CURRENT OBJECTIVES
1) Reach Dromund Kaas
2) Neutralize Space Defenses
3) Bring down Planetary Shield
FLEET ASSETS
Mythosaur-class Super Carrier: 3,500m “Mythosaur”
Ash'amur-class Star Destroyer: 1,900m “Shab'rudur”
Kom'rk-class Assault Cruiser: 650m “Ori'buyce, Kih'kovid”
Kom'rk-class Assault Cruiser: 650m “Ukor B'ukor”
Liberation-class Cruiser: 600m “Kracken” (Republic Privateer Vessel)
Kad'ika-class Light Cruiser: 400m “Tal'onidir”
Kad'ika-class Light Cruiser: 400m “Ne Shab'rud'ni”
Kad'ika-class Light Cruiser: 400m “Mandokar”
Roughly 12,500 meters (in length) of Asteroids
DROMUND SYSTEM
Distance from Dromund Kaas: 580,000 kilometers
Elapsed Time: 1 Hour 28 Minutes (3H 28M total)
Current Speed: 45,000m/s
Two crumpled up and smoldering cigarette butts rested in a small bowl on the arm of the Mythosaur's command chair. Gloved fingers were interwoven in front of Larraq's face as he stared intently at the holoprojecter in front of him. He was leaned forward with elbows on knees as his eyes locked onto the hologram and searched it for any sign of danger. What worried him the most, was that he saw nothing.
Scattered above the planet were a small number of orbital defenses. The odd shipyard graced the planet with its presence here and there. But on the whole, the planet seemed defenseless. From what he was seeing, he could have simply parked the Mythosaur in orbit and taken the planet. And as novel as the idea was to him, it also worried him. Because the Sith either had one hell of a surprise waiting for him, or he was about rewrite the definition of overkill.
On the forward holoprojector, the local space was displayed in traditional fashion. Dromund Kaas was squarely in the center of the projection with its moons and Larraq's fleet arranged along a flat disk. Rygel Larraq hated this default setting. For the life of him, Larraq would never understand the insistence of lesser minds to try and cram the vastness of space into two dimensional terms.
Larraq stood from the command chair and pulled his cigarette pack from his inner-breast pocket. Stepping forward towards the projector, Larraq lit a fresh cigarette and took a long draw of the chemical smoke it provided him as he continued to stare at the hologram. Still holding the cigarette gently between his index and middle finger, Larraq reached his hands out into the center of the hologram and grabbed hold of the planet. Twisting the turning his hands, Larraq manipulated the projection until it was more to his liking. Now, the curved surface of the planet domed forward from the base of the holoprojector. Directly above the planet, towards the top of the projector's holofield, Larraq's fleet was shown slowly descending towards the planet below them.
Larraq smirked slightly to himself as he returned the cigarette to his lips and took in another breath of the chemical smoke. This was how space should be displayed. In space, up and down where what you made them. And once physics came into the equation, there was no real difference between being 10,000 meters from a planet's surface and being 100,000 kilometers from a planet's surface. Her gravity would pull you in if you let it. So displaying the hologram like this... served two purposes. It made it easier to account for the pull of the closest gravitational force... and it helped focus a commander. When you think of yourself as falling, you tend to not get quite so distracted by the movements of opposing fleets.
<Opposing Fleets...> Larraq thought to himself as he inhaled another breath from the cigarette. The complete absence of hostile forces in the hologram troubled him more than it really should have. Their sources told them that a large fleet had left for Republic space. It would make sense to pull forces from the rear lines to enforce the front lines until the fleets returned. But this... To leave a planet completely defenseless... It was such a massive mistake that Larraq couldn't help but feel that it had to be intentional.
Larraq had anticipated that the Sith would have a sizable defense fleet when he had drafted his plans. He knew that he would have to make due with a small number of ships and had brought whatever he could find. What he had managed to bring with him had exceeded his expectations. And even then, he had still anticipated it being nowhere near enough. Thus the asteroids that the Mythosaur toed along. They gave him a tactical edge. It was the equivalent of using mines and traps to balance the scales in an infantry engagement.
And yet, the asteroids also served a secondary purpose. The first stage of the invasion had been to sneak through the planets defenses and launch a ground invasion before the planetary shield could be brought online. These forces would be cut off, surrounded, and under heavy siege from whatever forces the Sith had in reserve on the planet. While that may have sounded like a fun vacation to most Mandalo'ad, Larraq knew that it was only a matter of time before they were overrun. Which is what made the second stage of the invasion so important. He HAD to break through the planetary shield as soon as possible, clear an air corridor over Kaas City, and get a second wave of infantry on the ground to reinforce the brave Mando'ade who had volunteered to be a part of the first wave.
Larraq's plan had been to launch the asteroids through the heart of the enemy fleet, shatter the asteroids through focused fire on the asteroids, and shotgun the debris into the enemy fleet. Everything from fighters to capital ships would be forced to target the debris to try and break it up further. With the weapons of the enemy fleet focused on the asteroids, and their shields taken down from the chunks of rock bombarding them, the Mythosaur and escort fleet would have been able to obliterate an enemy fleet twice as large as themselves in just a few volleys. And with a little help from the Mythosaur's tractor beams, what was left of the asteroids and defense fleet could be hurled at the planetary shields until they collapsed.
But with no defense fleet standing between himself and the planet... The potential damage he could do was drastically increasing by the second. And while that gave him a few new ideas for how to deal with Dromund Kaas, it also forced him to evaluate additional complications. Like collateral damage.
Staring at the hologram in front of him, Larraq watched as his fleet inched closer and closer to the planet. In less than an hour, they would be passing close to Dromund Kaas' furthest moon and start feeling the gravitational pull of the planet.
Something about the moon drew his attention though. Some nagging sensation in the pit of his stomach. At first he couldn't place it... But then it dawned on him. If he were defending this planet, that moon is exactly where he would stage. Put all ships on reserve power, shut down all non-essential systems, and wait in the dark of the moon. Even if the opposing fleet came nowhere near the moon, you could still wait until the invading fleet trapped themselves in the planet's gravity well and pounce on them from above.
The thought of being pounced upon by an ambushing fleet was not a pleasant one.
With the push of a button, Larraq spat out orders to the fleet. “Escort Bravo, break formation and divert course thirty degrees to starboard. I want you to swing past the far side of the moon and slingshot back to target on an intercept course.”
“Aye-aye fleet commander. We checking under the bed?”
“Affirmative. You find the boogieman, you give him an bloody nose. Understood?”
“Yes sir. Bravo-Lead out.”
Before his eyes, the formation of ships in the hologram split in two as the four smallest ships broke off from their position above the Mythosaur and began moving directly towards the far side of the moon. Larraq wasn't expecting them to find much. But he had no intention of letting his guard down just because the Sith were choosing not to show their face. The tip of his cigarette flared briefly. Smoke rose from Larraq's lungs to the ceiling above him. And the commander of the Mandalorian fleet watched numbers rise and fall as his ships continued to accelerate and the planet drew closer.
