1) You have the ability to determine a formation your fleet should travel in on the campaign layer. Simple drag & drop handling, maybe it could replace the current fleet screen. The formation determines where and in what order ships enter battle. Ships are very far apart due to collision danger/ travel drive properties.
2) Transition between campaign and combat would appear seamless, the camera zooms in when you touch the bubble of another fleet.
3) The two bubbles merge and form the combat area. The ships enter it with travel mode which they can turn off but don't have to. Ships in travel mode (orange exhaust) are extremely vulnerable, sluggish and cannot turn off their drives without delay. Their sensor range is drastically reduced. Features of the campaign layer can be found on the combat map.
4) The enemy and any stationary objectives are not visible. Only the general direction of the greatest enemy concentration can be detected with long range sensors. Thus scouting is important, it is possible to enter with big ships first but they would fly blind.
5) The battle expands. Ships that leave the designated combat area start to enlarge it. Further reinforcements can use their travel drives to get close to the battle since they have sensor data from allies.
6) A skirmish that strays too far from the main battle gets a separate bubble.
7) After one of the parties in a bubble has been defeated it transforms back into a travel bubble. Ships in it a recommended to engage the travel drive (starts faster in here) and head back to the main battle.
8 ) The inferior enemy starts to retreat. The cruiser holds back pursuers while the hammerhead turns and activates the travel drive. Further reinforcements turn around before arriving on the battlefield.
9) The heroic cruiser continues to hold of pursuers while its allies escape. Without that protection it would be very dangerous to go to travel mode, it takes time during which a ship is very vulnerable. Alternatives would be to get outside the enemy sensor range or maybe hide in some nebula before activating it.
10) The cruiser is history and the two fleets are in their own bubbles again. The camera starts to zoom out into the campaign map
11) The view returns to the normal campaign map, the controls return to point&click. Distance that has been traveled in battle has been traveled on the campaign layer.