Resurgence Raven Alliance Chapter 3
Pirate Point Delta
“Death himself has come for us.” Director Vun said aloud looking over the holodisplay showing the distant fighting. She said a quiet prayer that there would not be anymore ‘Swordships’ as Ronthu had classified them.
“Director Vun, we have just passed by Pirate Point Charlie, no activity, proceeding to Delta.” Shouted an officer from his console.
“Solid copy.” She responded.
Her fleet was thousands of kilometers from the invasion force that was inbound to the planet. However, the 4th Air Wing was gaining ground fast, even some Blakist fighter waves had broken off to pursue and harass the 4th as it approached the invasion force. As the minutes ticked by she watched the display of the formations and engagements.
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Vun’s Whirlwind class destroyer wasn’t the biggest warship around but it packed a helluva punch. The William Adams was supported by a large number of the 3rd Air Wing’s Naval assets because most of the 3rd Air Wing aerospace fighters were split between the Nadir and Zenith jump points. As expected, the formation was tight and ready for anything when she reviewed position data.
Continuing to watch the ongoing fighting with the holopanel she saw the 4th Air Wing form a sphere of a formation and slam into the “bottom” of the much larger Word of Blake formation. It was an epic display of precision and discipline as the force continued through and out of the Blakist formation. Next she could see the initial defenders with the Lynn McKenna and Kutkh coming about to attack again.
“Ma’am we are about one hundred Kilometers from the Pirate Point, no….. wait, something is coming through!" shouted the officer reporting again.
“Who is it?” Vun shouted back.
“Allies! It’s 2nd and 3rd Regiments of the 1st Alliance Air Wing and the 1st Long Road Legion!” he shouted triumphantly for the bridge to hear.
Flash after flash happened as the jumpships emerged. “Lieutenant, I will be in the Command room, get me a line to all the Regimental Chairmen.”
“Yes ma’am, hailing them now.”
Vun walked into the room and sat at the end of the table. Screens lit up to show the various officers. She began first, time was of the essense, “Greetings ladies and gentlemen, things are not all quiet here. Who is in command of the 1st Alliance Air Wing?”
“I am, Chairman Sammie Erwin, Chairman Nathaniel Grec is onboard but is unlikely to come back, he was part of the handful of survivors to arrive on Tellman IV to warn us of the invasion.” She finished her sentence with a solemn, slow shake of her head.
“My condolences but, the message was the important part, now the 2nd and 3rd can fight alongside allies. Director Ronthu, aboard the Lynn McKenna has given orders based on which units would arrive in time to fight. The Long Road Legion needs to deploy all ground assets to Alpheratz, there is currently a race, a large Blakist invasion force is en route, we will send you the information. Any Legion naval assets will join my formation. 1st Air Wing, 2nd Regiment needs to head straight to the Zenith jump point at absolute best speed while 3rd goes to the Nadir.” Vun stated
Both Erwin and Chairman George Torres, of the Legion who was listening the entire time, acknowledged the orders and Vun cut the feed. She took a moment to encourage herself before a pounding on the glass door sent shivers up her spine.
She looked over to see a horrified enlisted woman, her face pale as if she just saw death himself. Jumping up and opening the hatch the enlisted woman began to speak but Vun looked past her at the holos, showing what happened.
Blakists jumping through right here as well! Both forces were directly on top of each other! At least 4 jumpships had already erupted as two WoB jumpships appeared inside two Legion jumpships. The explosions were unbelievable but, at least giving cover to the rest of the Legion to race toward Alpheratz.
Mere meters were between many of the appearing Blakist ships, the Alliance Naval Star escorts and larger naval assets of the 1st Alliance Air Wing, the fighters were already on a hard burn for their jump point objectives. Already the battle stations alarm was blaring. Getting the unexpected drop on the Alliance forces, the Blakist vessels were already opening fire, ripping into the nearest targets.
It was a point blank battle. Assault dropships were taking evasive action to avoid slamming into the attacker’s dropships. All of the weapons on the William Adams was firing at full rate. Missiles would leave their tubes and a split second later be impacting the nearest target; the ships were appearing so close.
Very little could be done other than holding position, Vun took the time to find out the force compositions; outnumbered, and heavily so. Toggling the Alliance open comm she issued orders, “All Alliance forces create a wall between the Legion and the Blakists, do not let them strike at their dropships!”
Slowly but surely, the holopanel displaying the 3D image of the battle showed the formation adjusting, a line that the Blakists were not allowed to pass. With such close fighting many dropships and her warship were taking massive beatings. Already down 25% of her external armor Vun’s warship had also destroyed three assault dropships.
Some of the aerospace fighter pilots were truly put to the test, trying to fly 70 ton fighters through gaps between ships barely 6 meters wide. Explosions were detonating all around as the two forces tore each other to shreds.
“Ma’am,” the Lieutenant from earlier called out, “The Legion is a couple hundred kilometers away and we have blockaded any pursuit.”
“Solid copy.” She switched again to the Alliance channel, “They outnumber us heavily, all Alliance forces break contact, form up around the William Adams and follow in the Legion to keep harassers off their backs!”
Crushing the last few ships between them and the Legion, the formation began to move away from the attacking Blakists. If anything, the close proximity allowed the Alliance forces to deal far more damage than they otherwise could have done. While departing the site of the battle, under cover of the masses of new debris, Vun watched as the Blakists did not pursue.
“Ship status!”
“Ma’am 30% of weapons are lost and multiple decks have lost pressure, they have been sealed off, at least 20 dead crew.”
“Dammit, keep on those scans and make sure we know if they try to follow us.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Hammering away on his keyboard, the Lieutenant followed his orders. Vun sat in the Director’s chair, the last rumblings echoing through the ship as they broke contact, firing parting shots. She attempted to bring back up a link to the Zenith point but could not contact them. “Are we being cut off from talking to Director Ronthu?!” she asked aloud.
“Yes ma’am!” a young enlisted man responded from the electronic warfare area of the bridge, “It appears to be an electronic countermeasures field is up now.”
“Get it figured out!”
“Aye, ma’am! He responded.
Switching to rear camera visuals she could see the kilometers from the battle site increasing. They were detaching dozens of dropships from the jumpships and merging into a formation. Fighters were rocketing off in the direction of the already en route invasion force, to give them cover from the pursuing 4th Air Wing fighters.
Continuing to monitor the formation Vun began preparing to defend the planet and how she would deploy the assets under her control. If she couldn’t contact Ronthu, she had to keep the Legion alive to fight the invaders alongside the Avellar Guard. If she moved to take other action the Legion could be overrun. The situation continuously got worse…