Depa Billaba rose to her feet and resumed her place behind Darth Malthael, though her gaze had already turned toward the view beyond the window.
By now, no more ships were descending from the fleet to the planet. All of them were taking off from the planet instead, and their numbers were steadily dwindling.
Then, one of the Munificent-class communications frigates began adjusting its flight attitude, entering low-altitude synchronous orbit around Haruun Kal. It traveled in sync with the planet's rotation and aimed its forward main battery at the surface.
Soon, more than a dozen ships burst out of the atmosphere and opened fire directly on the Munificent-class frigate. They were clearly smugglers making a last desperate stand.
The firepower of those small vessels was not even enough to make the Munificent-class frigate's shields tremble. Before long, its point-defense weapons and Vulture droid fighters shot them all down, turning them into fireballs that plunged back into the atmosphere.
This brief incident did not affect the fleet's established plan. The Generous-class frigate waited another two minutes and forty seconds according to schedule before its twin heavy turbolasers at the bow suddenly opened fire!
Thick beams of light flashed from the turrets and plunged into the atmosphere. Their immense energy even blasted apart the clouds overhead, leaving behind a vast ring of cloud cover.
Then, those beams, nearly invisible compared to the scale of the planet, detonated on the ground in a colossal explosion visible even from space, spreading outward!
Then came the second shot, and the third!
Only afterward did the Generous-class frigate begin to turn. Its engines surged, breaking free of the Planetary Gravity Well's pull and returning to the fleet formation.
The hologram flickered, and a tall Neimoidian wearing peculiar goggles appeared within it. He said respectfully, "Lord Archangel