"The General"
In orbit, the fleets of both sides played cat and mouse with one another. The Republic would give chase to a few straggling Confederate frigates while the Confederates would do the same in turn. So far not even a single real skirmish had taken place which- for better or worse- kept the supply of troops and equipment flowing to the snowy surface below. The flagship of the Separatist fleet was just as mechanical and lifeless as its army, an endless series of durasteel corridors, halls designed for efficiency, and the dozens if not hundreds of battle droids that patrolled its entirety likely to never fire a single shot from their blaster for a long time. While its colors lacked severely it was expectedly so with a transport ship, already the supply ships and their almost dome-like structure were difficult enough to construct (as with any large ship) and with their interior seldomly holding any live occupants, such accommodations were considered a waste of expenses. Nevertheless, the supply captain turned garrison commander treaded down these corridors with her two droids in tow. Now with the arrival of a new fleet, being part of the garrison was no longer a priority she had to uphold.
"Wire, do you know who is in charge of this fleet?" Asked the captain with a little spark of hope in her voice believing it to be her father or at the very least a well-known leader. Knowing her luck when it came to such potential hopes, the former was never going to come true until the war's end but that didn't stop her from keeping said hopes up.
"I do not know Captain. All information on fleet leaders and military related information is not available to me outside of our own, neighboring regions, and incoming communications." Stated the droid. "Shall I determine possible leaders?" That kind of information from him was a gamble but it had helped her in pushing her enemy off her home.
"No, we'll find out soon enough."
Upon the quick hissing of a blast door and passing the security droids, the bridge came into view. It was quite small even compared to her the Munificent she commanded with only a pair of droids at two consoles and a single chair at the center of the room. The light inside was a dull green, only faintly shining down on the two B1 droids and the captain's chair almost like a spot light were it not so dim. Outside the tinted window was either side of the supply ship, shielding vision from whomever piloted it, though to be fair, such sights were not needed; especially with droids at the controls. In the center of the room was the fleet captain she had expected but upon seeing the top of a droid's head Kvetina's expectations started low. While most of the droid's body was hidden away by the backrest, Kvetina saw that its head resembled that of a tactical droid though not quiet the exact model, this had brought about curiosity to her mind as it was a model she had never seen. 'A new type?' she thought to herself, but after remembering how 'useful' the tactical droids can be at times her thoughts on it fell in disinterest. Before the officer could finish rolling her eyes in disappointment as she had expected something better, the 'tactical droid' rose to tower over the woman even with the slight incline giving her an advantage. His chassis was painted a deep green with golden swirl designs and outlines at his joints and torso. It was an elegant design that gave her the impression of a noble man- a common sight in Confederate leadership- which was further aided by the droid's tall, upright, and straight posture. When the droid turn to face his visitors with three blood-red eyes Kvetina felt a chill run down her spine with the intimidating look which was further enforced by a voice that she could only describe as a growl.
"Greetings Captain Kvetina, I hope my late arrival did not interfere with your assignment." He said. Even serving among thousands of droids, most operating with deadly efficiency or with a menacing appearance, none had ever got to her as much as this one had just done in the span of seconds. "Is something wrong captain?" The droid said, snapping her back to reality.
"N-No." She began a bit fearful of the unsuspecting voice, "If I may ask, who are you? I've never seen another model such as yourself."
"I am General Kalani," The droid began walking away from his chair and up to the three, "a 'Super Tactical Droid' for the Confederacy of Independent Systems. I have been rerouted from Onderon to this planet by Count Dooku in order to aid in the war effort here." At this point the droid stood nearly half a foot taller than the woman and two commando droids, even without the rank it could be said that he literally looked down upon them. "Inform me of the garrison's status Captain for I do not recall an officer being stationed here."
"The Agamar garrison was all but wiped out by Republic forces, I myself was on route to reinforce the garrison but our shipment of troops did not arrive in time."
"Unfortunate Captain, but it is not unexpected. Republic clones have proven to be unpredictable and devastating even by my own calculations." Kalani said turning to face the window with one hand behind his back and the other in a clenched fist in front of him, like he hated to admit such things or he simply hated the fact that clones were efficient soldiers. The droid then put both his hands behind his back, returning to his original 'royal' posture.
"I suppose now with a new fleet here I shall depart the system within a few days." Said Kvetina, believing her job on the snow-covered world to be over.
"That is a negative Captain." Came his response.
"I'm sorry, General?" Said Kvetina, surprised by the General's refusal to allow her to return home.
"You will now be under my command throughout this campaign." He ordered.
"With all due respect General, I am not assigned to this world. My forces and I were only here to comply with a garrison reinforcement order." Perplexed by the turn of events, Kvetina tried to challenge the droid authority despite her better judgment but to her, such orders should have at least been announced prior to this moment.
"Confederate command has given me the authority to redact your previous orders. Combined with your experience in," He paused for a moment to think of an adequate term, "non-standard, asymmetrical warfare I am certain you will be a valuable asset for this battle."
"V-Very well sir." She said reluctantly with her gaze turning to the floor beside her in discontent. "What are your orders?"
"You will aid me in defending Agamar from Republic occupation. I shall command our forces in orbit while you oversee the battle on the planet below in five standard hours. For now, we shall discuss tactics for deployment and defense."
In the command room was a wide hexagon shaped holo-table portraying a blue, scaled down version of Agamar with both the Republic and Separatist fleets at quite the distance away from one another. The room itself was just like the rest of the ship except slightly dimmer with yellow lights and consoles lining the walls around the room. Aside from the eight B1s serving as guards at the four doors, and Sparks and Wire, the only other new occupants were Kalani and Kvetina. Surrounding the table were half a dozen command droids with only '268' and two other commander droids physically present, though in her experience they did nothing but listen to orders when someone was actually in charge such as herself or more commonly: a tactical droid. Still stood upright, Kalani brought up a projection of the surface where models of the army could be seen preparing for the coming battle.
"At the moment, neither our nor Republic troops are in any position to make an offensive yet. From previous battle records, the Republic will be the first ones to dig in and wait for our assault." Kalani informed the captain whom was still watching over the small droid projections like an overseeing deity.
"What of their air support? They have the resources so shouldn't we be on the defensive if they decide to use it?" Unlike back home, the number of fighters, bombers, and transports here were far more numerous. They may have been use offensively on occasion previously but here the Republic has plenty of craft to spare.
"It is likely they will fight a war of attrition as they are outnumbered greatly. I calculate Republic forces will desire to thin our numbers until they have a greater chance at success, only then will they go on the offensive."
"You aren't going to charge in waves, right?"
"Do not underestimate my programming captain, using such tactics wastes valuable time and resources resulting often in defeat. Instead we shall overwhelm them from all sides, encircle pockets of resistance and crush all who stand against us."
"We're fighting clones, clones led by a Jedi General. Even you should know how unpredictable their strategies can be."
"That is where you come in captain. I cannot accurately predict how the Republic plans their moves but perhaps you can; if not then a counter to their strategy is also acceptable." Being given such an important task was a big amount of trust coming from a machine, a super tactical droid with its lesser variants always inflexible and over-controlling with their troops. Kvetina brought up the Republic's defensive line, just as she had done previously, they too dug their own trenches and had artificial hills for their troops to seek shelter behind. Were it not for the snow being as forgiving as it was, each side would have been forced to stand out in the open and shoot one another and both sides also know who would win a war with those given circumstances.
"If the Republic is expecting our forces to march en masse, then they will prepare for such attacks. An ambush will be sprung around our troops to the point of a one hundred percent casualty rate. If we are to counter an ambush, we must first play along with their plans." Though Kalani could not make an expression on his face, the woman could tell he was disapproving of her thoughts. "Not all of our troops, just enough for them to believe we took their bait, once they spring their 'trap' we must spring one of our own. We need to be able to deploy troops quickly to catch the Republic off guard. Do we have any sort of transports capable of such feats?" She asked as simply marching her droids around the sides wouldn't work well in practice.
"We have a limited number of H.M.P. Gunships after receiving more during our resupply. I believe they fulfill what you ask." Came the droid's response. Kvetina didn't know what they were herself but she went along with it.
"We need to transport either effective or powerful troops to the flanks. Commando droids, B2s, droids of those quality to wipe out the clones that will no doubt flank us." Anything else would not be possible in her mind and unless her droids are the exception, the BX-series will be the greatest force the two Confederates have.
"Is that all captain? This strategy seems simple enough for the Republic to adapt to and defend against." Remarked Kalani.
"It is, but they key to this plan is that Republic isn't expecting us to change tactics. That and we go to stage two of our plan: If there are any Droch-class boarding ships, use them as well to deploy additional forces should we need them. We need to take out their armor so if possible, have them attempt to crash into the walkers, otherwise have their transporting droids take care of them. Finally, instead of bringing artillery, we need anti-air capable vehicles or droids. I have no doubt in my mind they will call for bomber support."
"A well thought out strategy captain, however, you fail to remember the Republic has reinforcements as well."
"Should we be quick enough they will not have time to call for help." Kvetina finished, looking up to the General.
"I believe this strategy to be good enough. I will issue further orders in time, you will head down to the surface and lead this offensive." The captain turned to leave the room with Sparks and Wire following after her, as the exit door opened into the bright hall outside Kalani's voice stopped her, "One more thing captain, I am aware of your previous victories- though minor- but should this plan fail I will be taking over full command of Separatist forces for the rest of the campaign." Turning her head and with a renewed confidence in both herself and the plan, Kvetina acknowledged the General's threat.
"Very well, General."
A.N.: Not much else to say here, I suppose hello to you reading this? Anyways, as always, enjoy!
~Firetoast312