Eriadu, 36BBY.
Ranulph Tarkin entered the conference room and smiled when the assembled men and women stood and saluted him.
"At ease." They all took their seats, and he strode to the head of the table, sitting down beside the newly titled Admiral Jace Dallin and Admiral Jerjerrod. He glanced around the table and was happy to note that every officer of the ROSF and allied parties had managed to make it to this briefing.
"I've called this meeting at the behest of Admiral Jonoin, regarding disturbing reports from Hutt Space." Jonoin stood, making her way to the terminal at the wall behind her, and activated the holoprojector on the table.
A display of the Outer Rim lit up across the table before zooming into Hutt Space. She pressed another button, and the image zoomed in further to the system level.
"We have been receiving numerous reports of Hutt military buildup in the Mulatan System. We have been unable to obtain an accurate account of how many ships, but the number of reports seems to imply a large force." Another flash and a series of reports began to flash across the screen.
Tarkin had seen these reports already, and he knew the part that would grab the attention of all of his officers. Eventually it was Admiral Fonn who brought it up; her lekku twitched slowly as she frowned over the display.
"What's this about the Hutts picking up Star Dreadnaughts? Why wasn't that the first thing mentioned?" There was muttered agreement, and Jonoin waited until all had quieted before speaking.
"Because these reports are unconfirmed, our scouts weren't able to stay long enough to confirm, but the possibilities raised are concerning. Assuming the reports are correct, the Hutts may indeed have a Praetor-class Battlecruiser and at least two Procurator Battlecruisers." The room fell silent as each contemplated this new development.
Any one of those ships, if properly armed, could tear through whatever they threw at it. Three of them would be a force multiplier they could not match in their current state, even with the steady growth of recruits.
"We should plan an attack immediately, if we can destroy them before they are remodeled then we have a chance," Admiral Arikakon Baraka said, shaking his webbed hand for emphasis.
"And if they've already been upgraded? Our attack will have been for nothing. We need more reconnaissance, not a foolhardy assault," Admiral Fonn countered quickly.
"A starfighter strikeforce maybe? Those new T-65's Incom produced have proved vastly superior and cheaper than the Aureks. Pair them with the BTL-A4's and we could amass a quick strike on the Hutts." Admiral Ethan Brahnx stroked his beard slowly. The Corellian Admiral leaned back in his seat and sighed; this was not good for the ROSF.
"And have you learned nothing, if a war-fleet could not take them down, then a fleet of starfighters will do no better. We need intelligence, commando operations could give us both needed intelligence and opportunities for sabotage." Admiral Targon said. Havoc Squad was a possibility, but Tarkin didn't want to use them yet.
Not yet, but soon.
"Enough, an aggressive action is out of the question, we must obey Republic law." Ranulph said firmly. He would not be seen as the aggressor; he could not afford to be seen as the aggressor. He had won some admiration from moderates for his staunch insistence on following Republic law. He would not lose that support now. It would set the military back years.
"We must not be seen as the aggressor in this conflict, if we are to win the hearts and minds of the Republic, we must obey the law we purport to defend." The criminals of the Outer Rim were one thing; they were endangering Republic worlds, and the law clearly said that planetary defense treaties allowed allied planets the right to engage pirates and other such criminals at will.
Hutt Space was still a sovereign entity, scum though they were, attacks on them would count as aggressive action. Valorum was just looking for an opportunity to ruin him, and he would be damned before he gave the man the ammo.
"Then what do you propose we do? Even if we continued to build ships at the rate we are, we can't hope to outclass those ships in firepower." Tarkin sighed and inserted a datastick into the terminal.
A new image appeared and the room fell silent once more. Then, slowly Admiral Fonn smirked, her lekku twitching appreciatively.
"I thought you wanted to obey the law. What do you call this?" Ranulph shrugged.
"They aren't finished, the Reformation says nothing about unfinished warships. And they're recently remodeled designs. I've got four of them built and plans for each of you to have one. They won't quite go toe to toe with the Hutt battlecruisers, but they'll even the odds enough."
He turned off the display and smirked, settling back into his chair.
"The best part is they're still a secret as far as I'm aware. We'll be ready to surprise them when the time comes." The rest of the Admirals nodded, and Ranulph turned to Jace.
"In the meantime, Alsakan has agreed to join the ROSF efforts. With them comes a great deal of funding, Jace here has the updated financial reports and we can divvy them up as needed."
From there, the conference turned to what had become standard arguments and discussion on how to fund their growing army. Ranulph sat through it silently, chuckling softly to himself.
The Hutts wanted a war? He could give them one.