2316, Decapitation Operation (Part 1)
Only a little over 400 Imperial capital ships had managed to escape the battlefield on Naboo, most of them Imperial-class Star Destroyers and Imperial II-class Star Destroyers. More than 300 cruiser-class warships had escaped as well. These small and medium-sized vessels were even more vulnerable against Consul-class aircraft carriers. If most of the interceptor drones had not later shifted to attacking the Lusankaya Executor-class Super Star Destroyer, perhaps not a single one of those cruisers would have made it back.
This was now the entirety of Kira planet's forces. Combined with the armed space stations that had already been ravaged once by those 60 Calamity-class battlecruisers, Kira planet's defenses were now riddled with holes.
Michel Angser had already resolved to live and die with Kira planet.
He understood better than anyone that if he did not die in battle here, he would still die once the disgraceful defeat came down upon him—and his death would be utterly humiliating. He might be convicted of dereliction of duty, or even treason. In any case, every bit of blame for this defeat would be placed on his head.
The Imperial military had always been a result-oriented bureaucratic organization. So long as there was a defeat, someone had to bear responsibility for it.
Michel Angser wrote a lengthy battle report, compiling everything he had encountered in this campaign. This included the Stargate's extreme mobility, the Divinity-class battleships, the Consul-class aircraft carriers, the improved Particle Beam Lances, and the Heavy Cruisers confirmed to be called Minotaur-class, whose combat power rivaled that of Victory II-class Star Destroyers.
He believed that the Galactic Empire's warships were now generations behind those of the Duchy of Dawn. Not only had the gap failed to narrow, it was continuing to widen. This war had to