Chapter 10
Orbit of Mars
The mood aboard the frigate Morgador was quiet but tense. Rear Admiral Valentina Rosa paced around the vessel's small bridge, eyeing the consoles hopefully. This just might work. She thought to herself, finally sitting down in her centrally located chair.
The exercise they were engaged in was relatively simple. Retaliation, One of the star destroyers the Empire had used to attack Earth the second time had been declared unsalvageable due to it's heavy damage. Stripped of every useful component, it was now going to be unused in a combat simulation with fake turrets placed around its hull. These turrets would fire tiny laser blasts that would be run through a computer program on the Morgador to track damage before the ship was destroyed. She and her fellow ships would have to destroy it first.
Three other frigates of the same class also participated in the exercise, the Adamant, Busan, and Emden. All had been modified for this task, carrying a larger complement of missiles and torpedoes than normal. This exercise would hopefully demonstrate how a group of smaller ships could cripple or potentially destroy a much larger ship such as a star destroyer.
"Ma'am we're coming into the maximum range for our missiles." The ship's chief gunnery officer said, staring at his console intently. "Should we launch a first strike?"
"Not yet. But keep them hot in the tubes and ready to fire at a moment's notice." It wouldn't be long before all the ships made it into the maximum range for the Star Destoyers's guns. But that would not be significant, as their guns would not be very effective against smaller targets like her's at this range.
"Tell all ships to execute the flanking maneuver." She ordered the comms officer and the helmsman. They were going to plunge right into the unprotected heart of th .
The Imperial shipwright and designer Lira Wessex had designed the Imperial Star Destroyer with large amounts of forward and broadside firepower, but had only a few guns firing rearwords. If you went to the ventral end of the rear, the amount of guns became even smaller. But the rear of the ship housed the ship's massive ion engines, an area of the ship that was less well protected than the rest of it. This was something rebel starfighters had used to their advantage during many confrontations, but these small crafts could only carry so many munitions. A larger frigate may be easier to hit, but it could carry much more firepower.
With that, the four ships approached the rear of th . Soon, the simulated rear turbolasers and ion cannons were trying to hit them, but they only scored a few glancing hits due to the frigate's nimbleness.
"Tell all ships to fire the first wave. Then reload tubes 1-10 with anti-ship missiles." A moment later, 10 ion torpedoes flew out the tubes of each ship, 40 in total. A few were shot down on the way, but the Imperial heavy turbolasers and ion cannons were poor point defense weapons. But most hit their target, disabling the rear shields of the ship. In moments, the missile/ torpedo tubes of all four frigates were reloaded, and a wave of heavy anti-ship missiles began approaching their target.
Like the previous wave, a few were shot down, but most hit their target. The wreckage collapsed into dozens of pieces, and the computer program concluded that even if the ship had been at full strength it would have been disabled with critical damage. There were cheers and hollers across all four ships in celebration of their victory, but this was not the end of their trials. Rosa still had to convince the rest of the admiralty that what she had done would be a viable strategy going forwards.
Soon she found herself in the Revenge's conference room, faced with the other members of the Admiralty currently present. The supreme commander of the fleet; Harrington and the director of operations; Johnson. Both of their faces portrayed neutral expressions. Rear Admirals Davis Stuart and Fei Hong both looked a bit skeptical, probably unsure of the methods she had used in the simulated battle.
"Congratulations on your victory, Admiral. We may need to reevaluate our opinion on your small ship tactics." Harrington said.
"Perhaps we should take a step back. The parameters of this simulation were incredibly favorable to Admiral Rosa." Admiral Hong said with a slight demeanor of annoyance.
"Why do you think that?" Johnson asked.
"Well, there was one star destroyer with no fighters and no supporting fleet. It was completely unmaneuverable and besides the simulated laser and ion fire could not respond in any way to the Admiral's attacks." Stuart said, looking a bit angry.
"It doesn't matter," Rosa replied. "Almost all Imperial fighters will be ineffective against frigates unless used in overwhelmingly large numbers like the ones used as they lack heavy weaponry. And this would be done as a surprise attack when they would only be able to deploy a limited number of fighters. As for other Imperial ships, they are often deployed in only limited numbers to Star Destroyers for escort, if at all. And we can always bring in other ships, or use it in conjunction with other maneuvers. And the Imperial Star Destroyer is not exactly the most maneuverable vessel in the galaxy." She retorted indignantly. This got a chuckle out of Harrington and Johnson, with Hong and Stuart looking annoyed.
"What changes do you believe we should make, both on an equipment and technical level and on a doctrinal level?" Johnson asked.
"Some engineers I've contacted have drawn up modifications for several of our current corvette and frigate designs to increase their missile capacity and fire rate. On a docternainal level, I believe that we should use some of these smaller ships in a flanking maneuver to launch a strike against large Imperial ships in a similar manner to what I have done."
"A good idea, Admiral. I will make sure that your recommendations are to be implemented." Harrington said.
"Perhaps this tactic will be useful when the enemy is occupied with our main force. If their flanks are exposed, we can use this to devastating effect." Stuart said, conceding to her positions.
"I believe that this can also be useful as a first strike force before the main fleet comes to battle." Hong said and Stuart nodded in agreement.
"I also think you should command a mission similar to this once the offensive begins." Johnson said.
"I would be honored to, Admiral." She replied.