Scavenged Restoration 70 (Patreon)

Commissioned by RoyalTwinFangs

Scavenged Restoration

Chapter 70

-VB-

Hauptmann-Kommodore Hans Vermaria looked on from the throne at the center of his warship’s command bridge. The throne was important. It’s part of the reason why he was here. 

See, when the Commonwealth got the knowledge on how to build warships again, he threw his weight behind the Archon’s decision to push for warship construction. Not only did the Commonwealth need it against the Leaguers and snakes, he just hated the idea that the Commonwealth didn’t possess warships! 

Of course, he got a sweet deal out of it, too. In exchange for pouring his family’s not insubstantial wealth into the warship productions, he would get command of one of the warships. And as long as the warship in question remained active, its commander would be a member of his household with sufficient military background. 

And he did have enough military training, education, and experience to understand that the overall fleet commander of the Lyran Navy had made a stupid mistake.

Because unlike Hans, Admiral Velsa Kohan was not experienced or educated; she paid even more money into the warship program than he did. 

And he knew what she was going to order. 

“Hauptmann-Kommodore,” the comms officer spoke up from the front of the bridge. “Orders from the Admiral. ‘All units advance.’”

Hans closed his eyes and cursed mentally. “All units advance”? No other orders? No tactics? 

“Request for tactics,” he quickly ordered. “Captain, I want you to advance but keep us slowly falling back.”

He watched the holographic screen as the Lyran warships spread out and began to think about the current state of the battlefield. 

Here was the newly founded 3rd Lyran Fleet. In it, there were six warships, ten jumpships, and ten pocket warships capable of direct combat. Of the six warships, only one was a destroyer and the rest, like his Incorrigible, were Mako II-class frigates. 

The Mako II class frigates were heavier, better armed, better armored than the original Mako-class corvettes. Whereas most of the Mako-class corvette’s naval weapons were regular gauss rifles to deter smaller enemies like assault dropships and 

In front of them was ComStar's warship fleet. From what his warship’s warbooks were pinging him based on the weights and size, they had to have at least three destroyers among their fleet of eighteen ships. In the best case scenario, they had no other warships or pocket warships. In the worst case scenario, all of those eighteen ships were warships and they were heading toward their death. 

But he could not simply disagree with the command. 

So as his warship advanced, he turned to the comms officer. “Get me in contact with the admiral now.”

He watched as the enemy fleet made their move, and let out a sigh of relief when he saw only seven ships move to intercept them. All three of their destroyers and four smaller ships. For all he knew, those could be proper warships, pocket warships, or assault dropships. 

Now, he knew that those destroyers had to be the Dante-class Destroyers that the LIC found out about and informed him and the rest of Lyran high command. ComStar was supposed to have bigger ships than just destroyers, but the Dante was their newest… and probably the ones that he and the other Mako-class frigates needed to watch out for. 

A destroyer, by its nature, was designed specifically to fight off smaller ships. It would be heavily armored and armed, even for its weight class. 

Frigates and corvettes, on the other hand, were designed to catch smaller prey that couldn’t necessarily fight back on equal footing. This meant that unlike destroyers, his Incorrigible did not possess the same level of armor or arms. 

With just one destroyer on their side, Hans knew that they were in trouble. 

‘If only the Davion pocket warships were here,’ he thought to himself. 

“Kommandant, we have the admiral on the radio!” 

He quickly picked it up.

“Admiral Kohan, I request tactical instructions,” he immediately spoke up. 

The social general (admiral) on the other end of the call huffed. “My orders are the same. We will advance and fight them. My ship’s much better sensors and officer have reported to me that the enemy only has five warships and two pocket warships. Our six warships will be enough for that. Engage the enemy warships as soon as they enter range. That is all.”

Then she hung up on him.

That … bitch! That wasn’t tactics! There wasn’t anything remotely -.

Forget it. He’ll just have to wing this. 

“Comms, get me in contact kaptains of Magdeburg and Kiel now!” 

Even as the calls went out, they were closing in on their enemies. 

Unlike their formation, he could see ComStar’s formation starting to take shape. Their two pocket warships and two lesser warships (probably corvettes or frigates) were forming up around the warships into a … V formation? Did they intend to break through their formation? That wasn’t something you could easily do in space. 

“Kommandant, kaptains of Magdeburg and Kiel are on your line!” 

“Kommandant-General,” Kiel’s kaptain, Kaptain Soras Djigulja, greeted. 

“I want you two to form up on me,” he instructed them. “The admiral has given me leeway to act so I want you to form a wall for our flank. Also, slave your ship’s firing solutions to my ship’s computers. We will concentrate our fires.”

“Understood,” Magdeburg’s kaptain, Rory Hagginsson, acknowledged. 

Just like that, the three warships on the “left” flank of the Lyran fleet’s formation lightened up and presented their guns in full. 

To his surprise, ComStar fleet moved as if to counter his move. Their pocket warships all moved away from their pre-formed squad and into a pair and directly faced him and his two escorts. 

‘But why?’ he asked himself. ‘No matter how strong they are, the pocket warships shouldn’t be able to contest -.’ Then his eyes widened as a damning question rose in his mind. ‘But what if those pocket warships weren’t made to fight warships but outlast them?’

His Mako II had 300 tons of armor. If the pocket warship had equivalent armor tonnage, then they would be tough enough to outlast him and his two escorts. And if they held out for long enough, then the rest of ComStar’s fleet might be able to win against the rest of the fleet. 

‘Then we’ll just have to concentrate our fire.’

Then as the distance closed…

The destroyers on both sides opened fire. Missile pods rumbled as thousands of LRMs and Barracudas sped out.

“Free fire on all point defense!” he ordered. 

At least a thousand LRMs and some Barracudas came for him and his two escorts, and his Mako’s three dozen Large Lasers lashed out. Large Laser beams also lashed out from the other two Mako IIs. 

However, it was close to a hundred Large Lasers against a thousand missiles. Many punched through the point defense screen. 

His ship rumbled as close to a hundred LRM missiles and a few Barracudas struck all across his starboard.

“Report,” he ordered calmly. 

His ship rumbled, this time because it was his ships that were firing back. 

“Less than one percent loss of armor across the starboard hull, Kommandant,” one of his junior officers quickly reported. “Our heat is at 5%.”

Good. 

“Enemy has entered the range of our main guns.”

“Lock onto the closest pocket warship.”

He saw now that it was a refitted Overlord. 

He waited for the other two Mako IIs to get the lock as well and …

“Open fire.”

Eighteen NAC/25 and six NAC/20 fired at once and slammed into the pocket warship Overlord. 

The smaller NAC/25 shells exploded and sheared off armors and the slower but much more powerful NAC/20 shells slammed into the exposed hull. 

The shells detonated furiously with a punch that made the entire pocket warship swerve away from its intended heading and trajectory. Smoke and air spewed out of it … but it was not out of the fight. 

It and its friend fired back with what his warbooks labeled as “subcapital” weapons, and they struck hard.

Magdeburg immediately reported damage to its armor; her front starboard armor plates had fallen to 75% from that single volley.

‘Knew it,’ Hans thought to himself. ‘Those pocket warships were made specifically to distract and tie down superior warships.’

And what was happening to the rest of the fleet? 

He grimaced. 

The admiral’s destroyer was getting hammered by ComStar’s three Dante-class destroyers. She wouldn’t go down anytime soon but that was the only conclusion he could come to. Those destroyers were ignoring the other two Mako IIs in favor of taking out the admiral as quickly as possible. 

“Turn to the port side! Fire on the pocket warships as we go to reinforce the admiral!” 

All three Mako IIs made the turn quickly thanks to being frigates, and they unleashed another volley on the enemy pocket warships. 

This time, the Overlord went out in a series of explosions. The other pocket warship, also an Overlord, made an unexpected move. 

It began to speed up. 

Hans’ eyes widened. 

“Free fire on that Overlord! I want it taken out!” 

Everything facing the pocket warship fired. Large Lasers, NAC/20s, NAC/25s, and even the LRMs. 

The pocket warship punched through the assault … and slammed into the Kiel. It crashed into the warship’s rear thrusters and spun out of control. 

The Kiel spun out of control as well. 

“Kiel, regain control and join us later! Magdeburg, we continue!” 

Then their destroyer, the one with the admiral aboard, snapped in half with a fiery explosion.

“Shit,” he muttered. The rest of his bridge crew were also staring. “Get me in contact with the rest of the Makos!”

---

Precentor David Mahara stared wordlessly at the burning wreckage of the Lyran dog that dared to threaten ComStar’s rightful authority. 

“All destroyers, focus fire on Delta 1.”

As one, the highly well drilled ComGuard rotated the massive destroyers around and presented their broadside to the swift Lyran frigates firing on them. 

“Fire.”

Ninety naval autocannons and naval lasers roared out at once from all three ships, shaking his ship with their power. A few missed, but the vast majority of the hits struck closer Mako II, and it ruptured as the concentrated fire tore through the weak armor and hull.

He and the rest of ComGuard already knew that the Lyrans rushed their warship production, and despite having access to facilities that could make endosteel superstructure and ferrofibrous armor, they didn’t want to be left behind the other scavenged lords. Thus, they chose to use standard armor and standard aerospace grade steel for their warships. 

‘And this is just another proof that the scavenger lords are not suitable for the governance and administration of the Inner Sphere,’ he thought to himself as he watched the second volley from his three ships rip into the same Mako II that had tried to turn around to present its fresher port. 

Unfortunately, its structure had been damaged enough that when the second volley landed, the armor tore open and the weakened hull cracked wide open. Its innards of shells, humans, and metals spewed into the unforgiving void and tumbled away. 

The other Mako II flew away to join its three others. 

He frowned. 

The pocket warship Overlords got destroyed that quickly? 

… Well, he supposed that the Lyrans knew how to put on big enough weapons to soothe their ego. 

No matter. 

“We have a lock, precentor.”

“Fire.”

The destroyers opened fire on the retreating Mako II. Unfortunately, the targeting solution and the angle of the attack reduced the accuracy and number of guns that could fire, and only three-quarters of the attack did. 

The slower attacks, like the heavier NAC/35, outright missed, but all of the lasers struck. 

“Status of Delta 2?”

“Stripped armor along the rear but we are not seeing any significant hull dama-. Attack from the disabled frigate!” 

His ship shook as something struck it. 

With a glare, he turned to look at the holographic map and …

“The Mako we disabled still shot at us?” he huffed. “I’ll grant them the respect they deserve. To continue to shoot their guns even while the world collapses around them. Poetic. Loyal. And utterly wasted on the Commonwealth and their social generals. Order CSS Dawn Guard to put them out of their misery.”

There was a bleep on the thermal radar as the demi-precentor of Dawn Guard followed through with his command, and then another bleep on the said sensor as the final remnants of the broken hull of the Mako II erupted into conflagration. 

“Precentor, the Lyrans are retreating.”

Retreating? It was a smart move. Against three destroyers designed to gut anything lighter than them, the Lyran frigates didn’t stand a chance. If they were lucky, then they might take out one of the destroyers, but that was the most optimal result. 

David wanted to chase after them.

But he didn’t. 

It would not do or reflect well on a Precentor of his position to indulge in violence and destruction. 

“Let them go, but warn them that it was their folly that got ComStar involved in this war and we will not tolerate further incursions into the Terran Corridor! They and their fellow scavenger lords best get together to put an end to this meaningless war before ComStar puts an end to it for them.”

-VB-

Battle of Dieron

Commonwealth Navy vs. Com Guard First Fleet

Victory for Com Guard First Fleet

Losses

Commonwealth Navy:

1 Berlin-class Heavy Destroyer

1 Mako II-class Frigate

Com Guard First Fleet

2 Overlord-class pocket warship

-VB-

LIC Report: Battle of Dieron (3040)

Summary: 

… The Battle of Dieron (3040) proved three facts: the Mako II-class frigates are meant for system patrols and escort duties, ComStar possesses a naval power on par with each of the Successor States, and ComStar has military technology that surpasses the Capellan Confederation….