Death Wish - 2nd Battle of Duro 9.178

[Anne Phoenix]

Fourth Fleet, Task Force 45

Location: Hyperlanes between Duro and Nubia

Bridge of the Flagship, Liberty's Fire

"All hands to attention, Admiral entering the deck."

"At ease, ladies and gentlemen," spoke Admiral Phoenix as she stepped through the open door from the passage to the bridge, the slight rise in humidity typical of Mon Calamari ships, although this one had it dialed down to account for the comfort of the largely non-aquatic humanoid crew.

Walking to her command chair Anne placed her hands upon the headrest; using it as a railing to lightly rest on as she glanced left and right at the various holo representations of the commanders in her task force. Beneath her in the rankings came the three Commodores, each one commanding one of the powerful Vindertan class Dreadnoughts in her force. Next came the seven Line Captains who commanded the four Strike class Cruisers and three Nebulon-B2 Escort Frigates, and finally the six Commanders that conned the two Corvettes and four Gunships. In addition to commanding the overall fleet, Anne also commanded the Liberty's Fire herself.


In addition to her normal commanders, three other unfamiliar faces also floated amongst them. On loan from the Second Fleet were three CC-7700/E Gravity Well Frigates, the ships essential to the task that TF45 was assigned to in the immediate Post-Duro Operations. Each face represented a Commander that conned those ships as well.

"As we're all a bit rusty on working with mobile gravity well forces, we'll stay together as a unit for the first few intercepts, then break into our individual forces for the actual blockade itself," began Anne, waiting to see if anyone had any questions at this point.

"As you know from your initial briefing orders, Task Force 45 has been given the task of aiding third fleet's occupation of the Duro system by throwing up a blockade of the hyperlanes between Duro and the routes connecting it to Corellia and Nubia. Obviously Rebel and Neutral forces will be allowed to proceed, but all Imperial ships are to be seized," Anne again paused.

"Why was Task Force 45 chosen for this mission? Shouldn't this be allotted to Third Fleet while we defend our sector back home?" spoke up one of the Commodores.

"Excellent question and to answer simply, we were deemed the most experienced to conduct this sort of mission. As for defense back home, several wings of A-wings and B-wings are holding down the fort, along with the Star Cruiser Homestead and her escorts. Any other questions?" replied Anne. After a moment of silence she continued.

"This blockade will continue for the next three weeks, after which time Duro should be fully secured with defenses in comfortable place and we should be free after that to head for home," Anne finished. She waited for any final questions but none were forthcoming.

"Dismissed."

* * *

Six hours had elapsed since the briefing had finished and although the three Slash-E's as they were nicknamed had their gravity wells up and running, no ships had yet to pop into the cone of gravity, despite the normally high traffic density of this particular hyperlane.

"I don't like this ma'am, this seems Sithy," spoke up Lieutenant Oldono, second in command of the Liberty's Fire. His post was newly appointed after the previous Lieutenant had been promoted to Commander and assigned to command one of the Gunships in the fleet.

"Don't forget, news would've already leaked about the battleground just recently occurring in Duro, so doubtless a lot of through traffic has either been rerouted through the Corellian system or diverted to other worlds until they wait for the fuss to wind down," replied Anne, standing next to him at the railing.

"Ma'am, sensors report ships dropping out of hyperspace dead ahead, on course from Nubia. Count says ten ships; ID contacts are being processed now. Classification says six Tartan class Patrol Cruisers and four Carrack class Light Cruisers. Individual ID's are being run now,"

"Well now, this is interesting. A convoy escort perhaps?" asked Admiral Phoenix rhetorically as the Alliance ships geared up for the intercept.

"Shall we launch starfighters to attack?" asked the Lieutenant.

"No, those Tartans in particular are geared for anti-starfighter combat. Order the Slash-E's to hang back, we'll take the entire Task Force in to engage them in ship to ship combat. Go ahead and transmit a demand to surrender for them though, it wouldn't hurt to take those ships intact," ordered Admiral Phoenix.

"It has been done. Look at the way they're driving at us, there must be a convoy on the way in behind them," whispered the Lieutenant.

Indeed, the ten light cruisers were driving hard in towards the Alliance warships which were driving hard to meet them in return. They would enter into optimal firing range of one another in a few tens of seconds at this rate.

"Admiral, not only has the Commodore of the Light Cruiser squadron rejected the surrender request but he's also requesting that we surrender to him!" replied the communications officer.

Anne and the Lieutenant shared a chuckle at that as they prepared to engage. Just as they entered optimal firing range, alarm klaxons started blaring as other ships exited hyperspace behind the advancing Light Cruiser squadron. With the Slash-E's staying behind, the Alliance ships had been closing towards the edge of the Gravity Well. As a result, the incoming ships could be seen with the naked eye, dropping out a few kilometers behind the Light Cruisers. Anne and the Lieutenant slowly widened their eyes as they saw what was coming out of hyperspace before them.

"Oh bloody hell."

[Park Kraken]

Task Force Duro Anvil



Time: Location: TF45 Blockade

Bridge of the Imperial-II Star Destroyer Suppressor



"Sir, a priority transmission is incoming from the Advanced Screen," spoke up the communications officer.

"Well, what do they have to say?" asked Admiral Kraken, leaning against the railing at the middle of the bridge.

Before the communications officer could decrypt the message and pass it along, alarm klaxons blared as the starlines suddenly shrank into their normal pinpricks of light. The Suppressor had been yanked out of hyperspace, along with the rest of the Task Force as Park glanced to his left and his right.

More alarms blared as Alliance warships were detected out ahead of them, along with the Advanced Screen that had been pulled out of hyperspace. Park's mind froze momentarily with surprise before the gears inside his head started working again. His head shot down to the sensors board as contacts began to be identified.

"Orders to all ships. Launch all starfighters, power up all shields, and open fire as their weapons bear. Maintain headings and order the Advanced Screen to slow to one third to allow us to catch up to them. We'll blast through them in one past and make for those Interdictor Frigates. Task Force Duro Hammer can finish off what we leave behind," Admiral Kraken ordered with a nasty smile on his face.

The sensor board was showing the positions and ID's of the Rebel ships. The three big rebel ships he remembered from the closing stages of Sullust were present, the threat assessment section listing them on the scale of a Procurator each, along with one Mon Calamari Light Cruiser, four Strike Cruisers, three Frigates, two Corvettes, and four Gunships. No enemy starfighter forces were present, but that was changing quickly as the seven medium sized ships began bleeding squadrons of starfighters. Park looked forward to when they would soon be bleeding debris and bodies.

* * *

Commander Garrett was the leader of the 177th Imperial Fighter Wing, assigned to the Suppressor following the completion of her repairs at Kuat post-Sullust. He had under his command four squadrons of the new TIE-II Interceptors, equipped with shields and a small missile launcher with a magazine of three missiles. In addition, he also had a squadron of the older TIE Advanced Starfighters with their shields, and hyperdrives taking the place of both a TIE Fighter squadron and a squadron of TIE Scouts. Finally, replacing the older TIE Bombers were the new TIE Scimitars, advanced bombers that would stay put in the hangar for the duration of this battle unless things became very grim indeed.

Leading his own personal squadron that was nicknamed the Black Talons, Garrett plunged ahead of the Imperial ships and into the maelstrom that was the Alliance fleet out ahead of them. Coming to meet them was a swarm of Alliance fighters, mostly A-wings although Garrett did see some X-wing and Y-wing profiles pop up on the sensors board.

Settling his crosshairs over an A-wing, Garrett waited for the target locked to come up for the missile launcher. When it went green he fired a missile before beginning evasive maneuvers. Other missiles were either outgoing from the other TIEs or incoming from the Alliance fighters ahead of them as the range closed rapidly. Garrett started firing some laser cannon bursts as the Alliance fighters closed the range. After breaking through the A-wing swarm unharmed, he jammed his stick hard over to the right to re-engage the A-wings. While completing this maneuver, a quad linked laser blast from one of the few X-wings present overwhelmed the shields of his Interceptor and blasted him apart, killing Garrett instantly.

Post battle records would credit him with one A-wing destroyed from his missile and another partial credit with laser damage inflicted, making him a posthumous ace.

[Anne Phoenix]

Fourth Fleet, TF45

Time: Location: Near Duro

Bridge of the Liberty's Fire

Oh hell this was going to be a slugfest Anne knew that as she both looked out the viewport and watched the sensors display. Both her fleet and the Imperial fleet were in a horizontal line abreast formation. The Alliance fleet was still speeding ahead at a pretty good clip, while the Imperial fleet was just beginning to accelerate again after the main force had caught up to the cruiser squadron. Looking out at the viewport she saw where her own flagship was preparing to slip in between the two Imperial class Star Destroyers in the enemy fleet.

"Oh hell that won't do, not one bit. Helm, maneuver us to port and up over the Derfflinger. We'll ride high above her and avoid getting pincer'd by those Star Destroyers," ordered Admiral Phoenix. The view outside the cruiser changed as she maneuvered up and over the Dreadnought riding to her port side. The viewport then tinted slightly as both fleets opened fire on one another at about the same time, hundreds of turbolaser and ion bolts flashing as the trails of missiles and torpedoes arced in between and amongst them. Anne glanced at the displays again and was dismayed to see the Corellian Gunship Glory maneuvering to take the Liberty's Fire previous place, perhaps believing that she was supposed to keep formation in doing so placing her in a bad way against the two Impstar Deuces about to envelope her.

Then the two fleets met one another and the viewport went full black as turbolaser fire splashed against the bridge shields. Anne kept her attention focused on the sensor display as the two fleets flew through one another, watching signals wink out and disappear as ships were either destroyed, heavily damaged, or had their status feeds interrupted by ion cannon fire.

Working from the starboard side of the fleet to the port side from the Alliance's perspective, several smaller engagements occurred amongst the bigger overall picture, ships dueling with one another or trying to engage several targets at once.

The Alliance Strike Cruiser Providence and the Corellian Corvette Tarry engaged the Imperial Saint Tarkin class Dreadnought Pride of Nubia and the Tartan class Cruisers Sleek and Juno. The Providence destroyed the Juno with concentrated Turbolaser fire, and then bore the brunt of the 'Nubia as she unleashed her turbolasers on both Alliance ships. Tarry had been having a splendid duel with the Sleek before several turbolaser cannons from the 'Nubia concentrated on her, blowing through the Corvette's weakened shields and smashing her engines and weaponry, leaving her crippled and helpless. Providence had been moderately damaged by the 'Nubia before the refitted Dreadnought passed her by, the 'Nubia having taken some hull damage in the exchange.

Coming up on the starboard side of the 'Nubia, the older Invincible class Dreadnought Pride of Duro had been scheduled to take the 'Nubia's place in the shipyards for a refit before being called back for active service in the Oversector Fleet. The 'Duro turned her full complement of weapons upon the Providence, not having to worry about her own starboard flank thanks to the presence of a Carrack cruiser there. The Providence's shields were breached for the final time as turbolasers tore her apart, the modular nature of the versatile Strike Cruiser working against her damage survivability as she finally exploded with debris battering the shields of the Dreadnought as she continued onwards undaunted.

Speaking of the Carrack cruiser a moment ago, two of them plus another Tartan cruiser enveloped the Alliance Strike Cruiser Emancipator, the cruiser Farsight to starboard while the Daunt and the Tartan cruiser Damoria slid by to port. All four vessels escaped the skirmish still intact, although only the Daunt had suffered relatively minor damage with the remaining three ships suffering worse.

Next in line, the Alliance Vindertan class Dreadnought Leviathan was flanked in between a pair of Imperial ships, the Battle Horn class Bulk Cruiser Emperor to starboard and the Victory-II class Star Destroyer Carrion to port. The Dreadnought outgunned both ships combined and she showed her stuff, delivering a devastating turbolaser volley that blew through the shields of the Emperor and leaving her adrift and afire, while the Carrion suffered a devastating missile volley that collapsed her shields and pockmarked her hull with detonations. The Dreadnought's turbolasers drilled through these pockmarked breaches in her hull armor, going deep inside the ship to expend their energy against the storage bays, crew quarters, and most alarmingly the reactor cooling systems. Both Imperial ships exploded after they'd passed the Dreadnought by, the Carrion first followed moments later by the Emperor, neither ship getting a single escape pod away.

Sliding in between the Carrion and the Victory-II Star Destroyer Champion came the third Alliance Strike Cruiser, Tyrant's Bane. She was heavily outgunned and under protected versus her two opponents, who promptly concentrated all firepower that they could bear upon the hapless Strike Cruiser. Even after the ravaging of the Carrion by the Leviathan, the Tyrant's Bane was finished off by the Champion before the latter pulled clear of the engagement.

The fourth and final Alliance Strike Cruiser, the Constellation once again found herself outgunned by her opponents. She had the Champion on her port and the Imperial-II Star Destroyer Suppressor on her starboard side. She promptly focused her firepower upon the Champion, hoping to wear down the weaker of the two opponents, but her efforts were in vain as she was demolished too quickly to break through Champion's shields.

Cruising between the Suppressor and the Imperial-III Star Destroyer Glorious the little DP20 type Gunship Courage lived up to her namesake and tried to maneuver and shoot her way through her opponents. She got off a full salvo of concussion missiles against the Glorious and was firing away with turbolasers and laser cannons at the bridge deflector of her target when the turbolasers from the two Destroyers finally found their mark and tore the brave little gunship apart.

Finding themselves between the Glorious and the Victory-II Star Destroyer Fullisade the MC40 Star Cruiser Liberty's Fire and the Vindertan class Dreadnought Derfflinger unleashed their full complement of weapons to both port and starboard. Following the quick demolition of the Fullisade thanks to help from her other side both Rebel ships focused all their firepower on the Glorious as they pulled away with the Imperial-III class Star Destroyer losing her shields and suffering several damaging hits on her hull.

The aforementioned Victory-II class Star Destroyer found herself flanked by three Rebel ships with the Liberty's Fire and Derfflinger on her port side and the Vindertan class Dreadnought Vindertan on her starboard side. Firepower primarily from the two Dreadnoughts made short work of the Victory Deuce and like the Carrion before her there were no survivors. There was a clustering of Imperial ships on the Coreward side of the engagement line and Vindertan engaged two of these ships; the Battlehorn Bulk Cruiser Senate and the Imperial Strike Cruiser Serpent. The Senate suffered crippling damage and heeled out of line before exploding while the Serpent suffered light damage and continued onwards.

Cruising in tight formation with the Serpent and Senate was the Imperial Strike Cruiser Skyraider and Battlehorn Bulk Cruiser Bishop. These two ships had only one target to fire on; the Nebulon-B2 Escort Frigate Luke Skywalker. With a little help in a flanking maneuver from the other side, the two ships scored hits on and through the Frigate's shields, scoring her hull plating and heavily damaging the ship before she drew away. On the other side of the Luke Skywalker was the Carrack cruiser Vizor; she was the primary target of the aforementioned Frigate plus another riding to her starboard, the Mon Mothma. Combined the two Frigates mauled the Carrack and left her corpse drifting and broken through the coldness of deep space.

In the meantime, the Mon Mothma was under sustained fire on her port side from the Imperial Strike Cruiser Gallop and the Carrack Cruiser Tint. The Mon Mothma sustained heavy damage from these two ships but survived for a short time after leaving the engagement zone. Unlike the Luke Skywalker farther down the line, the Mon Mothma couldn't survive the damage inflicted and exploded shortly afterwards, although several escape pods got away before her fiery death.

Riding to the starboard of the Tint and Gallop came the Tartan cruisers Hammer and Trial. Between those two ships and their sister ship Diadem were the remaining Alliance ships including the CR90a Corvette Witch and the DP20 Gunships Bravado, Glory, and Reckless. Outnumbered and heavily outgunned, the three Imperial Tartan class Patrol Cruisers were all destroyed in quick succession, with the Trial falling first, followed by Diadem and then finally the Hammer. For their credit all three Tartans focused their fire on the Witch but were unable to punch through her shields before the cruisers met their ends.

The two formations finished passing through each other and with reluctance Anne focused on the Alliance ship signals rather than seeing which Imperial ships were being destroyed or heavily damaged. The signals for all three of the Dreadnoughts plus the Liberty's Fire showed strong. However the medium cruisers and lighter ships all suffered heavily, with the moderately damaged Emancipator reading as the only Alliance Strike Cruiser left while of the B2 Escort Frigates only the Admiral Ackbar was operational while the Mon Mothma was crippled. The CR90a Corvette Witch was operational, while the Tarry was crippled as well. Of the four DP20 Gunships Bravado, Glory, and Reckless were operational.

But as Anne looked at the status displays she knew her forces had given a lot while taking a beating in return. Just before the engagement began the scanners indicated a force of five Star Destroyers and eighteen Cruisers was engaging her fleet. Now just three Star Destroyers and eleven Cruisers remained active on the threat sensor board.

"Everyone; good job on the firing pass. Recall all of our starfighters from the engagement zone and prepare to form up for a second firing pass," ordered Admiral Phoenix.

"Admiral, the Imperial ships aren't deviating from their course. They're heading for the Slash-E's," reported the sensors officer.

"Oh hell, they want to knock out the Interdictors so that they can escape. Can we overhaul them before they reach the Slash-E's?" asked Anne.

"Negative Admiral. According to the navicomputer calculations the Imperial forces will overhaul the Slash-E's long before we reach them, even if the Slash-E's were to turn tail and run while leaving their gravity wells operating," reported the chief navigator.

"How many starfighters do we have left?" Anne asked.

"I'm seeing signals and reports from sixty four starfighters Admiral," reported Lieutenant Oldono after conferring with someone and eyeing his own sensor screen. Anne turned to face him with shock evident in her eyes.

"Only sixty four? We had a hundred more at the start of the engagement! How did we lose so many?" demanded Anne.

"Admiral, do remember that you ordered our starfighters to not deploy until the second wave of Imperial ships had exited hyperspace. I'm sure quite a few starfighters were still trying to launch while their home vessels were demolished around them. More may have been caught in the crossfire and been destroyed. Plus, reports I've been hearing say that several of the TIE squadrons were equipped not only with shields but also missile launchers as well, something that came as a rude surprise," Lieutenant Oldono said to her by way of explanation.

"Oh very well then Lieutenant. That'll barely be enough to screen our remaining ships. We certainly can't send them chasing off after the surviving Imperial ships and administer a proper dosage of TRD upon them," Anne muttered loudly as the gears turned inside of her head, "Very well then, this engagement is over. Order the Slash-E's to drop their gravity wells and flee into hyperspace. After the Imperial ships withdraw, we'll commence rescue operations and see to our damaged vessels."

"Yes Admiral," chorused the bridge crew as they went about their duties.

However, before the gravity wells dropped from the Slash-E's dropped, several more Imperial ships decanted from hyperspace. Anne and the bridge crew glanced up and froze as the ships materialized out ahead of them. The fourth and smallest ship in the fleet was the Dominator class Star Destroyer Avenger, a veteran from the Battle of Duro. Riding out on the flanks were a pair of Allegiance class Star Destroyers, the Legionis to port and the Blackguard to starboard. Riding in forward center of the formation was the charge of the two Allegiance class vessels, the Executor class Super Star Destroyer Aggressor. This time neither Anne nor Oldono could utter a curse word to describe their situation. Instead Anne just whispered simply;

"Oh"

[Park Kraken]

Imperial Task Force Anvil

Time: Location: Near Duro

Bridge of the Flagship Suppressor

"Sir, the enemy Interdictor Frigates are powering down their gravity well projectors and turning around," reported the sensors officer.

"Will we be able to catch them before they make the jump into lightspeed?" asked Admiral Kraken while staring the display himself.

"At this rate? No sir, not if they jump out as soon as they can," replied the officer.

"Damn. Send the remaining ships in the Advance Force after them and detach our Strike Cruisers to replace their losses. Send three squadrons of TIE Fighters along as well, just to make sure they don't have a change of heart and stick around," Vladimir ordered.

"Sir, what about the remaining ships in the force?" asked Captain Leggos.

Park took a moment to stare at the display screen at both the estimates as to the damages sustained to the Rebel forces, the display showing the composition of Task Force Hammer, and the status updates from his own vessels before making a decision.

"They'll be forced to go after the Sentinel once she's powered up her gravity well projectors and with everything they have remaining. If the Aggressor and her consorts leave anything behind, then we can mop them up along with the current Rebel stragglers left behind. It won't take a powerful force to accomplish that so let's just use Suppressor for that duty, while the remaining undamaged Imperial ships tend to our own cripples, search for survivors among the derelicts, then proceed to escort the heavily damaged ships to Corellia," ordered Admiral Kraken.

"Yes sir," replied Leggos crisply before turning to his duties. Vladimir turned back to the view screen, watching as the Rebel ships finally began to respond to the presence of the SSD and her little group. Too bad he was aboard the bridge of his flagship; if he was sitting at home he could take a seat, prop up his legs, grab a bag of nerfcorn, and watch the unfolding battle on his holovision to his great amusement.

[Park Kraken]

Task Force Anvil

Time: Location: Near Duro

Bridge of the Flagship Aggressor



The orders had been issued by Grand Admiral Danetta Pitta who was now commanding the overall fleet. Seeing the orders issued by Admiral Kraken a moment ago, Pitta allowed them to stand before viewing the situation of his own smaller force. The Sentinel had taken its place behind the Aggressor while the Legionis and Protector stayed in their flanking positions. The Interdictor Destroyer had her gravity wells fired up and running while all four of her TIE fighter squadrons had been deployed for screening duty.

The Aggressor was currently launching its own squadrons with everything but the scouts and bombers streaming from the hangar bays. Six squadrons of TIE Interceptors and three of TIE fighters would be the screen for the SSD. Pitta knew what the score stood at and what the Rebels needed to do to escape with their lives. With three Dreadnought profile ships, one Mon Calamari light cruiser, one medium cruiser, two frigates, and five smaller ships they didn't stand a chance in hell against his beautiful flag and her consorts but he was sure the Rebels would try dying and perhaps inflict a little damage, although he would be shocked if it was sufficient to abort the Duro operation for.

Pitta glanced back at Grand Moff Jarson Voorheed with thinly veiled disgust in his eyes, a glance that didn't go unnoticed by others on the bridge who were paying attention to the two including Moff Xanaan of the Corellian Sector. The overly fat Grand Moff was corrupt through and through, soaking up bribes from the various shipyard corporations in his Oversector to show favoritism to them for negotiated contracts with Imperial warships. How he'd escaped the attention of the Inquisitorate for so long was a mystery to Pitta and others but perhaps the Grand Moff's time had come, for two Inquisitors now accompanied them aboard the Aggressor. If Voorheed felt his life was in imminent danger then perhaps he thought the threat could be erased or forgiven with a victory over the Rebel invasion forces currently occupying Duro.

Then again the Inquisitors could be here to keep an eye on Pitta himself. Certainly he previously had thoughts of going rogue following news of the Emperor's death but ended up remaining loyal and assisting Grand Admiral Desaria in hunting down fellow former Grand Admiral Josef Grunger who had apparently acted on Pitta's own desires and gone rogue himself. Pitta had been awarded Grunger's old flagship and his post in the Corellian Oversector.

If things somehow went sour with this engagement or the battle over Duro itself it would be just like Voorheed to place the blame on Pitta or even Xanaan. As overall commander of the military forces in the Oversector Voorheed had already messed with Pitta's plans a little bit; breaking his two part fleet into three parts that had been codenamed Hammer, Anvil, and Forge. While Forge should've had most of the non-combatant vessels in the fleet, for some reason Voorheed had tasked three Bulk Cruisers to Hammer, of which only one had survived. While the ships themselves were outdated as frontline military vessels the cargo they carried was essential to the short term reoccupation of the orbital cities.