Battle of the Drones
Chardaan Planet, outer space. Amid violent flashes of white light, several hundred warships appeared.
However, they had emerged at an extremely distant position—fifteen light-minutes from Chardaan Planet. It was a distance that made it clear they had no intention of exchanging artillery fire.
Wilhuff Tarkin stood on the Death Star's bridge, staring at the incoming fleet with a deeply furrowed brow.
"Are these Separatist monkeys insulting me?" he asked, looking at the images on the holographic tactical star map.
There were indeed many incoming ships, but aside from twenty golden, sleek, magnificent carriers, every other vessel was an extremely rudimentary type of warship.
Wilhuff Tarkin knew these ships all too well. They were among the Fourth Empire's most numerous warships—the Grey Horse-class escort carrier!
The Fourth Empire was particularly fond of deploying these cheap and practical carriers in its escort fleets. As military-industrial technology continued to advance, their performance had steadily improved as well.
Of course, this carrier's greatest strengths were, first, its low cost, and second, the fact that as fighter technology continued to improve, the Grey Horse-class escort carrier's combat effectiveness rose along with the new fighters it carried.
And this time, there were a full six hundred Grey Horse-class escort carriers outside Chardaan Planet!
Only one ship in this fleet stood apart from the rest—the Endless-class Super Carrier, Eternity.
Wilhuff Tarkin's expression darkened. He spoke slowly. "Enter combat readiness immediately! Launch all fighter squadrons! The fighters are not to leave the Death Star's defensive perimeter. Conduct all combat within the Deflector Shield!"
"Yes, sir!"
An officer from the weapons systems department came over and asked, "General, should we begin navigational calculations for the hyperspace jump?"
"Yes." Wilhuff Tarkin revealed a vicious smile. "Let those Separatist scum see what truly cannot be stopped."
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