Myrkr's Open Orbit

A second wave of shuttles launched from the Coordinated Underground light cruiser as it angled away from The Rock.

Aboard the escort vessel Zillo, now engaging the light cruiser alongside her sister ship Strill, Captain Ivantt Fukov was not a happy woman. Three more kriffing days and she would have been done with this assignment, and done with her fourth divorce from her fourth shitty husband. Service in the military was not kind on marriages and relationships, but she had the worst luck in partners outside of her comrades in the fleet. Her thrice-damned chain code now read her full name as Ivantt Fukov-Kye-NaTayarrd-Gonnlai-Down. She went by her maiden name once more, for the final time. She was not adding any more to her overlength name; a permanent record of her failure in love and life as she saw it.

And now these people, these..... bastards, were attacking Myrkr. Anti-Vegemite assholes, from what she knew of the enemy. Well, they had picked the wrong fourty four year old fired up fuckin Firrereo woman to mess with.

They've launched a second wave of shuttles. One of her officers reported, confirming scans the Captain had already seen.

Captain Fukov made eye contact with the sensor officer and nodded, not wishing to waste words, or take her fury out on one of the junior members of staff. Instead she stared out the viewport at the enemy. If glares could have been turbolasers, the enemy ship would be space dust right now.

Pour it on.

Fukov growled to her weapons officer, who shunted more power to the forward turbolasers. The escorts could hurt the bigger ship, given time and with the light cruiser choosing to split its fire between the two Myrkr escorts, they would be able to hold it off for longer. They were the bait, however, not the true threat. Even now, aboard the station, the Vegemites would be capturing the second wave of assault craft, and soon returning whence they came, bearing happy little Vegemite surprises for the enemy.

Fleet Assembly Area - Myrkr Orbit - Some time after the Battle of Wayland

Though the battle still raged just nearby, outside The Rock, where the Vegemite forces were capturing the Coordinated Underground cruiser, the rest of the Clan Australis fleet, not required to assist, were in their assembly area, some distance from the massive asteroid space station.

Owing to fatigue or wounds from the recent battle on the nearby planet of Wayland, many of the crews were shuttled downside to medical facilities or for well earned leave, while repairs and maintenance crews shuttled over to keep the fleet at peak readiness.

Though he felt the weight of years as well as the fatigue of the recent battle stress, as commander, Kaine was on duty. He'd crossdecked to the flagship Invincible Reason upon returning to Myrkr, to meet with the Admiral who was taking over command of the fleet, his distant cousin Flash.

Flash and Kaine did not see eye to eye on many things, though each respected, grudgingly, the other's capabilities and combat record, neither approved of the other's style or tactics. They were not so much polar opposites as they were predisposed to disagree; if Kaine said the world was round, Flash would at least try to make the argument that it was round, but not in the way Kaine said that it was. Neither was innocent in such constant griping, and it grated on everyone that was in the same room with them for any length of time.

Flash was already on the bridge when Kaine arrived. They didn't speak for five full minutes while each reviewed reports and checked holodisplays. Eventually, they accidentally ended up facing one another, without either having their face in a datapad, which was of some amusement to the bridge crew.

Admiral. Kaine said first.

Alor. Flash said, nodding politely. Then to everyone's surprise, they exchanged datapads without a word, both scanned their retinas to the other's pad, and then nodding, swapped back pads without so much as another word. Kaine left the bridge to the Admiral, having, as he saw it, escaped. Flash thought of it as a victory too, and the crew were slightly disappointed at having nothing to gossip about.

The Alor headed to his quarters aboard the flagship, seldom used, but would be his home for the next fleet operation. On the bridge, Flash oversaw the reassignment of personnel, and the formation of the full Clan Australis fleet for the next mission. The Invincible Reason as the largest and most powerful ship would continue to act as flagship, with the Red Rocket taking the second fleet group.

The new Myrkr-Class escorts were impressive ships, and a dozen of them now rode with the fleet, sleek and well armed; they were a superb escort choice for the slow but powerful Australis capital ships. Between them, the fleet had a wealth of starfighter complements, and were well able to put decent striking power into the air when necessary.

Troops too, along with ground vehicles, were now being assigned to the fleet. Elements of the Foreign Legion, as well as some of the well trained and equipped Clan Commandos, with vehicles and supplies began to ship out to the fleet from Myrkr. Though he would not directly command any ground operations, the Admiral was still responsible for everything in the fleet, and was a thorough and detailed commander. Kaine had pre-checked the army's loads before coming aboard, so he had little to do but wait as the crew shifts changed over, and the last of the supplies were packed aboard ship.

The process took time, but with significant infrastructure set up on Myrkr as well as the prep time available to the Clan, progress was made on refitting the fleet, and preparing them for their next mission as a unified force.

Arias X-70B Phantom dropped into the open orbit over Myrkr. The ships sensor resistant skin made detecting of the vessel difficult even for the most advanced systems. As was the purpose for the ships design. She wasn't overly concerned about being detected or not though as her mission was simple.

She set the ship into an automatic orbit and activated the ships advanced scanners. "Ok, where are you" she whispered to herself as the scanners madd detailed long range sweeps of the planet surface and other orbiting bodies. Small ship traffic here and there, though something caught her eye. A geostation of some sort. She dialed the scanners into its location. "Strange... didn't expect to see a station out here. And... what's that?" She shook her head in confusion as she picked up what seemed to be some kind of conflict just outside thr station.

Never the less as she dialed in her scanners on the Rock, her tracer beacon signal also increased... "There he is" she said while adjusting her course to the station.

After attempting to escape the IRI forces patrolling the Oasis, the ewok Teebo of the notorious Bespin Blood Pirates, had made an unexpected and certainly unplanned jump to lightspeed. His navi-computer damaged due in part to his respectful but poorly planned gesture of remorse, he had been hurled into the treacherous corridors of hyperspace, having no idea where he would end up. So you can imagine his surprise when...

Myrkr's naturally formed gravity well yanked the T-wing out of hyperspace, jerking the tiny starfighter and giving the furry pilot inside a hard rattle. Warning alerts sounded and the cockpit's emerging lighting flickered red as the rapid reversion damaged the fighter craft's structural integrity. The left and top mounted engine casing cracked under the pressure and vented ions as they began to break apart. With only the right side afterburning engine intact, the craft began a violent spin as it was drawn by the forces of gravity towards the planet's atmosphere.

=Teebo=
"Stang, stang, stang, STANG!"

His stomach lurched as he lost control, causing his hearty spaghetti lunch to exit his mouth and paint the cockpit tomato red. The outer part of the fuselage began to glow orange as heat built up on the surface of the smoking T-wing and the ship spiraled into an uncontrolled crash landing...or maybe just crash. It streaked towards an area not particular friendly to strangers.

An area the Mandalorians of Clan Australis affectionately called 'The Playground'.

By now, word of the attack on Obroa-Skai had spread to the other Mandalorian worlds, including Myrkr. With their forces stretched and spread throughout the galaxy, most of the planets remained relatively unprotected. A majority of their forces were still seconded to the Inner Rim Imperium and were thus unavailable for Mandalorian duties. Kaine was aware that Reyn had violated orders and headed straight for the action, and he was quietly proud of the young lad, though he couldn't say so openly, it was bad for discipline.

What he could do was ensure that Reyn's forces weren't alone. Obroa had minimal forces on station, and they would need more help than one heavy cruiser. It would mean stripping defences from other places, but he couldn't avoid that. Rank meant he could bull through any objections from fleet and army command. The chiefs of staff knew better than to try and argue with the Alor when his mind was made up.

He dispatched attack orders to the Nightbringer, the Conqueror, and the Tiger's Claw. Along with escort forces drawn from the minor worlds, the strike force was ordered to rendezvous short of the Obroa System a few light hours out in deep space. Putting the pieces together from a dozen sources took time, but he was able to assemble a powerful strike group. Finally, he added the Terror Australis, Myrkr's only remaing defense vessel, to the force. He couldn't go himself, but he could send his biggest and best warship, commanded by his best Captain.

The force would arrive after Reyn did, but it would bring a significant level of firepower, enough to give any enemy force pause. A star destroyer, a cruiser/carrier, and two assault star frigates, with an array of escort vessels. They carried a wealth of fighters and strike craft with them, as well as two full Commando units aboard Nightbringer and Conqueror. Terror Australis was one of two Vegemite Star Destroyers in service, and the only one under Kaine's direct command. She would lead the line for the relief force.