The depot us brass had chosen to use for this meeting was full with the military leadership of the revolt. From the Admiralty came seven Admirals, though half were joining us through holotransmission, and some forty Commodores, half of which were my fellow Republic officers, though more than half of the squadron commanders were joining us through holotransmission. From our ground forces we had Lieutenant General Krugwolt, two Brigadier Generals from the Corps and an additional thirty nine Colonels of the various Volunteer regiments within the command, thank goodness we were able to leave out the various Brevet Colonels of the Garrison Regiments, because then we’d have an additional thirty three trench diggers comming in from their current locations.

  Then we had the outliers, Major General Bvinsk and his second, Colonel Istris, of the Logistical department, Colonel Green of the intelligence network we had yet to re-formalize into a proper organization, Captain General Ackbar, the highest ranking Mon Cala officer, General Kota, who had arrived in the nick of time for this meeting, and the Minister of defense from Targonn.

  It was … quite a few people in all honesty and we were lucky that all of us had military rank drilled into us since joining so that something could actually get done. The past hour had been spent on codifying our bylaws and rules of operation while convened and I was itching to grab my flask from my tunic.

  “I hereby open this meeting of Flag officers from our Coalition.” Fleet Admiral Benoni says neutrally, his seniority having gained him the position of speaker within the military council, “A new oath of loyalty has been prepared for us all to take as opposed to the traditional oaths taken before the grave of Admiral Pradeux or those given to the states and polities we once served. Admiral Dericote has the floor.”

  I stand straighter before speaking: “I would thank you all for coming here. Each of you has been given a copy of the oath we are about to swear, understand this oath is to supersede any previous oaths to the Republic while being an equal to those of your polities and peoples. We are not imposing this upon anyone and do not expect it for anyone other than an officer of sufficient standing as decided by your respective polities, or in the case that none such polities exist, your superior officers with permission to bring any complaints or objections about this to a tribunal of our peers. Any questions?”

  There’s a moment of silence before it is broken by one of Sykes’s Commodores: “What if the Empire surrenders?”

  “Then we ensure their surrender is so complete that they may never again threaten a world’s existence.” Admiral Slocum answers from his distant flagship.

  “Any further questions or objections?” I ask into the room.

  I am met by silence. The Empire had already robbed too many of us of friends or terrified us with its threats. We had all already made our decision. All that remained was to put it to words. I take the offered long sheet of parchment. A quick motion unfolds it so I can read the text.

  “Then repeat after me. I, Thraken Owen Luke Davafid Rend Dericote, being of sound mind and body, swear the following as spoken by my peer.”

  A moment where the room follows, over a hundred voices repeating my words like scripture.

  “Considering that the Empire has been established through immoral and illegal means as of the Republic constitution of 7955 Coruscant Reckoning Calendar, primarily through the use of the emergency powers and the breach of promises made by the Supreme Chancellor, that we shall bring about a regeneration of public order, maintain the true principles of the Republic of old, that nothing shall prevent us from continuing to do so, and that the Rebel Coalition, the continuation of the Republic and Confederate dreams, shall exist wherever its members are gathered.

  “We swear to never separate until and if splintered reassemble whenever and wherever circumstances require until the Empire surrenders to satisfactory conditions set by the Council, or, if re-established, by a combined body made of the Republic and Confederate Senates. We reaffirm that this oath having been worn, that all members and each one individually confirm this unwavering resolution with our respective signatures, be they given this day at the bottom of this page, or later in ceremony.

  “Down with the Empire.”

  A hundred voices, rage, grief, determination, hope, all mixed together into a wall of noise. Morphing from the call of action to the cheers of those who know they are damned and go into hell smiling.

  I roll the parchment out on a table in the center and take an offered pen we had … borrowed from a Calamari ceremony master.

  Benoni can barely be heard as I put pen to paper: “WE NOW CALL A SHORT RECESS TO SIGN THE DOCUMENT: ONCE DONE WE SHALL RECONVENE AND MOVE ON TO MORE MATERIAL MATTERS.”

  A series of practiced swirls from ages past, a Fondorian star above the “i”, the High Galactic Script staining the neat aurebesh script upon the parchment with its pretentiousness. I step back and hand the pen off to Hatha who signs it next as I admire the room. If only the martyrs of Coruscant could see this.

  “So then, we come to the primary purpose of this meeting. The reorganization of our forces.” Fleet Admiral Benoni says, bringing us out from our recess, parchment and oath taken away to be copied and distributed among our fleets and strewn across the holonet and shadowfeed remnants under our control.

  “First things first, we should recognize our former military contracts and coordinate our records of our paystubs. If we do run out of credits we can at least figure out what everyone is owed then.” Bvinsk says.

  “Plus add backpay for the Clones. I’ve been keeping an eye on what my men were owed, even if the Kaminoans stopped us from actually paying them.” I add.

  “Should we really be rewarding the Clones after what so many of them have done?” Admiral Raddus asks.

  “Do you want to treat them the same as the Empire does then?” Krugwolt shoots back.

  “We’ll put it to a vote.” Benoni decides, “Since I believe we just had two flag officers second the motion, even if it was indirectly as well as had a counter argument. All in favor?”

  R4 quickly counts up the raised hands with a scan of the room.

  “All opposed?” Benoni asks again, R4 repeating the action before projecting the decision for all to see, “Very good. Eighty percent in favor, eighteen percent opposed, two percent withholding their vote. Old contracts will be continued and retroactive pay be applied to the Clones, their contracts to give them appropriate pay from here on. Now, onto the formations.”

  “The 9th Irregular will be re-activated, as previously discussed between myself, Admiral Sykes and Rear Admiral Luxerite. To be rechristened the 1st Loyalist Fleet.” I begin.

  “Mon Cala wishes for an allied fleet consisting of our eighteen original retrofitted Star Cruisers, Dornean gunships and any other elements that can be spared.” Raddus says.

  “Would anyone volunteer to join this new Fleet?” Benoni asks.

  “I would volunteer my battle capable ships to the formation.” Hatha says, “Let it act in recompense for our actions over Dac. Show we can cooperate and forge new bonds of camaraderie.”

  “Any objections?” Benoni asks as he glances at Ackbar and Raddus.

  “None.” Raddus says, “We look forward to working alongside the Vice Admiral.”

  “And Dornea is willing?” Benoni presses.

  High Commodore A’baht of the Dornean Defense Fleet rises from his seat: “We are.”

  “Then the 3rd Allied Fleet shall henceforth be commanded by Fleet Admiral Raddus of Mon Cala, seconded by Vice Admiral Hatha of the Neimoidian people, with High Commodore A’baht as the third in command.” Benoni double checks.

  “Yes, sir.” The three officers says.

  “Sy Myrth wishes for her current Fleet to be recognized.” The Sy Myrthian representative, the Commodore I had hauled from Trasemene says.

  “Anyone opposed?”

  The room remains silent, though I do catch various frowns from among the ranks.

  “Very well.” Benoni says, “Next we have the promotion of Commodore Praut to discuss alongside the possible activation of a new formation.”

  “Do we really need this?” Ackbar asks, “No disrespect to the Commodore present, their service over Mon Cala is commendable as is their service throughout the war, but should we really be promoting a new Admiral in times like these?”

  “I believe the Commodore has earned the rank. It should also allow us to run the considered formation.” I reply.

  A moment of silence before Benoni gestures for the Commodore themselves to speak, which they do with gusto: “My fellow officers, I would gladly accept the task being discussed. Though there may be more … politically advantageous people we could promote, my expertise lies with battleships, which few others who have not been promoted to Admiral already, can claim truthfully.”

  “Very well. Any objections?” Benoni says.

  “I am uncertain if we even need a heavy rapid response formation if we already have the 1st Loyalist.” Admiral Slocum, of the Sith Cordon’s 17th ‘Wardens’ Battlegroup, speaks up.

  “The 1st will either be conducting many a raid into Imperial occupied space or be defending the front line.” I reply, “Not to mention she has but seven proper battleships at this time. Better to have a heavy force for emergencies.”

  “Is a reply wished?” Benoni asks, receiving silence in return, “Very well. All in favor of the promotion of Commodore Praut to Rear Admiral and the formation of a fifteen battleship and fifteen picket strong response force?”

  Various hands are raised which R4 counts in the blink of an eye. She quickly notes down the results as the second phase of raised hands begin. Finally she hands them over to Benoni beside her.

  “Results are in. seventy five percent in favor, twenty percent against, five percent withholding judgment. Congratulations then, Rear Admiral Praut, we of the Admiralty hereby award you command of the now formed 1st Heavy Reserve Squadron consisting of the 28th Battleship and 99th Battleship Sections alongside the newly activated 138th Battleship Section. May you serve your post well.”

  “Thank you, sir.” The recently minted Rear Admiral replies with a bow of their head.

  It was a good thing that Praut finally got their well deserved promotion. For one, it meant another skilled officer able to make more of an impact with the autonomy the rank of Admiral gave. On the flip side of the chit, Praut was both a Republic loyalist and someone who owed much of their experience and their most recent promotion to me. I hope we can stay above the factionalism which plagued the Republic and later the Imperial military, Maker knows the factions within Republic Intelligence had stooped to murder more than a few times, but it was better to start stacking the deck in my favor for when things grew beyond the small cadre of officers we had here.

  After all, many of the forces under the joint command here were locals. In fact, almost a quarter of the total forces at our disposal were Merchant Fleet, with a fifth being former Separatist and a sixth being the various customs fleets that had their prestige returned by their planets openly naming the their defense fleets once more.

  Though I doubt the defense fleets would actually see much action unless things went very wrong.

  …

  Maker I hope it doesn’t go wrong.

  “- are the six systems we must defend as choke-points.” Benoni finishes listing the planets in question.

  “My 208th is more than willing to take up our former post at Jubilar.” Commodore Jim says.

  “Any objections?” Benoni asks, “Very well. Commodore Jim shall protect the southern and eastern approaches from Jubilar.”

  “I’ll be willing to take Pakuuni, after all I had to run supplies there more than a few times during the war.” Commodore Bwisue says.

  “Any objections?” Benoni asks again, “Very well. Commodore Bwisue’s 725th Outer Rim Squadron shall oversee the defense of the Overic Griplink from Pakuuni.”

  “I hate to say it, but we’ll need to start separating formations from the Fleets now.” I say into the room. It was very annoying that Abelard had stuck with the Empire, he would have done very well at any of the Ash Worlds chokepoints.

  “Then I would request Admiral Slocum oversee the defense of Wyndigal as it is the second most likely point of Imperial entry.” Benoni recommends.

  “The Wardens will do Wyndigal proud.” Slocum says with a grin, “As long as we have permission to be preemptive in … dissuading any Imperial buildup in the Auril Sector and Cronese Mandate.”

  “Only that we should include the Beldorone Sector.” I say.

  “Aggressive.” Rear Admiral Baraka’s hologram adds. The Mon Calamari had served in the Republic Navy along the Corellian Run and retired after the Clone Wars had officially ended. From what I had gathered he had taken over the overseeing of the Merchant Fleet retrofits over Hast and then captained the Pride of Ruisto. He was a shoe-in for command of whatever force ended up defending Dellalt.

  “We need aggression to keep the Imps off balance.” I counter.

  “Not against it, simply stating my observation, Fleet Admiral.” The Mon Calamari says.

  “Any objections to the new proposal?” Benoni asks, “Excellent. Admiral Slocum, begin preparations to make for Wyndigal.”

  “It will be my pleasure.”

  “Next we need someone to ensure the defense of Handooine and Trasemene, they and whoever ends up in command of the defense of Jabiim will need to be willing to collaborate. They will also likely be coming to one another’s aide in case of an assault on one of their positions as well as being the first to react and aide in the defense of Sy Myrth should it come under assault.”

  “I would be willing.” Hatha says, “Assuming the 3rd Fleet doesn’t have too much need of me.”

  “The third will be stationed at Mon Cala.” Raddus says while stroking his chin, “No objections. We can revisit the deployment of Vice Admiral Hatha’s forces once we have another squadron or three on hand to take over his duties.”

  “Any further objections?” Benoni asks, “Good. Vice Admiral Hatha and the 108th Battlegroup will defend both fortresses of Handooine and Trasemene. Next would be Jabiim.”

  “I’ll do it.” Kota volunteers, “I’ll need more ships of the line, but I’ll do it.”

  “Does he even qualify?” The Sy Myrthian Commodore asks, “No disrespect meant, Master Jedi, but us from the Confederacy were left to understand the Jedi were Generals.”

  “We were- are.” Kota says, “That doesn’t mean we also didn’t command battles in space. Many Navy elements were directly attached to Clone units, or in my case, my Volunteer Corps. That said, I’ll still need more ships, unless you think a beaten Venator and two corvettes are enough.”

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  “Dornea will willingly provide a section of Braha’tok gunships for the General.” High Commodore A’baht says.

  “Mon Cala shall provide the next two retrofitted Star Cruisers to Jabiim’s defense.” Ackbar adds.

  “I think there’s a few Dreadnoughts the Empire paid for up for grabs, though they still need some crew.” I throw in my two chits.

  “Crew should be easy enough. I had to leave some contacts behind, but give me a few weeks and I should have a thousand or two men available to crew the things.” Kota says.

  “Then General Kota shall henceforth be awarded the 800th Outer Rim Squadron, its final composition to be decided once the manpower and ships are available.” Benoni exclaims, “Any objections? No? Wonderful.”

  “Ironic that a Jedi shall defend Jabiim.” I hear Krugwolt mutter with a chuckle before being shushed by a Colonel of his.

  “That leaves Dellalt.” Benoni says.

  “I would happily take command.” Rear Admiral Baraka says.

  “Mon Cala shall willingly provide the ships.” Ackbar says.

  “As will the Republic.” Bvinsk says.

  “Then the 637th Outer Rim Squadron shall be reactivated and be awarded to Rear Admiral Baraka for the defense of Dellalt and possible seizure of Caluula. Any objections?” Benoni asks, “None. Wonderful, see to the reorganization of the 3rd Allied Fleet now that the Pride of Ruisto is no longer within her, Fleet Admiral Raddus.”

  “Will do, the King Lee-Char should be available to take up the slack in a few days.” Raddus offers.

  “Make sure to update the register once it is so.” Benoni reminds, “Now then, the Army.”

  Krugwolt takes center stage: “I would greatly enjoy it if we managed to promote various officers today. While tradition states that excluding the overall commander of the formation and, usually, their second, a formation larger than a Regiment is to have its constituent Colonels make up its upper officer Corps, I would request we improve upon this by moving this structure up to the Brigade level, that is, instead of one Brigadier General within a Division, to have two alongside the expected Major General.”

  “Inquiry!” A young faced Commodore of the Cordon Fleet interjects before being motioned to speak, “Didn’t we have Colonels command Brigades in the past?”

  “That was out of necessity and the negligence of the administration.” Krugwolt informs, “Promotions were far slower than they should have been for the Volunteers and slower still for the Garrison troopers.”

  “Thank you.” The Commodore says.

  “I have a list of officers who deserve their promotions, the brigades they would oversee within the two Corps available, the various officers who should have been promoted for their rank to match their command and would request the same be done throughout the Garrison forces.” Krugwotl says.

  “That is a lot of promotions.” Benoni says as he inspects the list.

  “There were many oversights made during the war.” Krugwolt replies.

  “Your name isn’t among them?” Benoni asks.

  “Didn’t seem prudent to me, Fleet Admiral.” Krugwolt replies.

  “I recommend we finally make right the oversights the last administration left us.” I say.

  “Any objections?”

  “Yes!” Krugwolt says, “I don’t need a promotion!”

  “Untrue.” I counter, “You wish for another Lieutenant General to oversee the 300th Volunteer Corps. I recommend we ensure your seniority is recognized.”

  “Any further objections?” Benoni asks, “Very well, please vote now in the agreed intervals.”

  R4 quickly counts the two phases of raised hands before handing over the tally to the Fleet Admiral beside her.

  “Very well. A unanimous vote in favor.” Benoni says, “Congratulation General Krugwolt on your promotion and congratulation to the many former Colonels present on their respective promotions.”

  The rooms is filled with various Army officers making a fool of themselves. I smirk at Krugwolt who still seems a bit surprised at his promotion. He deserved it, had for a while now.

  The chamber within the Home One was filled to the brim. I was standing by one of the entrances as I tried to figure out where the kark my seat was. Finding it was annoyingly difficult with Navy flag officers, Army Colonels and general officers, the two primary logisticians of the armed forces, the recently promoted Brigadier General Green of the Rebel Intelligence Brigade, various planetary Governors, Exarchs, Palatines and or their representatives, a King, a Chief, a President and … a toddler mingling about.

  I blink in confusion at the toddler being held in his mother’s arms as she enters the room from the door I was standing beside. I quickly manage to get a hold of myself as I give a small nod to the mother: “Ma’am, may I inquire on the kid?”

  “My son Ezra.” She answers, as if that really explained anything.

  “He couldn’t have stayed at home?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

  “Ephraim and Governor Azadi are working almost twenty four hours a day and that Green fellow recently snatched up our usual emergency babysitter for his intelligence network.” She snipes.

  I blink in a bit of confusion before speaking again, patting R4 a bit as I do: “Well then. If you happen to need help, I’m sure R4 won’t mind watching after a kid again, though it’s been some twenty years since she last had to.”

  She gives an affirmative whistle and extols her success in making sure I didn’t kill myself as a baby. I suppress the urge to roll my eyes as she does. She never lets anything go, does she. Maybe I should ask if I could transfer some old data to an external drive and lose it somewhere.

  “If that’s necessary I may just take you up on that, Fleet Admiral.” She says in deadpan.

  “Think nothing of it, if you’ll excuse me, I really need to figure out where my fu- … where my seat is.”

  After a few minutes of searching I find my seat beside Benoni and Krugwolt, Bvinsk beside the General and the various Admirals behind us. Seems like Raddus wanted us to show unity here. Fair enough, can’t complain about it, especially since everything is still on a knife’s edge. Just because Sykes managed to destroy the closest possible reaction force didn’t mean more weren’t coming.

  “Thank you all for coming.” Admiral Raddus says, “You may not know me, but I am Fleet Admiral Raddus of the Mon Calamari Merchant Fleet and have recently been awarded command of the 3rd Allied Fleet of the rebels here. So far we have the military support of the former 9th Irregular Fleet, now the 1st Loyalist, the Sith Worlds Cordon Fleet, now the 2nd Fleet of the same honorific, the Merchant Fleet of Dac and her colonies, the people of Dornea and her fleet, the Sy Myrthian insurrectionists and their 4th Fleet, the Neimoidian people rescued by Vice Admiral Hatha, formerly of the Confederate Navy, Jedi General Kota and his men, dozens of Volunteer and Garrison Regiments throughout the territories we control and the Free Dac stronghold of Argai and all forces that entails.”

  “That ain’t enough!” A Jabiimi accented man shouts, “We need more allies!”

  I rise form my seat and Raddus acknowledges me: “We have further allies, remnants of the coup participants within Coruscant’s bowels, benefactors and sympathizers within the Core, various privateers, businessmen, merchants and workers, various associations and those who have been wronged by the Empire.”

  “Give us some hard numbers.” The Jabiimi demands.

  Bvinsk rises as well at that point: “My connections to my homeworld have guaranteed the positioning of five Bandomeerian brigades stationed near our current positions who are willing and eager to join us. Two of them have already entered our space and have begun fortifying Wyndigal further, another is within spitting distance of Sy Myrth and the final two are making their approach to Pakuuni from the western Perlimian and should arrive within the next two to three weeks.”

  “Which is only a portion of the forces available to us.” I add, a considerable portion with the capability of the Bandomeerian Pioneers, but a portion nonetheless. I sit myself back down beside Bvinsk as things continue.

  “What good are five Brigades against the Empire when they are entrenched upon sovereign soils?” Palatine Rire says, taking up her usual position as a planets rights advocate, “What good are the fleets at our disposal when they are sitting in orbit?”

  “They are the shield which protects our homes and firesides!” A Targonnian Major General barks, “They are the guarantors of our independence and the walls which uphold the safety of the interior!”

  “And they are being left out to dry! Unless those alleged benefactors of yours in the Core join us openly, we’ll all be doomed!” A representative of a lesser system in the Ash Worlds barks.

  “We cannot protect them, that is why.” Brigadier General Green answers, “If they would be crushed by the Core Fleets before we can even get this rebellion off the ground what will have been the point of them joining us in the first place? Better have them covertly support us until we can crush the Empire decisively!”

  “Yet who will lead this Rebellion? You officers have given us your pretty words, yet I have quite a number of doubts.” Rire states, her arms open inviting rebuke as she slowly spins on herself to let everyone get a look, “Fleet Admiral Dericote said he would allow us to vote for a supreme commander of the armed forces for a term of five years, yet the military council has already made many a decision without the input of our worlds. Is the vaunted Black Hussar breaking his promises already? Have we simply given up one dictator for a cabal of military officers? A junta instead of a tyrant?”

  “The council was critical in ensuring a stable military situation when coming into this meeting.” Benoni says sternly, his tone daring anyone to speak out against him as his cybernetics flashed red in annoyance.

  “Yet how can we trust these decisions when they were made without oversight? You are already using Palpatine’s rhetoric when justifying yourself!” Rire barks.

  “Yet we have seen none of the crimes Palpatine and his cronies have committed from our officers.” The Lothalite representative counters, “It is due to these crimes we have many of the officers present. It is due to their convictions that they were open with us in their decisions and invited us here to affirm said choices.”

  “Retroactive affirmation is no true affirmation.” The representative from Mykapo, an older man who reminded me of Commodore Jim’s second in command, states grimly.

  “Which is why we now invoke the council.” Raddus says, “To ensure we must never do so again. After all, the treaties made with Sy Myrth and Argai were both actions made without your direct approval. We are now asking for affirmation of these actions and a body to oversee our actions. To hold us accountable. To choose one of us to lead.”

  “Who better than the spark that lit this fire?” The representative from Gand, a Nubian man asks rhetorically, “Dericote ensured our security during the Clone Wars, he negotiated with the Sy Myrthians and Neimoidians and punished warcriminals on both sides, he is the last Republican! He will keep the war clean!”

  “Bah! Better have someone with seniority in charge.” The representative from Krinemonen barks, “Give us Ackbar!”

  “If you actually wanted seniority you would ask for Benoni.” The representative of Argai, a familiar Tionese man, scoffs.

  “First, we must decide on how to vote.” Raddus says, “It was recommended to simply adapt the Senate’s system, but give a vote to each system representative instead of each Sector representative. Any objections to that?”

  This would take a while, I could already tell.

  “-Well then, by a margin of seventy one percent to twenty nine percent, I would hereby congratulate Fleet Admiral Dericote on his new position of Head of Operations for all allied forces.” Raddus says as the tally was projected above his head.

  I stand slowly and deliberately at that: “I wish to thank everyone for their confidence. I will do my best to ensure the base we will need for our inevitable victory, be it in a year, five years, ten years, or a century. The Empire will fall, so long live the Republic!”

  A day of seemingly pointless discussions passed us by with little fanfare. One would think our lack of movement would be a negative, giving the Empire a chance of reacting. Yet it was the lack of action which should slow the Empire retribution. After all, these are some of the poorest industrial sectors which just seceded, far less critically important than the siege of Sluis Van and the reconquest campaigns in the north.

  On top of that, the campaign within the Tion Cluster has spread Imperial forces thin, maybe a single cruiser per planet and a company of troopers in some of the less critical systems with perhaps a section or squadron ensuring stability over a handful of more critical worlds. Sure, the Empire has had almost a month to commit any actions they may seem prudent, but Therbon would be unwilling to sacrifice the security of Columex and Centares for the more distant and logistically straining Caluula. So far only Raxus and Tion had been secured again by the Imperial juggernaut, while being forced to abandon Makem Te and Florn in the process.

  Now I was marching through the smaller conference room where the Admirals and Generals of the revolt had gathered, either in person or holographic transmission. The only outliers being Senator Toora, who had been awarded the post of General from us in recognition of her forces and influence, representative Bridger and her son, Palatine Rire, the new young faced President of Dornea and the representatives from Cophrigin and Mykapo.

  Together we formed the Joint Chiefs and their Oversight Committee. Officers to lead the war and civilians to ensure we don’t lose ourselves in it.

  “Gentlebeings.” I greet them before R4 brings up a strategic display of the current territories, “This is our current situation.”

  I give everyone a moment to inspect the strategic display, after all it was the first time we actually had everything noted down and depicted. It looked impressive, that much was certain, how effective it would actually be was another question.

  I continue on with the briefing: “There are four fleets, of which only one is fully integrated and acting as a singular force, that being my personal 1st Loyalist Fleet. The others are divided into their respective battlegroups, designated by the Xs, though you can tell the detached forces from their singular X and the blue stripe across them. We have stationed them strategically as to allow for rapid response from any threat.”

  “Why is the 1st stationed at Dellalt?” Palatine Rire asks.

  “Because the 1st will be linking up with our exclave at Argai and securing everything between Argai, Duinarbolum and Brigia. That is also why we have moved the 53rd Volunteer Corps and the 17th Bandomeer Volunteer Brigade there, though the Meerians will be entrenching the position at Duinarbolum at a later date.” I explain.

  “That’s quite a bit of territory.” Bridger says, “Won’t the Empire respond?”

  “They already are. Reports among our privateers and Agents show signs of forces moving from the Core. We believe the Emperor has foisted a retaliatory fleet on either Tarkin or Vader to squash our revolt.” Brigadier General Green reveals, “Current estimates put the force at forty Imperial class battleships, twenty Venator battleships, fifteen Victories and seven Neutron Star class bulk cruisers.”

  “Seventy five ships of the line and seven auxiliaries.” Benoni clarifies for our audience.

  “Theoretically they could make it to Makem Te in a few days.” I say, “But they don’t know the shortcuts I took to get to Coruscant, helps that the season is wrong for those routes too. We should expect the force in a week or two, perhaps longer if they continue to gather forces and fully fill up on spare parts and other materials.”

  “Which current sources appear to support.” Green adds.

  “What should we expect in total?” Rire asks grimly. I could understand her mood, sixty battleships were nothing to scoff at and the Imperials were especially dangerous.

  “Maybe twice that number.” Green says, “We aren’t quite sure. There are only some five hundred Imperials in active service so far, but most of them have either fallen off the map to some of the blacksites we suspect based off of their last sighted trajectories or are concentrated around Coruscant, Kuat, Corellia and Fondor.”

  “Though there are two over Kashyyyk, three over Raxus, five at Lantillies, ten at Anaxes, another ten at Carida and three heading towards Caluula, with another one trying to harry the Separatists in the Bryx sector.” Bvinsk notes.

  “So there are a bunch about, but we don’t know for certain where or how many.”

  “That they assembled forty is already of note.” Bvinsk says, “If they’re smart they’ll quintuple their logistical vessels.”

  “This is Tarkin though, so he’ll probably only take the seven.” Rear Admiral Praut points out, “Means they’ll be faster too. Supply themselves locally from whatever world they happen upon.”

  “Our forces will begin various raids into Imperial space to destroy local garrisons, supply depots and surface to orbit infrastructure while ensuring whoever is in command remains blind to our operations. Harrying logistical vessels and destroying or seizing their supplies as they do. Though we should mention the hard defenses available at the current fortress boarder worlds.” I say before gesturing to Raddus.

  He picks up from there easily: “Sy Myrth, the easternmost world of critical importance has an extensive anti-orbital battery network and a solid planetary shield consisting of a few shield generators scattered among various natural defenses and within major cities. To add to this she has three orbital defense stations equivalent to the Golan I platform and a dozen Banking Clan gun platforms.”

  “Should we reinforce them then?” The representative from Cophrigin asks.

  “These are the hard defenses, things we cannot move easily. We are not counting the Fleets at this time.” I remind the man.

  “Next is Trasemene, which holds an extensive bunker network and anti-orbital battery network within. After that is Handooine, which has a solid polar fortresses and bunker complexes combined with various trenches coinciding with a pair of triple anti-orbital batteries and extensive anti-air coverage. Then we have Jabiim which lacks a planetary shield, but has recently added anti-orbital batteries and an atmosphere and terrain which makes landing and moving large formations difficult. Jabiim also has an extensive network of bunkers and caves used by both the nationalists and loyalists at various times.”

  “Those were a real pain. Imagine how much more of a pain they would be to some fresh out of the academy Stormtrooper.” Krugwolt teases.

  “Then we have Wyndigal. She holds a Golan II platform, two Golan I platforms and a solid Mon Calamari style planetary shield array with a sole anti-orbital battery which keeps the platforms in sight. If their orbital security is breached they can fall back on their shields and mountain forts and last years. After this is Dellalt. No orbital defenses, nor surface defenses, but a thoroughly mapped out system with various minefields. Though Caluula will serve better as the chokepoint in the future if the need arises. Pakuuni has various orbital defense stations, though it’s pride is a sole Golan II defense platform.”

  “What of Argai?” Palatine Rire asks.

  “Fifteen Banking Clan gun platforms.” Raddus answers.

  “But now to the fun part.” I say with a tired grin, “Admiral Slocum has requested permission to make a Chevauchée of his own to raid Columex and return to Wyndigal by way of Sy Myrth.”

  “Solid idea. You should be able to knock out the two Imperials stationed there alongside the ten Dreadnoughts of the 33rd Outer Rim Squadron.” Benoni says.

  “Agreed.” I add, “Any objections? Alright then. Permission granted Admiral. Good hunting and good luck. Throw a couple pot shots at any imperial facility of strategic import once you finish off the orbital forces for me, will ya?”

  “It will be my pleasure.” The leader of the 17th Battlegroup says with a bloodthirsty grin.

  “We also plan on moving the 3rd Fleet’s 1st Dac Battlegroup to recapture former Separatist worlds, with the end-goal being the recapture of Raxus, Tion and Florn. Once that’s been accomplished some of their forces will be detached to secure the area behind them and connect the western Tion Cluster to Argai and our other territories there.”

  “We may require more ground forces if the suspected uprising don’t gather as much support as we hope for.” Raddus cautions.

  “We are trying to ensure it as best as possible. It’s for that reason the Free Dac forces and some of the other Separatist warships we have over Mon Cala will be heading alongside the rest of the 3rd Fleet. Hopefully they will give the locals the image that we are liberators.” Green supplies.

  “Just saying. We may have to deploy some of the Garrison Regiments and deploy the 9th and 10th Calamari Volunteer Regiments early.” Raddus replies.

  “I would prefer we don’t stoop to that.” Krugwolt says, “But I will approve of it if necessary.”

  “Either way, Raxus will be seized by our orbital forces, giving us access to another major shipyard and further legitimacy in the eyes of various Separatist factions. Though we should still withhold the naming of a capitol to keep our Republic benefactors happy.” Green says as he skims a datapad.

  “One way or another, I’ll begin conducting my own raids once we’ve secured various access to Argai. Though by then we’ll likely be facing the retaliatory fleet.” I return the focus to the topic at hand.

  “We’ll need all hands adeck then.” Raddus says grimly.

  “Are we sure we can’t increase the rate of retrofits further?” Bvinsk asks, “We … we do have the resources for it right now and it won’t matter much if we all die.”

  “Hast is working as fast as it can and Mon Cala, Ruisto and Pammant are now openly working on retrofits as well. The only reason we haven’t continued to increase the current rates and allowed our other shipyards to join is that we still need to produce more hulls. Storms, we even considered just re-crewing the Majesty.” Palatine Rire reveals.

  “We still have the Majesty?” Baraka asks.

  “No, we already tore it to bits for her internals and better heavy weapons.” Rire admits.

  “Apparently it was easier to do that than doing a conventional boarding action. The Dac Shipbreakers Consortium made out like bandits after danger pay and overtime.” Raddus grumbles.

  “On a different note, are the hydra protocols active?” Bvinsk asks.

  “Not quite yet, we’re still working on finding likely candidates who wouldn’t be purged by an Imperial reprisal.” Green replies.

  “Can’t you just pick the lieutenant Governors or the local equivalent?” Raddus asks.

  “Too close to those in power. We need to pick these people carefully and make sure their loyalty to the cause is a certainty.” Green stresses, “We cannot afford a leak, countless lives and operational security would be in jeopardy.”

  “Keep on it, better have an agent than a corpse.” I order.

  “If I may change the topic?” Bvinsk asks.

  “Go ahead.” I say.

  “We need a more stable source of strikecraft. We currently have two factories producing enough Starchasers to keep up with current and estimated future demand, but our supply of bombers and heavy fighters is limited.” Bvinsk states, “Currently stockpiles and reserves indicate we can take five wings of losses, but not a bomber more and mind you most of the replacements would be the less armored but less crew intensive BTL-A4. On top of that, we’re gonna run out of Headhunters if we lose any of the ones we have and the ARC-170s are becoming more and more of a resource drain, not to mention our limited stock of them.”

  “Can we replace some of the ARC crews with droids?” Rire asks.

  “Possible, but that would either mean retrofits or reprogramming more B1s.” Bvinsk says, “And despite what you think, Dericote, we do not have an infinite supply of them.”

  “I’ll contact some friends in the Core and see what they can manage for us then.” I offer.

  “I’ll scour our contacts within Hutt space for the same.” Green adds.

  I take back control of the meeting: “Next … possible alliances with other anti-imperial factions.”

  “Wobani and Metalorn are both still in revolt, alongside General Ambigene’s forces throughout the Bryx sector.” Hatha offers, “We should have an in with them through the other ex-Separatists.”

  “We’ll offer them cooperation and alliance, even membership if they want it.” I decide.

  “The Mimbaneese could greatly benefit from more support.” Green says with a glint in his eyes, “Even a few heavy weapons, some engineering vehicles, spare ammunition and a few regiments worth of triple A could double, if not triple, local effectiveness.”

  “Worth considering. A light force would be needed.” Baraka says.

  “Smugglers would suit us best.” Sykes says, “Lucky for us, I know a couple folks who would be interested.”

  “Are they trustworthy?” Benoni asks.

  “As trustworthy as Dericote’s band of pirates and ne’er do wells.”

  “So with enough credchits they’ll cooperate.” I deduce, “Very well, contact your men, see if we can get a couple freighters to transport some heavy infantry weapons, some AT, some triple A and ammo for it all alongside a delegate to represent us.”

  “Who do we send though?” Bridger asks, “All of you are needed here.”

  “I’ll do it.” Palatine Rire volunteers, “My Lieutenant Governor can take on my duties while I play diplomat.”

  “Thank you, Palatine.” I say.

  “Don’t thank me yet.” She replies.

  “What of the Mandos?” Green asks, prompting me to reveal our possible connection.

  “We have an inroad through some of my privateers and a minister under Regentrix Kryze.” I reveal to the rest of those present.

  “They could be powerful allies.” Bridger says as little Ezra starts to stir from his nap.

  “They don’t have much of a fleet though.” Benoni says.

  “Not to mention the … perception of us allying with Mandos could cause.” Slocum adds.

  “Yet they do have ample resources and manpower. Many of whom are skilled in close quarters combat thanks to their recent civil wars.” Baraka says.

  “We should at least try to pull some strings, see where it leads and work from there. If they want an alliance I will not gainsay it. If they want membership … they’ll need to work for it. We cannot both defend Mando space and our current territories without significant gains.” I decide.

  “Besides, our allies in the Core and Mid Rim would have priority.” Green adds.

  “Makes sense.” Benoni agrees.

  “Then I’ll start pulling strings.” Green agrees.

  “Alright then.” I say, “Once we’ve finished the current plans, any suggestions of where to strike next?”

  Hatha decides to speak up first: “Lianna sounds like a good start.-”