A Fleet in Being

[Cyrus Tregessar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZgJ6Sl1YuM​

Word of the events at Kuat had preceded Cyrus' battered fleet as they limped in to Bilbringi. At first, he thought the system was being evacuated by personnel and civilians who wanted to divorce themselves from the actions of the rogue Admiral. A sizeable number of warships had appeared, mostly single ships or in small groups, and with every military vessel there were civilian ships as well.

But they were fleeing the wrath of the SIth in a different way. No sooner had the Contempt hailed Bilbringi Control than it was bombarded with a thousand messages, each asking for assistance or to join the convoy. Evidently the news that Iron Lance Command would soon be departing the domain of the One Sith was common knowledge, and those with the means to do so would try and make Cyrus' stubborn refusal to commit suicide their own personal salvation.

The shipyards themselves remained secure, Vice Admiral Sekerian had followed his orders to the letter, using the threat of force to dissuade would-be 'camp followers' from docking and swarming the already undermanned fleet. There would have to be allowances for the families of officers and loyal enlisted, of course, but most of those had already been made.

There was little room in the plans for new arrivals, not with what might the One Sith still had even now bearing down on him. At best he had a few days, at worst a few hours.

The two Darr Itah's that he had managed to liberate were quickly docked in order to receive supplies and much needed experienced crew. The three others already at Bilbringi were already prepped, but none would be combat effective, he simply didn't have the means to fit them out properly.

A handful of Dark Blade's and pack of Wyyrlok's would make up the heavy hitters of the force as they picked their way across One Sith and then Galactic Alliance space. Nearly a hundred other ships rounded out the fleet, as many vessels of Iron Lance Command as could be made combat effective and who could be at least partially trusted.

With the new crises of uninvited guests to deal with, Cyrus gave quick orders. Civilian ships that could provide some service to the fleet were permitted to join along, but no allowances would be made if they fell behind. Those ships that could not assist were forced under threat of force to loiter in a separate sector. There they would remain, ostensibly until Cyrus had time to deal with them. If the masters of those vessels knew they were going to be left behind they didn't say anything, either out of fear or some last distant hope.

There were only a few impassioned appeals by the truly desperate. Most knew who they were dealing with. The cries of the helpless for protection fell on deaf ears.

At ten hours the first picket ships began to arrive, reporting One Sith forces massing in neighboring systems. At twelve hours, well behind schedule, the last of the Darr Itah's was underway. At fifteen hours the last personnel had been evacuated from the Bilbringi yards and was embarked, with key equipment sabotaged and data vaults wiped. There was no wide-spread destruction, Cyrus didn't particularly care who got a hold of the Shipyard once the One Sith collapsed, but it wouldn't do to have the station complex be used to immediately outfit a force to pursue him.

At sixteen hours they were ready. Nearly three hundred ships in formation, hyperdrives spun up and coordinates punched in. On order, the formation began to turn, and as if on queue the common comms channels lit up as the multitude of ships left behind began their last minute pleas. With the sound of a thousand voices crying out as they cursed his name for leaving them to die, Cyrus gave the order to jump.

 

[Cyrus Tregessar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ccpv3mz4HI​

They ran into trouble from the first stop. Ever astute, Sar'theron had left forces at regular intervals from all the main jump vectors out of Bilbringi. The force that intercepted them was small but well led, and inflicted considerable damage before it disengaged and jumped out. Faced with the decision to either abandon a dozen ships or slow down, Cyrus was forced to evacuate the crew and scuttle the vessels.

He rearrange the formation, putting the most experienced combat ships on the edge of the formation, with a knot of reserves in the center to respond to any attacks. The next jump went better, with only one ship crippled and the enemy force nearly wiped out. But that was still one ship less.

It went like that for a while, with each stop being a fight, and a few less ships jumping back out again. Warships were repaired or had their crew rescued, civilian vessels were simply abandoned. They were given their chance by being allowed to come along, the rest was between them and whatever luck they had.

As the fleet left One Sith space things eased up somewhat. The Galactic Alliance was less likely to engage, though they'd doubtless be concerned by the presence of a large group of Sith Warships in their space. There were a couple of tense standoffs and one brief skirmish (with no significant casualties) but otherwise they made their way out unmolested.

For the rest of the journey Cyrus avoided populated systems, preferring to stop only as required to check navigation and refuel by stars. More ships were abandoned, either as a result of battle damage being unmanageable or irreplaceable systems breaking down. In several instances, one ship was cannibalized to make repairs on others.

He could count on the loyalty of most of the ship commanders and senior ratings, but much of the fleet traveled on a rather tenuous degree of trust. It finally failed at Chalcedon, and there was a mutiny attempt in earnest on one Star Destroyer that spread to a general revolt, sparked by Sith loyalists, rebel sympathizers, and other malcontents who had formed a loose alliance. By the time it was over three more ships were abandoned and 23,000 people were dead, more than half executed by spacing.

The fleet that left Chalcedon was loyal to a fault, even if it was mostly fear that held their tongues.

So it was that approximately two hundred and fifty ships, mostly warships, entered the far orbit of Dosuun. Cyrus sent a single pulse using a One Sith diplomatic cipher, requesting a meeting with whatever senior leadership were present to discuss the matter of his immediate defection.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Sioux Chambers burst into Natasi Fortan's office in the Imperial Palace with almost enough force to shatter the door. Natasi looked up, holding her hand over the receiver of her comlink, but she didn't even need to ask. "You're needed in the situation room immediately, ma'am. It's priority red." Natasi's cheeks drained of color and she spoke into her comlink again. "Mr. President, I'm so sorry, we're going to have to leave it there. I'll have my office reschedule at your earliest convenience -- yes, I"m afraid something has come up. Good evening." She replaced the handset and emerged into the hallway. This level of the Palace held offices for the Grand Moff and the Supreme Commander, as well as the situation room, one of many nerve centers that served as a command center during times of crisis.

When she emerged into the hall, Natasi was treated to a view of controlled chaos. Members of the Supreme Leader's military intelligence unit were hustling down the hall in one direction, while the Deputy Minister of Defense came running out of the elevator, coming to a quick speed-walk when he saw Natasi. She joined him and they hurried towards the situation room, a large, circular auditorium built around a large circular conference table, into which a holoprojector was built. The walls were monitors, displaying sensor readouts and other signal intelligence sources. The stormtroopers shut the door after Natasi and the Deputy Minister, and Natasi trotted down the steps of the auditorium to the table, placing her hands on the back of her chair.

"What have we got?"

"Approximately two hundred and fifty vessels of unknown origin -- armed -- appeared in far orbit three minutes ago," replied Admiral Morlav, handing a sheet of flimsi to Natasi. "We received this signal."

Natasi took the flimsi, examining it closely. "This is a One Sith cipher," she observed. "Used by their diplomatic services. We should have the decode signal in our database." She rattled off the standard identification code for One Sith signals, and a few moments later, they had a fresh flimsi with the decoded signal. "The fleet's leader is looking to defect?" She looked up at the Admiral. This could be a trap. "Are Field Marshal Vaas and the Supreme Commander on their way?" she asked. The Admiral nodded, and Natasi was glad -- she didn't feel comfortable making a definitive decision about this without consulting her partners in the leadership, [member="Ludolf Vaas"] and [member="Aram Kalast"].

But she did feel comfortable shoring up their defensive posture -- just in case. She took a deep breath to steady herself, though her pulse was pounding painfully in her veins. Two hundred and fifty ships. Millions of people on Dosuun. First and Second fleets could arrive in an hour -- would there be anything left? Home fleet in position already -- so that's something. "Send a priority signal to the First and Second fleets; have them muster outside of the Dosuun system and be ready to jump in on our word, or if we lose contact. Activate planetary defense posture alpha and take us to defense condition three."

"Very good, ma'am," the Admiral said, reaching for the communication set at his desk.

[member="Cyrus Tregessar"]

 

[RIP Carlyle Rausgeber]

Carlyle watched awestruck from the bridge of the Vindicator. The Pride of Avalonia and Defiant buzzed his comms, desperate for orders. But he wasn't listening. The three ships had been in low orbit above the Dosuuns surface, and had just emerged above the stratosphere when the armada arrived. "Sir!" Lieutenant Margs barked, "Sir, we need orders, how shall we proceed?"

"Proceed? Lieutenant.we simply can't proceed." Carlyle said cryptically.

"This fleet is a violation of First Order protocol, we simply can't-"

"We simply can't what? Have this fleet here? How are we going to move them on? Huh? How do you propose that?"

"We attack and-"

"We attack we die lieutenant. We'll hold position here. Comms, get me a line on all frequencies."

"Aye aye sir." The Comms Officer replied.

"What do you hope to acheive Carlyle?'

"I dunno, something. Comms, we live yet?"

"In approximately twenty seconds sir."

"Good." Carlyle said, before pausing, and waiting. Hopefully, he didn't offend the admiral of this fleet too much. "Unidentified warships, this is Captain Rausgeber of the First Imperial Navy. We ask you to identify yourselves now, and what your purpose is above Dossuun We do not wish to at all harm you, but your being here is a direct violation of our territory. Please respond on this frequency."

[member="Cyrus Tregessar"]

 

[Cyrus Tregessar]

It's a given among every military in the galaxy that the art of intelligence collection is a careful and constant practice. Even the most benign situation can be an opportunity for collection. A simple greeting in space is a chance to intercept comms frequencies, observe pattern of life, analyze shield refraction, weapon mount maintenance and settings, so on and so forth.

A common technique used by organizations that find themselves opposed by not hostile is to put a ship somewhere it should perhaps not be and gauge the response. Reaction times, methods of interception, comms transmissions, even something as seemingly trivial as the movements of civilian vessels can be a clue to build a concept of doctrine. After all, if a government goes out of its way to brief and train merchant vessels on procedures to follow in a crises there's a good bet they're doing that and more with their actual warships.

So it stood to reason that dropping a fleet into the capital system of a major power would give one a good gauge of, well, just about everything. It was something of a calculated move, Cyrus' dealings with the First Order so far had been brief, and he was very curious how they were shaping up after several years in relative isolation in the outer rim.

It was all well done so far. Emergency pulses were sent out, the content of which was impossible to decipher but likely messages to distant fleets. All across the system there were energy spikes on stations and planetary emplacements, the defense network coming online no doubt. What ships there were in-system were already moving to group up, with three of the largest already in a rough formation and taking station between his force and the planet.

Competently done.

"Message coming in sir, from the lead warship."

Cyrus nodded.

"Unidentified warships, this is Captain Rausgeber of the First Imperial Navy. We ask you to identify yourselves now, and what your purpose is above Dossuun We do not wish to at all harm you, but your being here is a direct violation of our territory. Please respond on this frequency."

Was he jumping protocol, or had he been directed by the powers that be on the planet below. Or perhaps the First Order simply gave their commanders a great deal of leeway in conduct. That implied a degree of trust Cyrus had never received during his stint with the One Sith. Regardless, right now he had no interest in speaking with the Captain.

"First Order Warship this is the Star Destroyer Contempt." Cyrus practically growled into the speaker. "I require the communication freq of your diplomatic headquarters. I will hold this station for one hour."

He cut the comms, then sent an order to Vice Admiral Sekerian to detach a small group of warships and start expanding the formation on the right wing. The ships in system seemed to be a mix of either small frigates and light cruisers and large star destroyers, with little in-between. The One Sith had a similar lack of mid-sized ships, and this sort of situation was one where they'd be particularly useful.

[member="Carlyle Rausgeber"] | [member="Natasi Fortan"]

 

[Tanomas Graf]

"Captain, your presence is needed on the bridge."

"I don't care if it's the graveyard post, I'm not removing restrictions so you can screw around watching holovids all night."

"No sir, a priority signal arrived from the Imperial Palace requesting the first and second fleets to muster outside of the Dosuun system."

Tanomas groaned loudly, almost about to scream into his pillow, "Any specific reason why we're pulling from our sector patrol or are we parading again?" He snarled. Graf heard a few taps over the intercom as the crewman pulled up the transmission "Yes sir, apparently the Home Defense Fleet and a One Sith armada are enduring an armed standoff, that's all the details command-""Awaken the crew and get them to battlestations, get us into hyperspace on our way to the fleet rendezvous right now!" He interrupted as he rushed out of his bed and struggled to pull on the rest of his uniform.

The loud sound of the klaxon sirens filled the ship as Graf walked down the corridor to the turbolift, crewmen rushed past him with their uniforms askew. Tanomas stepped into the lift and entered the bridge as his destination, en route to it the klaxons were drowned out by a loud whirring sound coming from the aft of the star destroyer signalling that the hyperdrive was powering up. And Graf was correct in his assumption because when he came up to the bridge the stars were streaking past the viewports and they entered hyperspace.

"I want all turbolasers manned and the fighters ready to launch, what's the status on the other ships in the fleet?" Graf asked "On their way to the muster field, captain. We're the closest ship so it'll only take us about ten minutes to get there." a Lieutenant reported "Good, send a status report to Dosuun and prepare for battle!"

[member="Cyrus Tregessar"] [member="Carlyle Rausgeber"] [member="Natasi Fortan"]

 

[Valessia Brentioch]

:: INCOMING ALPHA ALERT ::

[/CENTER]

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ONE SITH ARMADA OVER DOSUUN​

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ALL VESSELS RESPOND​

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ONE SITH ARMADA OVER DOSUUN​

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:: ALERT - ALL VESSELS - ALERT ::​

​

​

Immediately the Admiral rose from her seat and went straight onto the bridge, "red alert, all hands battle stations. Helm get us Dosuun, now, Ensign Oleskov get the fleet on my holo." She ordered and looked over to Walzer, "I want your men armed and ready, tell our CAG and Marines to prepare for deployment - if necessary." The klaxons blared throughout the FIV Tarkin's speakers and the ship went into full battle ready status, boots ran throughout her corridors preparing for deployment. Her guns were being warmed up and her shields were being brought online, Yvarro did not want to fire a single shot - but she had long since learned the value of carrying a big gun.

She walked over toward the large holo table where she had a perfect view of current First Order territory, Oleskov gave a thumbs up. "Seventh Fleet, this is Admiral Yvarro. You're being repositioned, get there - now, and if you see any vessel registered to the One Sith. Report it immediately but do not attack, I repeat do not attack them and do not provoke, Yvarro out." Yvarro looked to her helmsmen who counted down for hyperspace, she went to her seat and strapped herself in as Oleskov cut the channel. From her station, the Admiral could issue her own commands remotely and communicate remotely as well.

The Grand Moff [member="Natasi Fortan"], along with other captains were being alerted as the seventh fleet's Admiral Fiolette Yvarro flipped seventh fleet's status to red indicating that she would be responding to the threat on Dosuun as well. She was dispatching the FIV Audacity and the FIV Illustrious ahead of her as they were the faster of the three star destroyers in her fleet. Yvarro had been out near Thakwaa on her way back through to Anoat when the alert was received. They were giving the new Empire-class frigates a breaking in as it were, but now she supposed they'll have to postpone said testing.

Yvarro looked at the information available to her, it seemed Captains [member="Tanomas Graf"] and [member="Carlyle Rausgeber"] would also be responding. Messages were sent to them as well that the Admiral would be arriving to assist the Home Defense Fleet.