To others, the chaos of command may have seemed blinding. The alarms, the displays, the constant stream of information was enough to confuse and rattle many, even in the military. To then interpret it, see beyond the data to what was truly occurring was another rare skill. To guess what the enemy’s maneuvers were leading towards, or to keep track of your own forces was a handful. To issue orders through the whole mess took a unique state of mind, a clarity of thought rarely found outside of the Force orders.
It was such a state of being I was in.
“Sir, an enemy ship is breaking off to chase the detachment!”
“Sir, Warpsite is reporting critical shields!”
“Fighters are being overwhelmed!”
“We’ve identified a weakness in the enemy flagship!”
“Revenant Squadron is reporting enemy aces!”
The enemy’s plan was simple on the surface. They had more firepower and stronger ships than the 11th, and enjoyed a defensive posture. So, they were relying on those factors to simply chew up their targets, and react to whatever I did. Not that I could fault the Mawite commander, I’d have done something very similar in their position. But they’d given up the initiative, a vital component of a battle.
They’d focused their fire on the
Warspite, either out of a mistaken belief it was the command ship for the whole force, or simply targeting the largest threat. I couldn’t be sure which, but I had my suspicions. Now though, I needed a revision to my initial plan. The enemy ship splitting off to counter my flanking move wasn’t surprising, but did ruin the opportunity to achieve victory that way.
I could send another flanking force, but they would be countered too, and leave my line too weak. But the ship splitting off had given me an idea, just as the weakness in the enemy command vessel piqued my interest.
First things first, however. The
Warspite was tough, but couldn’t handle that volume of fire for long, even at this range.
“Signal the Warspite. Order the ship to fallback and recharge her shields.”
Upon seeing that command executed, I turned to another junior officer.
“What was the weakness the scanner teams identified?”
“Sir,” the young nautolan responded,
“The enemy lead ship appears to have a severely exposed reactor.”
Very good.
“Anything else?”
“We believe it to be the Resurgence, if it is that ship is confirmed to have an exposed reactor.”
“Thank you.”
ANV Warspite, Bridge
"Captain! Orders from the admiral, we are to fall back to recover shielding!"
"About damn time! Hard to starboard, lets get moving!"
The sooner the huge vessel could get moving, the better. Though it was fast for ships of its size, and better armored than most, it suffered in maneuverability. Such a gargantuan turning berth would risk further damage to the ship, but it was better than staying where they were. The direction Radiel had chosen would take the ship through the gap left by the flanking detachment.
"Sir, main shields are down!"
"Direct any redundant shield generators still running to face the enemy! reroute power from the ones on the safe side if your have to!"
And so it went on...
ANV Revenge
“Signal Captain Sorrene, I want her to withdraw her fighters to the 11th.”
“Yessir.”
“Also signal the detachment. I want them to move away from the engagement. If the enemy ship pursues, they are to continue to move away. If it turns, they are to flank it.”
Now to sow confusion in the enemy before the strike begins.
The Alliance, and the intelligence specialists aboard
Revenge had been hard at work cracking enemy codes since the war began. Some success had been found, though they weren’t fully finished in their work. Enough was known however, to identify simple commands, such as orders to retreat.
“Lieutenant?”
“Sir?”
“I want a message sent to the enemy ships, except their flag. Encode it as well as possible in their codes. Make it look like the enemy commander has given the order to fall back. Bounce it off their flagship’s hull if you can.”
“Yessir.”
It was a gamble, but if even one of the enemy captains fell for it it’d be worth it. Anything to clear the way for what was coming next.
“Patch me through to Sorrene.”
A moment passed.
[“Captain Sorrene. Regroup behind the line of battle. Your fighters will be critical for what comes next. A wing of bombers is ready to follow you to the enemy’s lead ship. You are to clear a path. The corvettes will cover your retreat and will knock out as many enemy fighters before you begin your run. Good luck Sorrene.”]
Now, to keep watch, and be ready to respond to anything new.
| Warspite | Withdrawing to rear, main shields down
Redundant Shielding critical
Minimal armor damage |
| Defiance | Engaging at maximum range
Shields recovering |
| Endurance | Engaging at maximum range
Shields recovering |
| Firebrand | Engaging at maximum range
Shields recovering |
| Majestic | Engaging at maximum range
Shields recovering |
| 4 Lateran-Class Corvettes | Providing anti-fighter cover |
| Oberon | Providing anti-fighter cover |
Kyrel Ren
|
Judah Lesan
|
Valery Noble
|
Kaalia Pavanos
|
Kahlil Noble
