STRATEGY FOR OFFENCE
Alice Dennison's overall grand strategy for Torfan mimicked that of deBankole's own on Anhur to a large extent, as implemented by Field Marshal DeRuyter. The colony had become a slavehold, much as Anhur itself had. Its military forces, whether those were militia, paramilitaries or mercenaries, were to be destroyed in detail. No one in the Alliance was aware of the presence of the elite External Forces on -site, so it was assumed that this would be a relatively cost-free exercise. The chance of encountering guerillas was a different story, at least at first. These were to be met with the same tactics used on Anhur. Trouble neighbourhoods were to be surrounded and systematically levelled if weapons were not surrendered, but the chance to surrender was to be given. In the event, it would not be, not least because of the discoveries that Shepard was to make during the course of the battle.
The plan varied from that of deBankole's in one crucial way. Once the colony was subdued, it was to be placed under direct military rule. Deportation to the other two 'valve' worlds used to dump batarian dissidents and loyalists was considered too dangerous, as was deportation to the deep Terminus, as the balance of power there was still tenuous and could not be allowed to tip against humanity's interests. This meant that Torfan was to become the only batarian world under permanent and direct Alliance control. Those captured in the Terminus were generally ruled either by the independent batarian exiles from Shan'kharit, or via the use of proxy warlords. Not Torfan. Torfan was to become a political statement. Any world involved in the kidnap and enslavement of humans would be conquered and subjugated. Harsh measures were to be taken against any rejection of this point, although Dennison could not know what the consequences of her action would be.
Planning of the actual military attack was undertaken by Colonel-General Oleg Petrovsky, commander of the Thirteenth Legion and a man that no one doubted could stomach the job of maintaining order on Torfan in the aftermath. The Army was given the job of executing the attack proper. For the task, a strategic bomber squadron and an elite special forces unit would be required. Both of which were not in great supply for the projected date of the attack, due to commitments towards the Kite's Nest. Petrovsky and Dennison managed to convince the Second Legion to give up its premier squadron for the invasion's prelude, but makeshift measures would have to be taken for provision of the initial ground assault. A newly formed unit would be combined with a Navy N7 team to reconnoitre the most likely beachhead.
The attack itself would commence with a stealthy insertion of the special forces to insure the landing zone was not mined or covered by anti-aircraft GARDIAN batteries. At the time, the most stealthy craft of an appropriate size available to any species was the strategic bomber, and only the humans and salarians possessed them. Both the troops and surveillance satellites required for a safe landing of the regular combat forces were to be delivered by bombers, as well as providing air support. The recon troops would be deposited on the moon's surface by sub-orbital assault pod, would carry out their initial mission and proceed to disrupt local militia forces in the refugee town of Haven. Once this was under way, Navy planetary assault cruisers of the First Fleet would arrive to begin the titan drop of the orbital assault divisions of two Army task forces.
Once the Army was down, the divisions would spread out and move by ground, supported from space. Resistance was expected to be light, as professional military forces were estimated at near zero. The DID had intelligence that there were a small number of External Forces present, but these were no more than brigade strength. In truth, they were even less numerous than that. Occupation of the major settlements would be followed up by drone sweeps of the countryside, possibly for as long as a year, while martial law was imposed and facilities set up for a more permanent governmental regime.
STRATEGY FOR DEFENCE
The Governor's strategy for defending his planet against the Alliance was to appear as non-threatening and irrelevant as possible in military terms, while maintaining a strong economic focus that would place serious doubts over any involvement in Hegemony war efforts. This was of course a cover for his allowing the External Forces a free hand to operate secretly from Torfan. In truth, his rule was under just as much threat from his own species as it was from humanity, perhaps even more so. There is significant debate in batarian circles as to whether or not he was playing both sides or whether he was a stalwart loyalist, using cunning and guile to trick the humans. The majority tend towards the latter view, given the events in question and the Hegemony's own acknowledgement of his contribution to the war. However, Torfan's resources were most often bought by human corporations involved in the war effort, making the moon a small cog in the Alliance war-machine as well.
In the event of invasion, Sak'devran intended to fight. He was far too proud and far too highly ranked to do anything else. His honour would have been tarnished otherwise. The mode in which he intended to do this is perhaps the largest reason behind why Jane Shepard would not face criminal charges in the aftermath of the invasion. Rather than face the Allinace head-on, as Anhur had done and the Hegemony had attempted to do, he would fight an assymmetric war against the occupiers. To accomplish this, all civil servants were instructed to destroy tax and military records at the first sign of an invasion. This would render the militia entirely non-existent in records, allowing them much greater freedom of action and forcing the Alliance to find possible resisters themselves.
Once the occupation was as messy as possible, the Governor would appeal to the Citadel Council to intervene and dispatch a peacekeeping force. There was a high likelihood of this succeeding, given that the invasion would be seen as an overreaction by all three of the Council species. It was only circumstance that prevented this strategy from working. To the Alliance, such tactics were terrorism, and would be treated as such. The resistance would be put down far more quickly than expected, with brutality that even made turians shrink from approval. Furthermore, events soon escalated in the aftermath of Torfan, placing it low on the priority list for the Council and eventually making intervention impossible.