Saga of the Bridgers-Year 6

Chapter 34: Depths of Byss

December 10, 2226.

The imperial offensive had started well, though not as much as Iulius had hoped. The Commonwealth had turned out to be much more organized than anticipated, and had put up a flexible resistance on D'Qar, using hit-and-run tactics both on the surface and in the orbit. D'Qar was made up almost entirely of forests and jungles, and it hosted a population of over a billion souls who hated the Empire and were still fighting. Iulius had to set with just leaving the planet after destroying the Commonwealth's forces. After all, that planet was secondary, and even if Iulius now had all the resources the Empire could give him, that didn't mean that he could afford to leave a garrison on every single world.

Vader had had more success, if anything because the fleets of the Commonwealth ran at the mere sight of the Executor, avoiding a confrontation at all costs. The imperials had some Immobilizer cruisers waiting in reserve, but Iulius intended to use them only when there were the conditions for a decisive battle, otherwise the rebels might decided that they would have to avoid a confrontation at all costs.

And what was worse: all this time was spent just to overcome a buffer. Most of the rebel forces were positioned along the Corellian Run, while they only deployed a couple of skirmish groups in that area of their space.

They needed to move the situation, and quickly. Which meant it was time to give Captain Octis a chance to prove his theory.

A fascinating theory, to be honest. Iulius had considered his campaign on Mandalore his masterpiece of improvisation, but that was it: improvisation. Even he didn't expect such an overwhelming success at Taris, and from that point on, it was all about seizing the opportunity that appeared in front of him, just like Thrawn had taught him. But truth be told, if the fights on Mandalore had lasted more than three rotations, Iulius' forces would have ended up exhausted.

Octis instead had presented a logical way by which a new tactic could have been invented and adopted to counter a guerrilla war like the one Iblis was waging.

For testing this strategy, the asteroids of Vergesso were certainly going to prove a valuable ground. The Commonwealth had set up several logistic bases hidden on the bigger bodies of the system. They might have been difficult to navigate, but that made them also difficult to strike for any aggressor, especially one that usually made use of massive ships like the Empire.

Iulius had wanted Octis to strike a major one but not too much inside the system, not wanting the raiders to risk too much. After all, he had given him some of his most experienced crews for this task.

However, the young Captain seemed sure that this attack could take out the main space station at the heart of the system. There was a confidence that reminded Iulius of himself and Thrawn whenever facing apparently impossible odds, so he had decided to trust him.

Now Iulius was waiting patiently on the bridge of the Admonitor while looking at the holo-table. Around the Star Destroyer were a formation of three Victory-II, seven Vindicator and five Raider ships. Leading this formation was the Tidal Wind, the Victory-II assigned to Octis.

"Admonitor to Tidal Wave. What's your status, over?" he calmly asked.

"This is the Tidal Wave, we're ready to move."

Iulius then moved to the vice-commander of the maneuver. "Squad two, are you ready?"

"This is the Minder, we're ready to move." the voice of Senior-Commander Ciena Ree replied.

With the High Command finally rid of the bureaucrats who had tried to hamper the 101st out of spite, Iulius had finally achieved the promotion for his most trusted officer, and now she was in command of a Vindicator frigate, leading the escort groups of the 101st. This was going to be her first battle as commander of her own ship.