“Fuckin’ Hells.” It sounded so defeated, even to my own ears.

  “Commodore?” The Jedi General asks.

  “Is Admiral Yularen, or any flag officer on the Resolute, sir?” I ask, desperation in my voice.

  “No, he is with the Open Circle Fleet, as are the others. We require a break in the battle to deploy our Clone Regiment to the surface. The Scuba Clones are required to bolster the defenses of the Capitol.” The Nautolan Jedi says.

  “Lizardshit.” I mutter, there goes my chance of giving this battle to someone more experienced and any chance of a good night’s rest for the duration of this Maker forsaken battle.

  “Commodore?” The General asks, apparently not having heard my expletive.

  “I … I herewith request full authority over the ship and her attached units, sir.” I ask, a mix of determination and desperation in my voice.

  “What?!” The Child exclaims.

  “Sir, I need fighters, more boarding troops and every ship we can spare. If you wish me to secure the docks, shipyards and successfully conduct offensive action I need that ship and her attached units. There is no time for me to negotiate with a Jedi officer every time I need the ship to do something. Please, sir, permit my request for the duration of the battle.” I plead.

  “Sir, enemy Munificent is detonating. Golan I, Serenity, has suffered shielding failure.” Sergeant Slas interjects.

  “Move the Stormwind in front until the platform has re-calibrated her shields, then pull the ship back, see if we can get 3rd Platoon out of there before they start moving.” I order.

  “As you wish, Commodore. The Resolute, 501st and all attached units excluding the units we require for combat on the surface will be at your disposal. We shall place our trust in you.” The Jedi General supplies.

  “Thank you, sir. Captain I require your unit to deploy to the contested areas we’ve sent to you. High priority in quality to whatever units you send to the contested Golan II platform, Tiger-prawn. I require any fighters to help make our offensive push for the Resolute and three quarters of your bomber detachment to begin a run on the Diamond class cruisers in the enemy back line. Any other fighter and bomber craft are required to bolster our front lines. I would ask that you begin launching fighter craft now.”

  “That’s a suicide run.” The child objects.

  “Yes, and I require it to give us more breathing room and time to consolidate after our push. Have them move below the old refitting yard, that should provide some cover against flak and the scanners.” I finish

  “It will be done, Commodore. May the Force be with you.” The Nautolan Jedi Master says.

  “And may the Maker preserve you all.” I echo back. I take a deep breath.

  “Alright. Mi-Kus we’re joining the Dreadnought line, arrowhead formation. The Little Revenge will take point, I want the fourth Light Merchant to join us to cover the gaps. Also scramble some bombers to take advantage of our advance.” I order.

  “Yes, sir.” The bridge crew choruses back.

  The line of Dreadnoughts adjust slightly for us, still exchanging fire with the three retreating Munificents and the four Separatist aligned MC75s and nine MC30c frigates. I double check the tactical display and see the drifting hull of one of the frigates in gray, well that should make this slightly easier.

  “Sir, we’re in position.” Mi-Kus says.

  I double check and see the four remaining frigates of the 4th in the gaps between the six Dreadnoughts. I nod as I speak, feeling a calm overcome me: “Formation, advance. Prioritize enemy frigates, we’ll break them here.”

  “Fire in own time.” Mi-Kus orders.

  The Dreadnoughts and frigates advance, slowly at first, then picking up speed. The Mon Cala frigates keeping pace with the larger ships. Turbolasers are fired off as soon as they finish reloading, their payloads smashing into the enemy frigates and four capital ships. The returning fire impacting the shields of the Little Revenge. That is why we were on point I thought while grimly watching the Resolute approaching us from behind. We hadn’t suffered much if any enemy fire so far and our shields were almost fully charged, we could take the most enemy fire now and so we were the point of the spear.

  Another exchange of fire and the ships shudder as the ion cannon barrage starts eating away at our shields. Our own fire hasn’t gotten through any of the capital ship’s shields, but two more enemy frigates are drifting lifelessly through space.

  “Have the fourth break formation to press the advance. We need one of those ‘75s disabled and our current firepower won’t do it.” I say.

  “Sir?”

  “Break off the fourth light merchant and have them take on one of the battleships, I’ll leave the target up to their commanding officer.” I clarify.

  “Yes, sir.” I hear as I turn towards another hulk of a destroyed enemy frigate we passed by.

  We were making good progress locally. I turn to the tactical display and frown. We had lost one of the dockyard installations and the supporting MC75 above it. At least some of the fighters had rallied and taken out an enemy frigate in turn as they retreated towards the Guard Hound for emergency repairs and command adjustments.

  “Sir we’ve lost the Raindrop III and Buoyant, the other two frigates have broken the shields of one of the ‘75s.” Mi-kus reports.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Have the two closest Dreadnoughts divert their fire towards that target.” I order.

  “Sir, Resolute’s coming in hot.” Welder warns.

  There’s one ship in the way, an MC75. A terrible idea starts to form. A Dreadnought should be able to do it with the two remaining frigates from the 4th.

  “The two ships from the fourth are to brace for impact and begin a ramming maneuver on that MC75 in the Resolute’s way.” I order.

  “Sir, that won’t be enough!” Mi-Kus tries.

  “Maker preserve us, we’re joining in. Helmsman all ahead full. Shields to front and conservative, brace for impact!” I bellow out as the ship lurches at the sudden acceleration. I grab a hold of one of the workstations and I hear R4 lock her legs in place. We race for the capitol ship ahead of us then.

  “IMPACT!” And a loud crash as durasteel meets durasteel. A snap as the shields of the two ships embrace before breaking from the unusual mix of frequencies. Mi-Kus looses his grip and falls into the technician’s trench with a surprised expletive, landing with a soft thump and a cry of pain from a poor tech he fell on.

  R4 starts laughing in binary and calling Mi-Kus a fool of a lizard who wouldn’t realize he was hit by a train until his head was a dozen miles away from his tail. As she finishes her insult Sergeant Welder starts laughing.

  “Get off me already.” The poor tech says.

  “Need a hand Captain?” Welder asks.

  “Shut it both of you, or else I’ll have you on fresher duty until the next time our Commodore does something life threatening.” Mi-Kus says as he climbs out of the trench.

  I roll my eyes while trying to suppress my smile: “Fire at anything getting close to our engine block, Welder are we cleared?”

  “Yes, sir. It’ll be a tight fit, but the Resolute should make it.” The Sergeant responds.

  “Good, also you and Mi-Kus are compiling the casualty reports after this, for unnecessary lip.” I say, keeping my tone light. Some of the bridge crew smother their dry chuckles while I watch the tactical display. We had cleared the path for the Resolute, maybe a spare fifty meters for any minor miscalculations.

  “Keep up the pressure, helmsman.” Mi-Kus says and I nod, best not allow them to get any ideas.

  “Sir, Resolute has begun the pass.” Welder says.

  “Prepare the spearhead to pull back.” I order.

  It takes ten agonizing seconds until the Resolute passes by. Ten seconds of the engines straining against the MC75, ten seconds of enemy ion fire thudding against our hull, trying to disable us. It would have been successful were it not for the turbolaserfire of the Resolute slamming into any ship that came too close as it sailed passed us.

  “She’s clear!” One of the sensors officers barks.

  “We’ve lost the Dreadnought Hubris!” One of the comms officer shouts.

  “Helmsman, reverse our movements. Pull whatever is left of the 4th light back to the back line. Pull the Dreadnought line back and bring us out of effective enemy range. I want a couple salvos into the ship we rammed before we leave effective range. Pull up local frigates and corvettes to screen us as we finish our movement.” I order.

  The thrusters reverse and the two ships part their violent embrace. It took an agonizingly long moment until it was safe to fire a volley of turbolaser fire at the enemy ship. With the shields of booth warships still calibrating and the dangerously close range the heavy armor of the Separatist controlled ship mattered little. The arcs of blue fire pierced the hull, causing minor explosions in the support systems and forcing any rooms and hallways to be voided into the depths of space.

  It was mortifying. Unless everything was going wrong a naval officer of any grade was never supposed to see this. Either you’re floating out with your comrades or you are too far away from the enemy to see them do the same. Dozens of surprised and unprepared souls being sucked into the vacuum of space.

  “Hurry up. Where is the fourth? They should be with us.” I ask, trying to ignore the freezing corpses.

  “Signals are blank, sir.” Sergeant Welder says.

  “Fuck.” I mutter, “Continue to pull back. We need to consolidate further at this point. We’ll review the situation and look at redefining the battle task groups.”

  A couple of hostile turbolasers and ion cannons hit their mark and continue to scorch the heavy armored plates of my warship as we pull back from our position. It takes an agonizing thirty seconds until the shields come back online as we continue to slowly pull back alongside the other Republic ships on this front. I feel a sigh of relief leave me as we leave effective turbolaser range.

  “Sir, the enemy isn’t pursuing.” Mi-Kus says, a hint of confusion in his voice.

  “Not unexpected. They wish to secure the surface, ignorant of the true winning conditions. They are just as blind as the Jedi. We’ll hold our current positions. Pull any exposed Mon Cala ships back slightly. Maybe we can convince the fools to overextend.” I say.

  It takes a bit, but the more exposed Mon Cala vessels pull closer to their local defensive positions. We had secured the primary dockyards alongside a small chunk of the shipyards. The enemy still held almost all the shipyards and docks near the planet’s north, probably the staging ground of their surface troops. It was where we had disabled the enemy Providence. The southern shipyards were still quite disputed, as were the smaller and isolated shipyards and docks spread throughout Dac’s orbit.

  “Where to press the attack.” I mutter to myself.

  “Sir, we have two groups approaching the system.” I hear Welder say.

  “Positions?” I ask, voice still calm as I adjust the tactical display to depict the incoming groups of ships. Two groups, roughly equal in size based off of the radiation signatures, one coming up from behind the Separatist Lucrehulk, the other near the most isolated Golan I platform. The platform was on a level with the equator of Dac, but far out.

  “Nothing we can do about this. What’s the report on the Resolute’s fighter attack?” I ask.

  “Basic report states the successful ambush and destruction of one Diamond class cruiser. They’ve pulled back towards the isolated Golan I the unknown ships are heading towards.” Mi-Kus reports.

  “They’ll be their greeting party then.” I say as I start tapping my holster.

  “They’re exiting.” Comes Welder’s report, “Four Recusant class light destroyers behind the Lucrehulk. Four Venators and two DP20 corvettes. Sir, the 99th Battleship Section has entered system.”

  “Thank the Maker. Hail Commodore Molim.” I order, feeling relief surge through me.

  “Enemy ships moving to shore up the North, sir.” A sensors officer says.

  I nod to the update as the tactical display shrinks and begins to share the holoprojection with my counterpart. He was a decent bit older than myself and looked it. A middle aged man in a pristine uniform, his officer’s cap adorning his head alongside a massive pair of sideburns which merged with a pristine mustache. He reminded me of the Union General Burnside of Earth. In fact the resemblance was uncanny.

  We snap a salute in tandem and I begin to speak first: “Commodore Molim, it is a pleasure. I request your assistance, sir.”

  “Commodore Dericote, the pleasure is mine. I will honor your request for Republic and Navy. What is the current status?” The older man answers, the ritual rhythm of Navy greetings coming like water from a spring.

  “The enemy has halted their offensive on the primary dockyards, which we have preliminary control over. We’ve lost multiple Merchant Fleet ships, but so far Republic Navy casualties are light. With your acceptance I would link our tactical displays.” I say.

  “Very well.” My counterpart says. There is a moment of pause as he looks over the display, “Would it be possible to press the assault in the south or north?”

  “Possible, but I fear we would loose ground in the primary docks we just secured. I’m not desperate enough for such maneuvers.” I reply.

  “Yes, I see it now. I’ll place my 99th in aggressive reserve and threatening flank, the Mon Cala’s Joy will join the back line on a more permanent basis, while the rest form a reserve in reverse arrowhead formation between our current position, your position and the dockyards to the south. We should be able to react quickly to any sudden actions.”

  “I have no objections. I will hold our current line to the best of my ability. The Resolute should return to orbit within a couple hours. Her fighter wing is near you. I would ask you send any available Clone units under your command to prepare for an aggressive boarding action. I believe we could secure the Golan II platform between my position and the enemy’s northern position with enough manpower.”

  “I’ll prepare my two companies for the task ahead. Will your Clone Captain take the lead on this?”He asks.

  “I would recommend it. Captain Chain has a large amount of experience when it comes to aggressive boarding actions.”

  “Very well. On your mark.” The man says. We booth snap salutes and I watch as the tactical display shifts back into place.

  I continue tapping my holster. We had the capital ship supremacy thanks to the Mon Cala loyalists, the enemy still held a frigate majority thanks to the Quarren loyalists. We may have a slight fighter majority on paper, but with the casualties sustained so far multiple squadrons would need to be linked for this battle.

  “We need further logistical support.” I say.

  “Sir?” Mi-Kus asks.

  “This battle wont end any time soon. We’ll need extra munitions, especially for the Venators and Merchant fleet ships. We’ll need fuel and spare parts to keep the fighters moving and we need the same to keep the ships up and running.” Maker I wish Mon Cala had the pre-war emergency reserves of Fondor. There was enough spare parts in one of the smaller depots to keep my entire squadron well maintained for over five years.

  “We could request a re-routing of supply ships to our location from the local garrisons.” Mi-Kus suggests.

  “We’re already pulling the garrisons in from Baros, Toong’l and Targonn. Whatever supply shipments head their way should be left there for their return or the defense of the worlds.” I argue.

  “We could request they leave half their escorts and send the supplies along with the other half.” Mi-Kus suggests.

  I ponder the suggestion for a moment before nodding: “Very well. Slas, get me Molim’s support on this and put our the Captains of the Glutton V and Guard Hound on the necessary legalities. Have the enemy made any moves?”

  “Sir, there seems to have been an attempt to make a bombing run on the Resolute, but it was intercepted by two squadrons of Headhunters.” One officer replies.

  “Keep the fighter screen up and finish the preparations for the boarding action. Inform Chain this operation is of major importance. Its success is vital to the continued operational integrity to the battle.” I say.

  “Yes, sir.” Comes the reply from one of the comms officers.

  I might need to press the advance more than I was willing to.