The battle for orbital superiority over Tatooine continues! In this chapter, we find that the Imperator has friends...
The battle was going well. Perhaps not the landslide victory Tarkin expected, but he had the Imperials trapped, frustration at the Avenger aside.
Even though turbolaser batteries hurled gigatons of energy at their targets, the Imperator-class had not fallen. It was severely damaged, stripped of all of its main gun emplacements, and most of its outer hull, yet it still held together. A fleet would not have been able to take this much firepower, let alone a single Star Destroyer, even if entire decks had been obliterated or exposed to the void.
It was definitely a wake-up call. The Navy needed newer tech. Bigger guns, at the very least. Something that Tarkin had definitely pushed for, but had been denied. Oh, he loved the New Republic, but its Chairwoman was a bloody, idealistic fool.
To be fair, however, the Imperator was no longer sustaining much fire. It had friends, now, and lots of 'em.
Twenty fresh capital ships had burst out of Hyperspace half an hour into the battle, coming in from somewhere in the Outer Rim. None of them were Star Destroyers, thankfully; 12 were the already seen heavy-yet-small frigates shaped like ancient swords. The other eight were new designs, six of them being 500 meters long and shaped like a New Republic hovertank, with a large hangar bay between the prong-like protrusions at its front, and the remaining two being wedge-shaped, 1.2 kilometer long-cruisers with three heavy turbolaser batteries mounted dorsally.
On top of that, all of them had launched fighters, a feature suspiciously absent from the Avenger. While it was widely known that Clone pilots and their spacecraft were amongst the best in the galaxy, the sheer amount of small, one-man fighters the enemy ships had launched was drowning the experienced New Republic pilots. It didn't matter much how heavy an ARC-170's armor plating was when half a squad's worth of firepower was hitting it from all sides. The tiny enemy fighters were shaped like a ball, with large, hexagonal solar panels at either side. They were easily destroyed, lacking any shielding or significant armor, but they were extremely fast and maneuverable, and packed quite a punch.
The Clone in charge of fighter operations spoke. "Purple squadron returning to base, sir."
Tarkin nodded. Most of the starfighter wings had been forced to get back in the cover of the fleet's point defense weaponry, with only a few squadrons left behind to poke and prod at the enemy fighters, trying to lure them or find an opening for a bombing run on the enemy cruisers.
As for the fleet itself, Tarkin had resorted to long range salvos; his capital ships may have had lesser range than the Imperator, but the same didn't apply with its escorts. Apparently, these new ship designs were meant to be effective at closer ranges, probably to better defend their enormous charge. The Venators easily outgunned them, too, so the New Republic fleet was currently firing broadside salvos and concussion missile barrages from the three Victory-class Destroyers. It wasn't just for show, though; Tarkin was trying to corral the Imperials against the 'wall', or in this case, Tatooine's gravity well. Once sufficiently trapped, his plan was to deploy the Acclamators around the enemy fleet, to cut off Hyperspace escape, his Victory bombarding them, and the Venators and Arquitens would charge in and seal the deal.
"Admiral, we're being hailed by a Gozanti-class gunship currently sitting at Tatooine's second Lagrange point. IFF says it's a Jedi ship."
Of course. The priority distress call they'd answered to had had New Republic Commando identification. It only made sense that a blasted Jedi would be nearby.
Tarkin sneered. "Do not respond. This is a naval matter, and I will not have them interrupting us."
The Clone ensign pursed his lips. "It's the Daughter of Mortis, sir. Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano's personal transport."
The elder man grit his teeth at the mention of the quarrel that had eluded him so many years past. "All the more reason not to answer. Traitorous scum."
"Admiral! The enemy fleet is reorienting, on an intercept course with us!"
Tarking smirked. "The curs have some courage, it seems. Present our broadsides, lock down our formation, and have our Arquitens and Acclamators meet them at dagger-range!"
As I said, the Imperials are hardly limited to two ship types. Here's the breakdown: Imperator-class Star Destroyers are the core of a fleet, nigh-indestructible versus NR 'modern' weaponry. They're gigantic, mobile bases that carry around thousands of Stormtroopers each, for boarding operations and land invasions. Defending them, there's the Procursator-class Light Star Destroyer. I suggest you look this one up; it's pretty gorgeous, especially FractalSponge's depiction of it. They're meant as 'meat shields' for the Imperator, standing between the larger SD and the enemy, dishing out large amounts of punishment with their triple turbolaser turrets. Then, there's the Gladiator-class cruisers, which are meant for ship-to-ship combat against ships of similar tonnage - frigates, and the like. You can look all of these ships up, and I suggest you do so, as my descriptive abilities are...subpar.
Get ready for next chapter! We delve back into the underworld of Korriban...