Three weeks. Three simple weeks. And yet in those short weeks, the Kindred Spirit was back in fighting shape courtesy of the Aurek Orbital Shipyards. Ships of all sizes were either being churned out or refitted with the tactical AIs they had available and much to Nelson's surprise, word had somehow gotten out that the Red Eclipse was taking in refugees from this galaxy that were being displaced by Black Moon and Crandolian expansionist movements.
Needless to say the turnout was huge and the fleet was getting manned by young men and women more than willing to put up a fight for their new homes.
"The distance, even at lightspeed, would take months of travel to cross." Izzi stated.
"Probably why they made this particular planet house Xesh, Izzi." Joshua replied, his avatar looking over the representation of Xesh Site and the surrounding asteroid belt. Quietly he highlighted a single region while the fleet numbers and troop strength icons appeared at random intervals around and on the planet.
"Latest intelligence from intercepted chatter and what we could find at Besh puts the opposition at nearly 300 capital ships ranging from .5 to 1 kilometer in length. Shields are not standard throughout the Lumarian Navy but I have a feeling that all of the Primary Defense Fleet will be equipped with the best they have to offer." an intelligence offcer said, putting his datapad down on the table, "We're looking at an invasion fleet of 300 ships and the Alderaan just to make way for the ground invasion of the capitol."
"No one said this would be easy." Nelson replied, "Though we did get lucky that they built their capitol around the main Xesh complex so the occupation force will just need to secure on city and hold it while the fleet keeps the skies clear."
"Colonel Carlson will also be leading however many saber-jockeys she has trained within that ten month period into battle on the surface. Commando Squads A-F have already left as well to clear the way a little for us. They will have three days to get in, place a few cakes in the oven, and then wait for you signal to blow the ovens up." Joshua added, getting a grin from those in the briefing room, even if most of them were just holographic representations of Nelson's fleet commanders.
"It's settled then. We'll jump in on the edge of the system and then jump again right outside targeting range. After that we move in at sublight to draw their fleet away and have the Alderaan move in on the flank. Hyain, once you get into the fight, you'll be taking a third of the fleet on yourself." Nelson explained.
"Not a problem sir, she can handle that without even losing her shields." Hyain replied, crossing his arms and nodding.
"Jacobs, you'll be the two of this 'one-two punch'; Battle Group 97-G, a newer one comprised of greenhorns has been begging for a serious fight and when we asked if they wanted to be the spearhead, they agreed. Losses will be heavy but they don't seem to mind. You'll move in with 66-B deliver the hard hit. 97-G will pull back after that and either redeploy or head back to Aurek so you'll be losing some backup."
"Permission to request a squadron of Vengeance frigates to back my battle group up." Jacobs said as he looked over at Nelson.
"Granted, but they'll be newer crews and only 10 of them."
"I can work with that." the Mandalorian officer replied.
"The rest will be determined once we get there. This intel is still pretty old so I'll be transferring tactical control to Captain Torcille once we get troops on the ground; Hyain will maintain independent command of the Alderaan throughout the battle; you know the emergency codes to override that protocol."
"Getting the surrender in person, sir?" Torcille asked.
"And checking out this Site with my own eyes and a smaller strike team. For Izzi it's labeled the last letter of that alphabet, Omega; usually the last one has something more important than all the others in it." the Captain replied before shutting the holotable off and looking at the holograms of his officers. "Any questions?"
"Yeah." Jacobs said, "When do we leave?"
"This is quite ambitious, Nelson." Izzi said as they walked towards the bridge.
"War is not a practice in moderation or limited thinking." Nelson quipped back, "And the sooner we nip the Lumarian Navy in the bud, the better off this war will be for us."
"Has it been named, Captain? The war, that is."
"As of right now, it's simply The Reclamation War, but for all we know in a few years it may be renamed to The First Reclamation War or something like that. We're only a year in with six Sites, soon to be seven." Nelson replied, stopping in he middle of the hallway and looking at his AI partner, "We're changing the way this galaxy operates and pretty soon, I'll need to assemble a council just to keep all of our colonies in line; after that we have to establish borders, start trading..."
"This invasion isn't just about the Site, is it?" Izzi asked, all of his arms crossing in front of his chest.
"No, no it's not. This is also about forcing their hand." the Captain admitted, "If we take out their fleet and with a show of force, march into their capital city, then we can get the bounty removed, end hostilities, and maybe even start up trade with the Lumarians. The Crandolian Empire already has a bounty out for Red Eclipse ships and personnel and I don't need a two front war."
"Understandable... trading lanes and intelligence gathered during peace time would be valuable, and any Sites they have colonized would no longer require an invasion force to access."
"It will save lives."
"You keep telling yourself that, and yet I never understand why." Izzi responded, getting a slight glare from Nelson. After a short but awkward silence, Nelson started walking again.
"War is never pretty, and while 'glory' may come of victories, it still scars men and leaves families torn up."
"You speak from experience?"
"I lost my brother during the Galactic Civil War back in my old galaxy. While I worked for Zann, he decided to help the Rebel Alliance take the fight to the Empire. He was on a Mon Calamari cruiser named Liberty during the Battle of Endor as a point defense gunner... the ship was completely destroyed."
"You wish to keep this fro-"
"The Galactic Civil War cost the galaxy over 3 billion civilians, and was still ongoing when we left. I am not letting that happen here."
"I... concur... sentient loss of life is tragic most of the time..." Izzi replied, "And so this invasion... you're spending lives to save more?"
"The needs of the many..." Nelson muttered.
"Pardon?" Izzi asked.
"Just an old saying, Izzi, nothing to be concerned with."
"I'll tend to the shock droids, then." Izzi replied. It wasn't until the AI was in a turbolift heading towards the cargo bay that Nelson visibly shuddered. He was ok with using droids, but an entire company of droid shock troops led by anyone still made him worry.
"I guess the Clone Wars had a bigger effect than any of us would like to think..."
The new AIs were temperamental at best as far as Joshua was concerned. Temperamental and self-entitled thanks to their past lives, and the veteran AI hated any new AI that he viewed as an upstart. Regrettably he was told to play nice and not be his ruthless self when keeping them in line so he relied on the ship captains to get used to these new intelligences and keep their collective leashes short.
"Paladin especially..." Joshua thought as he looked back at the quarantine field he had in place around one particular AI. Paladin, his avatar was that of a Sith Trooper from the Jedi Civil War that he had seen while going through the history archives with the rest of the AIs they had managed to transport to Aurek. He had attempted to hack into the secure military files, one file set in particular containing the private dossiers of Captain Nelson, Colonel Carlson, Captain Torcille, and Commander Jacobs that Naval Intelligence didn't want anyone accessing.
"And he actually thought he could get in. Pathetic." he mused, his behavioral algorithms pulsing a little in satisfaction. Paladin had just gone into standby mode and was finally ready for processing and repurposing; another victory for Joshua.
"Are the preparations complete?" Nelson asked as he took his seat in the command chair.
"Aye sir, all systems are green and the fleet is forming up. Last minute shuttle arrivals are boarding where they need to and the new orbital defense platforms are finally combat ready." Joshua replied, his avatar popping up on the holobank embedded in the arm of Nelson's chair.
"Good, here's hoping they work as well as Izzi says they will. Speaking of, is he still in the cargo bay?"
"Still working on improving his company of droids, yes."
"Then get us ready to jump." Nelson ordered before nodding at the communications officer, "All hands, prepare for the jump in 60."
As one, a truly massive fleet of almost 400 ships ranging from Crusader corvettes to the Alderaan herself moved into position with the Kindred Spirit at the front of the formation. On the Aurek behind them, civilians saw hundreds of new stars as the engines of each ship started to glow brighter at random as hyperdrives spun up in preparation for the jump.
"Light speed on my mark, gentlemen..." Nelson said, standing up and walking to the main viewscreen and then back at the holotable where Joshua was watching. Edward Nelson closed his eyes for a moment before looking at the stars, noting the smallest one directly in front of him and took a rather deep breath.
The breath before the plunge.
"Mark."