[h1] Divide and Conquer [/h1]

"Captain Diarg, You have shown exceptional ingenuity and my son tells me you are a masterful pirate, so. i am granting you comission as a fleet commander" said The General, Diarg was stunned There where only 3 fleet commanders. The general of the main battle group, The Governor militant of the civilian fleet, and the Raider Admiral. A 4th commander would split the fleet even more, but he was honored.

"General..." he was unsure what to say, he didnt feel as if what he had done deserved splitting the fleet even if he was given a small command. "I am honored beyond words" THe general nodded, but seemed dismissive of Diarg's words as he did have a major fleet engagement to plan. "Yes, you are to take a newly built battle cruiser and a small raiding fleet from the main battle group. Enough to ensure the destruction of a Human battleship and it's escorts. 30 Raider Frigates, 10 Bandit Destroyers, 4 Catapult Cruisers and your Arbalest Battle Cruiser." said the General simply. 

"What are my Orders?" he said, unsure of what else to say. He was being granted a very powerful fleet, one that would rival the Raider Admiral's. "You are to take this fleet and destroy Human forces wherever you find them. If there is a depleated fleet above a planet, destroy it, if you catch an imperial shipment too far from home, take what you wish and destroy the rest. You are in command, how you acomplish your goal is up to you" 
[hr]
6 Hours later
[hr]

Commander Diarg sat in the command chair of his battle cruiser, fresh from the Void Raider mobile shipyards. Technically the ship wasn't even fully built. Unimportant parts like some of the bathrooms and some of the lighting fixtures where not complete. There where extra engineers aboard to finish the simple jobs. He knew some of the captains and many of them where excellent captains but many of whom he did not know and needed to test them before any real battle started. 

"This is Commander Diarg of-" he stopped, unsure of what to call the fleet. or his new ship for that matter. "This is Commander Diarg of the Liberator, This fleet of Hunters is tasked to seek and destory human forces. I want a test jump to a star system near by, only occupied by a few barren rocks and gas planets. Captains, I am looking for jump accuracy and timing. Engage engines in 10 minutes"
[hr]
3 FTL Hours later
[hr]

The fleet preformed expertly, most of the ships left FTL in a tight ball of ships perfect for an ambush, ready to launch a concentrated attack of an enemy fleet. A few captains where less accurate, coming thousands of kilometers off course or almost an hour late. Diarg was preparing a private channel to scold the captains who preforemd poorly but what interrupted when his communications officer reported.

"Sir! incoming distress beacon..." he paused as he listened to the message "A fleet of humans and, uh Relican? a fleet fleeing Raria are being attacked by pirates"

"Pirates? is it the Raider Admiral?" asked Diarg, which was a stupid thing to ask, the Admiral was back with the battle fleet was still was when he left. "No, it couldn't be... Stop them, We are the only Pirates in this Sector" he said with conviction, it wasnt strictly true but the Void Raiders had consumed or destroyed several pirate factions that tried to sprout in the sector, and they controlled the vast majority of piracy in the sector. 

Diarg and the fleet made a micro jump into FTL, it was difficult to calculate trajectory properly so near the gravity of planets and stars and was very hard on the FTL drive. The whole Void Raider Hunter fleet suddenly appeared suprisingly close to the civilian and pirate groups. The Raider Frigates lit their engines and screamed towards the Enemy fleet with their powerful rail-cannons charging, building up speed to make enemy firing solutions difficult. The larger ships where further away with missiles being loaded into launch tubes and rail gun capacitors charging. 

"Communications, Broadcast wide frequency. I want everyone to hear..." he waited a moment before the officer gave him the sign that he was live "This is Commander Diarg of the Void Raider Hunters, You must Stand Down. Pirates, You will power down your Engines and Weapons now, Or we will see it as an act of agression and destroy the offending ship" As the Commander spoke several dozen drones where released form the Cruisers and Battlecruiser that began to swarm like insects around the fleet. "Civilians, You will power down your engines and await further orders... Comply or be destroyed"