Private A Test of Metal

[Mig Gred]

Ships: Keros' Kad (Observer), Tra'verd-class line cruiser Nebula, 2x Dragonsnake-class picket cruisers Varactyl and Strill, 2x PS-1 "Tagger" corvettes Concord's Flame and Buckler

A detachment of Gred Fleet ships jumped into the system, the Kad taking the lead though only here to serve as more of an observation post and general Gred caution. Kaddie though seemed somewhat worried.

"Alor, you do realize Neb.... Well she's probably one of the youngest of us running a ship." Mig chuckled a bit.

"Look, I promised a wargame to a friend, plus we could all use the chance for some training." The Kad's captain, a spacer by birth, looked out. They were new to commanding the large vessel, but eager. Still....

"And why exactly is the Kad here anyway? Not like we're in the exercise."

"Call it an old Mando's caution." Mig said, waiting for the others to arrive.

 

[Aether Verd]

Assets: Beskar'gam | Basilisk
Darksaber | Resolute Dawn​

WAYLAND SYSTEM

The void trembled.

First with a flicker, then with fire.

A contingent of Mandalorian warships dropped out of hyperspace one by one, ancient silhouettes brought roaring into the modern age. Their hulls bore the scars of centuries past, but fresh beskar plating gleamed beneath newly installed sensor arrays and shield nodes. These were relics once mothballed and left to rust in orbital graveyards, now restored, rearmed, and given new purpose.

They moved in flawless formation, responding not to living pilots but to droid brains wired directly into the fleet’s command structure. Each vessel was slaved to the Mand’alor’s flagship, the Resolute Dawn, which emerged last with a flash of cerulean light and a trail of starlight wake.

At its helm stood Aether, arms folded behind his back, gaze fixed on the darkened expanse before him. He was no stranger to war. No stranger to command. But this was different. Leading troops on the ground, he could read their hearts. Feel their fear, their faith. But in space, the silence was complete. The scale, humbling. The cold, indifferent.

Today’s wargame was a test: not only of metal and memory, but of his own skill as a tactician in the void.

At his command were five ships beyond the Resolute Dawn:

• Vorshaal, a Kandosii-type Dreadnought, bristling with torpedo bays and broadside cannons.
• Ceromir and Veshok’s Teeth, twin Jehavey'ir-class assault ships, armored like battering rams and loaded with drop pods.
• Ashmaker and Echo’s Edge, sleek Crusader-class corvettes built for flanking runs and harassing fire.

They moved as one: silent but deadly, like wolves at heel.

Aether stepped closer to the holotable, keying in a command. A channel opened.

“Gred Fleet,” his voice rang out across the system, calm but resolute. “This is Aether, aboard the Resolute Dawn. I appreciate the opportunity, Mig. It’s not every day I get to sharpen my mind in space, and I’d be a fool not to test my edge where it’s dullest.”

A pause. He glanced at the tactical overlay. The simulation markers. The approaching Kad.

“How do you want this to begin, old friend?”​

Mig Gred

 

[Mig Gred]

Mig looked at the ships as they came in, keeping track of the patterns of how they flew. Even for AI like Kaddie and Stardust they moved very strictly. Regimented. He wouldn’t tell the others. Up to them to figure out. This was a war game after all.

“Aether. Hopefully we’ll meet on these terms more often.” He said, looking at the holocomm on the Keros’ Kad’s bridge. “You came to the right place, vod. Kaddie will keep track of the war game from here as an observation post. Keep all weapons to training strength and shields strong. We’ll start with basics. Two fleets that knew a fight was coming.” He then took a breath, looking out at the space ahead.

“This isn’t like a fight on the ground. Depends on how a fleet operates, but there are some keys. Ships internal command is their own thing. Their own beasts. But from a command level, you’re dealing with less pieces, and they’re pieces that can’t do the entire job alone. Much more valuable pieces no matter how you slice it. Lives. Costs. Won’t claim to know how you think but it’s a shared sense no matter who you’re talking to.” It was always difficult to gage how someone would understand these things. More than a few commanders over the years had lost their command in the clan and fleet over this. From detonating a Baradium warhead in atmosphere when it wasn’t needed, leading the Gred’s own Clean Sweep missiles, to leaving escorted ships behind.

“Have to say the fleet looks solid. Old but solid. We’ve actually worked on refitting a few of the old Dreadnoughts. You’ll be up against a House Solus line cruiser, two general picket cruisers, and two general escort corvettes. Should be an interesting match up. Let’s say you’ve got the jump too in this case. So the first action is yours.”

Aether Verd

 

[Aether Verd]

Assets: Beskar'gam | Basilisk
Darksaber | Resolute Dawn​

WAYLAND SYSTEM

Aether listened to Mig’s words with the same quiet gravity he brought to every field, whether dirt underfoot or void beneath him. The truth of what Mig said struck with the clarity of beskar against beskar. Ships in the void were more than steel and circuits. They were lives. They were hopes and legacies carried in hulls that could crack open like eggshells under the wrong command.

“I have never been one to waste Mandalorian lives.” Aether said, his voice carrying with steady conviction over the channel. “Not when they stand ready to fight, and not when they stand ready to build what comes after.”

His gaze fell to the holotable, tracing the outlines of the ancient warships at his command. Each bore histories that had nearly ended in scrap heaps, saved only by the ambition to give them another chance to serve. Another chance to protect Mandalorian lives rather than end them.

“These ships were chosen for a reason. If damage comes, let it fall on these hulls first. Better they find glory here than rot in a graveyard.”

The words cleared, and with Mig’s challenge laid out, Aether reached for the controls, his fingers moving across the display with precision. His eyes remained sharp, measuring the distance between his forces and the formations of the Gred Fleet, the simulation overlays pulsing softly.

“Understood, Mig. We will take the first action.”

Orders flowed like water through the command channels, relayed to the droid brains and the few living crews that served alongside them.

“Resolute Dawn, hold position and maintain sensor locks across the field. Ashmaker and Echo’s Edge, you will execute a wide flanking pattern, keep your emissions low, and be ready to strike at their corvettes should they advance. Vorshaal, you are the anvil, move forward at a steady pace, torpedo bays primed, broadside cannons ready. Ceromir and Veshok’s Teeth, form on Vorshaal’s flanks, maintain staggered spacing, prepare drop pods for a boarding drill if the opportunity presents.”

On the holotable, his forces began to move, ancient engines burning bright as they claimed their lanes of approach. The flanking corvettes shifted wide, arcing to find blind spots or weaknesses in the Gred formation. The Dreadnought pushed forward with deliberate confidence, a fortress in motion, while the twin assault ships created a shielded vanguard.

Aether watched as the simulation lines curved and stretched, formations finding their shapes in the dark, the first moves of this test of metal set into motion.

“Let us see what our ancestors’ steel can teach us today...” Aether spoke quietly, though the words carried across the bridge and to those who listened on the channel, the promise of learning and the promise of war bound in a single breath.​

Mig Gred

 

[Mig Gred]

Mig smiled from the bridge. Seemed Aether understood. Good. Now it was up to his fleet to respond. "Not wasting lives is something we can agree on."

The Nebula's scanners were in standard operation. The line cruiser could keep track of large areas of the void around them. Ships began to show up. Yeah the crews technically knew what was going on, but war games were meant to simulate situations. Now, the scanners picked up the larger approaching ships. The lower emission burners doing their job well.

"Enemy ships...." The Mandalorian captain halted the AI.

"How do you know that Neb?" The AI, taking the form of a twi'lek in her hologram, stared blankly, then sighed.

"Unknown ships on scanners." The captain smirked a bit.

"Raise alert, aim the weapons, prep the flak walls and hail them. Have our pilots ready to go." There was a round of affirming calls as the Nebula's crew got to work, and the other ships began to get into a defensive formation. "Unidentified vessels, this is the Nebula. Identify yourself."

Aether Verd