Finding a Navy patrol was easy. Literally the moment we arrived in the Wei system, a fleet of ships was passing through. Two carriers, with supports. All of them obviously headed to the expected battlefield. The moment we jumped in, they were on alert, target locks for their missiles chiming in my ear. I ignored it, however, as my own fleet got into position, our force massively outgunning theirs by two or more orders of orders of magnitude. To the credit of the Navy officers, not a single ship fled, and those that arrived during the standoff fell into position easily with their comrades.
"It has been requested, by the Free Worlds leadership, that one of you turn over that new beam turret of yours. I think we can both see that any fight between us wouldn't be pretty for you, so I'll ask, will you surrender it to me?" I sent, and my reply was more missile locks, and finally a firing alert. My force went into battle instantly, hundreds of sunbeams raking out amongst the horde of enemy ships. Their new weapons did better damage against the hulls of my ships, but they weren't anywhere near as good as taking out shields. Worse, my sunbeams had the range advantage, resulting in a battle that lasted only a single pass.
We avoided, luckily, destroying any of the Navy ships, and even left most of them in working condition. Still, I quickly locked onto a gunboat, and grabbed an example of the fixed cannon and the turret model of the new weapon, as well as several of the missiles, before jumping back to Trinket. There, I was pleased to see the gathering forces were actually starting to look like a real fleet, with many a vessel equipping Barmy Edwards weapons. They looked heavy, and some of the smaller ships moved sluggishly, but they were now a force to be reckoned with.
Landing proved a bit more difficult this time, as Freya wasn't in a place she could be contacted easily, so I actually had to wait in line for a berth. Once I landed, however, a dozen Free Worlds engineers swarmed me, grabbing the new Electron weapons, as we now knew the Republic was calling them. They didn't even wait until they were out of sight to begin disassembling them, leaving me alone in my ship for almost an hour, before Freya came by, looking weary, but also, hopeful.
"Well, it's not as bad as it could be. Their new weapons are more efficient than ours, but while we may rev a little higher and run a little hotter, we've got a bit more punch to us too. That will at least give us some advantage when the fighting starts," she says, gratefully taking a cup of coffee from a droid and downing the thing in one pull, before signaling she would like another.
"Can we reverse engineer it? Maybe give us some more options?" I asked, and Freya looked thoughtful for a moment, as she took a second cup, and this time sipped at it, before finally shaking her head.
"We can, sure, but we don't have nearly enough time. We've barely got a handle on how to build a Heavy Laser. These new weapons are way in advance of that. For now, we'll go into battle with the weapons we have, and hope it's enough," she said, and then brought out a small projector. She set it on a nearby table, and let it warm up, soon having a floating image of a massive ship, slightly large than a Shield Beetle, and looking like it was just covered in weapons and armor.
"This is the newest ship model built out of Southbound, the Free Worlds' primary shipyard on Zug. They've got three of them fresh off the line, and want an escort for them to bring them here, just in case there's a problem. Since you've got the biggest force, and you're not going to be slotting in with any of the others, I'd like you to take care of that. When you return, we'll get them into a fleet, and then we'll launch. Hopefully, these things give us a way to go toe to toe with a Cruiser," she said, and I nodded, getting passcodes and the like from Freya, before my fleet takes off for Zug.
When we arrive, I get a good view of ships, some of them shiny and new, flying out back the way we'd come. Obviously reinforcements for the front. I give my name and the passcodes, and almost immediately, a trio of ships launch from the surface, their massive bulks dwarfing everything around them, as a channel opens up with the lead ship. It takes a moment for the comm to resolve a face out of the static, but when it does I see a young man, probably only a year older than I was when leaving New Boston.
"Sage Fleet, this is Dreadnaught Class battleship, Knights One, Two, and Three. We're joining your fleet along with our flotilla. Please confirm," he said, as I watched several Furies, and a few other vessels fall in with them.
"Admiral Sage confirms, follow our beacon, and we'll get you to Trinket in one piece," I tell him, smiling as he salutes. I don't do the gesture back, instead punching in the coordinates, and then vanishing in blue fire. We arrive at Trinket a few days later to find the fleet there engaged in battle. A Navy carrier had broken away from the line, and was trying to fight its way to the planet's surface, fighters screening, while the larger ship fired dozens of missiles. The tactic was more about fear than damage, as if any of those missiles hit, a city below would be vaporized.
"All incoming assets, protect Trinket!" shouted a very concerned officer's voice over the general comms. Before I can order my fleet to do anything, the three Dreadnaughts leap into action, their sides seeming to fold open, and dozens of weapons poking out from inside. Missiles fire, anti-missile lasers shine, and even a few bits of fire from Barmy Edwards flamethrowers can be seen, as they pass on either side of the carrier, and with that, the threat is ended, the carrier venting air from more than one hole, before it explodes in a spectacular display.
"Impressive," I say, as the ships, despite their bulk, easily turn and fall into formation with the fleet. I leave them to it, making my way back to Trinket's surface, and finding it still whole, though the people seem shaken up. Freya doesn't even meet me at the port, instead I have to go out to find her, sipping what is obviously alcohol at a cafe, her hands shaking a little as she sits there, only barely acknowledging me as I take a seat across from her.
"Are you okay?" I ask, first thing, and she looks like she's about to break down crying for a moment, before taking a deep breath, and then letting it out in a long sigh.
"I'm not. I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in days, and the sirens woke me up from a nap. I didn't even know what was going on until it was over, and you can imagine how good that was for my nerves," she admits, taking another hit from the cup, and then grabbing the bottle and just chugging from it for a moment.
"Ah, still, we must move on. Our force is assembled, and the Navy is obviously taking us seriously this time. I keep hoping they'll retreat and just give us the worlds that want to join us, but they won't do that, will they?" she asked, and I shake my head.
"I'm afraid Parliament holds their leash, and they won't give up any ground. Still, those admirals seemed to not want to fight a losing battle. If we can just show enough force, they'll back down," I tell her, and she takes that in, before pulling out a holomap, and quickly tracing routes.
"Okay, then we'll make a show of it. If they start to pull out, I want to you let them go, but until then, you fight as hard as you can. We've got a massive attack force here, and we'd best get to using it," she said, and then highlighted systems.
"Our main force here is going to go the long way, swing around to New India, and then to New Portland, before coming to Dancer in the Rastaban system. Before they get there, I want your fleet to engage the Navy forces there. Despite being the closest to us here on Trinket, they've got the smallest garrison there. I expect they'll retreat easily enough, falling back to the other two to reinforce them. I want you to surprise them, and try and keep them from going anywhere," she instructed, moving ship icons around the map as she spoke.
"After that, you'll sweep forward, as some of our reserves bring up your rear. Hopefully, we can win this fight without you having to face anymore danger, but if it comes down to it, you're our ace in the whole with your alien weapons," she explains.
"Sounds like a plan," I tell her, and then rise. She merely nods, before taking another long pull on her bottle, and then setting the empty container down. With that, we leave the cafe, and I'm soon in space, my fleet falling into formation around me, as I watch the other ships start to jump away, moving towards their own battles.
"All ships, we're going in hot, we're going in heavy. Stay on alert at all times, and cover for each other. Remember, we're not here to die for our country, but to make the other guy die for his, got it?" I order, and get confirmation from my forces. With a chuckle, I give the last order, and my fleet jumps away to war.
