Ch1: The Academy

Republic Naval Academy, Anaxes, 27 BBY

The training sortie of V-Wing fighters screamed overhead, maintaining tight formation as they weaved in and out of the obstacles placed in front of them. At a quick command, they morphed into a straight line, the synthetic ravine too narrow to maintain any better defensive formation. Still, they flew low; out of the visual range of even the brilliant Corellian detection systems. The point pilot was their guide; Officer Cadet Jason Grace, born to House Olympia of Kuat navigating the tight, winding path with nothing short of expert skill, all the more impressive when one observed the blinding speed at which he manoeuvred his fighter. However, it was not the Kuati pilot who was in charge of this particular flight of Torrent Starfighters, as any scholar of Republican Naval tactics would well know, for the point man was never the one in charge of the patrol. That duty fell to the second in the line, one Perseus Jackson, recently claimed by Clan Tritonis of Mandalore.

"Rancor Flight, Break," he ordered calmly, quickly punching a set of coordinates into his targeting system and pulling away to his right.
As though on cue, a force of hostile fighters came bursting through the cloud cover, a swarm of specks suddenly populating his RADAR systems and the air around his craft being filled with the flashes of laser fire, the purple of hostile forces streaking his vision and forcing the flight of nine fighters to scatter, both isolating their crafts and exposing themselves to any potential defensive cannon fire. This, however, was fine; The son of Clan Tritonis knew the capacity of his pilots, and he knew even better the true capabilities of his aircraft.
Intentionally stalling his fighter for the briefest of moments, he watched with a smirk of grim satisfaction as his pursuers overshot his position, their airspeed too great to match his sudden slowing, and all of a sudden the prey was the predator.
Every pilot in the galaxy knew not to cross a Mandalorian in the air, even if he had never touched the planet's surface.

"Splash, Splash, Splash," he called over comms, grinning viciously as he swung his fighter about, the entire battle ahead of him. "Rancor 1 to all Rancor elements, come in, I repeat, come in."
One by one, he noted as his subordinates called in, smiling at their lack of loss in the combat scenario thus far. "All Rancor elements on me, over."
Immediately, the flight disengaged, V-19s pulling away from the much smaller enemy craft, and falling into line once more, swinging about as Perseus approached for a second attack run. This time, they were prepared, the might of Republican naval tactics at their backs as they fanned out, three layers of firepower striking at the exposed underbellies of the droid aircraft.

It was hardly the most difficult of tasks, this patrol, and yet they received word that Jedi Masters had been brought to watch the squadron at work, the reputation of this particular intake of new Officer Cadets stretching to even the typically detached Jedi, the names of Jason Grace and Perseus Jackson already circulating in the highest of political circles.

It should hardly have been a surprise, therefore, to see Jedi Master Mace Windu standing on the viewing platform which overlooked the training area's landing pad, a twinkle in his eye which caused one to wonder quite what business the legendary warrior had in a Naval Station.

Carrick Naval Station, Galactic Core, 26 BBY

The group of Officer Cadets assembled before Vice-Admiral Konik Chiron, ready and awaiting the final phase of their training.
Where once they might have assembled on this particular flight deck in their kit and ready to fly, they were in dress uniform, several of their grey uniforms now adorned with the single blue square demarcating their rank of Acting Lieutenant; an honour rarely conferred upon their sort, much less so in a time of peace, however fragile, as the trainee Officers now well understood.

As a matter of fact, they were receiving a briefing the likes of which would rarely be given. For the first time in years, the Republic had commissioned an entirely new standard of Naval equipment.
Already they had trained in the latest generation of the ARC-Fighters and Y-wing bombers, Chiron's wishes dictating that a commander should be proficient in all forms of warfare meaning that they ought to know exactly how each of the craft under their command operates to an intimate degree.
The next progression in Naval technology was to be the Capital Ship.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the information you are about to receive is of the greatest importance, and as such you are bound to the utmost level of secrecy from this moment and onwards."
The group, now down to some 150, and a mix of first and second year cadets, nodded warily. All knew of the growing insurgency, though it was only a select few who were either aware or appraised of the true nature of the situation.
"This," the veteran gestured to a craft being hoisted onto the platform in front of them, "is the bare bones of what will one day be the most feared vessel in the Galaxy. This is the first of what will eventually become known to history as the Venator Class of Star Destroyer. It is a lighter ship than a Dreadnought, for instance; capable of functioning not only as a brilliant Capital Ship in its own right, but as a Starfighter Carrier and, should the need arise, an Amphibious Assault Craft and a Planetary Bombardment Vessel."
He gave the group a moment or two to admire the Venator, his own eyes misting slightly at perhaps the greatest ever light vessel to enter Republican service from Kuat.
"This ship is designed to be crewed by a complement of some 7,400. Your task is to get it airborne and make use of it as you will. Acting Lieutenant Jackson takes overall charge of the vessel, Acting Lieutenant Grace takes Fighter Command. Officer Cadets Ramirez-Arellano and Chase shall take up the 2IC roles for each. May the Force be with you, students."

To bring a craft as big as this one out of drydock was one of the most difficult things the class of Officer Cadets had ever done, let alone organising themselves to an extent to which the ship would be both suitably defended and yet amply enough manned to keep it airborne.
The twin bridges themselves took up a substantial portion of their manpower; or at least it might well have done, had there been any need to monitor atmospheric pressure, or any such thing.
The vessel was completely manned by what would commonly be designated a Skeleton Crew, but not of the Republican Troopers who normally crewed and monitored these vessels, but by droids. Though they felt significant surprise and shock, it was quickly accepted, and they moved on, assigning roles and familiarising themselves with their workstations for the duration of this deployment exercise.

At that moment, they were met by a holographic message of Konik Chiron, smiling genially as he always seemed to do when his charges set off for a new mission; especially when said mission was to be a challenging one.
"So then, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Venator-Class Star Destroyer," He introduced, "This would typically be populated by some seven thousand crew, from top to bottom, and in times of war one might expect to see up to two thousand troopers and gunships capable of taking them to the frontline of any battle."
This was met by several appreciative nods, the Officer Cadets showing their understanding of the words of their mentor.

"For the purpose of this exercise, we have put droids in the place of such people. Their only role is to man the station to which they have been assigned, and removing them from such fails this entire cohort on this exercise."
Once more, nods of understanding.

"Your task, therefore, is to launch this vessel, and to navigate it to the Japrael Sector, where you will conduct a patrol over the period of a full week. The system has seen significant turmoil in the last few years, and there are whispers of a coup against the king, Ramsis Dendup. The System Patrol Craft previously deployed were deemed to be insufficient in maintaining our mandate of protection, and as such we are deploying you to take up this role for the duration of your mission."
At this, a small group of the Officer Cadets sprung into action, spurred on by a gesture from Perseus. One input the coordinates of their destination into the holotable, bringing up an image of the entire system which they could use as reference. Another began to take notes at another station, the words he input into the computer appearing on a corner of the same holotable.
"You will relieve the existing Venator patrolling the system, and will conduct your operation to the utmost degree of professionalism, as you would expect from the Grand Army of the Republic."
Perseus Jackson nodded, a hand resting briefly upon the emblem of House Tritonis which rested on his uniform, above his rank insignia.
"May the Force be with you, my students."
At that, the grizzled old Admiral cut off his transmission, leaving behind a complement of 150 emboldened Officer Cadets.

Within minutes, the mighty vessel was out of dock, the occupants of the Tactical Bridge were greeted by the now familiar view of the stars out before them; the same view to which they had been treated so many times in their period of training from Carrick.
Establishing sufficient distance from the Naval Base, Jackson gave Chase a nod, and the young Officer Cadet engaged the Hyperdrive, throwing the craft forward at the speed of Light.
Any among them would have loved to have a chance to sit down, but no such thing was possible, even with the droids maintaining the craft; they needed to establish their courses of action upon arrival to the system, and beyond that stood the great challenge of exercising control over an entire system for their period of deployment.
It was going to be a long, long week.

Onderon, Japrael System, 26 BBY

It was on the third day of their patrol that something of note took place.
The first two days had been easy enough, the incoming traffic to the system more than happy to allow Republican troops to escort them to land, squadrons of fighters manned entirely by the Officer Cadets who currently commanded the Venator-Class Star Destroyer Invincible.
Today, however, Jackson and Chase in the tactical bridge received a rather worrying transmission from one of their currently operating fighter squadrons.
"Invincible Bridge, this is Raptor-2, Undeclared vessel approaching system at speed, over."
"Raptor-2, this is Invincible Bridge, message received; tail them. Do not engage unless engaged, acknowledge, over."
"Acknowledged Boss, out."

Percy didn't leave the issue here, however, as he turned to Chase behind him.
"Annabeth, get the reserves out there, orders are to escort unless engaged."
Nodding in approval, Chase punched a code into his console, bringing up an image of Ramirez-Arellano and Grace on the other bridge.
"Reyna, get the reserve to the input coordinates, orders are to escort; do not engage unless fired upon. Repeat?"
The young woman did so, and within moments the two men watched as the panels which covered the Venator's hangar opened once more, a flight of eight V-19 Torrent fighters screaming out towards the potentially deteriorating situation.

Happy that they had deployed without issue, Percy strode back over to the holotable, double-checking the locations of all elements of Raptor Squadron, each of the 24 fighters of which it was comprised now out of the safety of the Invincible's hangars.
That was not to say that they were in any immediate danger, of course, though the ship's targeting systems were giving him some rather alarming readings regarding the identity and mission of the encroaching ship.
"Droid, engage shields, focus on Port side," he ordered sharply, "And bring port side guns to bear on the Trade Federation Craft."
When the action was carried out and affirmed, he turned to Chase once more. "
"Chase, try and get a hold of the kriffers running that ship, if they continue to breach protocol then we're going to have to fire off a warning shot at them."
Simultaneously, he sat down at his own console, quickly inputting the code required to reach the point of contact to whom he was beholden.

"Ah, Jackson," Admiral Denis Bacchus greeted, easy and relaxed as the man always seemed to be when he reported in his daily log. "What's the matter with you, then, lad?"
"Sir, we're seeing a Trade Federation ship moving from an unregulated route directly towards our position. SOP is being followed unless the situation changes."
"Good, good boy, keep me appraised of the situation; you'll have support from the planet's surface in a short while."
Nodding his understanding, Percy saluted before he cut off the transmission, turning to the radar image which showed the standoff.

"Raptor-1, this is Invincible bridge, over," he spoke into his radio, awaiting an answer.
He got it a moment later.
"Bridge, this is Raptor-1, over."
"Detectors have Trade Federation Ship increasing speed. Hail the commander, and if they do not respond, we will have to fire a warning shot."
Walking across to the Officer Cadet in charge of Fire Control, Percy placed a hand on his shoulder, murmuring a quiet instruction into the Alderaan-born noble's ear, returning to the holotable when he received a nod of affirmation.

"Sir, transmission for you!" came a shout from the comms room.
Giving Annabeth a meaningful look, he strode off, brushing an imaginary speck of dust from his uniform as he entered the room, which sat behind closed blast doors from the Tactical Bridge, ready for the meeting to come.
The person who had called him, however, was not some stuffy Republican Admiral, no.
In holographic form before him was Jedi Master Mace Windu, in all his menacing glory, piercing eyes staring him down before the man nodded in what seemed to be approval.

"Acting Lieutenant Jackson of Clan Tritonis, House Vizsla," he mused aloud, "You've done the Republic a great favour, it seems."
"How so, Master Jedi?" He asked in response, curious and yet wary.
"The Ship you have intercepted, Jackson, is one that I myself was in pursuit of. Detain it, using lethal force only as a last resort. Let none escape. I will join you in no longer than half a rotation's time."
The younger of the two men nodded his understanding, saluting sharply and leaving the room, a rather impressed-looking Jedi Master cutting the call on his end.

"Chase, you have control of the ship."
"I have control," she confirmed, eyes asking a silent question of the teen who was quickly equipping himself with a blaster and checking it over.
"Orders from the Jedi Temple to detain the Federation ship, apparently," he explained, firing off a message to thirty or so of the Officer Cadets aboard the ship whose roles he knew could be spared for the duration of his plan.
"I'm taking a team and a shuttle, hopefully they won't take exception to the fact that we're armed, eh?"

The Alderaan-born noble teen could only shake her head in confusion, tapping a series of buttons on the console to gain an understanding of what exactly she was expecting to pan out if her estimations of her colleague's plans were to be correct.

Onderon, Japrael System, 26 BBY

"Shuttle Kilo-Alpha-Two, this is Invincible Bridge, confirm launch readiness, over," Percy heard over the radio earpiece he wore, nodding to the pilot who conveyed the affirmation of their readiness to initiate their mission.
"Shuttle Kilo-Alpha-Two, Hangar Doors open, cleared for launch."
The next thing the thirty Officer Cadets knew, they were hurtling through space, ready to board and establish control.
They were granted access through the cordon that had been formed by the Invincible's fighters, and docked with little resistance.
With a breath, Percy opened the blast doors which separated the Officer Cadets from the entrance of the potentially hostile vessel.
"Invincible Bridge, preparing to enter Trade Federation Vessel, out," He informed Annabeth and Jason up in the Ship's bridge, giving Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano beside him a nod and a grin.

He pressed the button that would reveal to them their fate.
Nothing.
Dipping his blaster and waiting for Reyna to do the same, he raised it, stepping through quickly and with aggression, prepared to put a laser bolt through the skull of any who stood in front of him.
Once more, nothing.
"CLEAR!" he called, Reyna beside him doing the same as she took a knee on her side of the corridor ahead of them.
They advanced to the end of the corridor, repeating the painstaking process of clearing out the next set of blast doors before they found their first set of enemies.
They emerged into a room, full to the brim of droids of some sort. They were a sandy bronze, each holding a blaster of unknown make and ready to fire.
Fortunately, they had an Electromagnetic Pulse Grenade to hand, the metal ball freezing the droids before any significant damage was done.
They pressed their assault, methodically clearing out the freighter room by room and posting guards at each set of blast doors they secured, ready to guide the Jedi Master as he came through.
It was when they reached the Bridge of the warship that they came across hostile fire for the first time in their lives.
It was an experience they would never forget.

Wary of the likely threat, considering the presence of unexpected B-1 Battle Droids, they had already thrown in an EMP and High Explosive Grenade, and they followed it up by deploying smoke to cover their entry.
The bridge, however, was rather more complex an objective to take than was expected.
Pushing through the blast doors, the first pair dived for cover behind a console, ignoring the scorch marks and droid remains left behind by their initial strike, and all of a sudden it was carnage.
From below came a smattering of enemy fire, bright red bolts crashing into the cover which the pair had taken.

"Invincible Bridge, Contact! Contact! Contact!"
Red was countered with vibrant green as Republic Naval Officer Cadets opened fore from the door, suppressing fire on their position and allowing both for themselves to enter the room, and for those who had entered before them to dart to a new position, Reyna rolling another High Explosive grenade to their right, Percy releasing a punishing volley of automatic fire on their left as they made a break for it under the cover of the chaos they had caused.
Keeping low, Percy found himself against the left hand side wall of the bridge, the enemy commander quite clearly ahead of him, and he set his weapon to stun, encouraging Reyna to do the same.
A fresh wave of Battle Droid fire, however, put any plans to a pause as they ducked.
A scream rang out across the battlespace as Michael Yew went down, clutching an arm.
Off to his right, Percy heard Reyna growl in frustration.
"Invincible Bridge, one casualty, wounded - Blaster fire."
Bracing against their small amount of cover and solidifying his position by dropping to a knee, Percy once more opened fire, this time firing to kill.
One couldn't play with fire, after all, and hope not to get burned.

Onderon, Japrael System, 26 BBY

Master Windu entered the Japrael System to the sight of what seemed to be business as usual, fighter craft leaving the Venator-Class Star Destroyer Invincible and fanning out in their pairs to take up the next shift of their system-wide patrol in a perfect picture of textbook system-wide Naval Patrolling, with close to no sign of any of the unpleasantness that had been indicated by Acting Lieutenant Jackson's message, little more than half a rotation ago.

It was at that moment that he received the young Officer's transmission, being cast, as protocol dictated, from the Bridge of the Star Destroyer being utilised as the Officer Cadet cadre's base of operations for their week-long deployment exercise.

"Jedi Council Shuttle Kilo-Lima-Fiver-Fiver, this is Republic Navy Star Destroyer Invincible, requesting confirmation of identity."
"Invincible, This is Shuttle Kilo-Lima-Fiver-Fiver, delivering Jedi Master Mace Windu to your position for debrief," his pilot replied to the Cadet operating the communications of the Venator, and Master Windu found himself nodding once more in approval at the maintenance of radio etiquette, and once more as a pair of fighters swooped in to form an escorting pair.
"Jedi Shuttle, you are cleared for landing, Hangar Bay Eight is being cleared to receive you."
"Invincible, received and understood."
The pilot guided the shuttle to the opened hangar, the pair of fighters breaking off their escort the moment the Venator's Point Defence Laser Cannons locked onto their craft; following and yet not aiming, in a mark of respect for the station of those boarding.

As he disembarked, the Jedi Master was greeted by a formed up squad of men in their flight suits, evidently pilots off their shift, and judging by their freshness, quite probably those who would take up the next shift.
At their head was a familiar enough figure, and beside him was a young woman who seemed to exude the same level of confidence that he did.
Perseus Jackson, the young man in front of him, called the squad of pilots to attention, right hand coming up to his temple, palm down in a salute.
He acknowledged it with a nod, the young man calling for his pilots to relax and continue with their business.
"Two detachments, Jackson?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

"No, sir," he shook his head, "Three. One on, one off, one preparing."
Windu nodded once more, beckoning him to follow. "I take it from the Trade Federation ship in the hangar opposite that you conducted a raid on it?"
"Yes, Master, one wounded in action on our side, no enemy casualties; they surrendered as soon as we began shooting to kill."
"Oh?" He asked, brow furrowing as his estimation of the boy decreased somewhat.
"It was a poor decision, admittedly, Master, but didn't want casualties. What mother would want to hear that her child died on a training mission because their commander wanted to keep their enemies alive?"
Windu nodded.
The boy would go far.

Republic Naval HQ, Coruscant, 25 BBY

There was a large crowd present, occupying huge stands as the force of Republican Naval Officer Cadets marched past, rifles shouldered and heads held high.
Though the shadow of war hovered over the entire galaxy, the families of those who had graduated the Republic Naval Officer Training Academy Anaxes could all find time to cheer and revel in the feeling of achievement that they felt, smiling and waving at the parade, cheering as they watched their children go past.
Members of the ruling and upper classes of Coruscant, Kuat, Corellia, Alderaan and more were present, decked out in all the finery of their station, and yet none of them would receive the credit that always seemed to go to one of their planets, the supposed competition so often a foregone conclusion.
For marching out ahead of the parade was Perseus Jackson, of Clan Tritonis, House Vizsla.

His uniform bore both Republican and Mandalorian insignia, and his face was the picture of pride.
This was reflected in the faces of those members of House Vizsla who had made the journey to Coruscant.
They would leave, however, before the ceremony came to a close, and would miss the presentation of the rank of Lieutenant Commander, the presentation made by Jedi Master Yoda himself.

The news circled the galaxy over, the people looking on in admiration as a child of humble beginnings took up a role that so many among them could only aspire to take, in the most reputable of places. Mandalorian he might be, and of one of the most infamous houses of the warrior planet, but it had been well enough documented that this young prodigy was a castaway, only claimed by Clan Tritonis when it stood in their favour to do so.
That day marked a significant day in the history of the Republic, for it was the first time in the last three hundred years that such a thing had happened.
A significant day indeed.

A/N
Chapter 1 done and posted.
As you might have gathered, I'm here for the fights and the fights only. I've just finished writing Chapter 3 (Won't be posting all that quickly, exams are looming and I don't want to leave a gap between posts) and that's near enough the first prolonged break from fighting. Then again, was the Clone Wars TV Show not just constant fighting?
As you can tell, it's a story with a focus on Capital Ship Warfare, almost criminally underdone in the Movies/TV Shows, and exceedingly interesting. Tactics are going to be fun; a combination of existing Star Wars strategies, historical battles in Human history, and my own knowledge of warfare.
Plan is to follow the Clone Wars TV show, adding bits and pieces here and there, and inserting some characters in, of course.
Thanks to Dudududhehe for his help in betaing and fact-checking me here, a great writer in his own right. Check out his stuff if you somehow haven't already.
Until next time then,
Sol
I don't own Star Wars, Percy Jackson or any related media.