The Battle That Never Was

[Cathul Thuku]

"Young [member="Lokthra Dawning"]. Your ambitions are clear, but surely you have come to understand that realizing them will require some training. Make your selections for ships and attack craft and the the simulation goes live"

For some reason the light-sided factions were reluctant to intervene when the Sith Order laid siege to the Jedi Temple on Yutan. Therapy Command expected that the Sith Order would make an attempt to perpetrate a massacre on the population of Yutan so that they could move in and capture the temple. Plus the Sith Order never prided in its naval command. But here was a padawan that wanted to partake in a fleeting wargame taking place in some training room of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant used for training of the Jedi who want to train in battlefield-level command. The system can be outfitted for both ground simulations and space simulations, using a wide variety of scenarios, and can be used for many participants at once, much like attack craft. To the eyes of Therapy Command, the naval commander present on Yutan is an unknown quantity and Cathul had the impression that the Sith seldom used a fleet for anything other than space cover or maybe fire support. Perhaps the commanding officer in charge on Yutan would have been a formidable opponent for her, perhaps he would have been easy prey, she'd never know because the Alliance High Command denied her permission to engage the Sith Order on Yutan. But she was given an opportunity to run a training scenario where, given how sketchy the information is on what is present on Yutan, she would have complete freedom to choose the attack craft. She would play the Sith Order's fleet in this simulation: the fleet would assume a triangular formation with the flagship at the center. Ten squadrons of attack craft are ready to deploy here. But the simulation is not ready to go live just yet; nevertheless, she was on-call for those odd padawans looking for fleeting training. As was Zark. But was there someone in SJ-land to train Jedi in fleeting?

Simulated Sith Order fleet (2900m):

Spoiler

Capital ships:

Bellicose (Xo'Xaan-class Star Destroyer): 950m
Mindabaal (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m
Sekalus (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m
Tython (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m

Attack craft:

84 T-70 X-Wings
30 D-Wings

 

[Diysuperguy33]

Gigantic pain finding ships from same faction. So it's a bit rag tag, sorry. However my decisions where all made for specific purposes

2950m

Voyager ( http://starwarsrp.net/topic/101206-voyager-class-support-carrier/) 800m
56 Reign Bombers( http://starwarsrp.net/topic/101165-reign-heavy-bomber/ )

Hoffman (http://starwarsrp.net/topic/101275-gir-kt-818-friggate/) 900m

Victory (http://starwarsrp.net/topic/100539-ifw-victory-class-star-destroyer/) 900m

Steiner (http://starwarsrp.net/topic/100494-damorian-light-cruiser/) 350m

120 X wings (http://starwarsrp.net/topic/99295-tr-20-x-wing/)

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"Activate fleeting simulation!"

"Simulation activated, admiral"

The simulation protocol was designed in a way such that, from the standpoint of the participants, it was much like an Anywhere Room designed to replicate the feel of a room large enough to replicate the bridge of many common capital ships, and also the space over many known planets. Here Cathul was the defender, since the Sith Order had space control over Yutan in the scenario. Seeing in horror that the Mirialan padawan, [member="Lokthra Dawning"], made her choice, well, as much horror as it would be possible for her to feel at the beginning of a naval engagement. Even though it was a simulation, she had to treat the exercise seriously enough for the padawan to get practice, so she doesn't intend to hold back unless tactically warranted. Here there was no real strategical issue to be had, unlike what would be the case in actual combat. From what she could make out, losing 2900m would result in a strategic naval loss for the Sith Order; as she knew the Sith, they would prefer to fight limited-scale engagements more than any actual large-scale combat.

"Admiral, the enemy has been sighted"

"All ships, open fire on the Victory! All fighter squadrons, deploy in a defensive screen around the fleet!"

"What of the bomber squadrons?"

"They shall remain in hangar until either the abandon ship command is given or until called for"

By now the entire simulated Sith fleet would deliver an alpha strike to the most heavily-armed enemy ship, which is capable of outgunning even the Bellicose; of course, the cruisers on the flanks began to revert from a triangular to a line formation, with the flagship at the back. And yet 84 fighters were forming a screen around the flotilla, expecting of course that enemy attack craft, such as bombers, would target capital ships, perhaps even making a beeline for their own flagship.

Simulated Sith Order fleet (2900m):

Spoiler

Capital ships:

Bellicose (Xo'Xaan-class Star Destroyer): 950m
Mindabaal (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m
Sekalus (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m
Tython (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m

Attack craft:

84 T-70 X-Wings (deployed)
30 D-Wings (still in ship)

 

[Diysuperguy33]

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

Lokthra, was a little scared. This was her first time doing a space battle simulation, I mean she'd read books and learnt things from her father, but still nothing compared to this simulation. More then anything she knew, she HAD to win.

"Victory, deploy attack craft (I don't know how I missed this before? 36 X-wings). Draw their fighters out"
"Voyager deploy yours too, Squadrons 1 through 6 join them. Squadrons 7-10, you'll be joining them soon. Squadrons 11-12, deploy in the middle of the fleet, be ready to defend against any Sith bombing runs."
"Voyager stay behind the fleet, and be ready to go in to hyperspace at a moments notice"

She knew the Victory had decent defence and It would take quite a beating before they broke. Now Lokthra's on the clock now.

"Victory, target the Sekalus, pull it in with the tractor beam. When it gets in range ( 25,000m or less), knock it out with all ion cannons. Victory and Steiner fire all cannon's at the Tython. Arm warheads and prepare to launch on my mark"

"Oh and captain if our shields get below 40% divert power from all non essential systems, and the weapons if necessary to keep it up"

//ooc Not much information on tractor beams, so I don't actually know if a ship as big as that would work or not

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"Incoming enemy attack craft!"

"Squadrons 1-7, stay within quad laser range of the motherships!"

The Tython was the foremost ship of the formation, and each Sith ship is now within quad laser range of each other. Which means that the seven squadrons of fighters are supported by what point-defense they had. But the Tython's shields took significant amounts of damage: the ship had to reduce thrust pretty much in order to keep going. In comparison, the Sekalus on Cathul's left didn't take as much, nothing to be overly concerned about. Then again, the enemy deployed three squadrons of fighters and seven squadrons of bombers. The enemy bombers are much easier to pick off with a quad laser than the X-Wings were, since they were slower than D-Wings, so the point-defense was hard at work establishing firing solutions for picking off bombers, and fighters, too. Got to acknowledge that Carnifex had a craptastically outdated flagship: a decent fleet that size can defeat Carnifex in orbit, she thought. But the Sith capital ships would still fire on the Victory as the fleets closed in on each other. The three Sadows haven't fired warheads yet; they were out of assault concussion missile range of any enemy capital ship at the onset, but now they are within range.

"Tython, target the Victory bridge tower; divert power from all non-essential systems!"

"Roger, roger"

"All ships, prepare to fire warheads on my mark. Aim warheads at the Victory's reactor dome"

"Mindabaal standing by"

"Sekalus standing by"

"Tython standing by"

"Missile units, fire!"

On ships like the Victory-class, and also the Imperator-class, taking out the reactor dome would severely cripple a ship even if the resulting explosion didn't destroy the ship outright. Hopefully even a few successful hits, out of the thirty missiles thus fired, would cause a reactor breach, knowing that some will be destroyed by point-defense or just not hit where it was intended to. But tractor beams were short-ranged weapons, and it was futile to use it on a target that was beyond point-defense range (or attack craft weapons range), which they did not enter just yet. The crews of the enemy Victory would probably have to brace for impact by now... when they see in horror that there are 30 sticks of death fired at speed, and aimed around the general area of the ship's underside where the reactor would be.

Spoiler

Capital ships:

Bellicose (Xo'Xaan-class Star Destroyer): 950m
Mindabaal (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m
Sekalus (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m
Tython (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m

Attack craft:

84 T-70 X-Wings (deployed)
30 D-Wings (still in ship)

[member="Lokthra Dawning"]

 

[Diysuperguy33]

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

In seeing some 30 warheads launched. Lokthra gave a lock of complete terror. At least voyager was in the middle of the fleet, so hopefully a fair few would be destroyed by the escorting ships.

"All ships aim fire at the missiles"

"Launch half our of the Victory's missiles (40), set them to intercept incoming missiles"

"Brace for impact!"

But to no avail, 2 managed to get past (I honestly don't know what damage that would do, so could you talk about that)

"Prepare to refill used missiles"

"All attack craft fall back to the Flagship"

"Fire 40 missiles at the bridges and engines of the Tython and Sekalus" - 20 for each ship, 10 for each target

"Hoffman fire the following simultaneously: all shield leaching batteries, Flak cannons and Missiles at the Mindabaal"

"Assuredly the Mindabaal was destroyed"

"Scan for surviving Sadow class ships. If there are any that could be repaired pull them in with the tractor beam. Ready all heavy drop ships and prepare to board and capture the ship"

After the following have occurred, this is the next order

"Squadrons 1-4 go left flank and coax the fighters out. Squadrons 5-9 go right flank and coax the fighters out. Squadrons 10 and 11 go with Bomber squadron 1-3 left flank. Target critical systems. Bomber squadron 4-6 go with squadron 12 right flank and target critical systems. All Fighter squadrons, unless you are coaxing enemy fighters your highest priority is to protect Bomber squadrons at all costs!"

This left the fleet virtually undefended for incoming bomber attacks

"All ships finish off any remaining Sadow classes (Except the tractor beamed one) then fire all batteries at the Bellicose. Arm missiles and prepare to fire on the bridge and engine on my mark"

 

[Cathul Thuku]

Only two missiles were hitting the reactor dome but that was to be expected. Meanwhile, the Mindabaal did take bridge and engine damage, by absorbing some missiles meant for other ships, making it so that it can provide only a fraction of its nominal thrust, and had no shields left, just that it somehow had enough power for ECM to show the ship as destroyed on enemy sensors. Oh and its transponder has been destroyed, too. That being said, the Mindabaal only needed take a few more missile, or turbolaser, hits before it could actually be destroyed, but with the engines and the bridge having taken the brunt of the damage. Before the ECMs kicked in, though, all three bomber squadrons deployed, using the confusion among the enemy attack craft moving in, whereby the point-defense and the seven squadrons of X-Wings engaged 12 squadrons of attack craft as well as 40 missiles; some of the bombers were rather easily picked off by the point-defense because they were much slower than the missiles, so a good number would be destroyed, and also some fighters took hits that would otherwise be taken by bombers. Also, all squadrons of D-Wings would contain the letter D in their names in some capacity. Now that Cathul spotted a vulnerability in the enemy fleet, that is, it had no fighter screen left, it was time to deploy the attack craft. Also the missiles have reloaded.

"Give them the D; Deneba, Karfeddion, Vorzyd Squadrons, deploy and engage the Victory bridge tower, and then the Voyager!"

"But somehow the Victory had enough power left to deploy missile launchers and its targeting systems even after its shields are depleted. It has taken damage but isn't destroyed"

"Mindabaal, focus all remaining battery power on the Steiner; Sekalus, Tython, fire all batteries at the Hoffman. All ships, fire missiles at the Hoffman, half directed at the bridge, half at the engines!"

"But, admiral, what about us the Bellicose?"

"Bellicose, keep firing at the Victory's bridge tower!"

The Sekalus was tractored, and, unfortunately, the Victory was on its line of fire, and much of the fire intended for the Hoffman ended up being absorbed by the Victory as the Sekalus was tractored. By now it is clear that, by being within point-defense range of the enemy, the underside of the Victory would take some hits, missile or otherwise. Even she knew that firing assault concussion missiles at point-blank range (there was some lag between the command of firing and the actual firing due to the slowness of the targeting systems) would more likely hit the closest enemy ship than the actual target. Meanwhile, many of the bombers were destroyed, even though each of these bombers are no more resilient individually than the X-Wings were.

Spoiler

Capital ships:

Bellicose (Xo'Xaan-class Star Destroyer): 950m
Mindabaal (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m
Sekalus (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m
Tython (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m

Attack craft:

71 T-70 X-Wings (deployed)
30 D-Wings (deployed)

[member="Lokthra Dawning"]

 

[Diysuperguy33]

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

//ooc

"Fire 40 missiles at the bridges and engines of the Tython and Sekalus" - 20 for each ship, 10 for each target

Anything on this? Assuredly some damage was taken. I assumed that should of crippled or at least done heavy damage

"All bombers return to Voyager. Squadrons 1-3 of fighters escort them back, then protect the fleet. Squadrons 4,5 and 6 Break off and target the bombers. Kill all the bombers at all costs!) (More then 1:1 ratio of my fighters to your fighters so not much you can do with them)"

"Victory, divert all power to Ion cannons and their targeting systems (not including critical systems such as life support). Immobalise all hostile ships, and keep them that way!"

Victory couldn't muster the power to fire all batteries, but she managed to shoot what she believed to be a final blow.

"Stop the tractor beam"

"All ships move in and engage hostile fighters"

"Drop ships prepare to board and take over the immobilised ships"

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"All fighter squadrons, give chase to the enemy attack craft! Protecting the bombers is the priority here!"

By now the Mindabaal and the Tython were truly lost due to the enemy ships attempting to hit fighters ending up hitting their motherships instead, the Sekalus was heavily damaged and within point-blank range of the Victory after being tractored towards it, which was also rather heavily damaged. And there were still more attack craft aloft than there was space onboard the remaining ships to host them, so it strengthened the resolve of its pilots to fight to the bitter end, in true Sith fashion. Also, a first volley of 25 proton rockets was fired on the Victory at nearly point-blank range in a strafing run, while the Hoffman's debris, as well as the Steiner's when sections of it exploded (maybe even the ship in its entirety in either case), emanating from the multiple hits it sustained from the last volley of missiles were flying across all craft within point-blank range of each ships that had sustained explosive damage. Plus she could tell that the battle was drawing to a close. Both sides suffered pretty heavy damage: losses were reported.

"Admiral, you got to grant that this padawan, er, enemy is still a force to be reckoned with: the Mindabaal and the Tython are lost, and the Sekalus is crippled by now"

"Bellicose, open fire on the Voyager"

"Roger, roger"

Might want to take that person as a padawan; I have always been there for the more, let's say it, unconventional type of padawans: Stephanie has been the most conventional of the gang. Very few Jedi actually wish to fleet, and yet I'm a proponent of being able to follow the Code to protect the innocent from evil at all levels, she thought. Once the fighters were locked in a heavy firefight, as they themselves chased an enemy chasing the D-Wings, the D-Wings unleashed hell on the Voyager under the form of a strafing run where proton rockets were fired at point-blank range, two of them apiece, forcing the occupants of the enemy carrier to brace for impact again. But also the D-Wings still have one proton rocket each, from the four they were initially fitted with. But because the Victory couldn't fire its batteries, the return fire from it drained the Bellicose's shields, and even immobilized it. Not a whole lot to fret about, but that was about it.

Spoiler

Capital ships:

Bellicose (Xo'Xaan-class Star Destroyer): 950m
Mindabaal (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m
Sekalus (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m
Tython (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m

Attack craft:

55 T-70 X-Wings (deployed)
25 D-Wings (deployed)

[member="Lokthra Dawning"]

 

[Diysuperguy33]

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

"Victory, divert all power to Ion cannons and their targeting systems (not including critical systems such as life support). Immobalise all hostile ships, and keep them that way!" Victory couldn't muster the power to fire all batteries, but she managed to shoot what she believed to be a final blow.

Shouldn't your flag ship be immobalised? They don't have any ion shielding after all.

Surely the fact that my fighters where around 1:1 with all your fighters/bombers meant that there where much more casualties?
None the less.

"Bomber squadrons. Reload and prepare to launch for a final volley"

"All Fighters intercept and destroy the remaining hostile bombers. Once they are gone destroy the remaining fighters" -- Slightly more then 1:1. So not much they can do

"Bombers, target the Bellicose's targeting systems and weapon array's. I want that Admiral kept alive for interrogation!"

"Voyager, full power to shields. Disable all weapons systems except for anti aircraft and anti missiles, for additional power"

After bombing run*

"All soldiers, return to gunships, your new orders are to board the hostile flagship. Your highest priority is to storm the bridge. This is our only hope of survival"

Victory begun to float adrift, dead in space. Only a few volleys from entire destruction. The fighters and bombers where all that where mostly all that's left, however the floating fortress was all but untouchable.

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"All fighter squadrons, engage the enemy attack craft; all bomber squadrons, unleash hell on the Victory; we may as well take the Victory with the Sekalus!"

"Roger, roger"

"Deactivate batteries, ion cannons: divert all power to the shields and the point-defense"

With the Bellicose immobilized, Cathul saw in horror that the enemy dropships are closing in on her position; that was one difficult decision to make. She also knew that she could only save one squadron's worth of attack craft - if she was lucky. With one last bombing run on the Victory, hopefully that was going to be a thing capable of destroying the accursed flying fortress. But also with the heavy losses the bombers have been sustaining, it was a suicidal last stand for them. Nevertheless, that was a hard blow. Hopefully they would be able to take out a few of the dropships as well as a few enemy fighters. And yet the remaining enemy bombers dealt some pretty heavy damage to the weapons systems. She still keeps calm in the face of upcoming boarding action; to this end, she orders any security teams still present to make for the bridge and defend against this incursion, knowing that not all dropships will be killed.

"Security teams, make for the bridge tower with all haste!"

"We have lost over half of our attack craft!"

"That was a frantic battle... oh wait, the simulation froze!" Cathul exclaimed, while the holographic representation of the bridge faded to reveal a wireframe.

The simulation system in use in the Jedi Temple freezes, or perhaps deactivates, when one side won. This time around, that was to be [member="Lokthra Dawning"]. A Pyrrhic victory, sure, but she still won. She accepts defeat, but the scenario called for one side with a set of predetermined capital ships and the other side could choose whatever they wanted up to 3000m. While both Jedi enjoyed this round of fleeting practice, it has come to a conclusion. As she predicted, the Sith Order could be defeated with any decently-equipped fleet and with a decent admiral at its helm.

"You've got our orders: you are to make for the Kaeshana sector with all haste"

"The enemy is expected to concentrate their forces on Kaeshana; we need you to cover our backs on Quesaya or Chalcedon"

Spoiler

Capital ships:

Bellicose (Xo'Xaan-class Star Destroyer): 950m
Mindabaal (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m
Sekalus (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m
Tython (Sadow-class cruiser): 650m

Attack craft:

42 T-70 X-Wings (deployed)
13 D-Wings (deployed)

 

[Diysuperguy33]

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

//ooc "Therapy Command at your disposal. Oh and Lokthra, you may wish to take any ships you may be allowed to either Chalcedon or the Lion Nebulae: you may not be allowed a whole lot of meters however. The real enemy is expected to concentrate their forces on Kaeshana proper"

//ooc I''m sorry my brains failing and I believe if memory servers some improper English. Could you reword that section please?