I carefully examined the assembled officers as they introduced themselves one by one. Most of them were human, but there were also several exotic, colorful faces among them. There were no obvious xenomorphs, but I did notice one Echani, as well as a Zabrak, a Wroonian, and a Kage.
Those were minor details, really. Reinforcements like these were a joy to behold. The Council hadn't been stingy—they had assigned me an entire flotilla, which, according to the latest guidelines, constituted a tactical ship group under the command of a line captain or a Jedi Knight. The number of ships in such a flotilla typically ranged from three to four cruisers or battleships, supported by six to ten corvettes or frigates.
The militia serving as infantry was a bit disappointing, though it still remained to be seen how well they were trained and equipped. But one hundred and fortyfour strike fighters —the predecessors of the "X-wing"—with experienced pilots were a real treat…
As the introductions continued, I listened closely—who they were, their names, what they commanded, and their explanations about the equipment—while also reviewing the data on my datapad. Sumeragi, standing behind me, was jotting things down on her own device.
"…First Lieutenant Macross Diody, Acclamator-class assault ship, Taidirium."
"…First Lieutenant Idian Pet, Acclamator-class assault ship, Bannager."
Look at that—what progress. They've already started naming the ships. I wasn't an innovator for long, apparently. And that name… familiar. I've seen it somewhere before. Right—those materials Rinaun gave me…
"Bannager?" I asked, just to be sure. "That wouldn't happen to be in honor of Lynx Bannager, admiral of the Republic fleet, would it?"
"Yes, sir!" The young officer looked genuinely surprised. "How did you—"
"I read about his maneuver at Marlev-Four in 998," I replied. That clearly earned me a few points in his eyes.
He, like the second captain of the Acclamator, was a human roughly my age. In fact, most of the officers here were no older than thirty. The ships themselves were even younger—brand-new, fresh off the slipways. The only exceptions were the corvettes; those had already seen action.
"…Second Lieutenant O'Hara… Zoll Lind… Allisha Retana… Boz Rindi…"
Judging by their brief dossiers, these were the commanders of four CR90 corvettes. Retana was a Wroonian; the rest were human. But, as I'd already noted, that wasn't particularly important.
These reliable little ships hailed from Corellia and had previously served in the Denon fleet. Each corvette measured about one hundred and fifty meters in length and forty meters in beam, with a crew of fifty sentient beings. A Class 2 hyperdrive, combined with an operational autonomy ranging from three months to a full year, made them highly attractive to planetary governments, and thousands of such vessels plied the galaxy. Their armament was respectable as well. Three of the ships carried two twin turbolaser cannons and four laser cannons, while the fourth was equipped with four missile-torpedo launchers and twelve light twin laser cannons.
Midshipmen Fias Endel and Pooja Sperro—a human and a Keiji—commanded two aging Consular-class corvettes. Unlike the ones I'd encountered before, these were noticeably different. Heavier armor and sharper hull contours gave them a truly combat-ready look, and they had participated in dozens of skirmishes with pirates and smugglers over the past decade. Their engines had recently been replaced, but there hadn't been time to repaint the hulls, leaving them in their old red livery. The armament required no improvement — two medium turbolaser cannons mounted in a rotating turret on the corvette's 'hump,' and ten twin light blaster cannons positioned along the sides spoke for themselves.
What was it called…? Right, that modification was designed by Ranulph Tarkin a few years before Stark's Hyperspace War. The Invincible variant.
Second Lieutenants Vega Valcker, Tarllson Fallver, and Don T. Ray commanded three Pelta-class frigates—one medical frigate, one standard configuration, and one refitted for an "anti-aircraft" role.
Next came the pilots. Three squadrons of V-19 were staffed by clone pilots, while the 144 Z-95 fighters were flown by "militia"—former planetary defense force pilots.
There were two aviation colonels: Donno Shirainyu, a human, and Echani Soma Paris. Paris was a rather pretty, compact woman, standing about five feet tall. The Echani resemble humans—more accurately, they are a near-human species—but with paler skin, white hair, and silver irises.
Damn, something's tickling my memory… that's it! Because of the central role of martial arts in their culture, Echani generals possess a sort of "special talent" for predicting an opponent's movements. That was in one of the lectures, I think. Well then, this could turn out be very useful.
"How long have you been fighting?" I asked.
"In this war, from the very beginning," Paris replied calmly. "I have two hundred and six confirmed Vulture droid kills."
Well, I thought, that certainly explains the rank.
Their deputies were Lieutenant Colonel Niall DeClann and Major Windu Barvel. I blinked a couple of times, but the datapad confirmed it. Windu. Yes, indeed. Huh...
At that point, I focused on what Shirainyu was saying—and it was genuinely interesting and useful things. After all, the recent military reforms had affected not only the navy but also the air arm, which had now even been separated into its own branch. As a result, LAU(Light Aviation Units) were organized somewhat differently.
"…The smallest formation is a pair—the basic tactical unit in both fighter and assault aviation. The pair leader typically holds the rank of midshipman or lieutenant…"
"…A flight consists of two to four pairs and is commanded by a pilot with the rank of lieutenant or captain…"
"…A squadron consists of three to four flights and fields twelve fighters or bombers. Depending on its mission profile, the number of flight personnel alone can range from twelve to ninety-six pilots and gunners. In addition, a squadron includes several dozen support personnel and clones—mechanics, armorers, and so on. The squadron commander holds a rank of at least major…"
"…A group—also referred to as an air group or air regiment. At present, air groups are the largest LAU formations within the GAR. An air group consists of two air wings and fields anywhere from seventy-two to six hundred and forty fighters and/or bombers. The group is commanded by an officer with the rank of colonel or higher."
"So," I clarified, "we have two air groups with seventy-two birds each?"
"Yes, sir."
"And the characteristics of your aircraft?"
Colonel Paris stepped in.
"Z-95 strike fighter, Model Four. Manufactured by Incom and Subpro. Length: twelve meters. Wingspan: eleven. Crew: one pilot. Class 2 hyperdrive. Atmospheric speed: one thousand one hundred and fifty kilometers per hour. Autonomy: one standard day. Armament: two Taim & Bak KX5 laser cannons and two MG5 concussion missile launchers. Ammunition load: eight missiles. All craft were produced between five and seven years ago for the Denon Defense Force."