their flanks and hold their regained areas, but they weren't enough.

The enemy Commander had decided to leave behind quite a few nasty surprises for them, as it seemed.

Destroyer Droids armed with flamethrowers popped out of janitorial closets to hose their rearguard with liquid plasma, cooking dozens of Clones alive in their armor. Buzz droids dropped from the ceiling to cut through armor and swarm the Marauders with their keening drills and saws.

It was hell.

They had overextended themselves, Trask realized. Their momentum had slowed after the initial assault and it showed. The droids were hemming them in, whittling them down to a more manageable size.

Aiming high was risky and it had seemed they were beating the droids back to a last stand, but it had all been another trap.

So once the recall order came in, it was of morbid relief that Trask could retreat back to the Hub…only for information to trickle down to him that the bridge had been taken and that they were going to make their final stand in the bridge.

Final stand…Trask hoped he'd at least see the end of the war, but it seemed his fate was with his men in their graves with his blaster blasting.

-

Things were going well, I noted to myself.

Good fortunate had graced me despite my losses with the sudden attack of the clones against the makeshift command posts I had set up to coordinate attacks on enemy positions on the ship.

The Marauders were monsters on their own. Heavy armor that can withstand blaster bolts by the dozen and even grenades, their only weakness appeared to be through the less well than an armored helmet that sniper rifles could penetrate and buzz droids, which could attack the weakly armored joints and cut into the armor in time.

The little saboteurs proved to be instrumental in my battle against Admiral Himler's forces.

With their drill heads, plasma torches, and vibrocutters designed for cutting through starfighter-grade armor, infantry armor was nothing, even the impressive heavy armor of Marauders. They sowed panic amongst clones in large numbers whilst they drilled and cut apart their comrades while chittering wildly.

But now I had Himler. He and what remained of his forces were trapped, with no way to-

���The bridge is under attack!" Squawked an OOM droid shrilly, it's voice panicked. "All forces on the bridge have been lost!"

"What!" I exclaimed, taken aback at the sudden move. Why would he go to the bridge? If he loses life support, then he will have lost everything! This battle will end with my victory and his utter loss!

"Sir! The Admiral has initiated contact with Iraknia's militia command center," the droid officer informed me, tapping at the console. "He has also begun force-commanding the entire portside turbolaser batteries!"

"Tap into that line, I want to hear what he is saying."

"By your command," nodded the droid. A moment later, it had sliced into the communications.

Himler was looking haggard, his face was pale and he was bleeding through a large patch on his forehead. But despite his injuries, he was speaking with a powerful voice that belied his advanced age.

"-no choice, general," the admiral was saying forcefully to the insectoid Iraknian general. "The separatists have all but won the battle and my ship is falling under their control as we speak. No doubt they are listening on us right now, but it doesn't matter."

"What do you mean?" Demanded the general. "Will the Republic still send aid?"

"In time to stop the Separatists from launching a massive attack that would spell your people's doom?" Admiral Himler shook his head. "No. By then they will have won and your people enslaved."

Well. It was nice to know that my battle prowess was acknowledged.

"They will not have an easy fight Admiral," the general growled, his mandibles clenching. "We have theater shields and turbolaser towers in every hatchery and hive-city. We can hold out until reinforcements come."

"I'm afraid that's impossible. I'm sorry, general, but by the time the Republic comes with enough forces to stall the Separatist advance, it will be too late. It will devolve into a stalemate that will devastate your planet."

"Then what do you propose to do?" The Iraknian demanded angrily. "Surrender?"

"No. I will destroy what the Separatists want with the planet. With the loss in it's value, they will have no choice but to garrison less forces and devote more time to rebuilding that vital infrastructure," Himler said grimly. "It is the only way."

Wait...What. We are talking…millions. Tens of millions of workers. The capital city of the planet was the most vital area of the entire planet; it was where valuable cortosis ore was mined, where it was mined for centuries.

It was an urban metropolis those guns were aiming at! He couldn't mean to destroy that…could he?

"…no!" The General seemed to understand what the republic admiral was going with this. "There are millions of my people there! I cannot evacuate so many in so little time You cannot do this!"

"Sacrifice a few million to save your planet or let billions become slaves to the corporate will of the Confederacy," shouted Himler in reply. "It is for the greater good!"

Oh dammit.

I gave the order to Engineering to shut down the reactor as quickly as possible. Orders to buzz droids to cut the power relays to the portside batteries.

Orders to do it right the fuck now.

"I will not allow you to do this!"

"It doesn't matter what you will or will not allow," said Himler. "My turbolaser batteries are already making final adjustments. The separatist commander can't cut the relays in time and your theater shields aren't powerful enough to resist a full broadside from a Tector-Class Star Destroyer for even a minute."

"If you do this, I will see your head on a pike!" Screamed the General, spittle flying from his mandibles.

"For the Republic," whispered Himler as he motioned to someone off the hologram.

The ship shuddered as I felt horror stun me.

As I saw sixty million people die in a blaze of flames.

Even as the relays were cut, I knew the city was on fire now, that the mines and the industrial centers were damaged.

But worse was that guilt.

I could have prevented this. Prevented the slaughter of so many innocents.

Innocent male drones who slaved under the yoke of several thousand Queens, yes, but still…it was felt.

"After his interrogation, make sure he is healthy," I said to the OOM droid next to me tersely. "I want to give him to the Iraknians so they can put his head on a pike."

"Yes sir."

"Make sure to give them the clones too," I added in afterthought.

"Yes sir."

Stalking away, I knew that I could turn this into an opportunity, that I could salvage this. But it didn't matter in the long run. The mines could be reopened, the processing centers rebuilt. But the Iraknians would now be howling for the blood of the Republic.

This betrayal ran deep and I was sure I could convince them to join the Confederacy...or more specifically, favor the ones who gave them the head of those responsible.

Yes, I was sure I could sell this to Ventress. She would be pleased with this plan, turning a tactical disaster into a strategic victory.

To top it all off, I practically had a star destroyer gift wrapped for her.

Hmph, I felt better already.