Into the Black

(Conference Room, Black Star Shipyards, Star’s Reach system)

“So, as you can see, the damage to the Black Star Navy was relatively minor. We did suffer high casualties amongst the fighter and gunboat squadrons, and all surviving ships suffered some damage. Still, considering the numbers we were facing, the fleet performed superbly.”

Raven turned from the projection she had been pointing to, looking back at the assembled leaders of the Black Star Navy. Well, only the leaders of First and Third Groups were in the room with us. The leaders of the other groups were here by remote, with every captain, commodore, and admiral in the Navy that wasn’t on assignment being present (or telepresent). This was our big after-action review for the Second Battle of Coldana, and it was important that everyone, even those who weren’t at the battle, was present. Fresh eyes might bring fresh suggestions for what we could do next time.

Newly promoted Slave-Commodore Virstina frowned at the numbers on the screen. “If I may, Master?” At my nod, she continued, “The losses amongst the gunboats are problematic. While it is true that the gunboats are made to be disposable, I think we would be better off if, instead of sending them into combat against capitol ships, they were held back for picket and convoy duties, instead of attempting to fight against cruisers or dreadnoughts.”

Slave-Commodore Aymar Erlar of Third Group nodded thoughtfully. “That’s a good point. The gunboats are perfect for a system defense picket. Between them and the Imperial-design corvettes we have in Third Group, there really isn’t any pirate force out there that can sneak up on us and raid a planet Third Group is set up around, especially if we’ve had time to set up defenses. But the ships of Third Group are primarily defensive, designed to defend the Nightforge and the Smerti until they are able to escape the area or reinforcements arrive. For offensive units, the gunboats are the wrong choice, unless you have them in X’thari numbers.”

“Admiral, if I may?” Commodore Keerla Zyrsys, the knelfi woman in charge of Second Group which was defending the Dimiya base, had been quiet so far. Having not seen much in the way of combat until now, that was understandable. Which made me all the more curious about what she wanted to add. Seeing me nod, she took a breath, and then launched into her suggestion.

“I believe that we should reorganize the fleet groups, creating new defense groups for our primary bases, modeled after the current Second Group at Dimiya. This would entail expanding the fleet, but will not leave us short-handed if we have to pull an ‘all hands on deck’ maneuver like we did prior to Coldana. Nuevo Edo has cover from the Nuevo Edo Navy and Star’s Reach had the static system defenses in place, with Third Group backstopping them, but Madrigal was completely undefended save for base weapon emplacements. On my own authority, Second Group dispatched two Assassins and six gunboats to cover the base temporarily, but if we had faced anything other than a small group of pirates, the base would have been desperately outmatched, without any Black Star ships able to reinforce them in a timely manner.”

I looked over to Raven, who gave a slight nod, letting me know that she was aware that it had happened, and turned to face Zyrsys’s projection. “Well, Commodore, you are to be commended for your foresight in an unprecedented situation. It is clear that we’ve been giving all our thought to offensive operations, and have not taken the time to properly begin working on a defense doctrine. So far, we’ve been lucky, thanks to the placement of our ships, but it does not change the fact that an enemy could have hurt us, and hurt us bad, if they had thought to try something while our attention was elsewhere. That they didn’t speaks more to our good fortune than our planning, and I dislike relying on good fortune when it comes to the safety of Black Star property and personnel.”

Leaning back in my chair, I said, “From this moment, Commodore Zyrsys, you are promoted to Vice Admiral in charge of Defensive Operations. The former Second Group shall be reclassified as the Dimiya Defense Group, and all existing bases will have their defense forces built up to match the DDG. Admiral, I want a preliminary list of changes you would make to the Defense Groups going forward, ready after we discuss the new shape of the Fleet Groups.”

“Aye, aye, Admiral.”

Turning to look at the rest of the onlookers, I said, “Now, a new Second Group will be formed, and stationed at Star’s Reach, to deploy from the base we’re building here as needed. While we’re building it and repairing the ships that were damaged in the battle, we have the opportunity to increase or alter the composition of the Fleet Groups. Floor is open for that discussion.”

That part of the meeting went on for quite a while, as everyone had different ideas on the composition of how the groups should be comprised. In the end, most people agreed that, while the gunboats were definitely useful in smaller roles, they were ill-suited to the large-scale engagements. So their role in a fleet battle was to guard the carrier and logistics ships of the fleet train, while the heavier ships led the attack. That removed quite a few guns from the line of battle, however, which most people were less than pleased with. The compromise, naturally, was to add more ships to the group.