79 The Lost Fleet [3/3]

Part 8

Bridge

Heavy cruiser Warrior

High orbit above Eriadu

"I guess Veil's still some time away." Admiral Tenant grumbled over the comm.

Tarkin snorted. That became painfully obvious a few hours after the enemy reinforcements arrived. Gideon still had no idea what news they brought, however after taking some time to digest it, the Confederate commander had decided it was finally time to secure the system for good. Most of the Separatist forces around Eriadu had shifted their positions and assumed offensive formations in a circle around the loyalists and were now advancing. At the same time, the droids on the moon were throwing everything they had against the cannons. There were points where the fighting had reached the last defensive lines and even rushing all available reserves there, the soldiers weren't expected to hold for long. In an hour another regiment would be getting there from Eriadu and that would be the last force that could be spared from the planet.

"Deploy all remaining fighters and bombers. Let them use the wrecks as cover until the enemy comes close." Tarkin ordered. I want the tugs ready to maneuver the improvised platforms when necessary." Those were little more than hulks tractored in to provide some cover before a bright engineer had the great idea to either partially restore them or just slap on some light guns, shields and missile pods to give them a bit of punch.

"Already doing it." Tenant said. "The mine-layers are deploying everything they have left too."

"The enemy is advancing." A sensor operator reported.

The tactical plot changed to show hundreds of red dots moving towards the loyalists.

"Authorizing the last of the weapon platforms to go activate. Good luck, Tarkin." Tenant saluted.

"Let's make our own. Try not to die. You're a decent sort for someone from the Core." Gideon cracked a small smile before cutting off the feed. "Comms, I need to talk with all the Theater Fleet commanders."

"Patching you through, brigadier."

Four tired faces appeared in front of Gideon. Two older humans – a man and woman, a Zabrak and a Bith, all wearing admiral uniforms from their respective system defense navies.

"We all know the score, so I won't be making any grand speeches. If we fall, our whole sector falls with us. The enemy comes, so let's kill the rusty bastards." Gideon's smile was all teeth. "First and second fleet take the flanks. My own will hold the center. Third and Fourth, take those coming from above and below respectively. The Republic navy has our backs."

Tarkin looked back at the tactical display. Nearly four hundred Munificents led the charge followed by two hundred Recusant destroyers and the battleships come behind them. The frigates came at flank speed and didn't appear to intent stopping until ramming something or passing through the loyalist formation.

This was going to be unpleasant.

The enemy was first engaged by the cannons on the moon. Massive Ion bolts turned Munificents into dumb projectiles. Hypervelocityslugs battered aside particle shields and chewed through the lightly armored frigates. Then the single surviving turbolaser cannon spoke and its first burst turned a Munificent into little more than glowing space debris.

The various weapons bolted on the wrecks surrounding the Republic forces spoke next. Couple of thousands concussion missiles were launched aimed at mere ten frigates, while laser cannons and the odd turbolaser on or even a couple of railguns spread their love in an attempt to cripple as many of the incoming enemies as possible. The Umbrella did its best, the light screen of Vultures deployed with the Munificents flew to intercept the incoming ordnance too. Two Munificents died when the missiles changed their attack vectors at the last possible moment, with another receiving moderate damage. A wave of return fire tore apart the first line of defense and further cluttered the battlefield with even more debris.

Finally the Separatist entered extreme range and began trading shots with the loyalist forces. Withing minutes an ever shrinking ring of fire appeared between Eriadu and her moon.

"Reform the right flank. Third and Fourth Theater fleets, begin falling back at ten percent reverse thrust. In two minutes the rest of the fleets do the same at twenty five percent. Continue crippling the Munificents and re-targeteither when they fall out of formation or when their maneuverability is compromised." Tarkin ordered.

The long range engagement against the enemy escorts favored the Republic forces so far, however that segment of the battle was almost over. The frigates were coming uncomfortably close and the light destroyers nipped on their heels. Once all of those properly mixed up, the battleships would come to mop up at their convenience and in relative safety. The price was going to be high, unfortunately if the enemy was willing to pay it all Gideon could do was to make it even steeper.

A few minutes and a lot of crippled and destroyed ships later, the range had fallen significantly. Soon, the Munificents would be free to execute their ramming run.

"All small craft are clear to engage." Tenant ordered fleet wide. "All remaining weapon platforms are released to fire on the approaching frigates."

And just like that, Tarkin became a spectator. There were no reserves left to deploy. No place left for any clever maneuvers. The Republic fleet had to fight and die nested into the small protected space between Eriadu and her moon.

=RK=

71st Bomber Squadron

High orbit above Eriadu

Just a few short months ago, Lieutenant Falk thought that Geonosis had been a chaotic storm of death and destruction that wouldn't be equaled any time soon.

Two weeks of fighting to keep Eriadu from the Separatist's clutches showed the error of his way.

The Clone believed that the losses at Geonosis had been bad.

This never sufficiently kriffed up place gleefully proved him wrong again.

Falk had the dubious honor to be the only one left still alive from the original 71stSquadron. Everyone who had made it through the cauldron that was Geonosis died above Eriadu. Even worse, their replacements died too. Twice.

The 71stwas practically in its third iteration by now and it was chock full with KNGs who Falk really didn't bother to know besides the bare minimum needed for administrative duties. It didn't matter really. They were all going to die too and he was a dead man flying on borrowed time anyway.

Fighting through Vulture swarms since the war began to reach the clanker's motherships had been bad enough. The new systems introduced by both sides – those kriffing Guardians and Umbrellas were the death knell of small craft everywhere. Only command either didn't know it yet or didn't care because they kept throwing fighters and bombers in the fire for small gain.

"Revenant Actual, you're weapons free. Target any Munificent that you can, Overlord out."

Falk twitched when he heard his new call-sign, which he got after the 71stwas all but destroyed for the second time. Some REMF obviously decided that it was either funny or it would raise morale. The reminder that he should be dead like his brothers did neither.

"Revenant flight, Revenant Actual, we're free to hunt. Keep a nice solid hulk between ourselves and the enemy until we can execute an attack run." Falk paused. "Try not to die." He added, though the Clone doubted it was going to help.

The Lieutenant looked up through the canopy. There was so much firepower concentrated in a relatively small space that a literal downpour of turbolaser bolts going every which way was visible with the naked eye. Falk shook his head. It would be miracle if he made it through the next hour.

He found he didn't really care. Today, tomorrow… It didn't matter. All Clone pilots were on borrowed time anyway.

Falk's scanners pinged and he smiled grimly. Once more into the breach and all that bantha poodo.

"We've got incoming targets. Form up on me. We're pouncing on them when they pass by the hulk. We go in, unleash our torpedoes then scatter and go back to the nest to rearm." The lieutenant ordered.

Falk stared intently at his scanners. Every moment now…

"Follow me!" He snapped over the comm and went immediately to afterburner. His Y-Wing accelerated past the battered wreck of the Venator in which shadow the 71stwas hiding.

Two Munificents flew past the destroyed engines of the Star Destroyer and the bomber squadron flew straight behind them. A few weapon platforms which were playing dead until now went active and sent twenty missiles apiece at each of the frigates along with a lot of blaster bolts.

Falk grinned savagely when his targeting computer sounded a positive tone and he pressed the firing button. The ark behind the engines was where the Umbrella had the least coverage. It was meant to be covered by other ships or Vultures and right then and there those weren't in any position to assist.

However a comparatively lighter defensive fire didn't mean it was non existent of ineffective. A Y-Wing blew up. Then another. A third was clipped and spun out of control before slamming into the front third of a destroyed light cruisers.

Finally the torpedoes were away and Falk made a sharp turn towards the burned out hulk of a Luckrehulk which had been dragged to serve as an improvised shield for an orbital shipyard. Warning tones screamed in the cockpit announcing that multiple missiles had locked on the lieutenant's bomber and were approaching fast.

Falk cursed and began releasing decoys before sharply diving straight towards the wreck. A chocked scream cam over the comm and another newbie died.

The Clone was barely able to pull back before splattering over the torn armor of the Luckrehulk. Most of the missiles weren't so fortunate and slammed into the ship. Two somehow managed to turn and follow him. Falk banked left and began weaving dangerously close though a field of twisted cannon emplacements. One missile clipped the half melted barrel of a turbolaser, yet the other persisted and it was coming closer and closer.

Falk pulled up, then dived sharply and turned around to fly into the cavernous hold of the battleship. The kriffing missile continued to follow.

Floating debris, including large pieces of disabling droids began bouncing off the fighter. Falk was barely able to see where he was flying and had to rely on his instruments alone. A proximity alarm roared in his ears and he cut the engines then went for a crash landing just in time to avoid ramming a bunch of tanks floating in the vacuum. The missile's luck finally ran out and in slammed into one of the armored vehicles. The blast-wave was enough to throw the rest around and one hit the port engine at the precisely wrong angle and speed, disabling it.

Falk just stared in the darkness for the next few minutes unable to believe that he was still alive. By all rights he should have bought it and joined his brother in whatever passed for afterlife if such a thing existed. The Clone shook his head in exasperation. Why the kriff was he still alive when so many good men didn't make it?!

=RK=

Part 9

=RK=

2nd Platoon

Black Company

41stBattalion "The Grim Reapers"

Eriadu's moon

"Sarge!" Dex shouted.

Hound barely heard him over the scream of artillery shells and the constant cacophony of explosions. Even with a fresh battalion sent to hold the line, the only reason why the clankers hadn't reached the Ion Cannon behind them was the constant bombardment.

"What?!" The sergeant asked before wincing.

The barrage tapered out and soon ended. Hound went to one of the monitors showing what was happening outside the bunker and began cursing. While the valley was turned into a hell-scape of craters and twisted metal, the enemy was still pressing through. They sacrificed whole regiments of B1s used as little more than cannon fodder and it apparently worked. Hound could see more tank approaching, this time escorted by Commandos, SBs and some new hulking droids that had a lot of big guns built in.

"The artillery is running short on shells, sarge!" Dex explained. "We can't call for orbital support either, the fleet is fully engaged. From what I heard, they might be losing too." The was come out as a whisper.

"Kriff it all. Are there any reserves left?" Hound cursed again.

"Another regiment managed to land before things up there got totally kriffed up. We should be getting at least one company." Dex pointed at the ceiling.

"Keep calling for more support. We're going to need all the help we could get." Hound clapped his brother's shoulder.

Heavy laser cannons and repeaters built in the bunkers opened up on the advancing enemy. They answered with a barrage of smoke grenade that covered the whole valley in a silver metallic mist that cut visibility to just a few meters and scrambled all but the seismic sensors.

"Why did they sent the competent clankers at us?!" Dex whined.

"Because we're that big pain in their metal asses. Get me all the support you can." Hound triggered his comm. "This is Black Two actual, I need all indirect fire support shooting at predesignated coordinates..." At least the company's integrated mortar section had some rounds left. Not enough to make big difference, but the shock-waves might clear up the smoke temporarily so the cannons could bag a few tanks before more could be applied.

Hound smiled when the tell tale flashes of thermal warheads lit up the silver mist and either burned it out or scattered it. The cannons wasted no time in re-targeting and slagging the leading Separatist tanks before more smoke grenades were utilized by the enemy. The clankers were already a third up the valley and coming in fast.

Hound gave the re-adjusted coordinates to the mortars two more times before they ran out of ammo.

"Well, kriff." The sergeant summarized. The enemy was almost at the edge of the shield.

He went to a nearby console and flipped open the transparent lid of a red button, then waited for the first group of tanks and infantry to pass through. They were met by withering amount of firepower and most were slagged before they could sent back more than a shot or two. A few survived long enough to shoot more of the smoke grenades further obscuring the battlefield.

Hound waited for a few more seconds and pressed the button. Dozens of charges placed just behind the edge of the shield detonated. It was a mix of high explosive packs and Ion grenades. They were carefully crafted to expend most of their fury in a cone aimed at the enemy most likely approaches.

The resulting thunderclap and pyrotechnics thanks to the weird stuff passing for atmosphere were quite impressive too. Hopefully that would make the clankers pause.

Or not. Hulking figures surrounded by glowing shields came striding through the aftermath of the explosion. Automatic dispensersliberally sent grenades – smoke and otherwise – everywhere. Shoulder mounted cannons tracked the nearest bunkers and sent eye-watering lances of white light at them followed by missile barrages. Scores of repeater bolts slammed in their shields and had seemingly the same effect as water drops hitting the surface of a lake.

Then the laser cannons finally re-targeted and began blowing up the behemoths, though it took at least two shots – one to pop the shield and another to potentially disable depending on where it hit.

The bunkers weren't getting unscratched either. The war-droids firepower began flaying their weapon emplacements, silencing them one after another. Then more silver smoke obscured the enemy and they became little more than ghost visible only when they fired.

=RK=

Bridge

Heavy cruiser Warrior

High orbit above Eriadu

"We're being surrounded. Enemy ground forces are about to reach two of the moon cannons." Tenant succinctly summarized their predicament.

"Three of my Theater Fleets are collapsing. Only my forces are still keeping the center, but that wont' last long." Tarkin admitted.

The Confederacy lost most of its Munificents in the assault, a lot of the Recusants too, however their battleships were practically untouched ever since the final assault began. Actually sacrificing the escorts and light destroyers for a victory might even be a bargain for the bastards – there were a lot of Republic forces trapped in the pocket. The same advantages that made ramming attacks suicidal unless they were a part of a large offensive also meant that none of the loyalists had a chance to escape in hyperspace.

"We're hanging a bit better, however my escorts are practically gone along with a third of the battle line. My remaining Venators and heavy cruisers are taking a beating." Tenant continued with the good news.

"We always knew we won't be able to stop the bastards if they just kept coming and decided to pay the price." Tarkin grudgingly admitted. "I honestly didn't expect them to be willing to do so."

"It's Veil's fault I guess. He must have pissed off our guests." A ghost of a smile flashed over Tenant's face.

"Speaking about him..." Gideon trailed off.

"He better arrive soon or he'll have to deal with all the Separatist by himself." Tenant nodded grimly.

"The enemy battle line is advancing." An aide announced.

"So this is it." Tarkin mussed. "It was honor knowing you, Nils. See you on the other side."

"It was an honor, brigadier. Cut off engines and intensify forward firepower. Continue targeting those destroyers. Only when they're all gone concentrate on the battleships!" Tenant ordered to someone off screen before cutting off the connection.

"We'll advance until we overtake Fourth Theater fleet." Tarkin ordered. Have third pull back and use those shipyards on the flank for cover. I want them to reform their lines as well as they can and hold their ground."

"Brigadier, the defenses of the Hypervelocity gun had been breached. Enemy Commandos with death packs are converging on the generators!" The liaison with the ground forces reported. "One of the secondary approaches to the Ion Cannon is about to be overran and the only available reinforcements might buy half an hour at best."

"It changes nothing. We might not last half hour anyway." Tarkin shrugged.

Gideon was out of options. He couldn't run, couldn't survive for long if he stood his ground and an attempt to attack would meant that his ships would leave the debris field surrounding them and providing a partial cover which would lead to them dying faster for no much gain. Actually reaching one or two of the battleships and ramming them was a pipe dream at this point. They had sufficient escorts and firepower to avoid such a fate.

All that was left was to fight to the bitter end and hope Veil would arrive before the enemy could take Eridau.

=RK=

Part 10

=RK=

CIC

Mandaloriancruiser Remembrance

3 light years from Eriadu

interstellar void

"The scouts just exited hyperspace. We've got good connections on all data-links." Piett reported.

"Put the sensor data on the main holotank when available." I ordered and returned my attention to the floating images of the three admirals under my command.

In the end I managed to convince the nice folks at Gerrenthum that it was in their best interests to sent Lind to tag along with us along with half of their intact navy. However pulling off that stunt cost me making a lot of enemies among the locals. Still it was worth it – after the shenanigans they pulled off, I couldn't trust them politically, nor their navy. I was pretty sure they would be ever more determined to go after me in the Senate after the coming battles. Lind and company were going to lead the assault upon the Confederate forces at Eridau escorting the Freedom – which had both the durability and firepower to take them out if they suddenly got any bright ideas about defecting.

I had commanded reluctant and sometimes openly hostile allies in the past. I knew how to keep them in line when the only thing I had available was a very big stick with no real carrots to go around.

Needless to say, Lind wasn't feeling particularly patriotic about potentially dying for the Republic in the coming battle. The sense I got from him was that while he wasn't pleased by the prospect of being neutral or siding with the Separatists, he preferred such an outcome if the alternative was fighting what he saw as a superior enemy with an arguably good cause.

Ironically, if the new CIS leadership played their cards right, they might objectively become the good guys in this sordid affair. For a lot of the worlds in the Outer Rim, they were already a better alternative than what the Republic was willing to offer, which at least partially explained the attitude of Gerrenthum's politicians and military. However that little truth didn't change the fact that their actions during the battle were borderline treason.

Civil wars were kriffing messy and seldom black and white, who knew?

A major pain in the ass too, no matter the opportunities they presented – like feeding a bit of disinformation to Lind and company stating that we wold be leaving in no less than thirty hours when I had the fleet moving twenty hours after we secured Gerrenthum. I personally found it mightily suspicious that when we arrived we found the Separatist throwing everything including multiple kitchen sinks at Tenant in an obvious attempt to remove him from play before we could arrive.

The raw sensor data finally came through.

"That's a right mess." Vex pointed out.

What looked like all the Separatist forces in the system were busy assaulting the Tenant's fleet along with whatever still survived from the local navy. The Confederacy appeared to be winning too, though all the wrecks surrounding the planet were a testament that our boys and girls had put up a hell of a fight.

"That simply wouldn't do." I shook my head. "Vex, you're taking out that reserve force hanging out fifteen light seconds from the moon. I'm leaving all bombers with you. Jump in their faces and blow them away from my battle space. Joanna, you and Lind are hitting the bottom of the enemy formation attacking the moon. I'll be working on them from above. We'll do a modified variant of what we used against the northern force at Gerrenthum. Take out the battleships first. Whatever escorts are left can be handled by Tenant's people."

"This is going to be painful for our pilots." Vex noted.

"Using hyper capable bombers to jump in their faces and shoot first is probably the best way to utilize our small craft until we figure out a better counter-measures for the Guardian." I shrugged. Honestly, I was astounded of how well the kriffing thing worked. I expected a moderately effective defense against small craft and instead got a real game-changer. "Begin coordinating with your forces. We'll be making a synchronized insertion for a best effect. May the Force serve you well in the battles to come."

Once the conference call was over, I began issuing orders to my task force. I actually got two thirds of the Republic forces to play with, with the rest going to Vex and Holt being left with babysitting our new "allies". My plan was rough but workable – I was going to use the Silencer to breach the shields of a battleships, then finish ASAP by concentrating on it. While the weapon recharged, the whole task force would focus its firepower on another which would allow us to to take care of it in a short order. Before taking some loses, it should be possible to take out a Luckrehulk that way reasonably fast. By then the Silencer would have recharged and a third battleship would die in a short order.

I got the necessary orders out along with some tweaks on the offensive formation we were going to use just in time, because the calculations were ready.

"Engage!" I ordered and thus rendered myself a mere spectator until something unexpected happened.

=RK=

Under the ideal conditions and at the maximum speed of military hyperdrives, crossing mere three light years couldbe done very fast. Somewhere between eight to nine seconds if we got as fast as the slowest ship in my fleet could travel. The conditions were good, though we went for precision and safety considering we were going to appear on the edge of two gravity wells and aimed to get as close as possible to a bunch of Lucrehulks.

So we spent leisurely two minutes in hyperspace before arriving at Eriadu. A few tense seconds followed until our targeting systems and sensors could stabilize and their raw data processed. That gave the enemy just enough time to figure out how kriffed they were.

"Silencer is up, target locked, firing!" Piett reported.

The plot updated. We were in almost perfect position – behind four Lucrehulks. which would need to turn if they wanted to aim most of their firepower at us. The closest one flashed and its red symbol turned amber signifying moderate damage. Its shields were gone and my fleet unleashed all its fury upon its hull. Thirty seconds later it was a mission killed wreck and the Task Force shifted its attention to the next target.

While a Luckrehulk could duke it out with up to eight Venators for extended periods of time and cripple or destroy more than a few before going down, when seven of the cruisers, eight Acclamators, one Dreadnought and a bunch of escorts concentrated their firepower on a single battleship, its shields tended to overload in short order. The second Luckrehulk began taking moderate damage before the enemy could put any significant resistance. By the time they turned so the bulk of their firepower could be aimed at us, half of the battleships were out of the game.

"Silencer is up, acquiring targeting solution..." Piett reported. "Target locked, firing!" He exclaimed and another Luckrehulk turned amber.

Whoever was in charge over there figured out that they were kriffed. The battleships were too deep in the gravity well to get out before we pounded them to scrap and they weren't going to be able to take out more than a single Venator before being overwhelmed. Instead the bastards focused on my escorts. I gave the order for them to hide behind my battle line, however it came too late for three of my light cruisers and five frigates. I had to helplessly watch them be methodically dismantled by the battle wagons before only one of the behemoths was left. By the time it shifted its fire on my leading Venator, the outcome was predetermined. Even the Lucrehulks significant firepower was unable to overload the cruiser's shields before its own defenses collapsed and it was bathed in turbolaser fire.

"Full ahead. Take us over the upper edge of the battle. The targeting priority remains unchanged. All units are free to independently maneuver within the formation." I ordered, then called up a smaller tactical display to look at the rest of the battle.

Joanna had used her ship to a devastating effect – she had practically ran over a group of five battleships complete with escorts without slowing down and left only a field of cooling debris in her wake. The Freedom was already engaging the enemy forces fighting Tenant.

Next was Vex. He was ducking it with an almost equal Separatist force and was apparently willing. However, from what the sensors were telling me, the bomber force was gutted even if it apparently did its job.

"Comms, can you raise either admiral Tenant or whoever is in charge of the local navy?" I asked.

"No can do, sir. There's too much interference." Came the prompt reply.

Hopefully they were still alive.

"The enemy is attempting to break off!" The sensor operator exclaimed.

The kriff?! I didn't have any forces in position to pursue. At least most of them were within the gravity wells and coming into range fast.

A light destroyer division accelerated towards us at ramming vectors and flank speed backed up by five battleships that broke off their attack on Tenant and headed our way. However most of the enemy were scrambling to get away, not to fight.

"Use the Silencer on the destroyers. Reverse thrust, I want to hold off contact with the Lucrehulks. for two minutes." I ordered.

Just in time for the Silencer to reload.

"Targets locked it and firing!" Pied announced ten seconds latter.

The battleships paused. With all the chaos, ECM and general jamming, they probably weren't aware how exactly we took out the first Luckrehulk group. That hesitation was going to prove fatal – the Silencer was going to be ready for sure before the first Luckrehulk entered effective range.

We were going to win unless something got kriffed up in a major way. Catching the enemy out of position and engaging their naval forces in manageable chunks along with the Freedom and my super weapon made that a foregone conclusion.

Unfortunately the bastard refused to just die – that was one of the reasons why call them the enemy after all. Even as the first Luckrehulk was crippled by the Silencer and then pounded to scrap, one of my Venators, which was doing its best to shield my own ship, was singled out and taken apart by concentrated fire.

We managed go take another battleship out before the Silencer recharged, however we traded another cruiser, two assault ships and two thirds of my remaining escorts for that privilege.

The Silence spoke again and a third Luckrehulk became vulnerable. It died too.

"Keep covering the Remembrance, physical intercept if you have to." I ordered. My remaining ships no longer had the firepower to take out a battleship's shields without ducking it out for a prolonged period of time. However as long as the Silencer was operational we could sidestep that issue.

Two more capital ships were damaged to some extent including my own before the enemy could be taken out.

"Jamming is clearing up. We still don't have contact with admiral Tenant or the local's commander – a brigadier Tarkin." The comm lieutenant reported.

"Carry on and keep trying."

I looked at the tactical plot and zoomed out. Joanna was already pulling up and she continued to wreck anything that came in her range. On an even brighter note, half of Lind's forces were already gone. Hopefully he was going to get himself killed sooner rather than later and save me a few headaches.

Vex was still busy. He was maneuvering wildly around an enemy which was doing its best to flee too, considering they had lost up to half their original numbers. In contrast, the admiral had lost mere four ships – a single Venator, on Acclamator with heavy damage and his escorts were reduced to a quarter of their original numbers. The less said for the bombers the better.

"I want a report form both the planetary and moon surface when available. If necessary prepare our ground troops for deployment." I hoped it wasn't to be necessary. Doing so would mean leaving a lot of them on Eriadu when I leave for Kamino.

The remaining enemy forces finally broke. They either scattered or went for ramming attacks – some thing that hit Tenant's people and Lind's friends quite hard. At least my own Task Force was still far enough so we could shoot up with impunity any suicidal moron who headed our way.

Finally it was all over but the screaming.