Chapter 23

Admiral Johnson watched the carnage within the Imperial fleet unfold as his fleet drew closer to the enemy. It would only be a matter of minutes before the first ships entered the range of their weapons. These would be the corvettes and frigates of Admiral Rosa, who would launch torpedo and missile strikes before Johnson's main force arrived.

"Admiral, I'm getting a message from Admiral Rosa." The Comms officer said. "She doesn't want the fighters to have all the fun sir, and is asking if she can begin her attacks early."

"Tell her to go ahead." Johnson replied. It would take time to rearm the incoming fighters, especially considering there were hundreds of them.

Aboard the frigate Morgador, Vice Admiral Valentina Rosa once again gave her ships the order to accelerate and prepare for their attacks. Hopefully they would be as successful as the previous ones.

It took them several minutes to get into weapons range, though to Rosa it felt quite a bit longer. Even when they got into range Rosa didn't let the ships fire. She wanted to get closer before unleashing the wrath of torpedoes and missiles onboard the two dozen frigates and corvettes to make sure they were not shot down.

"All ships are to launch ion torpedoes at the two Imperial and two Victory Star Destroyers." She ordered. A stream of ion torpedoes temporarily disabled the four ships , already damaged from their encounter with Earth's fighters.

"Reload the tubes with proton torpedoes and target all of those ships as well as the other disabled Imperial Class." She ordered. Moments later, heavy proton torpedoes were streaking across space to hit their disabled targets.

One of the surviving Star Destroyers was torn apart instantly, already disabled by the fighters. The other tw "s ( Imperial Star Destroyers ) survived, but now had much more damage when compared to before the strike. The two Victory Star Destroyers also were significantly damaged, but still combat capable. One Vindicator Class Cruiser was crippled, the rest having moderate to minimal damage.

There were cheers across the bridge as the crew was excited for its victory, however they quickly returned to their stations after seeing what the Empire was doing next.

Back during the first time this tactic was used, the Imperial forces had not done a lot to stop her attack or counterattack. This time, however, the Empire responded differently. They detached a dozen of their corvettes of the Raider and Vigil classes an systems patrol craft to pursue the raiding force. With their backs turned to the Imperials, Rosa's force would have only a limited number of weapons to bring to bear on the task force.

Rosa frankly had not expected this, and when people had brought up the fact that she might be pursued by lighter Imperial units, she had always assumed that she would be able to beat them. But that was looking to be less and less of the case, as a pair of Vigil Class Corvettes launched a devastating torpedo strike that destroyed one of her corvettes and crippled another.

"Are we out of the range of the main Imperial guns ok those Star Destroyers?" She asked her gunnery officer.

"Yes, and even if we weren't they are all either disabled or damaged." He replied

"Then order all ships to turn around and engage the pursuing Imperial ships head on." She said to the comms officer. "Launch a torpedo strike on them as well." She ordered.

The two dozen frigates and destroyers began turning around, bringing the majority of their guns to bear on the attacking Imperials. They also launched missiles and torpedoes, which caused heavy damage to the thinly hulled and lightly shielding Imperial ships. An unlucky Raider I I corvette exploded after being hit by a volley of gunfire and torpedoes, a systems patrol craft being crippled and disabled moments later.

Earth's frigates and corvettes were superior in firepower when compared to their Imperial counterparts, a factor that proved decisive in the little battle. They also held a two to one numerical advantage, allowing them the ability to swarm Imperial vessels and giving them more tactical flexibility.

Soon half of the attacking imperials had been destroyed or disabled, and the remainder decided to save themselves and retreat. A further tw systems patrol were destroyed in a torpedo strike caused by several of Earth's ships.

Johnson watched the events unfold aboard the Revenge's bridge, pleased with how the battle was going so far. Within a few minutes he would be in the gun range of the Imperial fleet. A fleet that had been severely weakened by both Deadlock's fighter attacks and Admiral Rosa's torpedo strikes.

"Admiral Rosa, what is your status?" He asked over the comm.

"We knocked out one I S D, heavily damaged another two, heavily damaged a pair of victory's and damaged some Vindicator heavy cruisers." She reported. "We've lost three corvettes to the Imperial counterattack, but we destroyed or crippled eight of theirs."

"Good job Admiral. We can take it from here." Johnson said. "Rejoin the formation at your previous location, we will be back within weapons range within a few minutes." He ordered.

"Thank you Admiral, will do." She said, moving her ships back into the fleet. The door to the bridge opened and Captain Drofa Haffard re entered the bridge, his wounds from earlier either healed or bandaged. Everyone on the bridge stiffened and saluted as their Captain returned.

"At ease." He said. "Captain Haffard reporting for duty, Admiral."

"It's good to have you back, Drofa." Johnson said. " resume your post."

"Sir, we're in weapons range." The Revenge's gunnery officer reported.

"Begin firing at will." Johnson said. "And relay that order to the other ships."

Soon Earth's large fleet was firing at the Imperial one. Everyone was shocked when anothe emerged from the network of dry docks, with only minimal damage. It began firing on Earth's fleet, significantly increasing the firepower of the Imperial fleet.

Additionally, a large number o fighters emerged from the Imperial fleet and from the planet's surface, perhaps the empire's last reserves within the system.

"How are our fighters doing? How many have we rearmed?" Johnson asked.

"At this point the fleet has rearmed about 20 percent of are birds which are all in the air, including Deadlock's squadron. We are continuing to arm the fighters, but our speed will likely be slowed due to combat. The squadrons on the carriers and Iowa will probably be done faster, as they are not as likely to face combat." Commander Sing reported.

"Good, try to speed up the process on the rest of the ships as much as possible. Our fighters will not be able to face all thos 's without reinforcement." He ordered.

The revenge shuttered from impacts as the various Imperils ships returned fire. Despite the damage Earth had done to the Star Destroyers, most of their forward guns were still operational. They lay down an impressive array of fire, one that Johnson did not expect. Several of the corvettes, frigates, and destroyers at the front of the fleet came under heavy fire, with a few being destroyed or heavily damaged. However they were inflicting significant damage on the Imperial forces as well. Many of the lighter Imperial ships were taking heavy damage, with some being destroyed or damaged.

The revenge and the other large ships had directed their fire to the larger Imperial ships, such as the Star Destroyers. However, the flagship was unprepared when the two Victory Class Star Destroyers launched a devastating barrage of anti capital ship proton torpedoes. These struck the revenge and her other sister ships, causing heavy damage.

The bridge shook as Johnson was almost thrown off his feet. Other men and women on the bridge fell down, and he could see people hitting their heads on consoles and workstations.

"Damage report!" He ordered. The same damage control officer who had reported when th bombers had attacked resumed his post and gave a report.

"Sir we have been hit on the forward sections and a few of the aft sections. Frames 1 - 14 have heavy damage and frames 15 - 34 have moderate to light damage. No casualty reports so far, but it doesn't look good. We likely have dozens, if not hundreds dead."

"What about our combat capabilities?" Johnson asked. "Our shields and armor as well."

"We have lost or damaged a few of the bottom and forward heavy and light turrets, but only half a dozen. Most are still operational however." The damage control lieutenant said. "Our shields are at onl t, but our armor is mostly holding. No information on the condition of the other ships so far."

"Continue firing on the Imperials." Johnson said. " We still outnumber and outgun them. Press the attack, we will not falter due to a little damage here and there."

Earth's fleet kept advancing on the defending Imperials, starting to take more and more losses. But the Imperial fleet was not doing better, with its forward ships all but obliterated under concentrated fire from Earth's fleet. In front only the star destroyers and heavy cruisers survived the onslaught, but only just barely. A devastating torpedo strike by many of Earth's surviving ships decimated them, disabling or destroying all but one of the Imperial Star Destroyers and all of the cruisers and victory star destroyers in the front. The Imperial fleet was down to a fraction of its former strength, with only one Star Destroyer, two heavy cruisers that were guarding the rear of the fleet as the only heavy asset still standing. Five frigates and a dozen corvettes and systems patrol craft still stood, all damaged to varying degrees.

Admiral Picot stared out the window of his Star Destroyer, th Temperance. He had lost almost his entire fleet to Earth, and soon would lose his entire fleet if nothing changed. He could not have expected such a disaster to unfold upon this place, though he had prepared to take heavy losses.

Sparks flew across the bridge, with several members of the bridge crew dead or heavily wounded due to battle damage. What little news from the rest of the sector he had gotten was not good. In space the Imperial fleet was on full retreat against the forces of Earth and the Free Confederacy. On the ground the situation was not that much better, with Earth having orbital and air superiority, the troops of the Imperial Army and the Stormtrooper corps being cut down with ease.

He had initially not wanted to ask for outside help of any kind, but with his sector days away from being fully overrun, he would need as much help as he could get. He would talk to Moff Vincent Kleen of the Ghralia Sector. He had previously shown a willingness to help defeat Earth and the Free Confederacy, but Picot or his predecessor Moff Flag had never taken him up on his offer. Kleen was not offering this help out of a selfless concern for the people of the sector or a sense of moral duty, rather, he was trying to increase his influence in the sector. Picot did not blame the man for working in his self interest, as he did the same many times in his life. But that didn't mean he would give in.

Moff Jareen of the Cundre Sector and Moff Kralen of the Quetry sector were both in a similar situation. Both would likely offer to help him in defending what remained of his sector, but it would come at a price. They would want some sort of compensation, whether it be in the form of resources, manpower, territory, or something else he didn't know.

Moff Illustrious was another possibility. The Moff of the Tibannas sector was honorable and if she decided to help wound not ask for much, but relations between the sectors had been frosty.

"Get us out of here!." He ordered the ragged helm officer.

"Where sir?"

"Anywhere, no wait, the Croas system. It should be Rebel free." He looked at the comms officer. "Relay that to the other ships."

In a few moments, before the Imperial fleet was obliterated by Earth's fleet, it jumped away to safety. Without the interdiction field of the Senali, they were free to escape. Now the system was left defenseless, the Imperial troops on the surface embattled by the various rebel groups. It left the orbital command and repair stations defenceless, as they only had laser cannons and a few turbolasers to wade off pirates, not an organized military force. Th 's that they had were gone as well, obliterated by a mass of missiles like the rest of the brethren.

Onboard the Revenge and the other ships in Earth's fleet, a wild cheer could be heard. This was a major victory that only solidified Earth's position in the sector. Few major systems in the sector remained, and less than half a dozen Star Destroyers with only a few dozen escorts left to defend it. It would be a miracle if the Imperial fleet could its ground.

"Bring us down to condition two and tell the support ships they are clear to enter the system. Tell General Marks that he is free to bring his ships in and begin landing on the planet." Johnson ordered. "And tell those stations to surrender and prepare to be boarded or they will be destroyed.

He looked around at his fleet, which had for the first time taken significant damage fighting the empire. 28 corvettes, frigates, and destroyers had been lost in the battle, more than two times the entire losses so far in the campaign. Dozens of other ships big and small were damaged, including the Revenge herself.

In a shrewd tactical sense, the victory was unequivocally worth it, but Johnson couldn't help feeling a pang of regret for those that had been lost. He replayed the battle within his head trying to figure out what went wrong and fixing it ,but had little success. He had other things to do now.

"Admiral the Imperial stations had surrendered unconditionally. They report having a number of warships under repairs or refit within the station, including a Star Destroyer."

"Good, get them secured and ensure they are kept safe."