"All pilots! We are exiting hyperspace in 3 minutes! Enter your fighters and prepare for deployment! All gunners get yourself seated." Commodore Flint's voice came over the speakers.
All over the Munificents pilots and crewmen were running through the corridors. Red lights flashed through the ship; the bridge however was an entirely different atmosphere.
The Bridge radiated experience and control. Every single one of the Naval Crewmen was calm outwardly but inwardly each of them was sweating, they were about the enter their first-ever naval battle. Although the chance of defeat is almost nil, the principle of war scared many.
Count Thalron Veridian was one such example.
…
"Holy shit. I am actually leading a naval battle. I never lead a naval battle on the sea, but space is like 15 levels over that, and I didn't even do the first…." I thought as I looked over my command bridge.
"Well, at least my men are calm." I thought to myself.
…
If only he knew how wrong he was.
…
Oh well. I might as well make the best of this safe battle. There is legit 0 chance of me loosing unless I royally fuck up or they have a hidden fleet.
I was then forced out of my thoughts as a voice rang out.
"My Lord! We're 145 seconds out of the moon of Pendrillion." The navigation officer said.
"Hmm, Commodore. What is the situation on the starfighters?" I said as I looked at Flint. He had been assigned command over the Star-fighters.
"There are only a few remaining pilots not having entered their fighters, they are expected to enter 1 minute before we arrive at the least." He spoke.
"Very good, very good. Colonel Lux, are you marines prepared?" I asked a man standing behind me on my left, Admiral Jaime stood on my right.
He was wearing standard marine armor but with 2 yellow stripes on his right shoulder. He was named Lux Forest. He was the colonel of the marine detachment. He was one of the younger commanding officers, but he was showing extraordinary talent in leading men in the field.
"My Lord, my Marines are all prepared and outfitted with the new detonators. They're rallied close to the hangar, able to jump the second the order is given." He said as he saluted me.
"Very good, Colonel. You may join your men." I said as I waved him off.
He nodded and left the bridge.
"Alright, how long till we exit hyperspace?" I asked the Navigation Officer.
"Expected arrival is in 67 seconds, My Lord!" He said.
Alright, 1 minute.
"All ships, form up in the wedge formation. The Munificent will serve as its main ship." I said to the Cumulus Lieutenants over the Commlink.
"Yes, Count Thalron!"
"Understood, My Lord." I heard 2 voices come over the commlink as the radar system showed the 2 Cumulus Class Corsairs moving a bit back and to the side to form up with the Munificent.
"30 seconds to exit!" The Navigator said.
"Flint! Order all fighters to prepare for takeoff." I said as he once again repeated it over the speakers.
"Are all pilots in position?" I asked and Jaime responded this time.
"Yes. Every pilot is in their fighter except one who's running back from the refresher." He said as I began chuckling.
"Well, we can't have them shitting in our fighters." I said while chuckling.
"15 seconds!"
"10!"
"8!"
"Speak the last 5 over the speakers!" I said to Flint.
"5 seconds to arrival!"
"4!"
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"Exiting hyperspace!" He shouted as the scenery outside the windows changed.
From the blue stream of everlasting hyperspace lines to the sight of a beautiful grey moon. Sure, it wasn't quite the sight of Alderaan, but it was respectable. It quite looked like the grey moon orbiting around Earth in my previous life.
"All ships, head towards the Moon of Pendrillion." I said as the Munificent and the 2 Corsairs turned towards the Moon.
"Commodore! What is the status of the Pirates?" I asked as I leaned forward in my seat. And put my hands under my chin in a proper thinking pose.
"My Lord! The scanners show hundreds of life forms rushing out of the base towards the ships! The scanners also show multiple pirate snub fighters starting up." He said.
"Alright. Place bombs on 5 of the V-wings and have them stay back. When ordered have them focus on bombing the still grounded ships." I said as the lead engineer turned to speak with his comrades on the comms.
"Commodore Flint! Deploy all fighter squadrons! Work in teams and use our superior numbers." I said and he nodded and turned around to his control panel.
Immediately after, the ray shields on the 2 Cumulus opened and 20 Alpha-3 V-wings rushed out. Similarly, the hangars on the Munificent opened and a total of 35 V-wings swarmed out. They then met in the middle and formed up into their squadrons while flying down. 2 Squadrons of 12 and 1 of 11.
"We'll continue at a relatively slow pace down to the planet. We will not be entering the atmosphere before we have gained complete aerial superiority. However, Admiral. Order the 2 Cumulus Corsairs to hurry ahead, they will be tasked with fighting the enemy vessels." I said and each of them reported the orders further to the Cumulus Corsairs.
And with that time passed as we slowly headed towards the planet, the Corsairs were faster, but it would still take some time, however down on the surface it was entirely different.
The 55 Alpha-3 V-wings were fighting 40 Snub Fighters. And the Pirates were outclassed in every single one of the 3 aspects that change the pure Fighter to Fighter battle. 1: Numbers, 55 to 40, we win of course. Training: Our fighters have gone through multiple years of training, and in each of these 60 fighters are our most experienced and skilled pilots. Meanwhile, the pirates haven't received any military training and simply tried themselves out, though they have gotten far. But they don't even compare to the droid pilots of the CIS, who were known for being shit. Technology, the last. The Alpha-3 V-wing was a small and nimble starfighter, made for intercepting other fighters, it's maneuverability was close to that of the Vultures, and coupled with the skilled fighters it completely outshone the technical weak snub fighters.
Lastly, it had strong shield generators, the snub fighters' shield generators were so weak they basically didn't exist.
Due to these numerous differences, the result was determined before the battle began.
Immediately after the initial clash, the Alpha-3's lost no fighters, but a few did take some hits. However, the snub fighters lost 5 starfighters.
However, that's when the Outpost's point defense guns and laser turrets started up and began firing at the Thyferran Starfighters. However, it didn't matter much. The Alpha-3 V-wing could brush off 4 solid hits without losing anything.
"This is Exegol-7 I got 3 of them on my tail! I need assistance!" I heard from the pilot comms, followed by.
"This Exegol-3, me and Exegol-4 is on our way." Another rang out, and soon enough I noticed Exogol-7's voice again.
"Thank you, Exegol-3 and 4. I am returning to the Munificent for repairs."
"Alright. Flint, how is the battle going?" I asked as he turned around to face me.
"Scanners show that we have shot down 23 of their fighters, meanwhile they have yet to shoot down any of our ships. However, 3 needed to return for repairs. This is due to the swift reinforcements if you are struggling." He said with a slight smile, this was excellent news.
"Great. Order the Cumulus Corsairs to push into the atmosphere. What is the situation on their Naval vessels?" I asked.
"According to our fighters then the 3 CR90's and the Cumulus has taken off and are headed to the battle." He said.
"My Lord, if those 4 vessels reach the dogfights, then we will suffer unnecessary casualties due to their heavy laser turrets." Admiral Jaime said.
"I know, Admiral. This isn't good. Pilots double our speed; we are heading to the dogfight." I said as I leaned back into my chair and turned my commlink on.
"Colonel Lux, we are heading into the atmosphere. Prepare your men." I said as he responded with a.
"Yes, sir!" And I closed my commlink.
"Admiral. Order the 2nd Corvette that includes the 200 Royal Guards to land after we arrive. Order them to set up a position to attack the outpost." I said. Jaime nodded and followed my orders.
And with that we spent 4 minutes simply waiting as our Ship entered the atmosphere and closed in on the fighters.
"We can now see the battle! Scans show that the enemy barely has 10 fighters left while we have 48. 2 are returning for repairs and 5 are currently undergoing repairs. 2 have also been sent out from repairs." He said.
"Good, and what about the 2 Cumulus Corsairs?" I asked.
"The 2 Cumulus is engaged with the 4 enemy vessels. They have shot down 1 CR90. The enemy Corsair barely has any shields left." He spoke.
"Very good, send the 2nd Cumulus down to the enemy outpost. Have them land the 200 Royal Guards then attack the Outposts cannons." I said and Commodore Flint repeated the order to the 2nd Cumulus.
"Now, have all turbolasers focus on the Cumulus! And aim the ion cannons at the 2 CR-90 Corvettes." I said.
I then turned on my commlink.
"Colonel Lux, gather 300 men into 2 units of 150. They will be boarding CR-90 Corvettes."
"Yes, My Lord! I'll get my elite troops. Just say the word and we'll jump out." He responded over the comms.
"Very good, you'll jump out of the hangars with jet packs." I said before closing the commlink.
"Alright, we'll get ourselves straight above the CR-90s. All canons fire at the Cumulus." I said as the Turbolasers turned towards the Cumulus and began unleashing waves of laser.
"Their shield integrity is at 30%" A officer said.
"20%"
"10%"
"5%"
"Their shields are deactivated!"
"Overload our turbolasers, 120% laser output!" I said as the streams of lasers increased.
No more than 10 seconds later they began falling.
"Status!?" I asked.
"Weapons need 10 seconds to cool down, the CR-90s have lost all power and the Cumulus has been destroyed beyond repair." An officer at one of the controls said.
"Very good! Deploy the boarding teams!" I said as the same officer pressed a button giving the green light for the boarding party.
I then turned on my comms again.
"Colonel Lux, prepare the rest of your marines in the hangar."
"Yes, My Lord." He responded.
"Flint! What is the status of our fighters?" I asked.
"My Lord! Only 2 fighters are remaining attempting to flee, a squadron is upon them. The 2 other squadrons are returning.
Similarly, the outposts point defense turrets have been completely obliterated." He said.
"Good, when the boarding party exits the Munificent, fly above their outpost to prepare for the dropping of the rest of our forces. What are the results on the Royal Guards?" I asked.
This time the Admiral responded.
"They have set up a choke point at the main entrance and are engaging the pirates still stationed within their outpost. Approximately 800 pirates remain inside. The other Cumulus is also currently landing. The Royal Guards have also taken over their artillery." He spoke.
"Good, good. Everything is going according to plan. Order the fighters to return to their ships after finishing off the last stragglers. And move the ship towards the base!" I said.
This was great, only the ground battle remained.
And after a bit of waiting the information came through 30 seconds later.
"The entire boarding party has left the ship, you are now in the clear, My Lord." Lux said.
"Great. Pilots move us forward."
"Yes, sir!" He said as we began approaching the base.
It would take 10 seconds to arrive in position.
"Colonel Lux, you will be jumping in approximately 15 seconds! Prepare your men." I spoke over the commlink.
"Yes, My Lord!"
Then Flint began counting down over the hangar speakers.
"15"
"12"
"9"
"6"
"3"
And as we halted, he shouted.
"0! Go, go, go!"
I looked at the Hangar camera and I saw 10 rows of 200 men jumping at a time. Switching to the 2nd camera, the same view came up.
20 seconds later the last jumped.
The battle was now in the hands of Colonel Lux.
"We've done our job. Proceed with shield regeneration and fix up the fighters. Order the Cumulus Corsairs to become airborne. No need to be sitting targets on the ground. Prepare for artillery strikes if Lux requests it." I said as I stood up.
"Admiral Jaime, you're in command. I'll be in my room." I said as I walked out of the bridge, I decided to take a break. I didn't have anything else to do. Would rather practice fighting or something.
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4 advance chapters at Patrion.
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