A pair of Tartan-class patrol cruisers were also present, waiting for clearance to dock and facing away from Gemmell's ships when they arrived. The two, small and speedy cruiser's engines came alight, as they accelerated away from the assailants and past the shipyard, in the direction of Jaemus, below. They would come about and form up, out of present firing range, warm their laser cannons and ready themselves to meet the Dreadnaught or whatever fighters that Gemmell would scramble.

Captain Heller of the Enforcer-class picket cruiser Marathon, on patrol approximately 45 minutes away from Jaemus with the cruiser Myrmidon, recieved a brief transmission from Moff Konig himself, ordering him to defend the shipyards and authorizing him (rather optimistically, Heller thought) to give chase to the Moff Council's ships, should they retreat in haste. Heller acknowledged the orders, had the Marathon and Myrmidon come about deliberately and jump to lightspeed.

He could only sigh as he sat on the bridge, watching the swirl of hyperspace outside and thinking to himself. For two months, he had recommended to the Politorate that they invest in fortifying the most distant Pentastar Alignment worlds, such as, especially, Jaemus. It was only a matter of time before the Republic or, in this case, the Moff Council moved against them, and if Heller's advice had been followed, the planet would have been able to hold its own by now. The Councilors that Heller had spoken to had sympathized with his concerns, but said they couldn't propose new defense measures until they had reviewed Moff Konig's "centralization" plan, which was much talked about but still not forthcoming.

Oh well. What's done is done, or rather, what isn't done isn't done. Heller had only one concern before him now: defending the shipyards at Jaemus. He looked at his wrist chrono. 41 minutes. He ordered a diagnostics scan of the Marathon, its shields, weapons, and varied systems, and ordered pilots to the hangar and all hands to battlestations.

Pentastar Alignment Forces
2 Golan I Defense Platforms
2 Tartan-class Patrol Cruisers
Various Turbolasers on the Shipyards

(en route, 41 minutes)
2 Enforcer-class Picket Cruisers

Clive Winston Heller
Captain of the Marathon
The Galactic Empire

Of course, deflector shields were no obstacle for proton torpedoes. Particle shields were, but were also an obstacle to any physical object, including the TIE Interceptors and Bombers that the Star Destroyer―indeed, all of Gemmell's ships―were now launching from their hangars. Thus, the Golan waited until the Star Destroyer deployed its fighters, as expected, deduced that its particle shields were down, at least partially, and loosed several vollies of proton torpedoes (deadly accurate, at this proximity). It would fire at least 56 of them before the ship could possibly displace its shields again, each one, upon impact, exploding in a concentrated, directional blast that was certain to tear through armor, durasteel, and several floors inside the ship.

The Golan's own shields were already reaching critical, and its commanding officer began ordering the selective evacuation of personnel; the engineers, controllers, support crews, and so on, keeping the turrets manned for the time being but watching the shields closely.

Meanwhile, the shipyards noticed the other two Star Destroyers descending upon them and, realizing their H9 turbolasers alone would do no appreciable damage, they hastily devised a plan. It had become apparent that Gemmell's ships were using the shipyards as cover from the other Golan, which sat ready, but dormant without a line of fire. The word was quickly spread, to slave all of the tractor beams on the shipyards through traffic control, so that they could all be operated in unison, from one console. Thus, a significant number of tractor beams were trained quickly on the smaller of the two Star Destroyers (the Imperial-II), the combined mass of the whole shipyard proving sufficient to slow the ship and, eventually, stop it altogether.

The tractor beams began to move the Star Destroyer farther up and away from the yards themselves, into the other Golan platform's line of fire, while the Rage continued on its course and barraged the yards. The Tartans made use of their agility, however, making evasive maneuvers, then disappearing on the opposite side of the docks (much as Gemmell's ships did with the Golan). There, sheltered from the Rage's turbolasers, they would again form up, circle around the shipyards and come about behind the Rage, in the midst of her TIE Interceptors and Bombers, and concentrating their fire on them. The 48 TIE Fighters from the Golans had also joined the fray at this point, doing their best against the comparably more nimble Interceptors, but having some success against the Bombers.

Summary
The first of the Golan platforms returns fire, but continues to be damaged. It fires a volley of proton torpedoes at the nearest Star Destroyer, whose particle shields are displaced to deploy its fighters. The platform is partially evacuated, continues firing on the ISD and the Dreadnaught. At the shipyards, tractor beams are used to maneuver the ISD-II into the second Golan platform's line of fire, and the Tartans circle around the shipyards and behind the Rage, engaging the TIE's along with 48 TIE Fighters from the Golans, now joining the battle. Heller and his Enforcers are 36 minutes away.

Clive Winston Heller
Captain of the Marathon
The Galactic Empire

Once the Star Destroyer Tarkin was within sight of the second Golan, it quickly acquired targeting solutions and also, importantly, added its own tractor beams to the array, which all maneuvered the Tarkin both closer to the Golan and facing away from it, so that few, if any, of the ship's turbolasers could be brought to bear upon it. The Golan―designated Kaiserpfalz―was also relatively safe from the good old Rage's guns, considering that the other vessel was firing through considerable debris, presumably with poor accuracy, and anything but direct, sustained fire on a Golan would be unlikely to significantly impair its shields. Thus, Kaiserpfalz directed the entirety of its turbolasers and proton torpedoes, for the time being, on the Tarkin, particularly its engine block and superstructure.

The Tartans, however, were far less discriminating with their fire. They, like the TIE's they targeted, flew as close to the shipyards as they could do so safely (considering the TIE Bombers were dropping ordnance on the docks, and that the entire shipyards were being subjected to punishing turbolaser fire, and that they were indeed buckling significantly under the competing pressures of its tractor beams on the Tarkin, the Tartans and also Gemmell's TIE's could only fly so close to them without colliding or being hit with something). The Tartans, thus, enjoyed considerable success against the fighters, their tight, swarming formations proving especially convenient for the cruisers to simply plow through them, as well as firing their laser cannons with little regard for the shipyards below (or even for their own, friendly TIE Fighters, which were, at times, difficult to distinguish from Gemmell's). With none of the capital ships apparently targeting them, the Tartans' task of thinning out the hostile fighters became a rather simple one.

The shipyards, although sustaining significant damage, were still, as of this moment, largely intact; its H9 dual turbolasers, situated throughout the complex, continued to fire on the Rage, the Tarkin and, insofar as they realistically could, the TIE's as well. However, much of the deflector shields had now been overwhelmed, exposing the docks and infrastructure to direct fire. Many of the ships in its docks, in various states of construction, had already been disabled by ion cannon fire, but there were still some instances in which gunners, and even construction workers, engineers and mechanics, were able to man the turbolasers, quad lasers, and ion cannons of partially constructed Enforcer cruisers and train them on their assailants, especially the TIE's.

It did not bode well for the shipyards, but they were by no means finished yet.

"Sir? Transmission from the Indelible. It's a civilian yacht with an official transponder."

"Put it through," Heller said, correcting the despondent slouch in his posture as the transmission was patched through to the bridge. The Marathon could not be "approached," of course, as it was in hyperspace, but the transmission was recieved (albeit with some considerable interference). He was surprised to hear from Victor Mallix, of all people, but he had to admire the Director's enthusiasm, and he smiled in genuine amusement at the "escort" remark.

Heller hadn't met Mallix, but he'd heard of him; the Captain made a point of staying informed on the hierarchy of the Pentastar Alignment, but he didn't have to be, to hear of the first nonhuman advisor to Ardus Kaine (Heller's father-in-law, posthumously). He seemed to recall that Mallix was also generally well regarded, in his role as Director of Economics, in the year since Kaine's death. Heller, on patrol in the most distant reaches of the Alignment, had not yet recieved Mallix's letter to him. Perhaps, he considered, he could have a word with Mallix when this was over, regarding his recommendation to fortify Jaemus and other remote worlds.

"Thank you, Director," he responded, with genuine appreciation in his voice, "But the situation at Jaemus may be dangerous, even untenable, and you shouldn't be put at undue risk." He looked at his wrist chrono again. 29 minutes. "Perhaps," he continued, "When we've assessed the situation and deemed it secure, we can signal you?"

Summary
The first Golan platform fires its remaining 24 torpedoes at the Jubilant, and explodes thereafter. The second Golan platform―Kaiserpfalz―adds its tractor beams to the others, pulling the Star Destroyer Tarkin closer, and concentrating all of its available fire on it (largely ignoring the good ship, Rage). The Tartans enjoy considerable success against the TIE's. The shipyards remain largely intact, although most of their deflector shields have just now been overwhelmed, leaving them vulnerable (but not defenseless, as the turbolasers and some guns from Enforcers are fired on the assailants). Heller and his Enforcers are 29 minutes away.

Clive Winston Heller
Captain of the Marathon
The Galactic Empire

Free range was soon over for Kaiserpfalz, however, as the Mens Mentis arrived shortly thereafter, forcing the Golan to divide its fire between the two ships (though it remained concentrated, primarily, on the Tarkin). The task also became complicated when a vulnerable wing of the shipyards, already buckling from the competing pressures of the tractor beams and the punishment from the Rage and now the Jubilant and, presumably, the Tarkin, finally came apart with a shudder that tore the structure in half, spewing debris and white clouds of oxygen into space. The combined array of tractor beams labored to maintain their grip on the Tarkin with the structural integrity of the yards now compromised, and reactors began exploding throughout the complex.

Power went down to a number of the projectors, and the tractor lock was lost. The Tarkin was free, except from Kaiserpfalz's 6 tractor beams, which bound the two together (for what it was worth; although comparable in mass, the Kaiserpfalz had no ability to maneuver and would, thus, at best act as a drag on the Tarkin and hinder its maneuvers, as well as, of course, the presumed damage to the Star Destroyer's engines).

The effect of the Tartans on the TIE's, meanwhile, could not be overstated. Considering the combined 40 laser cannons designed specifically to destroy starfighters, and the shipyard becoming quickly inundated with small debris harmless to the Tartans' shields but deadly to the small, unshielded TIE's, and considering also that the TIE's seemed to make no effort to combat or evade the Tartans, a significant number of them would be destroyed under the circumstances. The Jubilant changed the equation, somewhat, but the Tartans continued to rely on their vastly superior speed and agility to frustrate the larger, slower Dreadnaught's guns.

Heller and his Enforcers were 23 minutes away.

Clive Winston Heller
Captain of the Marathon
The Galactic Empire

It didn't explode, as the other Golan had, but was instead blown asunder into chunks of durasteel debris that would, in the coming hours, plummet from their orbit and disintegrate in Jaemus's atmosphere. The shipyards, which were far larger, didn't fare quite as badly. They were, as aforementioned, inundated with debris and clouds of frozen oxygen, broken scaffolding and the corpses of crew, and every one of its Enforcer-class cruisers under construction had been either destroyed, disabled, or otherwise rendered inoperable. Entire dry docks had been blown free from the complex, though thankfully enough tractor beams were still operable to keep them in place, useless though they were. If the Jaemus shipyards would ever recover from this assault, it would surely take months, if not a year or more.

The Tartans, which had, in contrast, been relatively unscathed in the battle thus far, did not fall for the TIE's trap. They valued their lives and knew they wouldn't last long against a Dreadnaught, and thus kept on the move and stayed clear of its guns (except for the occasional pot shots at the assembled TIE's, which wouldn't have much effect from this distance).

Meanwhile, Heller and his Enforcers were 16 minutes away.

Added (18 Jul 2009, 11:28 Pm)
---------------------------------------------
The Tarkin was significantly damaged; the first 38 proton torpedoes from the Kaiserpfalz (combined with the Golan's turbolaser fire, before it was destroyed of course) were sufficient to overwhelm the Star Destroyer's shields, despite having been concentrated to the ship's stern. 9 torpedoes missed the Tarkin completely, while the rest (33 of them) connected on, variously, its hull, superstructure, and engines. In fact, the engines would fare the worst, since they made rather conspicuous targets and their blast shields had not been closed.

Two of the Tarkin's massive "Destroyer-I" ion engines were shattered, blackened, and rendered inoperable, as well as two of its smaller "Gemon-8" drives on the starboard end of the engine block. The Star Destroyer would still have enough propulsion to accelerate, rather sluggishly, but would lose most of its control and veer to starboard if it did so. The rest of the torpedoes hit the rear of the superstructure, punching holes through its hull and penetrating meters within it, but nothing especially debilitating except for a significant loss of life.

The Rage and the Mens Mentis presumably broke off their (already rather successful) pummelling of the shipyards in order to maneuver themselves, hastily, beside the Tarkin and steady the damaged ships with their combined tractor beams. This left the shipyards to their own devices; sporadic fire from the docks, and the heavily damaged vessels therein, continued to lance toward Gemmell's ships, but mostly splashed harmlessly against their shields. Heller and his Enforcers were 10 minutes away.

Clive Winston Heller
Captain of the Marathon
The Galactic Empire