Jenkins voice carried across the room easily. "At ease, Captains. I will be short and to the point. I do not intend to sit here and wait for the Confederacy to come back and mop us up. We will do what our force composition dictates. We will attack. For your information, Darnel is currently off of the FTL com net and will be so for the next 2 weeks as it is rebuilt in orbit over Darnell three. Until then we have no idea of what has happened elsewhere in the Empire. Furthermore, Intelligence thinks that the systems between us and the Confederacy have likely fallen, as have the near ones around us. We think that these systems will have the most Confed forces so we will strike towards the Confederacy where, hopefully, they will have left minor forces to watch over the systems. The lighter units will be easy prey for our fighters and heavier strike bombers. I do not expect us to engage their capital ships. Go for softer targets. Our goal is to attenuate their fleet units by forcing them to escort their convoys heavily. Since they took major escort losses in this battle here, they will be forced to use heavier escorts like cruisers or else face stripping their battle line of its remaining screening units.
The screen came on behind him. "We will split into four task groups. I have picked the commanders based off of recent combat experience and seniority." He rattled off the names, including Thomas’s. "I do not have any ammunition stores transports to give you. What you can carry on board is what you will have until we can scrape something up. So use your expendables wisely." A map of local space appeared on the screen and a green dot began blinking. "We have commandeered four freighters that did not run during the fighting and will position them in deep space. They will carry consumables and spare parts. We may even be able to jury rig one of them into a cheap munitions stores transport, but that will take weeks and may not be feasible in the end. For the foreseeable future, munitions replenishment will require that your task forces return here where they may be vulnerable to ambush if the Korgan take this system."
A series of green arrows stretched from the Capital system and other fleet bases heading for 8th Fleets area, pushing into the glaring red of what was thought to be occupied space. "We have reinforcements coming from prewar reassignments. Over a thousand more ships from the various commands have been assigned to 8th fleet, However, they will be trickling in over the next three months or so. This is based off of the assumption that they are not intercepted short of Darnell or given different orders based off of what is happening elsewhere."
"In short gentlemen, we know we have help coming, but we don't know if it will be in time before the Confeds return to Darnell. We think we can hold it against perhaps two squadrons of battleships. Anything more will simply run us over at this point in time. But I don't want them looking at Darnell. I want them looking over their shoulders for your ships. Even if you do little damage, you will represent a fleet in being and they will have to recognize the threat and guard against it."
" Your job, Captains, is to force the Confeds to pull ships off of the front to prevent a thinning out of their supply line. Targets of opportunity are to be struck at your discretion. Use it wisely."
The admiral took a deep breath before the plunge. "Questions?"
One of the destroyer Captains rose. "Sir, what about the shipyards on Little Darnell? Will they have anything finished in time to aid us in our first operations?"
Laughter echoed across the mess as the Captains enjoyed the inside joke. Darnell Three had eleven shipyards designed with the newest automations to reduce construction time by a third. Naturally, it did not work as intended and hadn't since the yards had been finished five years ago. They typically took twice as long to manufacture anything, including themselves. Even refits took longer than at the less automated yards. It was a bitter joke as the money could have bought nearly twice the number of standardized yards or even another ten desperately needed dreadnoughts.
“As it turns out, no. But they will have two additional destroyers refitted in several weeks time. The next ship officially scheduled for completion is the Dreadnought Vengeance in two weeks. So I figure we will see it in roughly a month. If we are still here she will double the firepower of our non-carrier ships.”
“Sir, what about crew and pilot replacements?”
“We have plenty of both. After all, Darnell is the Primary pilot training academy for the Empire. We actually have more pilots then small craft right now. Also we have the crews for the reactivating ships and the ships that were undergoing refits staged on Darnell Four. Crew are not a problem. Our problem is dealing with your battle damages. Remember, most of the yards are so much junk right now and much of their wreckage has landed on Darnell Four already. “
Jenkins continued, ”Fortunately the actual damage has been relatively small, but it has caused much disruption. Darnell’s industry is largely intact, but it is at the bottom of a gravity well and the planet has few space ports.” Yeah, he thought bitterly. Tourist spaceports with almost no ability to do heavy lifting of any kind. Still, the ability to move people was important and they could still lift minor amounts of consumables. But they could not begin to equal the ability of the destroyed space elevator to move masses of equipment and construction materials.
Darnell was out of the fight for at least three years while it built up its space ports and as for the elevator. Well, it could take up to ten years to replace. It depended on how badly damaged the base of the elevator was. That alone could make a difference of a year or more.
He took several more questions, but his heart was not really in it anymore. The Confederacies attack had ripped the heart out of his commands ability to make a real difference and the Captain’s questions merely reinforced that for him, though that would not stop him from trying to do something. So he would use what he did have going for him. Somehow a half-assed task force of mismatched carriers with largely green pilots did not encourage him much, but it was better than nothing. And that, Jenkins guessed, was something.
_________________ The Crystaline Castle does not do well against rocks. -unknown sarcastic Mage.
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