This one's a smaller one, but there's lots to talk about. So begins the First Battle of Tatooine.
The bastards might've had little problem dealing with a surprised, outdated exploratory fleet, but Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin's task force comprised of heavily upgraded veterans of the Clone Wars, the Mandalorian Demilitarization, and the Cartel Skirmishes, should prove much more tough to beat.
Thirty-five of the 125 total warships in the 7th Fleet in service to the New Republic blinked out of Hyperspace nearly at once, in view of the pitiful desert world of Tatooine. Other than the rare binary stars, Admiral Tarkin thought this system had very little to offer.
Well, not entirely true. That Imperator-class Star Destroyer was, at the very least, a highly attractive target for the main guns on his Venator-class, the Justiciar. At 1600 meters, the opposing warship was at least half again as long as his flagship, and thrice as powerful, more still if its commanding officer was smart.
An ensign handed Tarkin a data pad with the fleet's status. 5 Venator-class Star Destroyers including his own, 3 Victory-class SDs, 12 Acclamator-class heavy frigates and 15 Arquitens-class light cruisers were at his command, all reporting green status, and all ready to bloody this unknown foe in retaliation.
"Admiral, the Imperator-class is hailing us." -said a clone from his station.
Tarkin nodded, and turned to the holotank. The image of a relatively young man wearing a similar uniform to his, only in black, stared back in contempt.
"This is Vice Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin, in command of the New Republic Navy's 7th Fleet. To whom do I speak?" -he said derisively.
The man smirked haughtily. "I am Lorth Needa, Captain of the Imperial Star Destroyer Avenger. I suggest you surrender, lest you invoke the full wrath of the Galactic Empire."
Tarkin sneered. "The New Republic recognizes no such organization, especially one that advocates unprovoked violence and wanton murder. We bow to none, and suggest you power down your ship and prepare for peaceful boarding. Will you comply?"
The opposing Captain actually laughed. "As you have refused my most generous offer, you may consider your fate sealed. You and the corrupt faction you serve will all burn in due time."
The hologram dissipated, and left Tarkin gritting his teeth. "Sir, energy spikes! The enemy ship is preparing to fire!"
The rational part of his mind thought that couldn't be possible: his own fleet was still 17,000 kilometers outside maximum effective firing range.
The deadly green turbolaser bolts impacting the shields of the Justiciar were more than enough proof, however.
"Forward deflector shields holding at 78%!"
"Evasive maneuvers! Transfer power from engines to frontal deflector shields; deploy the fleet in delta 4 formation, shield the Star Destroyers!" -he barked.
The 7th shifted to cover the capital ships with the smaller cruisers and destroyers. The powerful green bolts battered the warships, but their evasive maneuvers had them distribute the damage evenly, so that so far, only shields had been affected.
"Sir, we are within range."
Tarkin nodded. "Share our firing solutions. Ion cannons, two salvos. Fleet-wide barrage."
Light purple bolts streaked from the Justiciar's 'waist' area, joined by shots from the other ships, finding their mark on the Avenger. The first salvo severely reduced its shields, and the second disabled them temporarily.
This triumph was short lived, however, as the enemy lined up with his warship, a thin line of bright yellow particles appearing between them. "Sir! There are massive energy readings coming from the enemy vessel!"
Indeed, a blinding light was pooling at the middle of the first 'ledge' leading up to the bridge. "Emergency thrusters! Move us out of the path of that beam!" -he shouted.
The Justiciar banked hard, an explosive thrust from its secondary and maneuvering thrusters displacing it by several dozen kilometers, but the dotted line of light between the warships simply shifted to track the Star Destroyer.
And then, it fired.
A thin beam of yellow light as bright as a star shot at about half of the speed of light towards the Venator-class, with enough power to crack a planetary crust...only to find its target momentarily blocked by an Acclamator performing a 'puddle jump' in and out of Hyperspace directly in the path of destruction.
The frigate, named Valor, was all but disintegrated. The durasteel and neutronium infused hull melted and bubbled, the atmosphere within exploded with a bright flash, and the Hypermatter annihilation reactor immediately detonated. Even with such a great sacrifice, the damage still reached the Justiciar, its shields taking on the brunt of it and almost immediately overloading, and the remainder of the beam burning part of the hangar doors. To add insult to injury, molten globs and glowing pieces of the Valor rained upon them, causing mostly cosmetic damage at first, but ultimately taking out two main batteries.
Tarkin was livid, if relieved to have survived. "Report!"
A blanching clone ensign spoke up. "Dorsal shield generator is inoperative, three casualties. We've lost an ion cannon and a turbolaser battery, and we have a minor hull breach on the main hangar bay doors. Sealing it now."
"And the Valor?" -he asked, though he could plainly see what remained of it. Namely, a dispersing debris field.
"Destroyed, sir. All hands lost."
Tarkin put his hands behind his back, standing straighter. "We have seen what these monsters can do. Now, let's show them the power of the New Republic! 7th Fleet: fire at will!"
A grim smile appeared on his gaunt face, as a veritable sea of light converged on the Imperator.
Ok. So, the idea behind the NR Navy is that they're kinda like the US. They went through a massive war, and though they're always improving their technology, it makes little sense to just discard the thousands of warships available for defense. This is why this Fleet has five Venators and only three Victory SDs. Victory-class Star Destroyers more advanced, containing equivalent firepower to a Venator in a smaller package. Most of the Fleet Commanders still prefer the tried and true Venator, however.
This space battle so far encompasses three separate chapters, with which I want to give the impression that space battles are not the ultra fast affairs that something like The Clone Wars series makes them out to be. Battles in space are usually long, protracted affairs, with neither side willing to risk too much, because warships are NOT easy to replace - the fact that Tarkin lost a ship in the opening moments of the battle is a big shock, since that hasn't happened since the old Republic faced Grievous' underhanded tactics. You can't just throw ships at the enemy and hope for the best. Tarkin is smarter than that, though, and I hope it'll show.
Speaking of whom, Tarkin is a big character in Frangit Et Finit, just as he was in A New Hope. As you can plainly see, he is no Imperial, but a passionate Neorepublican. As you may or may not know, he is no fan of Jedi, and the fact that he's the one to respond to the team's distress call is no coincidence. Ahsoka and Tarkin may or may not butt heads. He's also NOT a fan of how Amidala handles things, believing the New Republic to be too complacent - he's feeling way too smug right about now, with the Empire having caught the NR off guard. He's going to be a fun foil for our heroes.
That's all for now! Let's go back to Maris next chapter yeah?