((Collab post between Letter Bee and Sep.))

Leonard blinked and spoke through the comms at the Dreadnaught Heavy Cruiser: “Yeah, no; I like your ship and I am taking it for my own.”

Raj grinned at that, while Ken found himself smiling at this man’s gumption. Droid Starfighters began deploying out of The Gamechanger and the Ton-Falk Carrier, forming a cloak that would cover the Scipio Industries fleet. Several more squadrons of fighters and bombers began to appear out of the depths of local space, where they had been deactivated and frozen until just such an occasion. Within moments, the Dreadnought was surrounded not just from the sides, but from above and below; a full envelopment.

Note, however, that Leonard and Co. had not thrown caution into the wind; the minefield they had tried to set up had been bypassed, but it can still fulfil a purpose. Said purpose was covering the rear of the Scipio Industries fleet, which was now positioned in such a way that any attempt to catch them unawares from behind would run into a swarm of crude shrapnel and energy-based explosives.

Not just that, but the Dreadnought and the Ton-Falk Carrier were filled with his loyal battle droids, so as to still any disloyalty from the remaining organic crewmembers.

Leonard then said, “Fire when ready, folk! Clear an opening for [i]our[/i] boarding parties!”

There was chitinous clicking. “You can take the ship if you want. After all it isn’t mine, think of it more as a -” there was more clicking. “-Gift from one Captain to another.” Just as he finished speaking a group of ships dropped out of hyperspace slightly further out, Scipio had played his hand. They knew where the mines were, the fighters had already moved into position to capture the decoy. The cards were in the open, now to play their own hand. An Invincible-Class Dreadnaught dropped out of hyperspace in the middle of the formation, surrounded by four Victory-Class Frigates, six Lancer Corvettes, Two Consular Cruisers, a Gladiator Class Star Destroyer and two Recusant Destroyers. It was clear that the Hutts weren’t messing around, as the Lancers and Consular cruisers moved into a screening position. Fighters weren’t approaching the fleet without a fight.

“Will you play with me? -chk-chk-chk- said the spider to the fly.”

Leonard kept a clear head, turning to Ken and Raj. “If we can take their ‘gift’ as early as possible, we can have a chance of winning; I’d take getting away with one extra ship as a win. Send in our Separatist Troop Transport against the Dreadnaught; as well as four of our L/AAT Shuttles. All of those will contain an even mix of battle droids and mercenaries.”

Now to wound the enemy fleet. “As for the larger enemy flotilla coming towards us, let’s turn and face them head-on; focus our turbolasers and ion cannons on their corvette screen; our torpedoes - which contain buzz droids - on their larger ships. At the same time, however, a sudden jump to lightspeed is an option; always.”

Had his species been able to ‘smile’ he would have. As boarding craft moved towards the dreadnaught there would be no warning as the ship suddenly exploded, with far more force than it should have, debris went cascading into the nearby ships knocking the shuttle out of the sky and damaging the LAATs. They’d be doomed to death if they weren’t recovered. The long range fire attempt wasn’t expected. Laser fire came out in their direction, however due to the extreme range very few shots made their mark. It did however, pay to be careful. “Reposition the fleet, have the corvettes move to be shielded by the frigates though ensure that we still have an overall protective arc of fire -chkchkchk-” He stroked his mandibles. “-until the fool sends fighters towards us, have all all defensive fire focus upon any torpedoes he sends our way. Send our own in return.”

This was not a long range battle his foe could win, long range his fleet held the advantage. The ability to take down torpedoes, while also being able to send out far more than his meager defenses would be able to shoot down.

For a brief moment, Leonard’s head was no longer clear as Ken, Raj, and Rule Findos looked at him for further orders. But clarity would be regained as the businessman-turned-warlord spoke, “Pull back, wheel around, and use the Dreadnaught and Shuttle’s debris as cover! Then use our remaining starfighters to escort the LAATs, which are tasked to limp back into [i]The Gamechanger[/i]!”

A purse of his lips. “Once the LAATs have been recovered, stay behind the Dreadnaught’s debris; use Tractor Beams to take hold of the largest pieces and use them as shields against enemy fire. I hate to say this, but all we can hope for is a delaying action in order to allow the Believers time to evacuate all the former slaves who want to leave.”

[i]Or is it?[/i] thought the businessman-turned-warlord. Nevertheless, his point-defense systems ought to hold for a while yet, especially with his tractor beam and debris-shield combo mitigating the salvoes of torpedoes.

“Sir!” spoke one of his anonymous organic crewmembers, “The Believers have finished evacuating all the former slaves who want to leave!” 

Well, that was convenient. Leonard then turned to Raj and said, “How many Droids have been left planetside?”

The Mandalorian said, “35,000 Battle Droids and 300 Droideka Mk. IIs, most of them in former mines, the desert, and the fortress of Kha’ris. Enough to be a problem for them should they try and rebuild the planet’s slave infrastructure.”

Leonard nodded. “Then we - and I seriously regret this decision - jump to lightspeed. Droids can be rebuilt should we find enough asteroids and space wreckage. Lives...well, they can be bought with money, but that comes later.”

The Scipio Industries fleet began to prepare for a jump to lightspeed...