Cats and Dogs

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

ArmaTech

Looking at the company's file that her own technicians and engineers had been able to get ahold of, the head of Rendili Stardrive couldn't help but find herself interested in the stroke of bad luck that the owner of the corporation had gone through. The arms manufacturer had looked to be taking Tenloss' place within the Republic as a weapons and vehicle producer, which the Galactic Government had desperately needed. . . . .along with a droid company which they still lacked. However, it appeared as if somehow Draco Vereen had been chased out of the Republic for some reason, returning to provide his expertise and equipment to his Mandalorian comrades along with the occasional contract with the Techno Union.

It seemed now even they were expanding to include a small roster of starships to their manifest. And it appeared as if an invitation had been sent to Rendili to hold a mock battle to give prospective designs in the works a live field test. Which was a bit difficult to take into account. Considering that for all intents and purposes that Rendili was under SIth control, leaving Sith space without permission from Lady Praelior would be problematic, and taking into account she was keeping herself out of the limelight to uphold corporate image in this time when the companies shipyards were split on both sides of the war. Camellia was rather glad she had diversified her shipyards location because of this, she owed loyalty to the Sith because of her transformation, but by keeping herself away from the fighting directly, having a valid reason for her actions, and having shipyards providing service under their own management on the other side of the galaxy really would help with whatever the future held.

Still, Mr. Vereen's connections with the Techno Union made things easier with travel arrangements. He could likely bring a fleet into Sith space, while she pulled up whatever ships she could from Humbarine and the prototypes they had in storage here. Nodding to herself, Camellia pressed the call button for her aide. "Excuse the bother, but please put in a call to ArmaTech and let them know I wish to respond to Mr. Vereen's matter of the live field exercise. . . . .oh and call up our defense forces to be ready to crew the Invincible Class we've been refitting."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

[member="Camellia Swift"]

Rendili Stardrive, like MandalHypernautics is the premeire Ship Developer for the Mandalorians, had been the premiere Ship Developer for the Republic until the Sith had taken control of Rendili. Camellia Swift, the CEO and Owner of the company had held loyalty to the Republic and the Silver Jedi until her capture or her change of loyalties depending on who was asked, and as I was a member of the Techno Union, technically allied with the One Sith I was able to gain access to certain areas of their space through diplomatic means. Technically with a good enough stealth ship one could gain access to any system. Just as I had worked alongside MandalHypernautics at one point I was now wishing to work alongside Rendili Stardrive. The main reason was to diversify my allegiances. I saw no reason to devote myself or my company to a single government, as when I had, I had been unceremoniously, inexplicably cast out and exiled, having to steal back my own assets from a corrupt regime. That time was over now.

A secretary entered my office on Mandalore. "Sir, you have a call from the office of Camellia Swift on the line." She said nodding to the Holo-Projector built into my polished black desk. "Thank you, I will take this privately on a secure line if you please." I told the young woman who proceeded to excuse herself and leave the office closing the door behind her. For a second the holo-projector had a ring of red lights before they turned green making me aware the line was secure from easy tracing or slicing. It turned on, and I stood. "Good afternoon, I am Draco Vereen, CEO of ArmaTech Combat Systems. What may I ask has prompted this pleasant surprise?" I asked, as the Holo-projector buzzed to life.

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

The Rendili woman would wait patiently for her aide to set up the connection, taking the time while she sat at her desk to make additional notes to a few documents and proposals she had to look over. When her aide finally reported back with the notification that ArmaTech had taken the call, Camellia was quick to request the line be transferred to her office as she waved the secretary out of the room and activated the holoprojector built into her desktop. As the blue figure of Draco Vereen eventually appeared over the space cleared for the comm unit, Camellia bowed her head in greeting though she wondered if formality was needed with the warrior like Mandalorians. "Well you can attribute the surprise to your invitation regarding the matter of conducting field tests for both our companies up and coming designs in a mock battle. I was calling to let you know that Rendili Stardrive is rather interested in this idea. Granted there are two conditions, which one would be to keep the arrangement quiet though I don't see this being a problem since neither of us want information on our ships leaked before hitting the market. The other condition is we would have to conduct things in a clear region of space near Rendili where we routinely conduct tests as. . . .travel for me is difficult under the circumstances of. . . Rendili's status as a result of its current occupants."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

[member="Camellia Swift"]

I nodded in response to the respectful bow the woman as she flickered to life on the Holo-Projector. Good, not everyone returned messages to potential competition, even if ArmaTech wasn't really a starship manufacturer and Rendili Stardrive was. ArmaTech was a ship manufacturer in the same way Rendili was a tank foundry. We could make some neat things, but for the most part, we specialized in different fields. That was one of the main reasons I had requested to field test alongside Rendili. Camellia would either look down at whatever ships I brought, believing them inferior based on the manufacturer, or she would offer assistance, depending on her mood and her own priorities. "Well, I like to have friends in lots of places. Surely you can understand that. And I am glad to hear about your interest in conducting a wargame for our respective ships. I am sure Rendili can provide the proper assistance in this little test. I feel it is best to conduct tests against real opposition. We've tested the ships against pirates, and frankly they were not prepared or not properly armed to give the ships I have in production a run for their money. That is why I asked you. And of course we will be discrete as you would like." I said. I knew that the Sith weren't exactly friendly individuals, and despite dealing with Darth Carach in limited practice, I didn't really like them. The Techno Union was a good home, but for the most part I stayed in Mandalorian Space so I understood her caution. "You tell me where we can meet prior to the games, we can discuss things over drinks, then get to mock fighting each other at your leisure. I have found the life of a free CEO to provide me with a lot of free time."

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

Camellia certainly could understand that, and it was a good practice to keep if the Rendili woman were being entirely honest about it. After all, more friends meant more possible avenues for business. Of course, as a primarily military contractor, Rendili Stardrive wasn't doing as great as it used to considering the Sith had a greater interest in the ships and technology of the Youzhan Vong and the toys that Titan Industries could provide them. In that situation, Camellia greatly missed the time Rendili spent as a Republic world when her shipwright's designs had filled the Navy's Ranks. Although the Rendili woman certainly couldn't complain about how the Sith were leaving the governance of Rendili up to her since her, and the planet's, transformation under a certain Sith Zeltron's guidance.

Hopefully with the new angle for the company, they would hit the Open Market hard and gain a great deal more customers to make up for the loss of attention. "Well then Mr. Vereen, I hope you find the designs of Rendili Stardrive to be sufficient opposition for your new product. I will send you the coordinates for the area of the mock battle now if you're ready. Of course because of travel around the hyperspace routes and distance we will be there waiting for you so don't be alarmed by the fleet arranged upon your arrival. I personally make it a custom to drink only in celebration of success so I hope you don't mind if I ask if we put that on hold until after the battle and we're satisfied with our ships performance. Shall we hash out any limitations and rules for the engagement then?"

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I listened to the woman speak patiently before responding. “I hope so, they have a reputation after all. One of the reasons I sought you out for this test of their capabilities.” I looked at a starmap just off screen and glanced through it, looking around Rendili for the coordinates she suggested for the little training exercise. “That system will do fine as far as I am concerned. I will meet you there in two days if that is adequate. It takes a little extra time to cover your tracks to get somewhere. Especially with a fleet of, well let’s say five thousand meters. And sure, we can save the drink till afterwards.” I sat, waiting her acceptance of the proposal or any modifications she requested.

While I waited I keyed buttons on the datapad activating crews for several ships in ArmaTech’s fleet to use for this operation. Friends from Mandal Hypernautics, and some allies with the Silver Sanctum Coalition provided the bulk of the forces I normally used, but for now, I had what I needed. It didn’t take a long time to prepare ships that were already being prepared for launch, it was now just a matter of crewing them and making our way out to the system near Rendili.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

For Camellia herself, it was much easier to put together the crews for the vessels that she would be bringing to their little test. After all, for her part she was an officer in the Planetary Defense Fleet before becoming the CEO of Rendili Stardrive. Well that and the current governor of her entire homeworld she supposed. She was loathe to actually claim the title of Arch-Provost when he. . .er she was still around doing the actual job running things. Point being though was that it wouldn't take that long to put the call into the Home Defense Fleet to spare a few members to help out her company's own group of pilots and crews typically reserved for cargo transport and testing out prototype ships anyway. There was no doubt in the Rendili woman's mind either that ArmaTech would have no issues finding the resources and manpower to run their side of the wargames either.

Which it seemed, had some very tight rules about it as well. The size limits for the fleets they would be using was rather small, which was a tad disadvantageous for Rendili's side of things since Camellia was intending to primarily use the opportunity to test out a new battleship class of warship, which meant she was going to be very limited in the total number of ships she was bringing overall. Something she was willing to bet wouldn't be an issue for ArmaTech. Then again, considering that her ship would be larger, it would also undoubtedly be far more powerful to make up for things. The real question it would come down to was the number of support squadrons each side would bring to the table. Something that could go either way depending on how expansive the hangars were among Draco Vereen's forces.

Something Camellia supposed she would be finding out soon enough after the time had passed to the allotted day for their fleets to square off against one another. Each side would have five thousand meters worth of starship tonnage, although for now only Rendili Stardrive was in business as a result of the fact their transit was much shorter compared to that which their opponents in the day's showing had to cover. As such they had plenty of time to get themselves arrayed to make a good appearance for when ArmaTech's fleet did arrive at the battle location they had agreed upon. Hopefully the sight would leave a well received impression on the Mandalorian in charge of the group when his forces came out of hyperspace to catch the view.

Three Hammerhead Class Cruisers sat in a multi dimensional triangle of sorts around a single Centurion Class Battlecruiser, one ahead and above the Interdictor Carrier while the other two sat lower along the x-axis on either side of the larger vessel. However, it was the ship just directly above, so that a portion of its mass hung over the Centurion, the battlecruiser that was the true heart of the formation. Sitting at 2,011 meters long it was nearly double the size of the Centurion, and completely different in shape. Bearing a resemblance to a long cylinder, the Invincible Class Dreadnaught was perhaps the ugliest ship many would ever see, going off of the remarks at least that Camellia could recall hearing just on the Dreadnought Heavy Cruiser.

Like all Rendili ships the Invincible Class was merely an overhaul of the original model, one which was well over six thousand years old, its period of service dating back to the Republic Navy in the years following the Alsakan Conflicts. Nonetheless, like all Rendili designs, its use lasted long beyond the days it was originally active, a number of them landing in the Corporate Sector Authority's defense forces like many outdated vessels. However, the Invincible class now could hardly be compared to the way it was before at all. While likely mighty and imposing in its conception, the battleship did not keep up over the years with the strength of galactic navies ever evolving. Which was the primary issue that Rendili Stardrive had corrected when working on the refit product.

Still, the formation wasn't fully rounded out yet, as the three cruisers, single Centurion, and lone battleship still didn't quite hit the tonnage limit that the two companies had set. Thus, six of them spread out so that they sat along the length of the Invincible in a staggered pattern with the last sitting below the dreadnaught to provide ample defensive coverage, there were seven Vainglorious class cruisers rounding out the rest of Rendili Stardrive's arrayed forces with the intention to boost both the unit's capital ship warfare ability as well as anti-fighter defense. Leaving Camellia Swift with only one thought as she stared out the bridge at the glorious sight of it all as she grinned and opened a communication to Sanya while they waited for ArmaTech to arrive. "Do you think Mr. Vereen will be impressed?"

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The crews were well trained, moderately experienced members of ArmaTech Security, mostly former Republic and Local Armed Forces soldiers given some additional training and taught how to use their equipment properly. It wasn’t the best crews someone could have, but they weren’t scrubs either. Just plain average. I myself wasn’t trained or experienced in Battle Meditation, so I wouldn’t be of much help there, but perhaps I could offer some help to the ship I would be on for this exercise.

ArmaTech was not a well-known starship manufacturer as of yet, in fact other than the relatively unimpressive Myrmidon, ArmaTech had never produced a ship of note. The Myrmidon had served its purpose well as a patrol ship and a fast attack ship, capable of covering a vast amount of space due to its faster hyperdrive over standard ones, its hull and armament were modest at best. But this would work to my benefit in this war game.

The modest make and mold of the Myrmidon drew attention towards the expensive and elegant design of the Bes’Drahr and Ga’Ihlr-class Battleships that formed the core of the fleet I had prepared for this game.

The key of the Bes’Drahr was its durability. With extensive work and designing throughout its hull, which included micronized Beskar. The heavy shielding that was layered on top of this hull protected the vessels from all but the most punishing assaults. In the end, durability had always been the primary focus of ArmaTech, and it made sense that this focus flowed over into its ships.

Offensively the Bes’Drahr features three primary turrets. These turrets mount triple ACS-802 Super Heavy Turbolasers each, allowing each of the massive weapon systems producing more output than a corvette. Second the Heavy Turbolaser Batteries and Ion cannon batteries provided excellent fire power. These weapons were arrayed in broadsides that could fire full forward at knife range and reduce enemy ships to slag in close exchanges. Coming to grips with a Bes’Drahr was far from ideal.

Twenty Heavy Proton Torpedoes, arrayed in a forward battery of eight, and side batteries of six provided missile weapons to support the main armament and deliver the killing punch in combat. Defensively the ship was protected by sixteen ACS-801 Witch Fire CIWS and twenty quad laser cannons.

Well rounded the ship was effectively a pocket Dark Blade, made for the Mandalorians and their allies to counter the One Sith fleets.

Where the Bes’Drahr excelled in close quarters battles, the Ga’Ihlr was an artillery ship, designed with long range weapons unlike its sister class. The Ga’Ihlr still utilizes the ACS-802 Super Heavy Turbolaser Systems as main line weapons, offering it some in the way of close combat, though it hardly excels or performs on par there. Where it performs best is at long range, when it can bring its long range Turbolasers and Ion cannons to bear on its opponents, striking at them from great distances supporting the fleet it is with.

Both ships are equipped with large Electronic Warfare modules. These are mostly for supporting their roles. The Bes’Drahr is meant as a distraction, its durability and longevity allowing it to take a severe amount of punishment while other ships are free from abuse. The electronic warfare modules make tracking and targeting other ships difficult, but in close the Bes’Drahr would be simple to visually see and fire upon, making it the only reliable target. The Ga’Ihlr instead uses the module to protect itself from return fire, locking the weapons onto anything that might harass the ship while it grinds other vessels to dust.

Arrayed around the two Bes’Drahrs and the Ga’Ihlr I sat on, were three Sev’rance-class light carriers filled with their droid complements, a Thrawn-class Interdictor, five Haran’Uliik light frigates, and three Myrmidon-class Strike Frigates. "Make the last jump ensign."

"Yes sir. Hyperspace in three... two... one." at the end of the count down the blue tunnel of hyperspace enveloped the small fleet sending it the last five minutes of our journey. Let see how they impress, at least live up to the reputation. And hopefully we can impress miss Swift somewhat with our own designs.

[691]

Fleet

Spoiler

Ga’Ihlr-class Battleship
Bes’Drahr-class Battleship (2)
Thrawn-class Interdiction Cruiser
Myrmidon-class Strike Cruisers (3)

• Avenger-class Starfighers (36)

Sev’rance-class Light Carriers (3)

• CS/TX-00 Droid Starfighers (162)
• CS/TX-01 Droid Interceptors (108)
• CS/TX-02 Droid Bombers (54)

Haran’Uliik-class Light Frigates (5)

• Avenger-class Starfighters (90)
• CS/TX-02 Droid Bomber (60)

[member="Sanya Val Lerium"] [member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Sanya Val Lerium"]

Well Camellia wouldn't say whether she was impressed or not when Draco's forces appeared out of hyperspace. To be fair she knew she couldn't expect a company just bridging into the shipbuilding industry to have the catalog to fill a whole fleet with only their designs, but there was just something about ArmaTech packing a ship of the old Sith Empire that made the Rendili woman frown. Likely just memories of better and more consistent warfare than the completely bizarre rules the galaxy's inhabitants seemed to be adhering to as of recent memory. Setting that aside though, if people called the Dreadnought cruiser or Invincible ugly then ArmaTech's starships certainly could share the same term since they seemed to also share the rugged appearance of more modern Rendili designs.

Setting looks aside though, aesthetically that is, it appeared as though Mr. Vereen had opted to go for a larger number of smaller ships than Rendili Stardrive had brought to the table. More cruiser sized ships, nothing in the destroyer class. Which wouldn't really have been a problem if it weren't for the fact that those Techno Union carriers were definitely old enough to be on the registry of accounted warships by now. If anything, they were going to be filled to the brim with droid fighters, and that left Camellia more than a little unhappy considering things were shaping up to level the odds against the Rendili Defense Force's Starfighter Corp by a large margin since those old Confederate carriers practically had as many ships as the battlecruiser dedicated to the role for her fleet. . . . again modern rules being a huge issue of disdain for her.

Nevertheless, there was at least the satisfaction in knowing that those fighters, even if they did outnumber her own, had to get around the defense guns of her ships. Of course there were always going to be gaps, especially with a ship as large as the Invincible, but then the Vainglorious were there for a reason too, their heavy laser cannons boasting quite accurate and quick tracking capabilities excellent for taking down starfighters alongside the point defense cannons of the larger battlecruisers. If she utilized her squadrons defensively to merely keep the enemies from swooping into her cruisers there was a decent chance of vying for control on the fighter front. Leaving the biggest threat down to managing to have her capital ships crush ArmaTech's own. With her best bet lying in the power of the Invincible at close range.

After all. . . .

Bristling with weaponry, the Invincible class sported twenty four Long Range Heavy Dual Turbolaser Turrets, eight mounted as broadside cannons on either side of the forward end of the ship, one directly set below the bridge with firing arcs in one hundred eighty degree range, one above and two below along the midline of the ship with three hundred and sixty degrees of firing arcs, and four more mounted rear facing also sporting one eighty firing ranges like the bow mounted weapon. Supporting these directly are the next heaviest armament in the battleship's arsenal, ten forward facing, ventral mounted, heavy assault grade concussion missile launchers, with another eight forward facing launchers located further toward the rear of the ship. While these alone are terrifying enough as well, the Invincible would hardly bear the title of a dreadnaught if it did not have more, specifically sixty six heavy dual turbolaser turrets mounted across the ship in various batteries and over two hundred more weapon blisters. With each blister housing two typical turbolasers and heftier heavy grade laser cannons apiece, with the remainder of the armaments rounding out to another hundred point defense cannons for anti missile and fighter defense.

Which, while not covering every meter, a blessing when taking into account that the Invincible class does that having its own supporting hangar, instead sporting eight universal docking tubes situated across its hull toward the front and rear of the vessel to allow for personnel transfers. All the same, disregarding that the warship relies on others for fighter support since it doesn't house a hangar of its own, it truly is deserving of its name as a ship that is most difficult to destroy. While not made of materials like Beskar or Ultrachrome, mostly a result of the expensive nature of the metals and the amount it would take to coat a ship the battleship's size and partially also the laziness of Rendili Stardrive's CEO, the Invincible's hull is heavily reinforced with several thick layers of Durasteel, honeycombed with alusteel frames and supports within the ship's confines to further ensure structural stability.

Despite the weight it bears though, the ship itself is not truly as slow as it would appear, which is mostly in thanks to the size and power output of the massive engine compartments the vessel bears, taking up nearly just under a third of the length, as well as its multiple powerful hypermatter reactors, taking up the space that would normally go towards a supporting hangar for shuttles and fighter squadrons of a ship the dreadnaught's size. Specifically, the new invincible class sports four Proton-8 power plants, Rendili's pride and the number one edge the company still holds in the shipwright industry. Hypermatter reactors that were one fourth the size of the I-a2b, Solar Ionization reactors Kuat Drive Yards used in their original Imperial Star Destroyers and their successors the IIs, yet had even greater output. It was a result of these, rather expensive units, placed aboard the Invincible class that its speed did not suffer compared to other ships of its tonnage despite its thicker armor plating, and still had stronger than average shielding.

It would outclass every other ship on the market competing for a spot at its size. While it wasn't bearing that much more firepower than the typically dreaded Darkblade class, the fact that Rendili Stardrive intended to push for Mass Production would be its selling point. To provide systems with fewer credits access to a warship capable of withstanding assault against mightier powers as a result of having a centerpoint in their forces as the Invincible Class. That and if a galactic government did take notice of them again then perhaps many systems would find themselves protected with such a vessel where more unique or mightier warships were rarer. After all, Immortals for example were certainly more heavily armed, but they were slower and far far fewer in nature.

Not to mention that the Immortal had the immense flaw of having all its weapons settled with forward firing arcs only, leaving the ship itself vulnerable to flanking, incredibly so considering how slow it was as well. Whereas the Invincible's cylindrical shape gave it nearly zero blind spots in exchange for being unable to concentrate all its firepower on a single target. Hence why the Rendili woman in charge of the fleet prepared for the wargames against ArmaTech was setting up her approach to the battle utilizing her fleet as a spear, to stab into the heart of whatever forces Draco brought to the fight and to unleash the Invincible's fury on every single target at close range where its weapons couldn't miss and its broadsides would be most devastating.

Truly, in her opinion, Camellia only believed her Invincible lacked to the other great warships around as a result of having no hangar support of its own.

Which would hopefully be made up for from the nine starfighter squadrons, four Rendili Starfighter Squadrons, two elite Honorable class fighter Squadrons, and three FT-21 Galaxy Class Bomber Squadrons, housed in the Centurion Class Battlecruiser, that she was putting under the command of her close friend and fellow shipwright owner [member="Sanya Val Lerium"], along with the three Aurek Interceptor Squadrons aboard the Hammerhead Cruisers. The fighter choices having been made to provide adequate dog fighting forces as well as heavier fighters and bombers with countermeasures to support attack runs on enemy capital ships. Although being outnumbered as heavily as they were now Camellia highly believed she would be using them more reactively. At least she believed she could count on the bombers and heavy fighters' chaff deployment launchers to help ward off enemy bombing runs if spread correctly in front of the capital ships for defense.

Setting it all aside though, the Rendili woman stepped toward the communications officer as she smiled and waved for the young woman to open a communication. "Shall we see what Mr. Vereen's impressions are then. See how long he'll take to get ready too."

Fleet:

Spoiler

Invincible Class Battleship x1
Centurion Battlecruiser x1

• Rendili Starfighter x48
• FT-21 Galaxy Guard x36
• Honorable Elite Starfighter x24

Hammerhead Cruiser (Refit) x3

• Aurek Strike Interceptor x36

Vainglorious Class Cruiser x7

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

[member="Camellia Swift"] Ξ [member="Draco Vereen"]

Sanya stood onboard the centurion battle cruiser standing at the bridge waiting for the impending battle. Sure it was just a big version of dog fighting so it was perfect opportunity for Sanya to learn how to command a ship, with her lovers guidance of course. As the battle cruiser pulled into position, dracos fleet dropped out of hyperspace. As cam spoke over the com Sanya couldn't help but giggle. "From past experience of working with him he'll have it all planned out, besides this wouldn't be the first time I've shot at him."

Now she thought about it that probably sounded worse that what she ment. After all the shield she was wearing on the back of her belt was the same he had on when she shot at him to test the strength. She still wished she could have used a faster firing gun thought just to see the big guy flinch. That was the problem with mando's the battled so much the where used to seeing shots fly so close to them and laught at how much a bad shot their opponent was. Although she didn't intend to play easy in the name of good spirit and testing.

At least one thing she was thankful to the sith zeltron though, she gave Sanya the power to order the croa and they had no choice to obay, just like camellia had such power. Out of the whole spieces they where the top, the pedigree of their kind and the most pure. The rendili woman been the first of her kind and Sanya been the first force user croa. If anything this made them such a better team with them been so special.

Sanya looked at everyone at their stations waiting for the go. She even watched the security screens across from her looking at the hangers and pilots where ready in the ships. It was all about to go down. "Cam tell me when to commence attack and then let's hope no one gets hurt in the process. The ships do have non lethal ammo right? Or are we using live rounds?" She asked her beautiful lover that stood in command of the entire fleet.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

As the ships reverted from hyperspace at the edge of the system sensor readings began scrolling across data feeds depicting the Rendili ships that awaited us in the system. Most were fairly small supporting a pair of larger ships. The smaller of the two I recognized as a Centurion, a powerful multi-role interdictor that could easily support a fleet as needed with numerous weapons and a fairly large hangar complement. That might play against the plan I had originally thought of, but then again, it might play towards it perfectly, only time would tell at this point.

The other ship was immense, over two kilometers in length, bristling with weapons of its own, and designed to be a center piece in a fleet no doubt. Certainly miss Swift had come prepared to take the long range game from the start and support it with smaller more maneuverable ships. The center piece, like most ships of its size had two distinct disadvantages. It was big so at close range it was nearly impossible to miss, and it handled like a brick, especially as elongated as it was, there was no way it turned on a dime. These were traits to use against it, while attempting to maximize my own potential.

Being a member of the Techno Union, ArmaTech enjoyed numerous benefits, such as access to their navy manifest. Furthermore, being one of the higher ranking members on the Executive council, allowed me the privledge of simply “borrowing” Techno Union ships on occasion. The rule of thumb was to not cause an intergalactic incident that got broadcast to every government in the galaxy. I assumed since this was little more than a training exercise and a field test of our newer ships, that we could avoid those things, especially with the precautions we had taken to come here unnoticed.

“Alright, miss Swift seems to have out done herself for this demonstration. I am not sure how or when she wants to kick this off, but lets get moving. Have the Bes’Drahr, the Asp, one of the Sev’rances, and the Haran’Uliik’s pull to port eighty degrees. Pull the rest of the fleet up on the Ga’Ihlr and bring us starboard fifteen degrees. Fighter screens only, keep all the droid ships in their hangars for now.” The ships shifted to move on their allotted paths, moving as a group rather than the quicker ships pushing out in front. I waved to the communications officer. “Open a channel to Miss swift please. I would assume she is on that battlecruiser.” The officer clicked a few buttons and a moment later the feed snapped on.

“Good evening miss Swift, you certainly dress to impress as it were. That certainly is an impressive ship you’ve constructed from my take of it.”

[464]

Fleet

Spoiler

Group One (pulling starboard 15 degrees)
Ga’Ihlr Ga’Ihlr-class Battleship
Gar’Prudii Bes’Drahr-class Battleship
Myrmidon-class Strike Cruisers (3)

• Avenger-class Starfighers (36)

Sev’rance-class Light Carriers (2)

• CS/TX-00 Droid Starfighers (108)
• CS/TX-01 Droid Interceptors (72)
• CS/TX-02 Droid Bombers (36)

Group Two (Pulling port 80 degrees)
Bes’Drahr Bes’Drahr-class Battleship
Asp Thrawn-class Interdiction Cruiser
Sev’rance-class Light Carriers (1)

• CS/TX-00 Droid Starfighers (54)
• CS/TX-01 Droid Interceptors (36)
• CS/TX-02 Droid Bombers (18)

Haran’Uliik-class Light Frigates (5)

• Avenger-class Starfighters (90)
• CS/TX-02 Droid Bomber (60)

[member="Sanya Val Lerium"] [member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Sanya Val Lerium"] [member="Draco Vereen"]

Of course the ships had non-lethal ammunition, all ships did. At least as far as the Rendili woman was aware there were certain production codes and even if there weren't plenty of militaries preferred that their warships were outfitted with the option of having their armaments open to having a rather low density energy setting. Something that could be picked up by sensor pings where it struck shields and ships but wouldn't actually do any damage. Rather the computers and sensors would then infer damage from the lackluster energy spectrum to determine what the damage would be if it were a real battle and deduct it from a simulation score. Of course that did prompt Camellia to realize she would have to contact Draco for any special weaponry he might be packing so that their power output could be recorded so her ships could accurately score his hits.

"All turbolasers and laser cannons are non-lethal by adjusting their power levels. We do have low yield energy release warheads as well to score the warhead hits on sensors too. So there's no real reason to worry, just follow my lead on things, we've already had your weapons set up for the simulation so no worries." Although she supposed she ought to check with ArmaTech to see if they were aware of such restrictions as well, though she assumed that at least the Mandalorian who had to have been in similar combat before figured there had to be such settings on their equipment. It seemed he was at least fairly accommodated with how to run a fighter screen, though it was obvious he was holding back ships as she looked over the shoulder of the officer at the sensor suite and saw that a few particular ships weren't launching their escorts yet. Seems like someone was hoping to hold back their Techno Union assets for now.

Preparing to set up her own starfighters in their positions, Camellia found herself interrupted by Mr. Vereen's communication. Not that it bothered her too much as she grinned and addressed the man as her comms station put him on screen. "Thank you, its merely a refit of an older design, but we hope the alterations to its framework and capacity have made it more. . . . capable as a warship. You're own fleet is rather awe inspiring itself, that's quite a few cruisers I see there. I do hope you don't mind me asking this, but if you can send any specs on non-traditional weaponry you may have aboard those vessels it would be much appreciated. We want to take fair hits, but we'll need the statistics on their capabilities to accurately have the computers log the damage the simulation of ours incurs. I assume your ship's weapons are also already set for a lower energy spectrum?"*

Fleet:

Spoiler

Invincible Class Battleship x1
Centurion Battlecruiser x1

• Rendili Starfighter x48
• FT-21 Galaxy Guard x36
• Honorable Elite Starfighter x24

Hammerhead Cruiser (Refit) x3

• Aurek Strike Interceptor x36

Vainglorious Class Cruiser x7

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

[member="Camellia Swift"] Ξ [member="Draco Vereen"]

While Sanya sat in the chair getting comfortable she opened up the internal com's of the vessel. "All personnel you are to treat this as a real combat scenario. That means no holding back. Once you are out you will deploy the red flairs attached to your wings to show your ship is no longer in the game. Those who get shot out will be undergoing extensive training to improve your abilities as a poilt. Your targets will be called out by your squadron leaders a normal so listen to them." She said directing her orders to the pilots. "Gunners your targets will be called out by me or your officers."

Sanya didn't doubt the abilities of women she'd been left in charge of. If anything they know they where outstanding at listening to commands and that is all that can really be asked for. Sanya moved to the open com between camellia and Draco. "I'm ready." She said with confidence. Even if it might be short lived due to her first time doing a space battle in command of a large ship. She moved com's again to the one between just her and cam this time. "Whats my orders when the battle starts, other than deploying the squadrons and focus fire on a target ship?"

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I could hear the instructions over the comm system. The best part about using droid fighters was that it was really easy to program the obey the rules of the wargame. The ships from group one continued moving away from the other ships, creating separation from the second group. With swarms of droid fighters, space superiority would be easier, but actually dealing damage to the capital ships would remain an issue due to the defensive guns most capital ships used, including the Ga'Ihlr I stood on now, and the other ships in the small fleet.

"Order group two's Droid starfighters and interceptors to provide a fighter screen, hold ours in reserve for now. Bring us to extreme range and get ready for their response. They no doubt have better long range capabilities than us. Shields to full." Without a nod the bridge crews began working at fulfilling the orders and moving out in the directions they had been given. Droid fighters swarmed around group two, offering some protection from Rendili fighters should the decide to go in that direction. I figured that the Rendili forces would form up and move to protect that really big ship in the center, and at extreme range our E-war suites could begin to hamper their long range capabilities. "Order the Gar'Prudii and Ga'Ihlr to activate their Sensor Disruptors targeting the Invincible. Have the Bes'drahr target the Centurion-class with its. Lets see if we can calm down their range superiority some. They should be closing soon."

Fleet

Spoiler

Group One
Ga’Ihlr Ga’Ihlr-class Battleship
Gar’Prudii Bes’Drahr-class Battleship
Myrmidon-class Strike Cruisers (3)

• Avenger-class Starfighers (36)

Sev’rance-class Light Carriers (2)

• CS/TX-00 Droid Starfighers (108)
• CS/TX-01 Droid Interceptors (72)
• CS/TX-02 Droid Bombers (36)

Group Two
Bes’Drahr Bes’Drahr-class Battleship
Asp Thrawn-class Interdiction Cruiser
Sev’rance-class Light Carriers (1)

• CS/TX-00 Droid Starfighers (54)
• CS/TX-01 Droid Interceptors (36)
• CS/TX-02 Droid Bombers (18)

Haran’Uliik-class Light Frigates (5)

• Avenger-class Starfighters (90)
• CS/TX-02 Droid Bomber (60)

[member="Sanya Val Lerium"] [member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Sanya Val Lerium"] [member="Draco Vereen"]

Perhaps it would sound really underhanded, but part of the other reason for requesting the readout information for the unique weaponry on ArmaTech's ships was to glean some competitive edge market wise as well. After all, by knowing the scope of the capabilities of the other company, Rendili Stardrive could possibly work around enhancing their own equipment or other details to make themselves superior in the eyes of potential consumers. Of course, it wasn't that bad either. Camellia had no intention of trying to trick her mandalorian associate into giving up his company trade secrets regarding their weapon design, that would be far too dishonorable and go against her ethic of Rendili proving its merit by coming up with efforts that were original as far as their work went. Plus she did actually have to ask for that data for the simulation so it wasn't like she was asking for it just for the slight information boost it gave her people, they did really need it to calibrate their sensor suite for the damage in the simulation wargames.

Turning her attention back to her inter-fleet comms though, the Rendili woman grinning at the sound of Sanya's voice on the other end. "Just keep the fighter screen close to our main warships. They have fighter advantage so deploy our fighter units only when their own make runs at us, have our forces cover our weakpoints around our cruisers where anti-fighter defenses are light whenever they approach those sections. Though that all goes without saying we need to wait till we get closer anyway. As for that, all forces begin forward motion now. We need to get the Invincible in the midst of their fleet, I don't intend to turn this into a long range engagement. Have the Hammerheads focus their fire on their largest ship, and the Invincible's long range cannonry can bombard the one after that. It will be best once we're in close quarters and we can unleash all fire around our Dreadnaught. Even the Centurion does better at closer quarters. We'll assign your battlecruiser a target Sanya once we're within range of your batteries."

Fleet:

Spoiler

Invincible Class Battleship x1
Centurion Battlecruiser x1

• Rendili Starfighter x48
• FT-21 Galaxy Guard x36
• Honorable Elite Starfighter x24

Hammerhead Cruiser (Refit) x3

• Aurek Strike Interceptor x36

Vainglorious Class Cruiser x7

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

[member="Camellia Swift"] Ξ [member="Draco Vereen"]

The ship followed in tow with the others keeping formation. Her eyes would focus on the radars keeping track of what was happening. Camellia gave the orders to deploy a screen of ships to defend us, although keeping one or two squadorns onboard would of for a slight advantage once they where in close enough. "Squadrons six to ten hold back be prepared for deployment. Everyone else move out, protect the ships and each other. Don't let them brake the defence." She said on the internal com's. "Camellia I've kept a few behind to deploy in close range. Hopefully they will get the drop on Mr vereen's fighters and ships." The squadrons would leave the hanger like a swarm of ships in their own unique formations. Each one would be on a different flight path and keeping close to the centurion and the hammerheads. Was it ironic that this battle felt slightly like reacting the old clone wars battles. The rendili ships filled with fighters with organic pilots and the opposition simply just droids. The only down side with droids is that after several attacks their patterns become predictable. It was possibly the main reason the CIS lost the majority of their battles.