Western Reaches Campaign: Conspiracy
Of the ten Hunter Class Battlecruisers the Republic fleet had left in orbit, only four relatively intact ships entered Malastare's atmosphere after a brutal battle.
Falling warship wreckage and components seemed to turn the sky into a rain of fire. Smaller pieces burned up in the atmosphere, while larger ones fell like heavy bombs, inflicting severe damage on the ground.
After crippling half of the Republic fleet, the thirty-five Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers led by Sefrans Tann did not linger. Aside from three warships too badly damaged to leave, the remaining thirty-two activated their hyperdrives and departed directly!
The Dreadnought-class heavy cruiser formation passed through Haren-Kaal, which had now joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems, then entered the Rima Trade Route and headed for Salust.
Afterward, the fleet would be stationed on the highly industrialized planet Salust. It could also deter the Republic 18th Army, which had already launched several attacks there, while Sefrans Tann and Adi Gallia would take a shuttle back to Gerrenthum Planet.
Salust would also play an extremely important role in the coming final offensive against Eriadu.
Meanwhile, on the surface of Malastare.
Obi-Wan Kenobi looked up at the burning sky and the flaming warship wreckage continually falling from it, silent... His lips trembled slightly. Whether it was fear, grief, or... anger, he did not know.
"We were played by the Separatists," Ferrus Olin said from beside him. "Under any other circumstances, Master Kep She's fleet would never have suffered such a disastrous defeat... Without fighter cover, Hunter Class Battlecruisers had no chance of surviving against three times their number in Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers..."
He had put away his earlier arrogance and fury, because he himself had been among those involved in making that decision. He understood that Separatist General Sefrans Tann