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| - It has been some three days since the battle has commenced, one he considers to be a real one despite the fact that no one will die, and entire crews will not be lost when a vessel explodes. The stress is the same, and the precious handful of hours slept every now and then leads to a similar level of fatigue than if they had everything really riding on this. It is a pity that stims are not permitted by the Military, it'd make for more alert soldiers even if they ended up shortening their lives considerably. True dedication, after all requires a true sacrifice. Surprisingly, Rasi does not look entirely disheveled, oh certainly he does not look to have shaved in a while and the first signs of fatigue are seen. But aside that, it is the same old, figuratively of course, professional, hardass XO that has this watch on the bridge. Why, some might be even led to believe that he had time to run a comb through his hair given that it looks particularly orderly. The chair reserved for the one running the bridge has been taken, and he sits with one leg crossed over the other, calmly pouring through damage reports and updates on the situation in the system. With the enemy having consolidated their absolute control over one section of the Bright Jewel system, further in and away from the planet, the hours haven't been as frantic while they fend off one wave after another of enemies. Following their performance at the beginning of the battle, and the stabilizing of the situation on the left flank of the defensive lines, Squadron 46, with the Audacity as its core, was reassigned along with another similar squadron of corvettes and small gunships . Their new place is beside one of the MC-80s assigned to the defenders, they have been assigned to guard one of the angle of approaches to Ord Mantell, albeit one of the least accessible ones given the current placements of the two forces here. The waiting has begun, broken by the occasional enemy starfighter or vessel that has strayed far from its group, and Rasi now breathes easier. Patched up, as best they could anyway, and ready to go, the Audacity is as close to its pre-battle status as it could be. "Damage control, how is the work on the hangar power conduits proceeding?" The Caspian battlegroup has arrived at the cryogenic edge of the star system. The eight midnight blue hulls are shrouded in the trace clouds of ice crystals that tend to accumulate at the edge, all ships running silent and dark. On the flag bridge of the carrier CMS Thunderer, Admiral Raddemacher opens his channel, tight beam. "To all ships of TF 1-7," comes Raddemacher's voice, with its gutteral Rautheran accent, "We will presently be commencing a simulated attack on the Bright Jewel system, playing the role of Imperial raiders. It is hoped that this will prove... most educational for all parties involved. As luck would have it, we have among our ranks an officer cadet, late of the Imperial Navy, with experience commanding just such operations. As such, in the interests of making this a more valuable training exercise, I am now ceding operational command to Cadet Lynae Cassius. Good luck, and good hunting." Bracing to attention in front of the captain of the Audace, Cassius speaks over the ship to ship comm, "For the sake of this specific drill we will be employing tactics that are not typically used by the Caspian navy. As the Admiral explained, we will be posing ourselves as, instead, an Imperial taskforce attacking Ord Mantell and the assets in this sector. to that end I will keep the plan brief and to the point, but as is customary, the commanders of the support vessels are free to speak to me directly when alternative tactics arise - which, typically speaking, they do. We all know that no battle plan ever survives the first engagement with the enemy. With that in mind I would encourage all of you to keep on your toes as much as possible, be creative, be imaginative, and above all else - watch each other, watch the Republic fleet, and learn both from what they do - and what they don't do." She pauses briefly to survey the bridge crew aboard the CMS Audace before continuing aloud, issuing the initial placement instructions to the attacking fleet. At her orders the CMD Audace maneuvers into the central position, taking point in the formation from which the support vessels will rotate on axis. With the Republic fleet in position between the attacking fleet formation and the planet itself she unfolds her plan carefully, handing over control of the fighters to an independent tactical observer for this specific engagement. Ghost Squadron has been assigned to Audacity's group, the dozen X-Wings drifting at nearly relative rest to the corvette's position, keeping pace and awaiting their orders. Major Kyrin Sh'vani checks all of her other eleven pilots. "Five, is that cockpit modification suitable?" she queries during the brief time before she expects said orders to come in. She shifts position within her own modified pilot's seat, one that allows her to stuff her wings into the cramped space without too much damage. When Seven, her XO, reports in, Kyrin acknowledges with a nod that Kesander Beysarus can't see. "This is a learning situation for us as well, Sandman." When Twelve grumbles about what's going on, Kyrin's patient tones once more go out through the intra-squadron channel. "I believe the human expression is 'Put a sock in it', Twelve." Without question or debate Tyler Damion moves with a number of fighter pilots to their cockpits and fires up their engines and prepares for launch, "Check all systems." He says in a monotone voice as his fingers move rapidly through launch sequences, "I am designated Hydra One. I want tight wings." He orders. He looks up at another console and sees he is green. "All wings launch." Within moments fighters in each of their designated squadron patterns begin moving out of the CDU ships in fight formations, "Standard Imperial formation." Each squadron breaks into three groups of four and forms a diamond formation, "Hold position. Our interceptors will need to paint our targets and begin harassing their fighter screen." He checks his HUD and examines the ships marking hostiles and friend and foe, "Our primary objective is to harass their fighter screen while our heavier fighters and support ships break their line." He smiles. It had been sometime since he could enjoy a flight into a combat scenario even if it was fake. "Command, fighters in position and waiting targets and orders." He states to the lead ship as the fighters begin to accelerate out ahead of the advancing capital vessels. The modifications that had been needed for Ghost Five had been pretty nominal. In fact they'd been made before Ikihsa Enb'Zik, the pilot now using that X-wing, had known they were going to happen. He'd have been just fine in a human pilot's shock couch, but it was done and it was tolerable, so he deals. "Roger that, Phoenix," Zik utters in his typical calm voice, "Seat's just fine." It'd been such a long time since he'd sat like this in one of the Republic's premier fighters, quiet, yet at the edge of combat. It's that odd juxtaposition of nerves and calm that comes when one knows things may become very harrying very quickly. His eyes scan over the several consoles positioned around him for not the first time. He still finds it a little strange to be in the five-seat and not controlling the flight. As the Caspian forces begin appearing at the edge of the system, his R6 unit begins tweedling a notification behind him, drawing Zik's eyes to his scanners. "Huh," he remarks, a small smile forming at the edges of his mouth, "Centurions. Boy did I ever love flying those things." He reaches for the comm again, "Phoenix, Jailbird again. I'm picking up Caspian warships in sector four with fighters launching." "Red alert, this is not a drill.", well, it is, but no matter, "all crewmembers to battle stations, all crewmembers to assigned battle stations.". The pre-recorded message, used on just such occasions as they now find themselves in, does not draw out the flurry of commands that Rasi gives now that an incoming enemy force has been detected. The long range sensors showed the approach of the attackers, and though they are not granted much time, it is enough. On the bridge of the Valiant, the commanding vessel in this section of the battle, and the largest. The MC-80's looms largely over the much smaller corvettes that guard it and the planet not that far behind, when it comes to scales in space. Its young, comparitively, Captain reacts quickly to the situation. "Valiant command to all vessels of Valiant task group. Assemble in groups of twos, coordinate and concentrate primary fire, if possible assign one of the two vessels' GunChief to act as the coordination point, feed all sensor information to their consoles. Primary targets are any troop transports, secondary target is the lead Imperial ship." An innovative technique perhaps, yet one that had not been extensively technique that might yet backfire on them. "Launch fighters now, I repeat, launch fighters. Valiant out." With the comm channel cut as quickly as it was established, Rasi goes about the task of transmitting the appropriate approach, a nearby corvette chosen to work alongside and the Audacity begins to move towards it. "Damage control, move all teams to their appropriate stations, make certain that the hangar doors work so our fighters are not stuck should they need to be picked up quickly." Once Damion takes up position of commander of the fighter squadrons for this specific installment of wargames, Cassius turns back to the task at hand. Moving towards the tactical officer she speaks quietly, "Your objective is to come up with firing solutions that ping off of the ships guarding the MC80. Do not fire on the MC80 directly, what I want you to do instead is draw the corvettes into attack patterns that force them out of their assigned positions and into the trajectory of the weapons array of the MC80. The MC80 cannot fire if it risks firing on their own support vessels." She turns next to the gunnery officers, continuing aloud, "Concentrate your fire on their shield generators, focus for weak spots. Work together, when one of you scores a hit, share the coordinates, concentrate fire, punch a hole then shift firing patterns and continue. Damion will provide a fighter screen between our position and theirs, and in combat there is no such thing as friendly fire. Opening the ship to ship com she orders the Astute, Breslau and Lansdowne into position flanking the Audace, though on a slightly lower vector, keeping the Audace in the 'high ground' so to speak. From their vantage point this affords the sensors the best possible sweep of the system, running deep system scans to hunt for any reserve assets that would or could possibly be placed on the edge of the system for just this sort of attack. She glances at the chrono on her wrist, determining the time elapsed from the starting point and signals to the communications officer. The officer nods once, a brisk movement, opening the channel instruction and saying simply: "The enemy gate is in sight." "I see them, Jailbird," Kyrin replies tersely as she relays the information to Audacity. "Krayt, we have company." While some of her younger pilots had a bit of starstruck behavior on the ground when they found out who would be driving Ghost Five in the day's exercises, that has been put aside in lieu of doing their job correctly. "Ghost Squadron, S-foils to attack position, remember your stations, adhere to them if you value the lives of those in our care." And with a flick of a switch, Ghost One's engines cycle up, the astromech on board already powering up shields properly, double front. "Prepare to engage enemy forces." It may just be a wargame, but it is still war nonetheless, and Kyrin double-checks each X-Wing's telemetry to ensure no one's got weapons hot, at least, not the real ones. And the squadron moves forward to meet their counterparts in honorable fake combat. "Roger command easy enough." Tyler smiles pulling a datapad off from the side and drawing up the plan right on the spot, "Send the interceptors forward to harass their Superiority fighters. Draw them into sector three, if they don't hit the bait just keep harassing and make them find themselves a few fighters and bombers." He smirks pulling his own fighter forward to the lead position, "Hydra squadron we seem best suited to drive those corvettes out in front of that MC-80, just keep it tight. There is a medium distance between point defenses and their anti-starfighter cannons, observe." He pulls his ship forward accelerating now to attack speed, "Form up, stay tight. Two, you're with me we're going in hot." The interceptors move on Ghost Squadron as Hydra moves toward one of the lead corvettes, "Switch over to long range missiles and harass it according." He wasn't afraid to fire the first shot of the simulation to get this rolling. The Centurions were fast ships all Z series ships were exceptional and no one was a better teacher in using one than Axel Vichten. Tyler with the aid of the Force was a quick study and his close to thirty years experience as a combat fighter had him very aware of strategies of all kinds almost able to read by ship behaviors, "Firing, simulation rounds." He smiles flipping his sights onto a lead vette and sending the sims toward it, "Alright hit and fade it into the path of their command ship." Like Hydra the other assault squads had picked their targets it wasn't a question of getting them all to move into the path of the MC-80 if just a few would they would cause enough problems in their formation to make them lose precious seconds or minutes in reforming their line. The strike foils for Ghost 5 have already split and are widening away from one another even as Kyrin gives the order. Within another second they've reached their full extent and locked into it. Inside his cockpit, Enb'Zik goes over a few routine things with his astromech, his hands moving over the console with practiced familiarity. His real attention now is on the Force. He reaches into it, extends his senses toward the opposing craft -- the same type of vessel he flew some years before -- observing for any insight into what those craft may be preparing to do. On his console, each of the Caspian ships begins to light up on the IFF, marked as bandits one by one. Absently, Ikihsa reaches for his comm and double-clicks, signaling his readiness to the rest of the squadron and awaiting further command from Kyrin while he watches those interceptors break and head toward his group. With his X-wing picking up speed now, he makes an odd face at something and turns his head to look out his starboard viewport at the flight of Centurions heading for their corvettes. Sitting at his usual combat station aboard the Audacity's bridge, Ensign Ohao Ostivort runs through the comm signals running to his damage control board. One by one, each team responds in a timely manner until the last group. He hails them over the voice channel, saying, "Team Echo, report status. Is there a problem?" The reply is an unenthusiastic, "No, sir, we're standing by." It seems as though not everyone is taking these exercises completely seriously. This will have to be addressed in the near future, but now is not the time, so Ohao simply says, "Fine. All teams standby at stations, I will alert you to any damage we sustain." With the teams in place, he allows his gaze to leave his station for the moment to try to observe the oncoming 'battle'. It does not take the nimble corvettes much to get into appropriate position to face off against the enemy force that's to go up against them. A pairing of two Marauders are left back to act as a strategic reserve and to guard against any possible flanking attempt against the formation that the capital ships have gotten into. "Captain Texa Nathal to all vessels of this section. We will only directly deploy half of our fighter squadrons, though all of them will be launched.", which still leaves five squadrons committed alone from the MC80, a formidable number to anyone. "Always maintain overal situational awareness of the battle and don't get caught up in your own battles. Keep clear of our firing arcs, and watch out for friendly fire. Fighter squadrons, peel off their fighters, make certain that they won't be too much of a bother." Her commands given, the Mon Calamari goes back to tending to her own ships. The orders are received, and the Audacity's GunChief signals the all-ready to fire from both of the ships he is now in charge of. "Understood damage control, be prepared to divert power from other areas, shields, weapons control and sensors have priority." And with that, he sits back, breathing deeply and calming himself before the inevitable flash of superheated plasma from all the ships that can do so. Audacity's turn comes soon, and accompanied by a soft jolt that goes throughout the corvette, many of the vessel's batteries begin to fire, soon joined by the other corvette, the NRCV Hoth. With the Astute, Breslau and Lansdowne in position around the Audace, Damion leading and orchestrating the fighter response, Cassius is given the time needed to observe the flow of battle thus far. Discussing tactical options before moving to the next step, Cassius opens a direct channel to Damion to relay the first bit of alterations to their game plan. Next the directs the Breslau and Lansdowne to break off from the original formation and maneuver towards the fighters to begin engaging the corvettes running defense for the MC80, placing them under join command of herself and Damion for this portion of the game. Her rather oblique statement about the enemy gate being within sight was, in fact, a code phrase signaling the rest of their fleet to enter the game itself. Having taken up a holding patter in hyperspace and waiting for the signal, the remainder of the Shearwaters and the two Hurricanes jump into system, but from the far side of the battle itself. Pulling a maneuver reminiscent of one she executed over Coruscant, Cassius cues the Skua and Winton (Shearwaters) along with the Thunderer and Cyclone (Hurricane class) to deploy their fighters once within range. Relaying the current tactical position to the captains of the incoming reserve units she outlines their battle strategy so far, linking the commander of the reserve fighter units with Damion's group for continue control then steps back to watch the approaching ships, via sensor, moving towards the battle position. "Acknowledged," Kyrin says as she receives orders from those in charge of the defense of the planet. "You heard the man," she relays to her pilots. "The fighters are ours. I am on the leader. Two, stay on my wing." and Ghost One peels off their formation, Ghost Two following his orders, as the twelve X-Wings break into six groups of two, Kesander keeping tabs on half of their little tea party while she focuses on the first half. As her X-Wing nears Tyler's Centurion, she begins lining up her first shot, guiding the high-powered vessel along a suitable vector. She hasn't got the years of experience that her opponent has, nor has she got the Force as her ally. All she has is determination and modest skill... and hopefully a little luck. When she feels the time is right, she presses the trigger, and the lasers begin pouring from her vessel, suitably lessened for the exercise in question, dealing out simulated death for anyone in her path. Information flew around Tyler like fluid as he moved his ship gracefully avoiding enemy fire and at the same time receiving new instructions, "All fighters push the fight into the New Republic ship's space. Draw their fighters in move the screen toward their command ship." He knew simulation or not the New Republic would be far more likely to be hesitant to fire on the fighters while friendly craft zoomed around in front of their cannons as well as enemies. He felt it, the Ghost X-wings were shifting their attention, he smiled. Tyler quickly turned his vessel into a corkscrew dive toward the MC-80 with his wingman with him, "Hold tight avoid enemy fire." That was easy the larger the ship, the clumsier its firing solutions. He would use the command ship's own defenses as a deterrent against Ghost, "Secondary Squadrons push past the New Republic lines and engage their reserves, bombers fire at will on the corvettes and cruisers in the front. We have to break their line." This was going to be difficult, but by moving the focus of his fighter screen into the New Republic's line it would be both treacherous and rewarding provided the CDU's fighters were trained in avoiding close range fire and capable of flying in congested space. "Command, send a few frigate analogs forward to give us some ranged cover. Keep them busy on all specs. Advise we try to divide their line by drawing them into a few directions and then punch through the hole we can generate." He jerks his ship around to engage Ghost one trying to draw them closer to their own ships with a few shots toward Kyrin, "Fossil is here to play." Soon reinforcements would draw in but he was sending signals for them to come in on the flank while he and his fighters were right in the middle of the mess. On the Valiant, the commchief speaks out in alarm, "Captain, we have an urgent communique from planetside.", and after the signal is patched through, the bad news are quickly relayed to the MonCal commanding this section. The slightest of frowns is shown, but aside that, Captain Nathal seems to be taking the news without much alarm. Her thoughts are quickly made up on the matter, and she relays a brief message to the current vessels involved in the fighting. "This is Captain Nathal, we have been informed that the enemy has jumped a sizeable number of capital ships behind us and they will reach us soon. I will take the Valiant and our entire reserve and deal with them, or at least hold them off. Odds are roughly in their favour with their more numerous fighter compliment. Audacity is placed in charge of things on this front, take the fight to them, rout them and come relieve us. We will require a cover to allow us to maneuver and depart the hotzone." Wait, what, he's in charge of what now? "Commander Cen to all remaining vessels, you've heard the orders. Permission is granted to leave your current position, keep your pairings, designate single targets and rip them to pieces. Fighters are to be used simultaneously in a screen role against whatever capital ships we can't deal with, and in interceptor roles against enemy starfighters. Be ready for transmission from the Audacity's GunChief as to prime targets for capital ships. Concentrate on your targets and take them out at all costs. Audacity out." A steadying breath, and he turns to his own GunChief, instructing the man to prioritize those targets that are the weakest and plot out approach vectors that leave them the least exposed to coordinated fire. And the corvettes power their engines, the two designated as cover aside, the rest of them begin to head quickly towards their targets and already fire begins to rain down on the enemy vessels' area. "Copy that, Fossil," Cassius replies briskly and shifts tactics accordingly, "Breslau and Lansdowne engage Republic fighters at will, I repeat, fire at will," she orders. Having held the Audace in position to survey the flow of the battle thus far, Cassius guides the Audace forward a few measures closer to the battle lines, though not bringing it directly into the line of fire itself. Shields up, weapons prepared, the tactics and gunnery continue to draw up one targeting solution after another, pinging sensors off of the hulls of the Republic corvettes while refining their targeting abilities to avoid firing at one of their own fighters. The helm officers of the ships maneuvering around the curve of Ord Mantell send continuous position updates and Cassius cues one section of the main screen to show the relative position of all the ships now engaged in this practice battle. She nods once, a slow and measured gesture, clearly pleased with the arrival and the advance as the sensors map it out. With Breslau and Lansdowne following Fossil's instructions they begin targeting the Republic fighters with simulated rounds, providing both distraction and cover fire for the fighters engaging against the Republic fighters and the Corvettes. Once the reserve units are within firing range her orders are brisk, clearly spoken and relayed nearly as swiftly as the words leave her mouth. She moves towards one of the sensor monitoring stations, nods to the officer there and studies the display as she speaks. Once the MC80 and it's two support ships begin maneuvering away from the first battle line a fierce sort of smile very briefly forms on Cassius's face as she speaks aloud. "Break off the attack on the MC80 and Corvettes," she orders, "clear a path, I repeat, clear a path and engage alternative targets. Breslau and Lansdowne report to these coordinates," she transmits them with a few keystrokes, sending the Breslau 'high' and the Lansdowne 'low' on the battle plane and from those positions the two ships continue to engage, distract, and draw 'enemy' fire. Giving Fossil (Damion) enough time to literally clear the path for the next phase of the attack, Cassius guides the Audace into the thick of the fray, firing on the MC80 from the rear, attacking the MC80 directly with the Astute echoing and engaging at the same time. With the callsign of Fossil being announced casually, more than one long-time Ghost splutters something from cusswords that would make Kesander proud to epithets questioning Tyler's parentage, with Twelve taking the sock out of his mouth long enough to suggest something anatomically impossible for a human to accomplish. "Cut the chatter, Ghosts," their leader says calmly. "Do your jobs. Two and Five, swap positions." Nothing like bringing a ringer into play as her usual wingman flips up and down to change positions with Ghost Five, currently piloted by a certain dewflapped Jedi Padawan. "General, I will take your wing." It's certainly an unusual formation for the pinwheeling starfighters, but Ghost Leader knows what she's doing, pitting one Force-user against another. She remembers her last engagement against Damion and who had to bail her out then. "Sandman, mind your back," she calls out to her XO as she slips her X-Wing back to fire upon the poor soul on Tyler's wing instead. New orders, new ships, and new directives. This is why space combat was considered faster and more difficult to command than anything the ground could put together. Armies had a two dimensional grid usually, where as the navy had three. Tyler could feel the changes in Ghost as he announced his presence and he enjoyed it, it was good to raise the odds. Who knows Hydra squadron may form into a friendly rival group with them long after he had left the command of the group back to its original commander who was now sitting in the fighter Kyrin was firing at. "Form up, attack pattern delta." He orders as two additional Z-100 squadrons pull from assignments and merge into the close range fighting with Tyler's group. It was getting hot and he knew now his opponent was Zik he patched himself in to Lynae, "Ghost squadron is getting serious Doc, they've got a Jedi with them maybe you know him." He stifles a laugh as he evades and suddenly Hydra and the two other squadrons break in tandem and form into a large delta shaped wing and turn back toward Ghost Squadron. "Out of the way Ghosts, we're opening a hole!" he cackles as he flips over to friendly, "Tighten up double front shields they'll overlap and afford more protection for this maneuver. The two support caps are going to create a cross fire in front of us and angle it toward the fighters on a 30 second pattern we'll follow their fire in as they spread the enemy." He states coolly, "Arm torps and link fire and fire on my mark. Mark!" Suddenly dozens upon dozens of simulated proton torpedoes rocked away from the formation in a straight line to create a zone of simulated death. The squadrons begin to break off and balance their shields as Hydra continues the front push, "Leading the way command come on and follow us to your target." Tyler's hazel eyes were scanning for Ghost leader and her wing he'd probably have to break and engage, "Hydra 2 active scans for Ghost Leader and Ghost Five." He had gotten cooked pretty good by Kyrin but the Z series was a hearty vessel simulation or live fire. This is not going the way it's supposed to, not at all, the MC80 had already taken a sizeable amount of damage, and it hadn't already begin to fire at the new enemy. A quick scan of the entire battlefield and the true extent of the bad situation he now finds himself in is clear to Rasi. Already the sign designed to represent the Valiant begins to glow redder to show the damage being taken, and the rest of the vessels are in no better a position. His decision is made quickly, the orders broadcast to the seven corvettes and two gunships that are still with him, "NRCV (a), (b), (c), (d).", trust me, they're very cool, and very original names, "Form up in diamond formation, and push through to the centre of the two lines of enemy capital ships. Stay close to provide increased protection, but not too much so, leave yourselves clear paths of fire and concentrate your fire on one ship at a time while soaking up as much of theirs as possible.", in essence put themselves in between the enemy caps upfront, and those at the back providing long-range fire. A risky move, and one that may backfire on him if the rest of his plan isn't implemented and completed on time. The four corvettes, no matter what objections to being used in this manner their commanders might have, begin to move, first to assemble in the ordered formation, and then towards the designated position. Intent on bulldozing through any vessel, starfighter or capital, that might get in the way. The same orders are sent to the two corvettes still with him, and arranged in a horizontal line with not that much space between them. The quickly-arranged group of corvettes begin to head straight towards the lead enemy ship, the Audace, intent on taking it out and creating disorder in the enemy formation. The two gunships go their seperate ways, tasked to provide as much cover as possible to the fighters. Adept at deciphering the sensor and tactical readings, Cassius observes the movement of the Corvettes and Gunships as they start to maneuver into a new battle formation. Reading it for what it is, again Cassius smiles that fierce and brief smile, pleased with the status so far. "Breslau and Lansdowne fall back and form up on me," she orders swiftly, bringing the Audace around to a slightly different approach vector - advancing in another direction, not retreating, as Imperial tactics do not allow for retreat, and thus she does not even consider such a tactic as possible. Once the Breslau, Lansdowne, Astute and Audace are aligned they continue to shoulder their way towards the MC80 and the advancing Corvettes and Gunships, concentrating their fire in a killing zone that would obliterate any fighters caught in their path. The ships on the end of the formation, Breslau and Astute, employ their additional weapons arrays to fire on any fighters that stray in their path, multitasking at its best. Meanwhile, according to the battle plan already in play, the remaining Hurricane pair and the Shearwaters continue to engage on the second line of battle. The Corvettes and Gunships deployed to meet the incoming threat are greeting with a barrage of incoming fire - simulated fire of course, and the fighter units that had been waiting in reserve are fully deployed and working in tandem with the fighters already under Fossil's control. "Roger that, Fossil," Doc says in reply, well aware that Enb'Zik is in one of the 'enemy' fighters and also well aware that due to a few changes in her battle plan that the general is not going to be entirely thrilled WITH those changes. "Engage at will," she orders simply, again trusting Fossil to do what he's already demonstrated a definitive ability for managing. Ghost Squadron respectfully declines the offer of getting out of the way. Instead, they team up with other fighter squadrons in the fray to shift their tactics slightly. "Hold the line," Kyrin instructs her people, even as she keeps to Enb'Zik's wing and continues her assault on the usual commander of the Hydra squadron. Her astromech squeals bloody electronic murder as return fire scorches her X-Wing's shields for a few seconds, although repairs are immediately under way. Kesander's half of the unit, teamed up with the six B-Wings from Dagger Squadron, continue their fight, even as A-Wings skip through the incoming battle lines, their speed allowing them to zip through most inbound fire, the lead squadron priming the simulated concussion missile tubes that Falcon Squadron's rides don't have yet, a fact that has no doubt made Spider a bit recalcitrant. Ghost Squadron and its support weren't going to budge and that was fine by Tyler, tactics in starfighter combat always meet their apex and have to shift toward gut instinct and fighter to fighter combat, "Interceptors engage the B-wings at will." He states as he charges forward with the furry of the Caspian Navy following Hydra squadron toward its targets, "Hydra break and take your targets among Ghost Squadron, all other squadrons find a pair and move in fighter to fighter for us we've exhausted our options." The New Republic fighter screens were always resilient that was part of their mystic when he served in the Rebellion the fighters like the X-wing were the backbone of their offenses. The old Corellian turns his sights on Ghost 5 and Ghost leader, "Alright two we're going in hot let's show them." Fossil was his call sign it was given to him as a joke because of how long he had served in front line fighter engagements but it was also given to him as an honor from his squadron mates because of how many years he had added to his projected life expectancy as a fighter pilot far out living the average by more then twenty years now. He grits his teeth as he bears down on the pair with simulated laser fire attempting to rake it right across the rear of Zik's fighter and hoping there would be enough splash to mess with his wing. Tyler's own wing concentrated on Kyrin, "Doc, we'll keep the fighters busy from now on the screens have disintegrated on both sides into squadron to squadron engagements keep an eye out for bombers I can't account for them all." Their initial strategy gave them the upper hand and like any Imperial movement they survived by having a better rate to survive a battle of attrition. "I need tactical display on our numbers and percent ratio lost." His hazel eyes breezed over casualty numbers to check the status as the battle was as hot as it was going to get, "Fighter forces down twenty-five percent and enemy losses can not be calculated at this time, request calculation, command." Tyler grunts as he jerks his fighter away from an attacking ship commanding and piloting was hard to manage even with the Force. Precious time is spent getting into place, but soon enough, the Audacity and the two other corvettes with it place themselves between the Audace's group and the tail of the MC80. The Valiant has engaged the other vessels, and it opens fire, not sparing itself nor keeping anything in reserve. It's now or never, and Captain Nathal knows it just as well as all of the other commander in the vessels assigned to her. A breach here would take a while to plug up, considerably weaken another section of the planetary defenses, and at the same time would open up the floodgates and allow troop ships to land ground troops by the thousands. Like a deck of cards, the battle might just as well be decided here, and that simply cannot be done. The Fondorian calmly starring at the viewscreens aboard the Audacity understands this well, and already Rasi's mind races as he struggles to come up with some sort of idea. Any idea, any idea to possibly deal with this and not lose this, no matter the cost. "Comm, inform the NRGS Mon Mothma and Lightbringer that they are to go wide around the engagement area, and swing behind the lead ship we are fighting now. Take them from the rear, and we'll hit them from in front. Also, inform our fighters to stay as far away from the firing lanes between us and our targets, no point in them getting caught between us." A quick reading of one scan, and the situation for the four corvettes he sent to get between the two enemy lines is seen. He suppresses a slight wince as he sees the damage they begin to take, though it does not translate into granting the request of one of the corvette commanders when he wishes to pull back. "Audacity Commmand to Protector, stay there Commander, permission to pull back until reinforcements get on the way. We'll either be disabled here, or we will win, those are our only option." Unlike the Imperials, retreat is never something Rasi eliminates out of hand, but really, what other choice have they now? "Calculation compilation in one moment," Doc replies, already pulling up the necessary information to run a program to tally up the fatalities and casualties in this simulations. The difference, being of course, the fatalities are ships marked as damaged to the point where the pilots within would've be KIA. Casualties range from actual wounded combatants to assets damaged heavily enough to be pulled off the firing line. Living up to her callsign, Doc relays the data in a bluntly spoken voice, providing Fossil with the estimates and adding, "plus or minus 2 percent for a margin of error," as any good scientist would do. Meanwhile the vessels that formed up with the Audace are taking a healthy measure of incoming fire - both from the Corvettes and Gunships but also from any fighter that punches through the fracas between the capital size ships and opening fire directly on the Shearwaters and Hurricanes. "Maneuvering around to fire from aft positions," she calls out to make sure that this detail is not lost on any of the crew, tracking the progress of the Corvette's that start to move in that direction. "Break on my mark," she orders, cueing the Breslau and Astute to pair up and the Lansdowne and Audace to work in tandem. One to paint, one to fire, just like fighters would - only a lot larger and not quite as maneuverable. "Break," she orders, sending the four ships apart to allow the incoming republic assets to slide along their targeted trajectory, "turn!" she orders, sending the Breslau and Lansdowne into as tight a spin as they can, bringing their weapons to bear on the ships that so neatly find themselves facing not the backs of the 'Enemy' but the forward gun arrays instead. Yes, it's a maneuver that eats up time, but with skilled helmsmen at station the maneuver is executed and gunners open fire once again. Audace and Astute continue firing from their portion of the 'box' they've formed themselves into, guarding each other's 'backs' while continuing to hammer away at the republic fleet. The reserve units pulled into the combat engage with the clear objective to punch a hole through the the MC80 and the republic assets on their side of the firing line. Demonstrating a distinctive Imperial 'mindset' as per orders, the ships advance in flagrant defiance of standard tactics, closing the distance between themselves and the corvette/Gunships and opening fire from increasingly close range. Within the cockpit of Ghost One, the Chyleni pilot corkscrews her craft to evade the incoming fire from Hydra Two, not abandoning the Jedi whose wing she's supposed to be protecting. "Too bad we could not allow your wife to sit on him," she remarks calmly to Five. "Although she may get those irritating insects from him. What are they called again? Oh, yes, fleas." Even so, she gathers in intel reports regarding those Ghosts whose craft are damaged or even 'killed' by the exercise, and she frowns, not losing her train of thought, but certainly not happy with how things are turning out. "Eleven, this is not a game." And she's surprised at the epithet Eleven, a Quarren, shoots back at her about some damn-fool Calamari admiral getting them in this mess. "We will discuss this later." The starfighters continue their methodical defense against the invaders, and Kyrin synchs up with Enb'Zik for a double attack on Tyler before she has to sort out her own business with Tyler's wingman. The B-Wings break off from their partnership with the X-Wings to focus on their own attackers, the odd craft swiveling around sharply to fire their powerful lasers at the oncoming threat, not one of the pilots breaking away or fleeing in cowardice. Such is the stuff of New Republic propaganda to the masses below who would watch if they could. Tyler's eyes follow the pair of Ghost on him as he rocks his ship with an expert maneuver to evade the fire from both vessels, it wasn't a text book maneuver to be sure no doubt something he had taught himself out in the slice as a mercenary for countless self-defenses forces fighting pirates. Hydra Two had his hands full with Kyrin, she was proving to be an expert pilot but he was handling himself. One thing the CDU had as a disadvantage was the lack of live combat like this, so Lynae scores several points in his book for organizing this for her own crews to gain competence in live battles. Tyler stayed focus as he was receiving reports, "Punch through the hole in sector six with all your energy doc get those ground troops down and let's ace this even while the question is up in the air for space superiority." He grunts killing his left thrusters and turning on a dime to face the incoming Ghost fighters, "HI!" he exclaims as he fires a pair of torps toward them with only the Force as his guide, no notice of target lock from a HUD today for the pair, "Enjoy!" he corkscrews toward them accelerating back to attack speed shooting off in the direction of the Audace to get some cover from Lynae's flag. Things were looking good for an attack on the Republic capital world they were proving capable of taking the fight to them. His squadron reforms on his wing as they prep for another sortie with Ghost, "Alright form up let's get ready for another pass on them, use our ships as cover." "Krayt Control to Ghost 1, Major, can you spare a few squadrons to assist us in dealing with the ships turning their backs to us or are you too spread tight as it is?", the words coming out even as all signals from one the corvettes he had already sent to squeeze between the Imperials winks from the screens, the vessels' lights going dark. Sensors still has to inform Rasi as to what just happened and the extent of damage, but it doesn't take machines for him to figure out that had this been real he's just sent a vessel to its doom. And worst, sent them to do a task that is growing more and more impossible by the second. The three remaining corvettes now find themselves less pressed and so they spread about a little to avoid some of the incoming fire while still maintaining much of their cohesion when it comes to batteries. They concentrate as much of their batteries as possible on the Lansdowne in an effort to overwhelm her, similarly the two corvettes with Audacity do the same to the Astute the new tactic ever more effective given that they're given a particularly good spot to fire at. The Valiant's systems begin to shut down one by one, but Captain Nathal still refuses to relent, and with that same severe tone she has for everything, she orders her ships' gunner to redouble their efforts to disable their current targets, one of the vessel earlier sent to attack from behind the defenders. The gunships only now finish their flanking maneuver, and both vessel find themselves coming from the side of the Breslau and they commence to fire on whatever soft spots they can find. Cassius's instincts and residual training suggest a handful of options at this point, each one a trifle bit more hare-brained than the next, and it's the worst of the lot that she casts aside after picking out only the best snippets of ideas from. The main difference, for her way of thinking, between real combat and war games is that an Imperial ship would be more than willing to sacrifice themselves and their crew to disable an enemy ship so that another of the battle line could come in behind it and do even more potential damage. That's the mindset that Cassius works with, and it's a snippet from that idea and a pinch from a few others that lead her to issue a series of unconventional orders. "Form up on the Audace, pattern Omega-15," Doc orders, guiding the ships on her half of the battle line form into a wedge shape, "Fossil, bring the fighters into close formation at our center," she further orders, taking command of the entire fleet again at this point. "Skua, Winton, Thunderer and Cyclone form into mirror pattern." Effectively tucking all of her tactical-eggs into one 'basket' she waits patiently, quietly, as stations sound off one after another as the ships move into position. "Punch it," she orders, the Audace taking point as they engage engines at top maneuvering speed, an arrow shaped wedge of ships thrusting towards the MC80 from one vector as the Hurricanes four ships on the other side of the battle line do the same thing, opening fire as soon as they're within range. Imperial fighter pilots were bred differently than Republic ones. They were disposable and aces developed differently in the Empire than in the Republic as a result. An ace in the Empire not only had to survive but make it to a mother ship to even consider surviving another day. Without hyperdrives and in some cases no ejection seats or little life support a battle for the Star Corps of the Empire was the first and last time they would see action. These were the strategies Tyler tried to instill in his troops for the demonstration, the concept that none of them if this were real and Imperial would make it back alive. The handful that could be rescued or even imprisoned were remote and few and far between. So the CDU fighters fought with tenacity that was built around these grim realities. The numbers were staggering, they had done well to score kills and hits, but as expected suffered serious casualty numbers and it was beginning to show. Numerical superiority in the Empire was to last only as long as they could keep about a two to one ratio, meaning for every two Imperial fighters destroyed one Republic ship must be destroyed. If it was three to one the numbers and odds would gradually move to being even and if it went lower they would be out numbered. This was in the case of Starfighters. The New Republic's elite were fielded and Tyler ventured the odds were driving them to evening the odds but the tactics were designed that way. When Tyler scores his hit on Ghost One he flies by and salutes with his wings tilting them to either side and spurts by it was a good skirmish. His hazel eyes drift down at the fighter and he sighs, "Oh." He quickly checks his readings on his ship and reports the malfunction and drops a beacon for a rescue ship to come to Kyrin's aid the small pod drops and attaches itself to the X-wing. Cassius' command style ran contrary to his own and his mentor Fleet Admiral Drayson Honos who used Imperial Forces like surgical tools and avoided blunt confrontations and the numbers game. Lynae was from an older school of command officers and the strategy called out was among them. "Why not?" Tyler smiles, "Form up and arm your remaining torpedoes we're going to finish this in a very grand way." He laughs as the other members of his squadron and around him offer their own two-cents and jokes about the matter, "Beer is on the last survivor." He smirks and there were agreements made and then there was the attack, "Go now!" He squeezed his triggers as did all the fighters charging toward their target and emptying their bays and switching to lasers in one final and glorious assault. The assault looked like a blooming flower as it pushed toward the MC80 the fighters blinking out and peeling off either to the left or right of the formation resembling the opening peddles as it comes into bloom with brilliant colors and effect as the capital ships slowly find themselves in the lead it was a brilliant visual master piece that both resembled bravery and foolishness as they pulled back hoping this moment would lead to a final victory at the sacrifice of many. A brilliant plan, one he might have done under different circumstances...one he /had/ done once before, at Nar Shaddaa as some might remember...well, Rasi and some other old-timers with the Audacity would anyway. The only counter to this, the only one that comes to mind anyway, is to spoil the path towards the Valiant. Quickly, the ships behind the attackers' main battle line are said to organize themselves into a thick formation, something possible now that they aren't taking high levels of damage. And with a hot trail of ions, the corvettes line up where they are told, the gunships move towards the coordinates indicated. Whatever fighter squadrons are not in a fight for their life, so to speak, are organized into large swarms as well. All desired targets and targets are being transferred to those vessels from the Audacity in an effort to implement one of space combat's oldest tactics...its best one arguably. 'Get enough guns pointed at the same thing, at the same time and fire them at once.'. Rasi tries to put that theory into practice as others have done before him, the vessels concentrated so that the Audacity and her escort are to come slightly from the front and spoil the direct road of assault, the gunships and available fighters from the sides, and finally the other trio of corvettes firing from the back. A very costly maneuver if it works, and if it doesn't...well, it'll be very costly nonetheless. No doubt the many holorecorders capturing this fight show the true scale and 'beauty' as some might put it of this fight, but as it is, Rasi simply focuses on the fight ahead, steadying his thoughts in an effort to inspire his bridge crew. No point in having a panicked leader, regardless of the situation. The maneuver may be old school, antiquated style, or flat out bugeyed crazy, but it works none the less. And it's still a near thing, all things considered. The attacking fleet manages to punch through the defenses of the Republic fleet and score a direct hit on the MC80 - effectively capturing the prize for this segment of the war games. Once the sensors read the hit, and the following ones (which are, of course, fired for good measure - nothing else!) the simulation is effectively ended save for the warning sound that begins going off, broadcast to the Audace and the Audacity to alert the commanders of both sides as to the condition of the pilot in Ghost One. While the ships are being recalled and her words, "Well done, all of you, well fought," she states simply. Words of praise are not generally spoken in such a manner, but enough time spent away from the Empire has worn away a bit at her typically cool exterior. The warning beacon sounding off to mark the location of the 'dead' x-wing triggers the launch of the shuttle craft L202 to retrieve the wounded fighter and take the pilot contained therein directly to the medbay. Cassius turns to the captain of the Audace and says briskly, "Permission to report directly to medbay, sir," and with the barest beginnings of the permission granted, Lynae sprints through the ship.
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