A Futile Attempt
The Imperial fleet brought by Admiral Afshin Makati finally arrived at Tarassia at the most chaotic moment of the battle, completely turning the situation around.
First, large numbers of TIE Interceptor fighters swiftly defeated and scattered the Kingdom of Dawn's fighter formations. This greatly relieved the pressure on the Imperial army still desperately holding out inside the Death Star. With the TIE Interceptor fighters providing fire support, they could even launch counterattacks!
The interior of the Death Star had already been blasted full of holes by Kingdom of Dawn warships. Although the fundamental structure had not been damaged, the destruction was still severe, and the rebelling Geonosians had suffered devastating casualties as well.
Under these multiple blows and disruptions, the Geonosians' work installing the hyperdrive became increasingly difficult.
On the southern hemisphere of the enormous spherical structure housing the Death Star's central energy core, countless Geonosian laborers wore specialized single-person engineering exoskeletons as they feverishly welded components and installed equipment. The hyperdrive's basic framework had now been installed, but the internal systems still required a great deal of time.
But time was steadily slipping away.
Boom! Boom! Boom!! Explosions rang out without end. From the very beginning, the Kingdom of Dawn's bombardment of the Death Star had made no distinction between friend and foe. Although the southern hemisphere of the energy core remained largely protected beneath the outer armor and had not come under direct fire, explosions elsewhere still affected this area.
Geonosian laborers were constantly thrown down by the blasts, yet even more laborers fearlessly took their places. One after another, they pressed forward, determined to finish the hyperdrive within this final stretch of time.
Their only good news was that the Galactic Empire's warships still did not dare fire directly upon the Death Star. Meanwhile,