Captain Rivejer Tullius
I met with Colonel Bragg, Captain Eistern and a handful of junior officers in one of the conference rooms close to the command center. We were a motley assortment, with the majority gathered more as a sounding board to my latest scheme than for the authority they wielded.
I fiddle with the table holoprojector with my good hand, trying to navigate its menus with a busted wing was a challenge. After a few moments, the moon's hologram came to life - dominating the table for a moment before the hologram zoomed in on the comparative tiny Armadia. The Dreadnought was brought into focus, twisting at an odd angle away from the moon itself - in the middle of a complicated maneuver or desperate evasions by its new crew.
"Two hours ago, I met with Governor Weblin to discuss our next steps." I announced to the group, more to the benefit of the junior officers as Bragg and Eistern were aware of that meeting. "He has ordered me to take the remainder of the fleet to Praxlis and regroup with his forces there. However, I am operating under orders from Grand Admiral Teshik to return to the Core immediately - and I will not delay any longer."
I turned my gaze over the group, daring anyone to speak up. I caught sight of Agent Cardon, arms crossed over his chest plate as he considered the officers with his chilly expression. His silent menace was the backbone of my words. It was cruel to use him as a threat, dangling him over the heads of everyone present, but we could not have dissent in the ranks now. Silence reigned for a minute as the gathered officers glanced at each other nervously, some sending sidelong glances in the direction of Cardon before returning to their silent debate. Finally, Eistern spoke up, raising a hand from the table.
"Our last report indicates four Star Destroyers have moved to blockade the egress point toward the Core by Galantos, plus whatever assorted support craft they have. We have four, four-and-a-half if we want to be generous." The man said, eyes on the Armadia, "And that is before we consider the Star Dreadnought in the room. This ship alone would reduce our chances further, if we could even beat it."
"Which is why we will be using the second problem to deal with the first." I announce, fighting down my smirk as my declaration earned hushed murmurs from the younger officers - Bragg looked alarmed and Eistern appeared defeated, "A strike team, or several strike teams could take key positions on the Armadia, allowing us to turn it against the Yevethans."
"That's insane!" One of the junior Captains exclaimed before remembering himself and sinking back into his seat, "Uh… Sir. That ship will be crawling with Yevs, there is no way we can feasibly move a large enough force onboard to take it over. Assuming they can get close enough to board in the first place."
It was not an incorrect assessment. Talik and his team succeeded on the Intimidator in part due to the Yevethans not having full control of the vessel like they did the Armadia. It had also been a smaller operation - sabotage. However, it was the greatest strength of Black Sword Command that would become its greatest weakness. I did not know how many Yevethans were stationed aboard the Armadia, but I did know that there did not need to be as many. The slave-rigging system would make a large garrison wasteful and we had no report of the ship receiving shuttles since the destruction of the Intimidator.
"Several key locations would need to be hit." I continued as if the officer had not spoken, gesturing to the Armadia's hologram, "The primary and secondary bridges, the reactor core, engineering and the four engine sections. Secondary objectives will be the three security offices closest to the conning tower and the communications relay. Securing these points will ensure great enough control over the vessel and allow a larger force to board and clear the vessel."
"What if the Yevethans attempt to sabotage the Armadia?" One of the other officers, calmer than the first, asked with a raised hand.
"That is why speed is key. I will be speaking to Colonel Maab and Colonel Bragg," I nodded toward Bragg as I spoke, "On the composition of this team. We cannot waste time flooding the ship with Navytroopers, not until the major objectives are under our control."
"Any shuttle or boarding craft that approaches that vessel would be blasted out of the sky on approach." another officer argued.
"A good point, Commander," I say, gesturing to the man before nodding to the hologram, "Which is why our fleet will engage the Armadia directly. We shall distract it while the boarding team enters and seizes control of the vessel."
The collected officers were not given time to exclaim their horror at the idea as Eistern spoke up.
"What is your plan if they run?" He asked, making me pause. I turned to the man, blinking.
"Pardon?"
"What if they run? You set a precedent in boarding Star Dreadnoughts, Captain. The Yevethans are not idiots - the moment we engage despite our disadvantage in firepower, they will be suspicious. If they are as clever as this entire revolution makes them seem, they will cut their losses before we can steal another of their ships."
I had not considered this a possibility. I stare owlishly at Eistern for a moment longer before turning my gaze to the hologram of the Armadia. The idea that a ship, when holding the mass and weapon advantage even against a numerically superior foe, would run seemed ludicrous in my eyes. When at a disadvantage? A reasonable reaction - even if Arrowhead Command doctrine was very much a do-or-die cult - but not when you hold the advantage. The Armadia, even with the planetary battery on the moon's surface, had decent odds against our number;. especially since two of the heaviest-hitting ships were damaged.
But the Yevethans weren't operating on Imperial doctrine, or Arrowhead doctrine. They were operating in a different way of fighting and Eistern was right that the Yevethans were unlikely to sacrifice their prize without reason. They would want to conserve ships, I suspect, especially with the devastation of their homeworld and loss of their greatest warship.
I am silent now, trying to create a new idea. I try to formulate some counter to Eistern's words. Unfortunately, he was also right in that the Armadia could successfully run away. It was fast and could lower its shields long enough without suffering too much damage from our forces, to be able to escape with a microjump.
"What if we send half our forces around the moon and attack it from the other side?" Another officer asked, gesturing behind the Armadia.
"No, they would see what we were doing." I murmur, supporting Eistern's point now as I rubbed my sideburns, "Being pressed up against this moon is both our greatest strength, and greatest obstacle."
That was the question. How could five Star Destroyers, two Victory cruisers, and a collection of assorted support craft make a flighty Star Dreadnought sit still long enough to board and capture it?
"We'll need to hem it in physically." I announce, lowering my hand from my face and rising to my feet. I gestured around the Armadia, "We want the Armadia facing toward us as opposed to the planet. Most of our forces will assault it directly while one of the Star Destroyers and some supporting craft wait back and plot a microjump to her other side. Where it turns, we turn - we keep at least one Star Destroyer glued to her bow at all times."
"That ship will be under the most scrutiny," One officer pointed out, "Even if she's running full shields, a Bellator will pick them apart like…" The man snaps his fingers, "... That."
"Theoretically," another officer added, tapping his fingers on the table.
"Theoretically?"
"Well, it is not as if the Bellator-class has ever seen actual combat."
"Never seen actual combat? The Talpin Report clearly stated-"
"Ah, but that was a wargame and a simulation, not real combat. They always downplay how durable an Imperial-class is."
The officers started to bicker amongst themselves and I let it run, leaning closer to Eistern.
"How would you rate our chances?" I ask him quietly, Bragg leaning over from my other side as well.
"Poor, even if they stay and fight." The man muttered, "Your strike team would need to take out several objectives most likely defended. Taking down the Intimidator is one thing, this time they'll be ready."
"Do we have another choice?" Bragg asked, "If we do not have that Dreadnought, then you would need to face the jump point guards with just the forces present - and if it follows you, then survival would be even more unlikely."
"What's the over-under on Weblin not having us all killed?" I asked, as despite talking a big game about getting back to the Core, I was far more in favor of not dying, "I obviously don't know him."
"Nor anyone here." Eistern said with a shrug, "It is the risk we need to take if we go to Praxlis."
I needled my lip between my teeth before nodding with a sigh.
"Then we need that Dreadnought."
CT-8812 "Talik"
We weren't given long to rest after the Intimidator operation before being dragged into another meeting. Perhaps it was too much to hope it was just a debrief, but unfortunately Maab and Tullius had a different plan.
The scenery changed little - though we were not aboard the Conqueror anymore, Black-3 followed all the hallmarks of the Imperial space design philosophy. Which meant bland, featureless walls surrounding a bland, featureless table. It was telling that even the average Shiny had more personality than any Imperial engineer. The room was larger, though - helping accommodate the large collection of officers.
I glanced back as the door to the conference room we were residing in opened, allowing another Stormtrooper access. A human, with blonde hair and pale skin, siddled in wearing a black uniform rather than his armor. He settled next to another Stormtrooper, speaking in hushed tones as the group settled in for the meeting. All eyes were, if subtly for some, focused at the head of the table furthest from the door. Colonel Maab was present, arms crossed and looking stern as always. Next to him was another colonel, Bragg or something like that, who appeared more put out than authoritative. I had heard he was the administrator of Black-3, making his presence more a formality than a necessity. Another pair of officers - Naval instead of Army - stood on the opposite end of the table. The four men flanked the real face of this meeting, Captain Tullius. His arm was still in a sling, but his uniform appeared immaculate. I'd heard he was refusing treatment until we left the system.
"Now that we are all present." Maab's surly accent effectively silenced the room in an instant, fully drawing all attention back to the head of the table. Maab studied the group for a heartbeat longer before nodding to Tullius, "Captain."
Tullius tapped out an order on the console in front of him, simultaneously dimming the room and activating the holoprojector built within. An image of a Super Star Destroyer appeared - and though I did not know its class I knew it to be the one stalking Black-3. The Dreadnought was a far cry from the Executor Intimidator - its tiered ridge and exposed gun batteries gave it a far more militaristic look than the much larger SSD.
"Thank you, Colonel," Tullius said before rising to his feet, "For those of you that were present for the operation against the Intimidator, this shall be eerily familiar. For those uninformed, you and your men will be deploying onto the Armadia. The capture of this ship is paramount to our survival and ability to escape the system - failure would be detrimental to both. Allow me to reiterate - capture is the objective."
The words were spoken seriously, yet some of the men chuckled at the delivery. Not me - I met Tullius's steely glare as it moved over the table. I had a brief moment to wonder why he would specify that aspect of the mission - obviously, we were going there to capture the ship. Then it struck me, he was being specific because he didn't think he could rely on us to do just that.
At first, there was a flash of annoyance. I had dealt with doubtful naval officers, but Tullius was aware of what I - we - were capable of. This doubt was misplaced, after all, we were successful in destroying the…
Then it occurred to me that the manner in which the Intimidator was destroyed may itself be the problem. The CompForce thug had been the one to make the plan to crash the ship into N'zoth's surface and at the time that seemed like a good idea. Tullius was a difficult man to read, so I had not considered the possibility that may have been a choice he disagreed with at the time. I could not claim to understand the inner machinations of Navy politics, but now I had to wonder if how the situation was handled had been poorly received by Tullius's superiors? The death of Dobbatek, which I had heard about second hand, and his supposed meeting with the sector Grand Moff may not have gone very well. His presence then was not so much about keeping up appearances, but about ensuring that the boarding team would not be taking liberties.
Tullius had little more to add to the meeting, just outlining the fleet's part in the battle to come. Unlike the previous meeting, though, he did not leave. The man sank back into his seat and continued to study the officers gathered in the room as Maab stepped forward.
There was little fanfare as the Colonel began, manipulating the hologram from recordings of the Armadia to the rough modelling of their plan.
The operation was not too dissimilar to the one used against the Intimidator, though unlike the Executor-class, this was expected to be a hotly contested landing. So, the size of our force ballooned similarly. Every single Stormtrooper, Navy Commando and even the odd specialist was being scrounged up from the fleet and station to take part.
What Maab outlined was a regiment-scale boarding operation targeting several parts of a kilometers-long vessel, ostensibly thrown together over the last few hours. It might have been more impressive if I wasn't one of the men being sent aboard. We were chosen, I suspect, for being shocktroopers, but that did not mean we weren't still being used as chaff. Maab, and by extension the officers, were hoping someone could reach their objectives, even at considerable loss.
Maab continued to speak, questions were asked, and then the meeting wrapped up. The Colonel glanced at the station commander, then at Tullius. The latter held his gaze for a moment longer than Bragg, before frowning and shaking his head. Tullius, it seemed, was pleased with this, so Maab addressed the group again.
"If there is nothing else," The man asked, before continuing just as fast, "Good. Get to your ships and boarding shuttles. The Captain wants a new Super Star Destroyer and by Chandrilla, you will get him one. Dismissed."
Lieutenant Ashsca Screold
"We are away." I perked up as the helmsman spoke, his words preceding the Conqueror moving by mere seconds. The picture outside the viewport suddenly shifted as the Star Destroyer detached itself from Black-3 - finishing up the last of its emergency repairs and resupplying. We drifted out of the repair bay before turning, following the pathway set out by Tullius. The other four Star Destroyers sat in a tightly packed wedge, awaiting our tardy arrival.
I barked out direction orders to the helmsman, gently drifting into our place at the extremity of the formation - the portside. The Conqueror's place would be closest to the planet.
"Drift nominal." The helmsman announced, "We are in position."
"Very good." I said, turning away from the command pit and moving further back into the bridge, "Shield status!"
"Holding stable at eighty-percent. Shield redirection appears normal, with a delay within acceptable levels," The officer announced from his console, "... But engineering is concerned, there are fluctuations in our output they believe may lead to cascading failure."
I bit my lip at his words, pausing to think. Shields were complicated on a ship this size. Omni-directional shielding was possible, and often the standard when a Star Destroyer was on patrol. It made attacking them an especially daunting task, as no matter which direction a would-be ambusher struck from they would still need to contend with some shielding. The oversized reactor carried by Star Destroyers, even early Imperators, could feasibly run their shields for months on end - though that wasn't recommended.
In combat, especially in combat as heavy as that which the Conqueror had been facing lately, such shielding was impossible to maintain. As such, it relied on directional shielding - rerouting power to whichever side was under attack. Damage from any other direction was covered by armor - which was why the Imperial line was so heavy. The issue arose with that "fluctuation", it indicated unreliability and if the shields collapsed, it could spell certain doom for the Conqueror.
The Conqueror's shields had never been the best. That had not mattered on patrols, and even in the heaviest fighting expected the Conqueror was never meant to be in direct combat. Her shields were good enough for patrols, or escort pickets, or pursuit lines - not consistent brawling over a two month period. Nevermind whatever damage the generators sustained taking fire while starting up cold.
"How high is the risk?"
"Engineering isn't certain. They might have ignored it if we were in the Slice, at least until we reached a port. Not here - there is a real risk the generators could fry."
Losing shields permanently would be disastrous - both from a combat perspective and a financial one.
"Keep me posted." I ordered unnecessarily before moving closer to the forward bridge. Preparations were well underway, even the tattered corpse of the Unrelenting was prepared for combat. A force of this size was hardly a fair match against a Star Dreadnought, though if there were any of the more modern types that we could threaten, the Armadia would be it. The Yevethans had either underestimated our desperation or overestimated their abilities, as no supporting ships had yet arrived to relieve the Bellator-class. This was not too surprising, the last imaging I had seen showed every ship the Yevethans could muster gathered around their homeworld, trying to evacuate as many survivors as they could.
A twinge of doubt, of guilt, pulled at the edge of my mind. I pressed it back down, there was little place for doubt now.
"We have received coordinates, ma'am." The navigation officer announced, effectively silencing the bridge. I let a thin smile cross my lips - Tullius was never one to stand on ceremony. I barked out my orders to the helmsman, and the Conqueror slid forward. We were the flagship of the operation, so the rest of the fleet matched our pace. If I were to look over at the scanner station, I would see nearly every single ship present at Black-3 moving in tandem with us, even some customs enforcement corvettes and the Escapade. The bizarre alien ship sat at the back of the formation, but it still moved with us - carrying every single fighter that could be stripped from Black-3 and loaded into its massive hangar bays.
Only the Diamondback, one of the Imperial II-class Star Destroyers, remained behind, alongside a number of smaller support craft - auxiliary cruisers pulled from the Black-3 garrison.
The hour that came after was tense as every crew member ran through simulations and preparations a dozen times over. I stood at the front of the bridge, able to see the hull of the Intimidation out of the right side of the viewscreen. The Armadia itself grew from a pinprick against the grey moon into a rapidly approaching durasteel mass. Its angle was odd as we grew closer - its underside facing the moon as it turned. The reason was obvious as a bright lance hurtled past the Star Dreadnought - fired from the surface gun.
Finally, the Bellator-class seemed to notice us, or more likely finally reacted to our approach. Its form spun around, becoming narrower as it faced our small taskforce. At this distance I could not make out details, but I could only imagine the rows and rows of turbolaser batteries and ion cannons.
The first bright green lances came soon thereafter - long-range batteries, the same it had used to fire on the Conqueror in our flight from Black-15. A bolt hit the Conqueror's shields, vanishing with a flash as the shields soaked up the damage. Many more came, impact shields with unerring accuracy - but it did not slow our charge. Tullius was not so easily discouraged, something the Yevethan crew of the Armadia seemed to realize. The Bellator-class pitched forward the closer we got, providing more of its dizzying firepower to bear.
Just as the ship fell into the effective range of our heavier batteries, so too did we for it. The long range turbolasers were joined by a symphony of fire, bright green and dim bluish-white fire exchanged. The empty space between our two forces became quite the spectacle, made greater still the closer we got.
"All fighter and bomber wings are scrambled." One officer updated me as we moved beyond the standard engagement range for a ship like the Conqueror. I did not flinch at this, even as the Armadia filled the viewscreen - Tullius liked to play these engagements close.
We pummeled the Armadia's shields just as it did to us, exchanging volley after volley. A casual glance at the small starmap available at the forward bridge told me the Star Dreadnought was ignoring anything smaller than the Star Destroyers. It was focusing all weapons on those four ships - forcing us to dedicate a considerable portion of our power output on shields rather than weapons. If the Intrepid and Steadfast still had missiles, we might have punished them. Allowing the pair of missile-laden Cruisers the ability to return fire with impunity was a mistake the Separatists of yester-year had learned quickly. Unfortunately, they had expended whatever was left of their munitions hours ago against this very ship - Black-3 lacked missiles that fit in the duo's tubes. All they could offer was their comparatively light turbolaser batteries.
"The Diamondback is making ready for jump to lightspeed." The sensor officer announced, making a grin stretch across my face. Now, it was time for the next step of the plan.
On Aargau, there were few native wild animals left outside nature preserves. One of the few that seemed to survive despite the unending development was a species of rodent simply referred to as an 'aarg-rat'. It was a small, quadrupedal mammal thought of as weak and cowardly. However, despite this and the introduction of many other foreign invasive species, the aarg-rats remained dominant. This was for the simple fact that, despite their size and reputation, those rodents were exceptionally clever. They were pack hunters, working in large groups to bring down much stronger prey. I had studied the curious little rodents back in primary school, learned how they could plan ambushes and operate with a degree of sophistication that left many experts stunned.
The point was, even a predator as large and powerful as the Armadia could be picked apart by a pack of smaller foes - especially when those opponents could outsmart it.
A spike of Cronau radiation was all the warning we had as the Diamondback made its microjump, overshooting the rest of the fleet and the Armadia to end up behind the much larger ship. An in-system jump this close to a celestial body undoubtedly made the hyperdrive scream in protest and make every Kuati engineer in a 200 lightyear radius shudder, but the Star Destroyer and its escorts were in position - nearly perfectly. I could not see it, but the reaction was immediate. New orders came down, charge in - Tullius wanted us to be damn near kissing the Armadia's hull. The larger ship panicked and began to turn away from us and the planet, over its port side.
Exactly as planned. A glance again at the holomap told me the Unrelenting had broken off from the formation and was sticking directly in the way of the Armadia's bow. The Star Dreadnought could try to blind jump, but that would require pushing through a Star Destroyer. Hyperdrives did not like trying to jump to lightspeed when they were being touched by another ship still locked to realspace.
So, when the Unrelenting 'got in the way', what that really meant is that the much smaller Star Destroyer had rammed the Armadia.
A part of me was glad the Conqueror was not the most damaged ship in the group, I was not eager to be the one that had to draw the Star Dreadnought's attention.
The Armadia continued to turn despite its unwanted passenger, making the intensity of its fire decrease as the entire array of guns on the portside were pulled out of range. This forced the Diamondback to face the array of weapons alone, but now the Armadia was unable to focus on any one vessel.
Brilliant flashes filled the viewscreen as bombers made their run, pummeling the shields alongside the Star Destroyers. Despite being attacked on all sides, the Armadia refused to lower its shields in any one direction and let the armor take hits. It was a novice mistake, something newbie crews did because they were scared to let their warship even be scratched. That, and I suspected the Yevethans were being cautious. The loss of the Intimidator was undoubtedly at the forefront of their minds - letting the Armadia be damaged was a disaster they could not allow. This overestimation of the Armadia's capabilities proved to be their downfall. The shields could not sustain themselves forever, and the openings appeared at locations of our choosing rather than those of its crew. Tullius's new orders came through, and the considerable firepower of our squadron focused in on specific points in the Armadia. There was no moment of collapse that we could see, even as we broke the shields the armor held under our sustained bombardment. The signal of success came with the words of the sensor officer, breathless and excited.
"Boarding shuttles away!"
I swallowed - the easy part was over, now we needed to hold the line.