Once they had their scan of the system, and the orders that followed, it only took a quick jump for the various fleets to converge on their rally point. The moment they dropped out of FTL, Admiral Matir’s orders were delivered by his ship’s computer to every single other ship in the fleet. Each vessel was assigned to one of the battle groups supporting five separate “core ships”, including his own heavy carrier, the Tindrel’s asteroid, the Qalian-Vosh supercarrier, and two Rothian battleships. Every battle group contained ships from every species’ fleet, distributed about as evenly as possible. They were assigned according to their capabilities such that each battle group would have all necessary roles filled appropriately. Outremer’s fleet in particular had an abundance of specialized ships that could fill in for weaknesses that any particular battle group might have possessed. On paper, every team had the capabilities to be an effective fighting force. All that remained to be seen was if they could execute properly on that potential. 

As the fleets were arranging themselves into formation, the Admiral began to assign the battle groups to their objectives. The large enemy craft was a primary objective, though it would not be their first to assault. The large craft could require more resources than a single battle group to defeat, and the smaller objectives were more pressing. The Tindrel’s battle group was assigned to assist with the distress calls near the factory complex, while the Qalian-Vosh’s supercarrier was designated to facilitate the evacuation of the space station. Of the two battle groups led by Rothian battleships, one, which also contained the supercarrier OSC Cataphract, was assigned to stave off an ongoing attack on a simulated settlement on one of the moons of a gas giant, while the other battle group was to position itself roughly equally between all of the other objectives and remain momentarily on standby. The enemy was [i]going[/i] to react, so they needed at least one battle group available to adjust to the enemy’s response and provide reinforcements where needed. 

The final battle group was the one commanded by the Admiral himself. The Rothian AI facilitating this simulation was, for the most part, operating independently to keep the fleets from knowing what was coming next. However, it had been given instructions to carry out one scenario according to plan. As an inhabited planet, one objective was to keep Psi-Helios itself protected. The Admiral’s battle group, which included the Barbarossa, was to position near the planet and keep it protected from an encroaching enemy attack. All the while, the Magnificent Horizon, the exploration ship being used by the science team, would be scanning the planet ostensibly for “survivors”.