Jan sat down at the table and immediately started to discuss strategy with the leaders of the Abregado-rae Liberation League.
“Gentle beings, the liberation is planned for tomorrow. I know that my fleet is waiting outside the system, ready to jump in at our beaconing.”
“Did you bring in the additional forces that we suggested?”
“Yes. Currently we have 1 Interdictor Cruiser, 2 Haven-class Light Cruisers, 4 Defender Gunships, 8 Nebulon-B2 Frigates, 72 K-wing Bombers, 132 XJ X-wings, 60 A-wings and 72 B-wings waiting to jump into this system on my command. They will deploy here. We also have a Sentenial Shuttle and a YT-1300 bringing in some troops.”
Jan touched a point on the map.
“The ships will move in against the Victory Star Destroyer, 2 Strike Cruisers, 6 Corellian Gunships and 2 Corellian Corvettes that the government has in orbit. Also, the government has 72 TIE Interceptors orbiting the area. The Haven Cruiser and Defender Gunships will wipe out the Strike Cruisers, while the Nebulon-B2 Frigates destroy the Gunships and Corvettes. 60 A-wings and 36 X-wings will move in and eliminate the TIE Interceptors, while the 1st K-wing Bomber Wing and their escorting X-wings destroy the main ground based fighter bay. The 2nd K-wing Bomber Wing with escorts will destroy this secondary fighter bay. The remaining 48 X-wings and 72 B-wings will move in on the Victory Star Destroyers, and wipe out it’s shields with proton torpedoes, before disabling it with their ion cannons.”
One of the Gados spoke up at this point.
“Meanwhile, the ALL Army will move in on this small garrison here, infiltrating it and hopefully capturing it intact, and some of the AT-AT walkers inside. We will then move into the capital city, with some fighter cover.”
“Correct.”
“What will your Interdictor Cruiser be doing while this is going on?”
“It will power up it’s gravity well projectors, trapping their fleet here, but also pulling reinforcements out of hyperspace prematurely, so that we can react to them.”
“I see.”
“All we have left to do is wait for the fleet to arrive.”
Jan looked up and saw Erisi and Cathy coming over to the table.
“Well, gentle beings, if we are finished here, I believe I have to play tourist, and the rest of the job will be left to you. Remember, the New Rebellion must not be named, the galaxy is supposed to think that the fleet is just a mercenary fleet.”
“We understand.”
“Once Abregado-rae is liberated, you will be considered an independent system, but some of the fleet that we sent to liberate you will stay here. People may ask questions, but they won’t be able to prove anything illegal happened, because nothing illegal did happen.”
Jan and Erisi left, they had to play the part of tourist tomorrow, and would not be involved in the fighting.
The next day, the hour of the attack came, and everything was ready. One moment, there was a spot of space, empty with nothing in it. The next moment, the New Rebellion fleet had arrived. Onboard Haven, the orders started to go out.
“All ships deploy. I want the Haven Light Cruisers to lead the assault, with the Defender Gunships following them, forming two triangles, with the Haven’s at the tip. The A-wings and 36 XJ X-wings follow us in, to get rid of the enemy fighters. The K-wings and their escorts head down to the ground. Following the A-wings are the B-wings and their escorts, then the Nebulon-B2 Frigates. I want the enemy ships to go down fast. Immobilizer, stay back where you are and don’t power up you gravity well projectors yet. All ships microjump into the system, so we will be right on top of the enemy ships. Three, two, one, mark.”
The fleet microjumped forward, right on top of the enemy fleet. The K-wings and their escorts took a slightly different path, straight towards the planet, so they would be closer to their targets. The sentenial shuttle and the YT-1300 freighter also took the same course as the K-wings. Immobilizer waited four more seconds, to make sure that everyone had safely microjumped in, and then powered up it’s gravity well generators.
“Send out the auto-message saying that there is a gravity well projector set up.”
“Yes sir.”
The captain didn’t want another mistake like the one at Commenor, involving the IDTech ships. Not all ships were capable of being dragged out of hyperspace, without damage.
Up ahead that Haven Light Cruisers and the Defender Gunships had engaged the enemy Strike Cruisers, while the A-wings and XJ X-wings had engaged the enemy TIE Interceptors, starting off with a volley of concussion missiles and proton torpedoes, which had significantly decreased the size of the enemy forces. The Nebulon-B2 Frigates were just starting to engage the Corellian Gunships and Corvettes. The B-wings raced forward with their escorts and started to pound of the Victory Star Destroyer. Suddenly the commander saw something that he didn’t like. The two Strike Cruisers had both started to fire on Haven, which involved a significant drain to it’s shields. Current projections estimated that Haven would survive without much difficulty, but if the Victory Star Destroyer or a couple of the Corellian Gunship became involved, the fight would get nasty.
“Redirect Gold Wing, I want those fighters to help destroy three of the Gunships, one squadron per gunship.”
“Yes sir.”
That left the A-wings alone to deal with the remaining TIE Interceptors, but they severally outnumbered their opposition now.
“We have reports from the ground, the ALL Army has taken the garrison, but they have too many AT-ATs moving in on their position to deal with it.”
“@#%$. Tell the Sentenial Shuttle to strafe them that might help a bit. How long until the 1st and 2nd K-wing Bomber Wings are done?”
“The 1st just reported in. They dropped their missiles and torpedoes on the first pass, and the bay is destroyed. The bay managed to launch some fighters, but their escorts are dealing with it. The 2nd estimates it might be slightly longer, and that their escorts may have trouble.”
“Redirect the escorts for the 1st to go help the 2nd. Tell the 1st to go bomb and strafe the AT-ATs threatening the ALL Army.”
“I copy.”
The orders were quickly carried out, and the commander could lean back in his chair again.
“Sir, three Corellian Gunships destroyed by Gold Wing. The Nebulon-B2 Frigates assigned to them are moving off to deal with the Victory Star Destroyer. Gold Wing is requesting orders.”
“Tell the Nebulon-B2 Frigates to deal with the rest of the Corellian Gunships and Corvettes.”
“But that leaves the Victory Star Destroyer with the same amount of enemies.”
“I know that. Get Gold Wing over there pronto. They are to take down the shields, then destroy any anti-starfighter weapons that may hurt the B-wings.”
“I copy.”
“What’s the status on the Strike Cruisers?”
“Shields down, we are hitting their hull now.”
“Excellent. What’s our shields status?”
“30%.”
“@#%$. Redirect any none essential power to shields.”
“Yes sir.”
“Communications.”
“Yes?”
“Give me a line to the Abregado-rae government.”
“Yes sir.”
“Abregado-rae government, we are offering you the chance to surrender now, and not have the blood of the crewmen on your hands.”
“Just exactly who is offering this?”
“The leader of the force blowing the @#%$ out of your force. More then that, you don’t need to know.”
“So, your mercenaries, hired by the outlaw forces know as ALL?”
“That information is not ours to give out. Surrender or your ships will be destroyed, and you will probably be executed.”
“That is what you think. Look on your scopes, you might be in for a surprise.”
“Holy @#%$.”
“What is it Sensors?”
“We have an Imperial Star Destroyer and four Strike Cruisers incoming. They are deploying fighters.”
“@#%$. President, you will pay for this.”
The communications line was quickly shut down.
“Sir, the 2nd K-wing Bomber Wing is coming up from the surface, along with the 1st and 2nd Bomber Wing’s escorts.”
“Good. All guns, blow the @#%$ out of the bridge.”
“Yes sir.”
“Sir, we have IDs on the incoming ships, they are from Fondor.”
“The Fondor and Abregado-rae governments are friends?”
“Apparently.”
“I thought they still had command problems back at Fondor, from the infighting due to the death of the New Imperial Order.”
“So did we.”
“How long until the 1st Bomber Wing is up here?”
“They just finished taking down the AT-ATs, and are on their way up. The 2nd Bomber Wing is already here.”
“Excellent. How much longer until the Victory Star Destroyer is taken down?”
“It’s shields are down and the stern is completely disabled, along with the bridge, so I’d say pretty soon. They A-wings report that they are finished with the enemy. All enemy Corellian Gunships and Corvettes have been neutralized.”
“Excellent. I want all the A-wings and X-wings to move out towards the enemy. All K-wings stay back here. The Nebulon-B2 Frigates move out towards the enemy as well.”
“Sir the Strike Cruisers have been destroyed.”
“Excellent. All K-wings, land on a ship to fill up with Eggs. Here is the battle plan. The enemy is sending their fighters out ahead, so our X-wings and A-wings move in and take them down, quickly. We send out two Nebulon-B2 Frigates per Strike Cruiser, and 24 B-wings per Strike Cruiser. The K-wings, which will each have an Egg, will fly in and drop them on the Imperial Star Destroyer, overloading it’s shields. Then the Haven Light Cruiser and Defender Gunships, accompanied by the Interdictor Cruiser go in and blast the shieldless Star Destroyer. The 8 remaining B-wings also blast the Star Destroyer. Questions?”
“Nope.”
“Excellent. We move out once the B-wings are down.”
“The B-wings have disabled the VSD.”
“Good. Move out.”
The fleet advanced on the enemy fleet. They would cut them to pieces, thanks to superior fighters, and numbers.
Two hours later the battle was done. The ALL Army had liberated the planet, and were going to hold elections for the seven members of the Abregado-rae Council, but it was largely assumed that the seven leaders of the Abregado-rae Liberation League would get the jobs. Many of the old government figures had fled the planet, along with many of their supporters. The Abregado-rae Government would have numerous communications with the New Rebellion and their allies. A defensive force of 4 Nebulon-B2 Frigates, and 96 XJ X-wings was to be left behind, but more was expected to arrive soon. Jan was going to leave with the fleet, but Erisi was going to stay on Abregado-rae for a bit, though he had organized that she deliver some more materials to Haven in a month.
Back to the office for me, thought Jan as he board the Sentenial shuttle that would take him up to Haven. Back to the office and all the boring paper work.
“Gentle beings, the liberation is planned for tomorrow. I know that my fleet is waiting outside the system, ready to jump in at our beaconing.”
“Did you bring in the additional forces that we suggested?”
“Yes. Currently we have 1 Interdictor Cruiser, 2 Haven-class Light Cruisers, 4 Defender Gunships, 8 Nebulon-B2 Frigates, 72 K-wing Bombers, 132 XJ X-wings, 60 A-wings and 72 B-wings waiting to jump into this system on my command. They will deploy here. We also have a Sentenial Shuttle and a YT-1300 bringing in some troops.”
Jan touched a point on the map.
“The ships will move in against the Victory Star Destroyer, 2 Strike Cruisers, 6 Corellian Gunships and 2 Corellian Corvettes that the government has in orbit. Also, the government has 72 TIE Interceptors orbiting the area. The Haven Cruiser and Defender Gunships will wipe out the Strike Cruisers, while the Nebulon-B2 Frigates destroy the Gunships and Corvettes. 60 A-wings and 36 X-wings will move in and eliminate the TIE Interceptors, while the 1st K-wing Bomber Wing and their escorting X-wings destroy the main ground based fighter bay. The 2nd K-wing Bomber Wing with escorts will destroy this secondary fighter bay. The remaining 48 X-wings and 72 B-wings will move in on the Victory Star Destroyers, and wipe out it’s shields with proton torpedoes, before disabling it with their ion cannons.”
One of the Gados spoke up at this point.
“Meanwhile, the ALL Army will move in on this small garrison here, infiltrating it and hopefully capturing it intact, and some of the AT-AT walkers inside. We will then move into the capital city, with some fighter cover.”
“Correct.”
“What will your Interdictor Cruiser be doing while this is going on?”
“It will power up it’s gravity well projectors, trapping their fleet here, but also pulling reinforcements out of hyperspace prematurely, so that we can react to them.”
“I see.”
“All we have left to do is wait for the fleet to arrive.”
Jan looked up and saw Erisi and Cathy coming over to the table.
“Well, gentle beings, if we are finished here, I believe I have to play tourist, and the rest of the job will be left to you. Remember, the New Rebellion must not be named, the galaxy is supposed to think that the fleet is just a mercenary fleet.”
“We understand.”
“Once Abregado-rae is liberated, you will be considered an independent system, but some of the fleet that we sent to liberate you will stay here. People may ask questions, but they won’t be able to prove anything illegal happened, because nothing illegal did happen.”
Jan and Erisi left, they had to play the part of tourist tomorrow, and would not be involved in the fighting.
The next day, the hour of the attack came, and everything was ready. One moment, there was a spot of space, empty with nothing in it. The next moment, the New Rebellion fleet had arrived. Onboard Haven, the orders started to go out.
“All ships deploy. I want the Haven Light Cruisers to lead the assault, with the Defender Gunships following them, forming two triangles, with the Haven’s at the tip. The A-wings and 36 XJ X-wings follow us in, to get rid of the enemy fighters. The K-wings and their escorts head down to the ground. Following the A-wings are the B-wings and their escorts, then the Nebulon-B2 Frigates. I want the enemy ships to go down fast. Immobilizer, stay back where you are and don’t power up you gravity well projectors yet. All ships microjump into the system, so we will be right on top of the enemy ships. Three, two, one, mark.”
The fleet microjumped forward, right on top of the enemy fleet. The K-wings and their escorts took a slightly different path, straight towards the planet, so they would be closer to their targets. The sentenial shuttle and the YT-1300 freighter also took the same course as the K-wings. Immobilizer waited four more seconds, to make sure that everyone had safely microjumped in, and then powered up it’s gravity well generators.
“Send out the auto-message saying that there is a gravity well projector set up.”
“Yes sir.”
The captain didn’t want another mistake like the one at Commenor, involving the IDTech ships. Not all ships were capable of being dragged out of hyperspace, without damage.
Up ahead that Haven Light Cruisers and the Defender Gunships had engaged the enemy Strike Cruisers, while the A-wings and XJ X-wings had engaged the enemy TIE Interceptors, starting off with a volley of concussion missiles and proton torpedoes, which had significantly decreased the size of the enemy forces. The Nebulon-B2 Frigates were just starting to engage the Corellian Gunships and Corvettes. The B-wings raced forward with their escorts and started to pound of the Victory Star Destroyer. Suddenly the commander saw something that he didn’t like. The two Strike Cruisers had both started to fire on Haven, which involved a significant drain to it’s shields. Current projections estimated that Haven would survive without much difficulty, but if the Victory Star Destroyer or a couple of the Corellian Gunship became involved, the fight would get nasty.
“Redirect Gold Wing, I want those fighters to help destroy three of the Gunships, one squadron per gunship.”
“Yes sir.”
That left the A-wings alone to deal with the remaining TIE Interceptors, but they severally outnumbered their opposition now.
“We have reports from the ground, the ALL Army has taken the garrison, but they have too many AT-ATs moving in on their position to deal with it.”
“@#%$. Tell the Sentenial Shuttle to strafe them that might help a bit. How long until the 1st and 2nd K-wing Bomber Wings are done?”
“The 1st just reported in. They dropped their missiles and torpedoes on the first pass, and the bay is destroyed. The bay managed to launch some fighters, but their escorts are dealing with it. The 2nd estimates it might be slightly longer, and that their escorts may have trouble.”
“Redirect the escorts for the 1st to go help the 2nd. Tell the 1st to go bomb and strafe the AT-ATs threatening the ALL Army.”
“I copy.”
The orders were quickly carried out, and the commander could lean back in his chair again.
“Sir, three Corellian Gunships destroyed by Gold Wing. The Nebulon-B2 Frigates assigned to them are moving off to deal with the Victory Star Destroyer. Gold Wing is requesting orders.”
“Tell the Nebulon-B2 Frigates to deal with the rest of the Corellian Gunships and Corvettes.”
“But that leaves the Victory Star Destroyer with the same amount of enemies.”
“I know that. Get Gold Wing over there pronto. They are to take down the shields, then destroy any anti-starfighter weapons that may hurt the B-wings.”
“I copy.”
“What’s the status on the Strike Cruisers?”
“Shields down, we are hitting their hull now.”
“Excellent. What’s our shields status?”
“30%.”
“@#%$. Redirect any none essential power to shields.”
“Yes sir.”
“Communications.”
“Yes?”
“Give me a line to the Abregado-rae government.”
“Yes sir.”
“Abregado-rae government, we are offering you the chance to surrender now, and not have the blood of the crewmen on your hands.”
“Just exactly who is offering this?”
“The leader of the force blowing the @#%$ out of your force. More then that, you don’t need to know.”
“So, your mercenaries, hired by the outlaw forces know as ALL?”
“That information is not ours to give out. Surrender or your ships will be destroyed, and you will probably be executed.”
“That is what you think. Look on your scopes, you might be in for a surprise.”
“Holy @#%$.”
“What is it Sensors?”
“We have an Imperial Star Destroyer and four Strike Cruisers incoming. They are deploying fighters.”
“@#%$. President, you will pay for this.”
The communications line was quickly shut down.
“Sir, the 2nd K-wing Bomber Wing is coming up from the surface, along with the 1st and 2nd Bomber Wing’s escorts.”
“Good. All guns, blow the @#%$ out of the bridge.”
“Yes sir.”
“Sir, we have IDs on the incoming ships, they are from Fondor.”
“The Fondor and Abregado-rae governments are friends?”
“Apparently.”
“I thought they still had command problems back at Fondor, from the infighting due to the death of the New Imperial Order.”
“So did we.”
“How long until the 1st Bomber Wing is up here?”
“They just finished taking down the AT-ATs, and are on their way up. The 2nd Bomber Wing is already here.”
“Excellent. How much longer until the Victory Star Destroyer is taken down?”
“It’s shields are down and the stern is completely disabled, along with the bridge, so I’d say pretty soon. They A-wings report that they are finished with the enemy. All enemy Corellian Gunships and Corvettes have been neutralized.”
“Excellent. I want all the A-wings and X-wings to move out towards the enemy. All K-wings stay back here. The Nebulon-B2 Frigates move out towards the enemy as well.”
“Sir the Strike Cruisers have been destroyed.”
“Excellent. All K-wings, land on a ship to fill up with Eggs. Here is the battle plan. The enemy is sending their fighters out ahead, so our X-wings and A-wings move in and take them down, quickly. We send out two Nebulon-B2 Frigates per Strike Cruiser, and 24 B-wings per Strike Cruiser. The K-wings, which will each have an Egg, will fly in and drop them on the Imperial Star Destroyer, overloading it’s shields. Then the Haven Light Cruiser and Defender Gunships, accompanied by the Interdictor Cruiser go in and blast the shieldless Star Destroyer. The 8 remaining B-wings also blast the Star Destroyer. Questions?”
“Nope.”
“Excellent. We move out once the B-wings are down.”
“The B-wings have disabled the VSD.”
“Good. Move out.”
The fleet advanced on the enemy fleet. They would cut them to pieces, thanks to superior fighters, and numbers.
Two hours later the battle was done. The ALL Army had liberated the planet, and were going to hold elections for the seven members of the Abregado-rae Council, but it was largely assumed that the seven leaders of the Abregado-rae Liberation League would get the jobs. Many of the old government figures had fled the planet, along with many of their supporters. The Abregado-rae Government would have numerous communications with the New Rebellion and their allies. A defensive force of 4 Nebulon-B2 Frigates, and 96 XJ X-wings was to be left behind, but more was expected to arrive soon. Jan was going to leave with the fleet, but Erisi was going to stay on Abregado-rae for a bit, though he had organized that she deliver some more materials to Haven in a month.
Back to the office for me, thought Jan as he board the Sentenial shuttle that would take him up to Haven. Back to the office and all the boring paper work.