Fighter screens, missile reserves, and delayed sensor reports

In Stand Defiant, Walking Stick keeps his starfighters roughly a light-second ahead of the main fleet to screen incoming missiles without committing them to a separate fighter battle. A victory in that duel would still cost fighters he does not need to lose. Clearing orbital mines has depleted his missile stocks, leaving too few for speculative shots at extreme range. Wider sensor-drone spacing could reveal what the opposing fleet is hiding, but the drones no longer have their instantaneous quantum links. With the fleets still 97 million kilometres apart, he accepts another five seconds of reporting delay to obtain a broader view.