Y/N POV
The war had been raging on for several more weeks. Since the battle of Muunilinst and the events that transpired directly after it, I'd taken a temporary step back from the war effort. Until now.
The project I'd been instructed to work on for Dooku had been completed! The ship that had been named the Malevolence was finally ready. And with it, tables had been turned. Several tests had been performed on Republic fleets and just as I'd promised Dooku, it proved very much effective.
And another test, was just about to begin...
We had made our way to the Abregado system, remote and out of the way. I was here to oversee the ship's progress, much like Dooku. The cyborg General Grievous had been the one to be placed in command of the vessel.
The three of us were on the bridge when one of the pilot droids spoke up "General." Grievous approached, glaring at the droid who instantly explained "We're tracking three Republic Cruisers."
I stepped over and looked down at the radar, sure enough, I saw them. Three Venator-Class ships approaching, they were still a distance away but they were approaching so it was clear they must have been tracking us.
Image of a Venator-Class Destroyer:
I narrowed my eyes, normally I'd be concerned as these Venators were more dangerous than those Acclamator ships. However in this scenario I was completely calm. Those three ships had no idea what awaited them.
The Droid turned and asked "What should we do?" Grievous let out a roar as Dooku sternly instructed "Jam their transmissions." This was a smart play, we couldn't risk a distress signal or a call for reinforcements being sent out.
The ships continued to approach and it was at this point Dooku stated "General Grievous, Minister L/N. This will be a suitable test for our new weapon." A smirk slowly spread across his face as he said "You may fire when ready."
I couldn't help grin of my own at this. I got a rush of pride seeing my handiwork pay off. I responded "Of course Count." Grievous added "Yes my Lord." The Droids at the controls began inputting the commands.
A diagram on the monitor began displaying a meter along with an image of the Ion cannon itself as it charged up. Purple electricity surged down the barrel and built up at the end, it took a moment before it finally reached maximum power. And it was now I pointed towards the still-approaching fleet and instructed "FIRE!"
The cannon did exactly that. A giant ball of purple energy shot out! As soon as it collided with the three Venators, they were completely engulfed in static. My grin only widened as I saw them begin to lose formation as their power was ripped away in an instant.
As with previous tests before, one of the pilot Droids informed us "Their shields are down." Now it was Grievous' turn to give the order. "All cannons, FIRE!" This was another thing that made me like this build in particular. In addition to the Ion cannon, the Malevolence also packed more cannons than would be possible on the standard frigates we provided.
Red bolts were shot out, by this point the Venators were close enough that the majority of the blasts hit their mark and given the sheer number of blasters, the now-defenceless ships were battered with rain upon rain of fire!
Grievous let out a maniacal laugh at the display, I simply clasped my hands together. I felt no remorse for them. The Jedi knew what they signed up for when they agreed to serve the corrupt Republic, and the Clones were, well, Clones.
Eventually, one of the ships began to break apart in a series of explosions, chunks of debris flew all over, some of it even crashed into the other ships. A second followed shortly after, more debris flew all over.
As the final Republic ship fell though, I noticed a series of Escape Pods jettison shooting out into the surrounding rubble just in time as the vessel exploded. A snarl escaped me in anger, but I knew it wasn't worth getting too frustrated at. There were precautions for this.
Image of an Escape Pod:
As we watched the rubble from the bridge, Grievous turned to Dooku and asked "Another successful test, wouldn't you say Count?" Dooku just stared at us before saying "We must keep our position secret. Send out the Hunters. I want all of those life pods destroyed." His eyes narrowed as he said the last part.
I bowed and said "It will be done." I turned and walked over to one of the consoles, it had a speaker that acted as an intercom of sorts for different areas of the ship. I went over and pushed the button for the hangar before speaking into it. "Deploy the Pod Hunting team!"
Shortly after the order was given, we saw the ship depart off into the debris. The Pod-Hunting team consisted of a squadron of B1 Battle Droids modified with Jetpacks and blowtorches. All on board a Droch-Class Boarding Ship.
Images of a Droch-Class Boarding Ship and a B1 Rocket Droid:
Teams like this had been especially equipped to deal with breaching Escape Pods. In nearly every test we'd run so far there would be at least a few pods in need of clearing up. That's why I had confidence these Droids would get the task accomplished.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when Dooku spoke "Y/N." Turning to him I saw he just stared down at me and I'll admit, I wasn't expecting his compliment "I'm impressed. This is a fine vessel you've crafted, just as I'd ordered."
"Thank you Count." Was all I said before I turned my attention to look at the see of debris. I had an uneasy feeling at the moment. I didn't know why, all previous tests had gone flawlessly.
We'd just have to wait for the Pod-Hunting teams to return and we'd move on...
Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter. I originally wanted this done yesterday but I was having Wi-Fi troubles, so sorry for the wait. I hope you enjoyed it and as always, thank you for reading.