Capture

[Xing]

Isabelle was still very high on adrenaline for her recent break out of the Tenebras. Her body was wounded at different place, her uniform torn, but she still managed to walk with a minimum of dignity as her men dragged commander Trinity to prison officials.
Medics immediately rushed to assist her, but she hushed them away, running to the commander center.
She saw admiral Alban standing in front of the large holo projector, talking frantically on different comms.
"Admiral! Wh..."
The man held up a hand, a think smile on his face, not very convincing.
"Don't worry general, everything is under control now. Just relax, let the medics take care of you..."
Damned she forgot how she hated the man...
She angrily let herself be escorted to the paramedical center, where she was treated for her injuries as the medics laid her on their table.

--

The holoprojector now showed the face of three different high ranking naval officers, all of them fleet admiral.
"Admiral Alban here, from St-Mitchell, to nearest battlegroups, please respond."
there was a slight pause throiug hthe lag time it took the message to reach destination.
"Admiral Young, 123rd battlegroup, responding."
"Admiral Leahy of the 79th battlegroup, responding."
"Admiral Anderson, 45th battlegroup, responding."

Simon Alban sighed, and opened his comm again,
"This is prison station St-Mitchell. We are going to be under attack within minutes. Please assist immediately, out."
--

Not every battlegroup were the same size. Kaitlynn' 106th for instance was relatively standard and small, her two cruiser not even operational yet.
The 123rd however was quite different, consisting of only one battlecruiser and 6 cruisers, the whole protected by two squadron of interception light fighter crafts. The strategy used by the 123rd was qutie simple, long range bombardment, a command flagship on the battlecruiser and the light fighter crafts served as a role of bomber-killer and incoming missile interceptor.

They were at 5 minutes from the engagemnt zone, going slowly through the asteroids.

The 79th was the symbol of immensity itself; 2 dreadnaught of the Freedom class, 3 battlecruiser and a flotilla in itself of 10 gunboats, the whole supported by 4 squadron, one of each type.
This was a versatile battlegroup.

They were much closer, and only at 1 minute to clash with the Tenabras.

The 45th is a carrier, and over 8 squads of all the types, ready to intercept and bombard. All the crafts were ready, nose pointing outward.

They were the farthest away, 10 minutes out of estimated combat zone.

--

Captain Lavoie aboard the Citadelle de Quebec was going at a good speed toward St-Mitchell. He could have visual contact with the two Osiris battleship, which often had to slow down speed in order to avoid the asteroids.
Well, well see who were the best flyers of monsters around
Alexander Lavoie used to be a veteran captain for cruiser. While these ships were somewhere near 5 time smaller than the vessel he was now commanding, his experience at slow moving warships were quite considerable.
Activating manual drives.
He sat down on his command chair as pilot-like control sticks poped up to his reach.
Now you run

--
Admiral Alban was relieved: he now had enough support to annihilate his incoming enemies, and more so to trap them and destroy them, plus, Kaitlynn wasnt running around bothering him.
Its not like they appreciated each other much. Their long standing hatred traced back to the St-Mitchell accident
Dark days for Alban, who was in charge of the prison at the time as well.

Now wasnt the time to reflect on the past, though he did learn a lot from this incident. For instance, he had convinced the Ministry of Defence to upgrade considerably the station weapons. Some important modifications included three supplementary weapon power cell, and an added number of turrets, and of course, missile battery.

St-Mitchell was likely the only Libertonian station actually have such heavy weaponry, perhaps along with Fairbanks. They had some 10 very high tracking anti fighter turrets, 10 of heavy laser turrets, 12 anti capital vessel light artillery laser and heavy concussion missile, a very recent naval improvement: these launcher could launch up to 3 projectiles in 5 second which then moved at high velocity to rip apart hull with deadly efficiency, usually causing hull breach. They were designed to penetrate steel armour through their very sharp shape, and then the outer shell of the bomb would explode, leaving the hull vulnerable enough for the main charge to go off.

And there was a secret they havent shown off yet. Alban hoped he wouldnt need to show this card through the fight, it was one of these things the LSF managed to understand well ahead of the Order something that was highly defensive, and would immediately turn the tide of the battle at their advantage.

Weps, arm the missiles. Power up to fighter turrets, then switch all power to capital once they get into range. Remember, they are the primary target: without the head, the arms cant strike back.
Aye sir. The men says they are already loading up the barrels.
Excellent. How are the retreating cruisers?
Another young officer rose his voice to answer,
We lost only one in the engagement, the other 4 are joining up with the 45th battlegroup.
There was a slight pause, then,
Sir, we have confirmation that the 106th battlegroup has recently jumped passed the gate and are now coming to assist as well. They have fully 3 squadrons of fighters ready to engage.
Very well. Tell them to deploy, and to serve as screen for my bombers.
Alban turned toward his fighter ops officer,
Deploy all the remaining bomber crafts on this base. Load em up, well show the Order how the Navy fight.
Yes sir.

--
When the Osiris battleships reached maximal weapon range, the previous flotilla of ship wasnt present anymore. Instead it was replaced by the various ships of the 123rd, dispersed around the asteroid clearing near the prison station, their menacing artillery guns of cruiser pointed straight at them.

Behind, the radar ops could see a dreadnaught coming at impressive speed, manoeuvring with an agility only a very experienced captain could have.

On their right flank, a massive amount of ship, the 79th battlegroup of the Liberty Navy was coming at good speed as well.

On the left flank, the 45th battlegroup, now joined with the surviving gunboats, fighters and cruisers of the first offensive were now turning toward them as well.

Alban calculated in 2 minutes, if the battleships didnt retreated, there would be a lot of scrap metal.
But he was very careful. Every battlegroups would be coming always inside a radius of 2.5k from the station. The only one unable to do so would be the Citadelle, since it was coming from behind.
For himself, Alban thought it wasnt too important since it was general Kaitlynns ship her problem.

Deploy all bombers, all fighters from every Liberty forces present. Shoot down the bastards. Be careful, and good luck.

--
Isabelle still laid on the bed, half naked as medics tended on her various injuries. She didnt cared much. She was trying to picture out the battle going outside through the various sounds he could hear.
The hum of a heavy station artillery firing told her it has begun.
And Alban would probably end up with a fiasco again if she didnt saved him from his own stupidity

---