- Edited
”There is no peace, no peace in this galaxy.”
Part one
THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD
Admiral Blue doubted that many TIE officers had heard that sound and came back alive. But he had, far too many times. It was the noise of his fleet coming out of warpspace, having masterfully evaded the FTL magnet that had held them at bay for so long. A group of unmanned interdictor drone platforms had warped in on a suicide mission. Due to how the FTL magnet was operating, they arrived right into the jaws of the TIE fleet at point-blank range. The interdictors though had raised an interdiction field that prevented the rest of the fleet to be caught in the trap. Due to this manoeuvre, they had come out at very-long-range, as they always did. Blue did not enjoy war, but something other than artillery battles to get his adrenaline pumping would be welcome. His scanners picked up the colossal structure, the main FTL magnet. Its size was enormous. It was a grey structure with many antennae and sensory towers protruding from its main body. The body in question was hidden, embedded within a large asteroid that had been dug out for the project. Around it, capital ships. At least 20 of them. They ominously floated about the titanic FTL magnet. The only ship that could compare in size was the Yoshiaki, the only remaining dreadnought of TIE. Blue remembered when he studied the battle of Yashinda, seeing railgun shells hammer that very same ship mercilessly. The ship had somehow recovered. It looked in good shape with a few patched-up spots where the paint job was fresh. Some guns and systems were replaced with newer ones in a way that made the ship asymmetrical. Blue’s ship, the HMS Pride one of the most powerful ships the Royal Navy had to bare, yet the Yoshiaki was more than twice as long. His fleet had more supporting ships though. Around the behemoth that was his battlecruiser flew 45 Bastonian cruisers and over 70 destroyers. He split his fleet into three sections. The centre section was led by his command ship HMS Pride and the flanking section by two heavy cruisers each, the HMS Principality and HMS Virtue. The TIE fleet raised their shields quickly. They had anticipated the attack for a long time. The long warp jump had drained the Bastonian ships of their power and was staggering. Though due to the nature of TIE’s weapons, they weren’t able to capitalize on this. Nova and Victory-class capital ships were sent forth, unleashing volleys of missiles. The battle had begun. ”PD corvettes form three screens in a V formation in front of each battlegroup and begin standard firing protocols in volleys.” Blue commanded. The warships obeyed, swinging around their coilgun barrels and pointing them against the enemy wedge ships. Each ship was pushed back by recoil as the guns thundered in a barrage unleashing a wave of shells toward the enemy.
Commander Hoscian of TIE’s Imperial Navy saw the blips in the distance drawing ever closer. His ships were heading full speed at the Bastonian battlegroup to get within range, while the GBE fleet was already firing everything they got. Hoscian was in command of a small strike group consisting of 3 Nova-class capital ships and a dozen other newer warships. The shells came in, obliterating a corvette in front of him and whipping past his bridge and hitting his allied ships all around him. Without warning one smashed into his ship’s shields, lighting it up in a nuclear explosion, damaging the front and throwing Hoscian to the floor. Missiles were now arriving by the hundreds, his point defence was doing the best it could at intercepting them all. He ordered the firing of more missiles to match them, but the main batteries came hammering down, never stopping. He was racing towards the enemy but they weren’t even a quarter of the way and his fleet was under fire he knew they couldn’t sustain for long. Hoscian took a long look at the formation the enemy admiral was employing, analyzing the ships and the information that they had gained in previous battles. That’s where he noticed the weakness. The fleet had only 7 interdictors. Either they assumed that the FTL magnet would stop faster than light manoeuvres or they had too much faith in their non-dedicated interdiction-carrying warships. Either way, he knew to never interrupt his enemy when they are making a mistake.
Blue saw the enemy fleets attempt at etching closer to them. He analysed that they were too spread out for a crescent formation. The best option was just to shoot them from long range. He ordered his ships to start reversing away from the enemy, to keep their distance. But he knew that their ships were faster and would eventually catch up. All the heavy armour was a burden on the Bastonian ships' acceleration. And when they got to medium range, Blue had a surprise for them.