The hulking battlecruiser Lord Maul and her escorts materialized into the empty space behind the massive convoy of transports. Hundreds of turbolaser shots raced outward towards the rearmost ships. The bulk freighter Iego, carrying thousands of tons of artillery shells, took half a dozen heavy turbolaser hits, exploding in a giant ball of fire and superheated gas which destroyed two adjacent supply vessels.

**

The voice of Freedom's Fighter Control Officer was loud in Anakin's helmet comm.

"Scramble all fighters, repeat, scramble all fighters!"

His hands were moving rapidly over the controls, the fighter's landing skids already half a meter above the hangar floor as he set the repulsorlift for takeoff.

"Blue Squadron, this is Blue Lead, report in"

"Blue five is green on all four," Anakin responded, referring to his engine status. The other pilots answered in a similar manner.

"Blue Squadron, this is fighter control, you are clear to assemble for launch immediately"

Blue Lead had now pulled his fighter forward from its maintenance bay and began to slowly taxi towards the massive hangar door, now open, a selective particle shield holding air inside the hangar yet allowing the fighters to exit. The rest of Blue Squadron was forming up in order behind the leader in order in the hangar's launch and retrieval strip. Ahead of Anakin, a crewman motioned him forward and he eased the throttles ahead, beginning a slow taxi run. When he had pulled a ship length ahead, the deck crewman signaled for a right turn toward the flight line, and he maneuvered into place a dozen meters behind Blue Four.

"Blue Squadron, this is lead, form up by flights on vector two-one-seven," Lead said, indicating the point where the fighters would join formation after launch.

In less than two minutes Anakin was in position to lauch, the nose of his fighter hovering over a painted strip on the hangar deck floor. The deck officer saluted, Anakin returned the gesture, and the man gave the launch signal. Anakin shoved the throttle forward on all four engines, the acceleration pressing him back against his ejector seat as the hangar walls receded ahead. He half-rolled the fighter to the left and pulled back on the stick, streaking out the large open launch/recovery area on the Victory- class cruiser's ventral hull. His trajectory terminated at the bottom of a half loop, and Anakin placed the fighter on course for the squadron's assembly point.

**

Haas watched with satisfaction as the enemy center broke, the wedge of Victory cruisers smashing through the enemy lines and heading toward the huge Mandalorian command ship.

"Admiral, Sir!" Haas' communications officer said, his voice anything but composed and professional. "A massive enemy battlecruiser force is attacking the rear of our transport column. We've just lost three ships!"

The Admiral was shocked, and horrified. He had just ordered the main fleet's reserves into action in the enemy center, and now the small force assigned to protect the transports would have to deal with an enemy that possessed much greater firepower.

He quickly stalled his panic. He was the commander, he had planned the Fleet's deployment, and he was the one who would have to save the invasion force.

"Orders, Sir?" the man asked, the desperation not leaving his voice.

"We can't divert ships from here right now, they'd take too long and it would weaken our line. We're too close to breaking the enemy main force to let them recover. Tell Freedom that Task Force Three will have to hold them off until we can take care of business here. Have our frigates reloaded their torpedo launchers?"

"Yes, Admiral."

"Order them to reform behind the cruisers on the flanks. Have the cruisers hold the enemy until the frigates can get around the flanks to the rear, then order them to fire a second volley of torpedoes. Order the invasion fleet to proceed at full speed towards the battleline."

"Sir?"

"Damn it, Commander, just follow your orders! As soon as we can send cruisers, they will get there faster," he yelled at the younger man.

He could only hope that Freedom and her small force could hold out long enough.

**

Freedom and her accompanying task force turned towards the new threat. On the bridge, Admiral Tahan's expression was grim.

"All ships proceed to engage at maximum speed"

"Sir?" the Freedom's captain asked.

"If we can hold them off long enough, we may be able to save the transports. If we lose them, well, we've lost the mission."

Either way, we will probably die in the process, Tahan thought.

Yet there was no other choice. The battlecruiser outgunned his entire fleet, but he might be able to cripple the enemy, or at least buy time. He hoped it would be enough.

"Understood, Sir."

"Order our fighters forward to cripple the battlecruiser as much as they can. Prepare to have the cruisers fire all missile tubes from long range. The smaller ships are to keep the escorts occupied."

If he could engage at long range, do damage, then close quickly, and if the fighters could support the attack, his task force might have a fighting chance. While his ships were inferior, they could still outmaneuver the larger vessel and prevent the enemy from concentrating his shields and fire in any one threatened sector.

"Yes, Sir."

**

Blue Squadron was now formed up in a loose wedge formation, one flight in front and the other two covering the flanks and rear. Red was also formed up and ready to attack. Below him, Anakin saw the huge convoy of transports changing course and at the same time trying to keep an orderly formation, heading for the dubious safety of the battleline ahead.

However, it was the huge red enemy vessel turning to meet the Republic warships which occupied most of his attention.

"Blue Squadron, we're going to cover for Red, then we're going in."

"Copy, Lead," Anakin said.

"If you don't see any enemy fighters, try to draw off some of that cruiser's defensive fire."

This was standard practice. Present the enemy with two groups of fighters, one making the attack run, the other running interference, or if possible, suppressing the anti-fighter batteries. Anakin felt a chill as he thought of how many rapid-firing gun emplacements would fit on such a massive vessel. Or how many fighters such a ship could carry in its hangar.

**

There was a mood of triumph on the Lord Maul's bridge. Victory seemed imminent, and very few believed that the gigantic vessel would have any serious problem dispatching the Republic's cruisers approaching to engage.

"Enemy is deploying fighters, estimate four squadrons."

"Very well. Launch four squadrons of our own, and have the rest hold back on alert." the Maul's commander replied.

Although the Lord Maul and Lord Bane were externally identical from a visual standpoint, the ships did have an important difference. Bane was designed with a secondary ability as a heavy transport, as were most of the Mandalorian heavy vessels, so that the shipyards could focus on creating warships rather than transports, which would be useless in combat. Bane's hangar bay had been fitted to carry hundreds of armored vehicles and artillery pieces, and empty of spacecraft except for a few large assault ships which conveyed the tanks and guns to the surface.

Maul, on the other hand, became a carrier vessel. Her massive hangar was the largest single compartment inside the ship, and carried just over eight hundred fighters. Her commander planned to deal with the small force of enemy fighters quickly, then dispatch the rest to hunt down fleeing and scattered transports.

**

As the Headhunters came rapidly closer to the enemy, they could see several tiny sensor blots and flashes of ion engines scurrying from the larger ship.

"Blue Leader, this is Red Leader, I see enemy fighters heading in our direction."

"Copy that, Red. Blue Squadron, engage."

Anakin opened the throttles as the fighters began to close.

The fight for Aldera had entered a new phase.