PDA

View Full Version : 9.053 Trading Toys For Trash



Anne Phoenix
Jul 2nd, 2012, 07:51:45 AM
Hydian Way, Near Eraidu

It was a daring mission, but well worth the effort. Within three days of the Imperial attack on Sullust, word had come in of a big convoy moving in to Eraidu. Worried that Mustafar might be discovered and another attack imminent on either there or Sluis Van or Sullust again, this convoy had received special attention from Alliance Intelligence to try and decipher its secrets. The pay off might not have felt like much to High Command apart from confirming that it was no attack force, but when Anne skimmed through the listings and saw what the convoy was carrying, she knew a potential jackpot loomed. There would be four Bulk Cruisers in the convoy, each one carrying a dismantled planetary construction droid. Why the droids would be shipped to Eraidu was beyond Anne's comprehension, but the fact that they were presented a unique opportunity to acquire aid for rebuilding Sullust.

The escort was formidable, consisting of a Victory II-class Star Destroyer, two Frigates, and two smaller ships. Intelligence hadn't been able to confirm much about the intelligence, only the name of the VicStar being the Garrote, there being two frigates, and two smaller ships. Being cautious, Anne had only deployed about half of her ready fleet from TF45 to this mission, dividing that strength into two halves. Here she sat in the trade lane in her flagship, the MC40 Star Cruiser Liberty's Fire, along with two of her B2-type Escort Frigates. The other section contained a pair of Strike Cruisers, now fully manned and ready for combat, along with the third B2-type Escort Frigate in TF45.

The ships were in red alert, pending the imminent arrival of the convoy. Plans had already been made for a quick jump in case the Eraidu Sector Authority reacted much quicker then expected, but hopes were high that this mission would succeed in the face of the severe defeat at Sullust. Anne walked the length of the bridge, inspecting the men's stations; looking over their shoulders to be sure they were carrying out their assigned tasks. Now serving as both the commanding Admiral of TF45 and the Captain of Liberty's Fire, she ran a tight ship, with three people currently in the brig for dereliction of duty, playing games while they were supposed to be working, and it showed with their determination and discipline.

Alarm Klaxons blared but were quickly silenced by the crew, just the way she liked it.

"Status report," ordered Anne as she walked over to the Captain's chair.

"Enemy convoy entering trade lane. One repeat one Victory class Star Destroyer, one repeat one Imperial II-class Frigate, one repeat one Nebulon B-class Escort Frigate, and two repeat two Carrack class Light Cruisers, plus four repeat four Bulk class Cruisers. IFF is working on their ID's now Admiral," reported sensors.

"All right, let's get the crews to their fighters and get them launched. Having the A-wings make for the enemy star fighters as they deploy and hit them hard. Helm, bring us about and prepare for us to engage that VicStar. Comm, open a channel to our companion vessels and have them engage the enemy Light Cruisers," ordered Rear Admiral Phoenix.

"Ma'am, enemy ships are deploying TIEs. Sensor readings indicate they're all Fighter models from the three carriers. Also, IFF reports the VicStar as the Garrote, the Imperial-II as the Smasher, the Nebulon-B as the Death's Door, plus the Light Cruisers as the Hardy and Charm. The Cruisers come in as the Fallow, Core, Yellow Nine, and Green Two," updated the sensors officer.

"Good, pretty much what we expected. Anything else I should know before fully committing ourselves to battle?" asked Anne of the bridge.

"Ma'am, one final update. The archives show that Hardy and Charm are both Patrol Cruiser type Carracks, and my sensors now indicate that TIE Interceptors are now deploying from the Smasher," finished the sensors officer.

"Very well then. Comms, send the pre-arranged signals to Raiding Force Two to jump in within easy distance and to deploy their fighters but otherwise hold there. Liberty's Fire will engage the VicStar, while our Frigates will engage the enemy Light Cruisers," ordered Anne. She stole a quick look at her personal sensors holo screen to see that the enemy VicStar and Carracks were deploying together to face the Alliance threat head on, while the Frigates were shepherding the convoy away. Already the A-wings were engaging the TIE Fighters out ahead of the convoy.

"Ma'am, the A-wings report that the TIE Fighters have shields, along with the Interceptors," cut in the comms officer.

Anne jerked her head up in surprise, before glancing to the battle raging outside the view screen.

"Someone bring up the convoy's history of movement. Comms, can you query the squadron commanders to see how strong those shields are?" asked Anne.

"Already receiving information on that Ma'am. The Commanders report that the shields aren't very strong, only requiring a few shots to break through. It does allow the TIEs a little more time to maneuver away from the threats they now realize are targeting them," reported Comms.

"Ma'am, the Archives show the convoy's last stop was at a Sienar Fleet Systems facility on the edge of the Kuat system," spoke up another officer.

Anne gave this a few seconds though. Reports during the attack on Sullust from surviving pilots of the Defense Force indicated that the TIE Interceptors encountered there had both shields and missile launchers, although in apparently limited magazines. Now these Interceptors and Fighters had shields, but no apparently launchers. Apparently the Empire was finally realizing the value of keeping its pilots alive and well, coming at a rather bad time for the Alliance at that.

A flash of green fire bounced off the forward shields as the VicStar opened fire on her ship. The battle would now be joined, her attention refocusing to current tasks at hand.