The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge

1914. Spark (10)

"It's Geth!! They're coming!!" the radar soldier shouted.

"Impossible! Why are they so close?!" Adjutant Sandas exclaimed.

No wonder he was surprised, because the location where Geth appeared this time was so close! Want to know where their fleet is? It's in planetary synchronous orbit! In other words, they are now within the range of the planet's gravity well!

And what is common sense now?

What absolutely needs to be avoided in a hyperspace jump is gravity. Whether it is the need to escape from the gravity well when starting, or the mass projection needs to be avoided during the process, and it cannot be within the range of the gravity well when it is separated. Otherwise, gravity will cause chaos in hyperspace, causing the battleship to be damaged or torn apart.

But the appearance of the Geth fleet this time was almost a complete surprise! They appeared directly within the gravity well, and they were less than 1,000 kilometers away from the Imperial fleet!

For space operations, 1,000 kilometers is basically a face-to-face fight!

The original problem of insufficient range of the geth battleship's plasma cannon did not exist at all. They opened fire immediately after they appeared, and countless plasma balls were fired at high speed!

"Quick! Adjust the shield output quickly! Face forward!!" Captain Parker of the Fire-breathing Star Destroyer on the side has also begun to issue tactical instructions.

At this time, the voice of the radar soldier came again, "Confirm the number of enemy ships! One Geth cruiser! 4 Geth destroyers! 12 Geth frigates!"

"Sir!" Sandas looked at Thrawn with expectant eyes.

The strength of the Geth battle group is already very terrifying compared to their patrol fleet! The combat capability of the 600-meter geth cruiser can directly compete with the thousand-meter battleship! The combat capabilities of the 300-meter Geth destroyer and the 100-meter Geth frigate are much more powerful than those of the same model of Imperial warships!

Sandas looked over, but his eyes met Thrawn's still calm expression, and he couldn't help but feel shocked. Even if the enemy jumps directly in front of him with superior strength, Thrawn remains calm!

That’s right! Seeing Colonel Thrawn's firm and indifferent eyes, Sundar suddenly felt full of strength in his heart!

It suddenly occurred to him that Colonel Thrawn had already made preparations in advance! He laid mines in this airspace in advance, selected the battlefield, and took off the fighter jets in advance!

So now, even if there is a head-on battle, fighting in this minefield, and there are fighter formations raiding the rear, the Geth fleet will have to fight!

It's Thrawn! He thought of it all!

"Retreat." Colonel Thrawn said calmly.

"Uh... ah?" Adjutant Sandas, who had just raised his morale and wanted to fight the Geth to the death, almost fainted without taking a breath, "Retreat?"

"Retreat and enter the planet's atmosphere." Colonel Thrawn said calmly.

"Why retreat? Now that we have the right time, right place, and right people, we can definitely defeat the Geth battle group!" Adjutant Sandas said loudly.

"Oh? Are you sure?" Thrawn responded with a cold smile, "All the troops, withdraw into the atmosphere. Regroup above the planet's capital. Those air mines will buy us enough time. Execute the order!"

"Yes..." Sandas had no choice but to do as he was told, and he gave the order for the entire army to retreat.

The Imperial fleet began to increase speed and flew towards the interior of the planet's atmosphere. A raging fire quickly ignited outside the deflector shield due to the friction of the air. The huge hull of the Empire-class Star Destroyer entered the atmosphere and brought a sea of ​​​​fire, as if it were a demon wrapped in flames!

The geth fleet immediately accelerated to catch up, but Colonel Thrawn gave a direct order to detonate air mines in batches!

A violent explosion suddenly exploded in the synchronous orbit, and the power was so powerful that the Geth warship had to stop and was blocked in place. They also opened fire immediately, firing countless plasma cannons forward and detonating many air mines.

After all the air mines were detonated, the imperial fleet had entered the atmosphere.

The geth fleet didn't stop at all and immediately chased after them!

At this time, Thrawn has led the Sixth Patrol Fleet of the Galactic Empire and is standing ready at an altitude of more than 20,000 meters above the planet's capital!

Without any pause at all, the geth warship immediately fired a dense rain of plasma cannons towards the imperial fleet!

At the same time, Thrawn also issued an order, "All troops! Fight in defensive formation!"

All the battleships immediately formed a spherical defense formation with the Firebreathing Empire-class Star Destroyer as the core, and the battleships were very close to each other, with almost no gaps! Faced with the indiscriminate bombardment of Geth warships, they directly chose to resist!

There is only one Vindicator-class heavy cruiser wandering around the outside of the formation. In fact, this Vindicator-class warship is in the best condition among the entire Sixth Patrol Fleet. Because this battleship is brand new and the only brand new battleship in the fleet!

The 600-meter-long Vindicator-class heavy cruiser has precise and fierce firepower, making it the best choice against small and medium-sized warships and fighter jets.

The geth warships quickly followed, and they began to surround the imperial fleet, firing wildly!

The exchange of fire between the two sides was very fierce. There was no dodge at all, and some were just head-on confrontations.

And at this time, the anti-aircraft firepower on the surface of the planet also opened fire! Anti-aircraft missiles and anti-aircraft laser cannons fired wildly, and aircraft such as the outdated V-19 Riptide light fighter and ARC-170 heavy fighter equipped by some planetary ground defense forces also joined the battle.

In fact, it can be seen from this that after several years of baptism in the Clone Wars, even these planetary defense forces, which are only equipped with second-line weapons, use war-tested equipment such as V-19 and ARC-170. , rather than the crooked melons and cracked jujubes designed more than ten years ago.

The powerful firepower provided on the ground also brought great help to Thrawn's fleet. The more than 70 fighter jets taking off from the ground and the dense air defense firepower put the Geth fleet under great pressure!

On the aerial battlefield, the formation of the Imperial fleet was completely watertight under the deployment of Colonel Thrawn. No matter which direction the geth warships attacked, they would face the shooting of all the warships of the Imperial fleet!

And in addition to the Fire-breathing Beast Empire-class Star Destroyer and the Vindicator-class heavy cruiser, the 10 Night Watch-class frigates of the Sixth Patrol Fleet are also very powerful battleships.

The 255-meter-long Night Watch frigate is equipped with three heavy-duty turbolaser cannons, which directly provides cruiser-level firepower! Under such an attack, even the Geth warships would have a hard time resisting!

Under such an extremely unfavorable situation, the Geth fleet was destroyed by two 100-meter-class frigates and a 300-meter-class destroyer. Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining warships immediately turned around and flew out of the atmosphere.

"It...they escaped!!" Sandas was overjoyed.

At the same time, he also heard Colonel Thrawn muttering to himself, "Hehehehe... finally feel uncomfortable? Hehehehehe..."

"Colonel Thrawn! Have we won?" Adjutant Sandas said loudly.

"Catch up! Let the fighter units prepare to attack immediately!" Colonel Thrawn said sternly, "The real decisive battle will come next!!"

"Yes!" Captain Parker responded immediately.

"Chasing...? Our warships can't catch up with the Geth warships..." Sandas had just finished speaking, and he was surprised to find that his warships were actually clinging behind the Geth warships. It was completely unlike him. It’s the one with insufficient mobility!

"This is gravity..." Colonel Thrawn showed a calm smile, "In a gravitational environment, coupled with air resistance, the maneuverability of Geth warships will be greatly affected. Therefore, under normal circumstances, they They are unwilling to fight with us in such an environment."

Sandas suddenly realized, "That's why you let the fleet stay in synchronous orbit, laid out aerial mines and set up an ambush, waiting for the Geth to take the bait! Only after they come over and return to the atmosphere will the Geth fleet catch up! Sir...you actually planned to go this far? If we had entered the atmosphere from the beginning, the geth fleet would not have appeared..."

He couldn't help but use honorifics when he spoke.

"I have said before, the geth just consider themselves to be intelligent creatures. When faced with a choice, the basis for their judgment is still the robot's program." Colonel Thrawn said calmly, "If we enter the atmosphere directly , then the Geth fleet will not come to raid. At that time, we who are waiting for work will give up the initiative to Geth and let Geth choose the time of battle. "

"I understand... When we were in synchronous orbit, although there were air mines and fighter formations, the geth fleet was still in full strength. There was no chance of winning in a head-on confrontation with them... Only in the atmosphere, with the help of the planetary defense force and the environment Factors prevent the geth warships from taking advantage of their mobility, so we can repel them!" Sandas said.

Colonel Thrawn said, "It's not to repel them, but to make them feel uncomfortable. When making this decision, it was a mechanical program that judged that they could not fight in a disadvantageous environment, so they left. When leaving the atmosphere, the biggest factor affecting speed is directly the output of the battleship's reactor, rather than other comprehensive factors. In this regard, the empire's battleships are actually stronger than the geth's battleships."

Only then did Sandas realize the current situation - yes, the imperial fleet was actually clinging to the geth warship, and it was still firing!

At this stage of leaving the atmosphere, the maneuverability of the geth warships is also unable to be used!

The reason why Geth warships are very flexible and highly maneuverable is because they have no redundant structures, the overall design is very compact, and there is no redundant weight, so the thrust-to-weight ratio is very high, and the acceleration and steering are far superior to that of imperial warships of the same level.

But in fact, in terms of straight-line speed, the Geth battleship has no advantage at all!

Because what determines the speed is the power of the reactor. Under the same technology, the larger the reactor, the more powerful it will naturally be. Take the L-A2B ionization solar reactor of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer as an example. It is so huge that it can even be said that the Imperial-class is just a shell outside this reactor!

In other words, the reactor on the geth battleship cannot be more powerful than the reactor on the Imperial-class Star Destroyer!

However, in many previous battles, the imperial military and even officers and soldiers at all levels were so impressed by the ferocious firepower and flexible maneuverability of the geth warships that they forgot that, aside from flexibility, the absolute power of the imperial warships The speed is actually greater than the geth battleship!

It's just that in most battles, there is no occasion where the absolute speed advantage can be exerted.

While Colonel Thrawn was explaining tactical ideas to Sandas and others, the geth warship had already left the planet's atmosphere, and immediately took advantage of its flexible steering and quickly turned around to engage the imperial fleet that followed.

Thrawn ordered the Sixth Patrol Fleet to catch up non-stop. The huge body of the Fire Breathing Empire-class Star Destroyer took the lead and rushed towards Jie with the powerful firepower of 60 heavy turbolaser cannons and 60 ion cannons. The Sri Lankan battleship opened fire!

In the face of such firepower, battleships as powerful as the geth did not dare to deal with them head-on and could only disperse. Then they planned to repeat their old tricks, preparing to use their mobility advantages to intersperse and disrupt the formation of the imperial fleet.

At the same time, other warships from the Sixth Patrol Fleet also arrived, followed closely by a formation of fighter jets taking off from the ground! The two sides exchanged fierce fire again!

This time, in space with no gravity and no atmosphere, there are no bells and whistles, only head-on responses!

At this moment, the fighter formation of the Sixth Patrol Fleet, which had taken off in advance, had set off from the direction of the satellite and inserted directly into the rear of the Geth fleet!

The geth warships, which were trying their best to deal with the powerful frontal firepower of the Imperial-class Star Destroyers, were completely caught off guard when faced with such a front and rear attack! So much so that they haven't made any changes at all and are still attacking the Imperial fleet's formation, hoping to severely damage the Fire-breathing Beast Star Destroyer as soon as possible!

However, as other battleships were gradually put into position, under the genius command of Colonel Thrawn, the Imperial fleet was once again arranged into a formation like an iron wall! At least the Geth warships can't break through in a short time!

At this time, under the cover of dozens of TIE/LN fighters, six Y-wing bombers finally got close to the 600-meter-long Geth cruiser, the largest in the geth fleet, and fired 12 consecutive bombs at the cruiser's engine. Proton torpedo!

The geth cruiser fired wildly to intercept and evade wildly, but in the end it was hit by two proton torpedoes! As the light blue proton cloud exploded and collapsed, the geth cruiser was completely paralyzed in a very short time!

And this also means the complete failure of the Geth fleet!

A miraculous victory! Colonel Thrawn, who had created this victory, had returned to his seat at this moment, picked up a glass of wine produced on the Dawn Planet, took a sip of it very elegantly, and then closed his eyes to savor it.

"Checkmate." The word for the Dawn Planet came out softly from his mouth.