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The Pit, Titan, Sol System
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General Crisis seethed at the colossal waste of time and resources undergoing construction before his eyes. His simmering ire stemmed from his understanding of why the project was necessary as well as the fact that it came so late, well after it was initially required.
The monstrous Mandator IV Siege Dreadnaught, Mizery, could be seen beyond the protective transparisteel viewport of the surface station outpost. The ship hovered in low orbit with most of the surviving 7th Fleet of Conquest, recently returned to Titan from Kafrene Outpost, orbiting well behind the Mizery. Flashes of light flickered from one of the Resurgents, the damaged Slayer, as space-suited sailors tried to train Earthling construction crews in the lost arts of Star Destroyer repair. The twin disasters of the Battles of New Mandalore and New Thyfeeria were continuing to prove how much the First Order was lacking in support personnel for their mighty fleet.
The Mizery fired its colossal pair of orbital autocannons, temporarily causing the occupants of Crisis's bunker to shield their eyes from the glare. The twin bolts slammed into the growing pit several kilometers away, superheating yet another layer of rock and soil into liquid magma. Around the edges of the pit were eight AT-M6s, which were unfortunately forced to be converted away from their military roles and into four-legged Mobile Loading Gantry walkers. Their First Order crews were augmented by Earthlings who manned the cranes and scoop buckets atop the bastardized war machines as they scooped and shoveled away the molten rock from the growing, cavernous pit.
"An entire platoon of the 23rd's finest walkers lost to a hole in the ground. And without a bolt ever being fired." Commander Obota sighed as he watched the expanding construction project unfold.
"I have two more." Crisis retorted. Though he'd be the first to admit he'd rather have worked Earthling conscripts to death digging the pit out with their bare hands. When he had looked into it, he had learned from his supply officers that they didn't have near enough of the evo-suits, vibropicks and sonic shovels necessary to even begin to scratch the surface.
"We should have started this repair yard project months ago. The Slayer could have already been down there under the protection of a stasis field." Obota pointed out the obvious. The truth was they would have still needed the equipment. Expensive Earthling construction equipment that could operate in a vacuum was in short supply. Most of it went to Mercury and Luna. The Earth sent their allies on Titan a few odds and ends and thousands of its lower classes to work as construction plebes. President Harris expected them to be worked to death. Instead, the First Order was reprogramming them and slowly turning them into loyal members of the First Order. Perhaps someday, a few of them could even be trained to fill the boots of a Stormtrooper. "It's a kriffing shame we didn't grab a hold of Nal Kuat. This would all be unnecessary."
Crisis scowled underneath his helmet. His subordinate wasn't wrong, but he wasn't at New Thyfeeria either to put some perspective on his statement. But then again no one had suspected the trap that the enemy Admirals Gentis and Banjeer had laid for the combined fleet. Admiral Jethran at least had the defending excuse that he was much too far away and out of hyperwave contact to have any influence on the catastrophe. As to the man on the spot, the Earth Admiral Akfar, well, Crisis should have blasted him out of hand the moment those frakking Imperial dive bombers were sighted. He winced again. Who would have ever imagined three Resurgents gone in the blink of an eye and a fourth destroyed several hours later? Certainly, no one that properly served the First Order.
"That's going to be expensive to replace." Oboto indicated the Mizery's latest fusillade. The 7th entered the Milky Way loaded for battle, but every bolt of tibanna they blasted had been near irreplaceable.
"The Supreme Leader is refusing to negotiate with the Trade Federation for more blaster gas from the Confederate station at Venus. She says we've given up too much to them already. She wants us to get the manufacturing plant we captured from Earth 5 up and running." Crisis said. The large city, meant for hovering among the clouds of Jupiter, had been plunged into the surface of Titan to take advantage of its methane lakes. The First Order's growing base of operations was slowly being dug out from underneath the manufacturing plant in a warren of tunnels and caverns.
"That would have gone a lot quicker if she hadn't murdered half of King Wozz's Ugnaught tribe. The monstrosities she warped the other half into . . . well, it makes me shudder."
"It seems like we've done nothing but misdirection and side steps since we arrived here in this kriffing Milky Way. And for what? Two Legions decimated. Five ships blown to bits. And all we've got to show for it is a lifeless moon, a non-functioning tibanna refinery and second-rate Earthling replacements." Crisis groused.
"I thought we were supposed to be running the show. But I heard at New Thyfeeria the Earthlings were leading our captains by the nose." Obota sneered. The remark stung even more considering all four senior captains were lost with their ships at New Thyfeeria, while Captain Bascus was still in a medically-induced coma after the Security was wrecked on Earth.
"They're sending up another one of their commissions for another round of strategy briefings. They're expected shortly." General Crisis told his adjutant.
"I'd rather we had another fifty thousand of their workers. Give us a chance to really start defensive works atop our other expansions."
"We wouldn't need them if we seized the Kuat System."
"We still might, sir. This war is only getting started."
"Have you given any thought to what we will look like when it's finished?" Crisis asked.
"You mean in the long run? If we can't get our footing on some out of the way world or back where we belong in the Home Galaxy?"
"Yeah. Our grand-sires fought with the Old Republic and the Empire. Our fathers went through the crucible. What will our younglings look like if we're stuck on this rock?"
"Like half-Earthling mongrels." Obota proposed. Perhaps he was thinking of the mutated Ugnaughts that cowered in the shadows of the base, for he gave a very visible shudder. "What does the Supreme Leader think of all this?"
"She hasn't said. In fact, she hardly acknowledged our losses at New Thyfeeria at all. From what I can tell her interests lie elsewhere, leaving it up to Admiral Jethran and I to deal with the Empire and, even worse, the Confederacy." Crisis had actually been thinking along the lines of their diminishing technological edge. Their enemies and ally were busily developing new weapons while all the First Order had accomplished so far was digging a rather large hole in the ground. And that was for the purpose of repairing the holes the enemy's weapons put into their ships. "Someday, it will be us going cap in hand to Harris for weapons, rather than the other way around."
"The Emperor forbid." Obota shook his head.
"Commander, I have another task for you." Crisis turned away from the massive construction project and faced his subordinate.
"Of course, General." Obota's head tilted in interest.
Crisis signaled for the Commander to follow him. Behind them a technician from Earth activated the blast shield to conceal the view of the half-constructed shipyard. Once again, they were plunged into the sterile, First Order aesthetic of the Titan citadel. Several First Order snowtroopers snapped to attention as the officers walked deeper into the bowels of the First Order fortress. "No doubt, you comprehend the meaning of our losses at New Thyfeeria, especially in regards to our TIE Corps."
"Losses were devastating among our veterans, especially those that took part in the Nal Kuat raid at the start of the war. From what I understand we recovered nearly a hundred pilots still flight-worthy and another sixty with injuries severe enough to keep them in our sick bays for the better part of an orbit. I was pleased to learn Commanders Qurna and Ekthar both survived."
"Aye, most of those pilots will be reassigned to make up the losses the Vulgalizer and Slayer suffered against the New Mandalorians. But that raises another issue." Crisis let the officer come to the same conclusion he had already reached.
"Where do our replacements come from after that? Even those crews won't be sufficient to bring those two warships up to their full complements. I hope the Admiral isn't considering acquiring new crews from the Confederacy?" Obota asked.
"I've discussed it with him and the Supreme Leader. She felt her new representative to Harris's court had more important things to focus on. Jethran is equally worried about our airspeeder losses. We can't make new TIEs here. Not yet anyway, perhaps not for years. But our ships are capable of launching X-Wings."
"If we put shields and hyperdrives on them we could do a kriffing lot better than our ally has. Is it true they provided the fighter cap at New Thyfeeria?"
"They did. They were adequate to fend off unescorted planetary bombers from the Vratix colony. But they were quickly overrun when the Imperial Navy showed up in force."
Obota nodded. The Empire was seen largely as the First Order's ancestors so it was only natural that the feeling on Titan was the Imperial pilots outclassed their Earth contemporaries. "Even with our pilots' superior examples under the late Commander Calatran's Strikeforce? It's a shame we couldn't force better results from the Earthlings."
"That is exactly what I want you to focus on." Crisis stated.
"General?"
"I want you to do a diagnostic sweep of the psychological profiles our interrogation droids are compiling from the reprogramming effort we've undertaken with our new workers. As you know, the goal of the project was to break the Earthlings' loyalty to the CEN and make them solely dependent on the graces of our Supreme Leader." Crisis was thankful his helmet hid his disgust at the thought of Vala Ren's good graces.
"To build up a sustainable support structure for the fleet, perhaps one day reconstitute the 21st and 22nd Legions we lost at Kazoook." Obota recited from Jethran's secret plan as if he had written it himself.
"Training Stormtroopers will take some time. Back in the proper Galaxy it took a minimum of two years for the Old Empire to turn a man into a loyal trooper. In the Unknown Regions we started the process while they were still younglings. I do not have any faith in making real troopers out of Earthlings before this war is finished. But I don't have need of real Stormtroopers, nor proper TIE pilots."
"Sir? I'm confused. You do want me to look for pilot replacements, do you not?" Obota asked.
"I saw something new at New Thyfeeria. The Empire launched their bomber squadrons at us without the benefit of fighter cover. It was insane. It was madness. It was suicidal . . . but it worked."
"Much to our detriment." Obota sighed, perhaps remembering comrades aboard the four doomed Resurgents lost during the battle.
"I need pilots like that. Ones that will delay and bleed the Empire until we can find ourselves on steady ground here on Titan. Once that is done, neither the Empire nor the Earth will be able to displace us."
"I shall begin the search at once. I suppose we will need to purchase airspeeders from Earth for the purpose until we are able to build our own TIE fighters. Shall I make the pilot recommendations based on intelligence scores and pilot aptitude?"
"Intelligence is not preferred. I'm thinking we need to base possible candidates on their ability to blindly follow commands and loyalty tests to the new Supreme Leader. We need no more than basic mechanical aptitude for the piloting requirements. Once we find our first group assign them to the elementary flight simulator programs. Try to find a potential test group of a hundred candidates by the end of the month." Crisis indicated that he was done with the subordinate, satisfied he had given him enough instructions to carry out his orders.
"It will be done, General." Obota whipped off a neat salute.
A naval ensign crossed paths with the Commander as Obota departed. The youthful officer would probably be promoted due to time served soon, which just reminded Crisis of another problem. Who was going to replace the junior officers as they rose in the ranks or were cut down in battle? Were they going to have to program Earthlings to fill those inevitable vacancies too?
Like the Commander before him the Ensign saluted the General. "With the Admiral's compliments, sir. The Confederate envoy is on approach. Admiral Jethran requests your presence at Landing Bay Twelve."
"Is not the Supreme Leader's apprentice leading them?" Crisis asked. Finnigan Incite had been dispatched by Vala Ren several days ago to help strengthen the alliance and hadn't been seen on Titan since.
"Not that I'm aware of. The Admiral just said it was the new Defense Minister and several other members of the Earth's ruling council." Crisis forgave the young officer's lack of knowledge towards the Earth's political system. Most First Order officers disdained anything that reeked of democracy and in the best of circumstances, such as their working alliance with the Confederacy of Earth Nations, chose to turn a blind eye to it as much as they could. For his part Crisis couldn't understand why Harris put in the effort he did to create the illusion of a democratic Confederacy. Who precisely was he trying to fool?
Crisis took his 22-b Nightfalcon speeder bike through the kilometers of subterranean tunnels that led to the landing bays. Every day the laborers brought up from Earth worked to expand the First Order base when they weren't being subjugated to their programming regimen.
He arrived at LB-12 in the base's airfield in a matter of minutes. He was loathe to meet with the Earthlings, having had his fill of their sniveling behavior at New Thyfeeria. Yet duty was duty, and if there was one man who possessed the majority of General Crisis's loyalty it was Admiral Jethran. If he had been in charge at New Thyfeeria, Crisis was convinced it was the Empire who would have suffered the loss of four Star Destroyers and not the other way around. And so, if the Admiral beckoned the General would obey.
Admiral Jethran met him at the hangar. The Admiral was dressed in his teal uniform rather than the white facsimile of an Imperial Grand Admiral such as he had worn at Kafrene Outpost during the recent battle. Gone were the usual ranks of identical Stormtroopers that usually greeted dignitaries from the Confederacy. Instead, Admiral Jethran was accompanied by Captains Thren and Retimar. Crisis wondered if the visiting Earthlings would realize that these were the two Captains that survived the Battle of New Mandalore, the first engagement where President Harris had recklessly thrown away First Order lives for virtually little gain.
A lone UA-TT stood to one side of the hangar with its heavy blaster cannon trained on the entrance of the hangar. Hidden away in the gantries above the landing bay were four sharpshooters. The four were Raider Stormtroopers and some of the last Special Forces the First Order possessed after Kazoook and Palpatine Prime wasted away the rest of the 7th Fleet's commandos. The Raiders trained their NT-242 sniper rifles on the energy field protecting the hangar from the methane-filled fields of Titan's broken surface.
The Rhino Beetle shuttle quickly came into view. It had been tracked by the base's defenses ever since arriving in the moon's orbit and with a single word, Jethran could have blown it from the sky. Crisis certainly considered it, but Jethran was always the more practical of the First Order's high command. He still felt there was something to be gained from working closely with the Confederacy, even if that meant the First Order would continue to bleed a little more before the Empire was finally defeated.
A large contingent of Earthlings stepped from the shuttle as soon as it settled down. They were a good mix of military and civilian leaders. Crisis trusted the military officers more than the politicians. At least he had some understanding of their intentions and where they were coming from. He had no more use for politicians than Palpatine did for the Old Imperial Senate. The Earthlings looked up nervously as the UA-TT shifted its stance above them.
Crisis recognized two of the Earthlings from previously working with them during the build-up to the raid on Nal Kuat. Minister Buffet was still the leader of the Trade Federation, and had once been the Majority Leader of the Senate. But since the suspension of the Confederate Senate, he was now the Minister of Commerce and Industry, whose department was somehow different from the Minister of the Treasury. The President's cabinet was a study in redundancy and it was all a blur of confusion to Crisis whenever he attempted to decipher how it all worked. The other man he recognized was the Deputy Director of the CIA, the former-Agent Spiz, a man who ran a clandestine signals war against Captain Murp of Imperial Naval Intelligence. After New Thyfeeria it was anyone's guess who was winning that particular struggle.
Minister Buffet ignored the threatening posture of the nearby walker and led the party directly towards the First Order reception. He wore his best salesmen smile as he shook hands with Admiral Jethran and offered Crisis a friendly smile. Buffet had a way of reminding Crisis of a Toydarian junk dealer and vowed to check the whereabouts of his personal camtono after the Earthlings left.
"Admiral, General. Always a pleasure." Buffet greeted them. "Is the Supreme Leader not joining us?"
"Supreme Leader Ren has other concerns that are currently taking up her time. I believe her representative was recently accepted to the President's cabinet." Jethran replied.
"Indeed. Emissary Incite is making himself right at home back in Confederate Center. Please, send our regards to the Supreme Leader and that we are sorry we missed her on this visit." If the Earthling was disappointed, he showed no sign of it. Though it should have been no surprise as Vala Ren hardly ever attended any meetings with their allies, preferring to hole up in that creepy Keep of hers.
"Shouldn't Admiral Akfar be joining us?" Jethran asked. For the first time, Crisis also noticed the absence of the Earth's military leader. He had been worried he wouldn't be able to hide his revulsion at being in Akfar's presence again after his failures last week.
"I'm afraid the Admiral has been reassigned from active fleet duty to focus on other duties in the conquered territories. President Harris has just made him the military governor of New Ryloth effective this morning." A female officer stepped forward. By her rank insignia Crisis determined she was also a full Admiral in the Confederate Space Force.
"Gentlemen, may I present Admiral Hollander. Our new Supreme Commander of all Confederate forces." Deputy Director Spiz introduced the officer who stepped forward and exchanged salutes with Jethran. Crisis noticed she had an unnatural lavender hue to the hair tucked under her service cap.
"Are we to assume that with a change in leadership you also bring a change in strategy? Hopefully a better one?" Crisis demanded.
The Earthlings looked nervously towards Hollander at the bluntness of Crisis's question. Jethran interceded, "Let us adjourn to a briefing room, where we can offer some refreshment and you can tell us why you are here."
The Earthlings nodded in agreement and the party quickly left the landing bay for a nearby command bunker used by the 7th Fleet's FlightOps Command. The room possessed a long conference table with a central holoprojector and several black and silver protocol droids who served a round of caf to the First Order officers and their Confederate guests.
"I suppose we should address the elephant in the room first." Hollander announced once they were all settled. Crisis didn't know what an elephant was but he was curious to discover what the Earthlings' major concerns were.
The Earth officer continued. "Akfar's strategy of performing a head long dash straight down the enemy's prime hyper-route was doomed once we took our recent breather at Kafrene Outpost. This pause gave Admiral Gentis and the Imperial Navy enough time to prepare a successful entrapment inside the Kuat System that we stumbled into due to Akfar's lack of reconnaissance of the target." So the Earthlings were throwing Akfar under the proverbial hoverbus, Crisis deduced. He couldn't blame them after witnessing Akfar's actions first hand.
"I witnessed first-hand Admiral Akfar's over-reliance on your so-called Agent Fulcrum's information. During the recent battle inside the Kuat System he fully believed the entirety of the enemy fleet was located at Onasi V, which was several days away by lightspeed and effectively out of the picture during the campaign's opening stages. This proved not to be the case, much to the First Order's detriment." Crisis stated just short of an actual accusation.
Deputy-Director Spiz stood up and spoke. "Fulcrum has been a reliable intelligence source since before the war. We wouldn't occupy half the Bloodstripe or have Mars back in our hands if it wasn't for his network of spies."
"We believe Fulcrum may be compromised." Admiral Jethran supported Crisis's argument. "He completely failed to locate Admiral Banjeer's fleet and the Ares was most certainly not at Onasi V during the engagement. We lost four of our Resurgents due to that mistake, though we did make the Empire suffer the loss of two, perhaps three of its own Star Destroyers."
"Actually, Fulcrum sent a report yesterday, claiming the Empire incurred the loss of one Star Destroyer, probably the Flood." Spiz reported. "Your star pilots were not as effective as they claimed to be."
"Another mistake on Fulcrum's end. My pilots, what is left of them, identified, attacked and destroyed at minimum two of the enemy's capital ships." Crisis silently vowed never to trust another report from this callous Fulcrum that the Earthlings seemed to put all of their faith into.
"Perhaps, if you'd divulged the existence of these mysterious invisible ships the Empire has started to deploy our movements wouldn't have been reported to the Empress with her morning tea and crumpets." Spiz sneered. "Our entire 2nd Fleet was at Kafrene Outpost screening for your ships when that ghost vessel appeared and broadcast a sighting report back to Admiral Gentis. 1st Fleet's movement into the Kuat System went in completely exposed and the Empire reacted accordingly."
"What are those things? I've lost seven transports in the past month without a sign or hair of what struck them." Buffet asked.
"We are currently investigating them as well. Their appearance was just as much of a surprise to us as it was to you, I assure you." Admiral Jethran lied. Crisis had discussed the possibility that the Empire was using stygium-powered cloaked ships with the Admiral. The number of damaged ships indicated at least three of the vessels in the Empress's service, which meant a rather substantial load of the crystals had been discovered somewhere within the Empire. They hadn't been used at all during the Earth-Empire war, which probably meant the Empire hadn't possessed them twenty years ago. Strange vessels that could have been cloaked ships were spotted docked during the Nal Kuat Raid but hadn't been attacked. So far, no one in the occupied planets of the Bloodstripe Run had given up or even hinted at knowing where the Empire's secret deposit was located. Jethran disclosed to Crisis he suspected the mysterious third planet in the Kuat System seemed a likely candidate due to rumors it was a heavy-ore mining prison world. All the more reason for the First Order to take possession of the three worlds of the Kuat System as war prizes. That particular location might turn out to be the most valuable prize of the entire war. Why tell the Earthlings, and encourage them to take it for themselves?
"All the more reason to develop the convoy system. It worked a hundred years ago against Hitler's wolfpacks and it should be enough to scare off the Empress's lackeys." Buffet argued.
"We are reassigning many of the 2nd Fleet's escorts to such duties." The Earth's new Supreme Commander said before turning back to the First Order officers. "Would your navy be able to lend a hand? It is our tankers and supply ships that refuel the 7th's ships after all." Admiral Hollander asked Jethran.
"Our ships are all capital ships and ill-suited for convoy duty. We are familiar with the tactic, having utilized it during the Galactic Civil War against rebel raids. The Empire will have the same experience of course. We can protect shipping in the Sol System for now, while you build up for your next campaign." Jethran counter offered. The Space Force officers looked disappointed. No doubt they had been expecting a larger commitment. Well too bad, Crisis thought, they hadn't just lost four Resurgents.
"I'll take what I can get. I'm moving thirty thousand settlers to Mars and half that to Mercury every week. My transports are strained getting supplies out to Kafrene Outpost yet the President wants more and more colonists delivered to the occupied worlds. It's going to take a month before the tibanna plant at Venus can even restock what you wasted at New Thyfeeria." Buffet admitted. "I can use the escorts here protecting Trade Federation convoys further along, especially with getting more gear to the end of the line at Kafrene.
"Which brings us to the next campaign against the Empire." Hollander announced. One of her aides leaned forward and activated the holoprojector, bringing up a hologram of the known Bloodstripe Run. The occupied territory was lit with blue-gray worlds indicating Confederate control while the coreward worlds past the Kuat triangle were illuminated in red. Hollander manipulated the interactive hologram with her hands and zoomed in on the Kuat Triangle, an area of space formed by the Kafrene, Kuat and Anax Systems. The image showed the locations of the 1st Confederate Fleet still stationed in orbit at Kafrene Outpost licking their wounds.
The Earthling commander started her pitch. "We are keeping our attention on the Kuat System. If Admiral Gentis continues to focus his fleet there and Nal Kuat continues repairing and building new Imperial warships, it will be impossible to leave it in our rear if we continue to advance down the Bloodstripe Run towards the ultimate goal of Palpatine Prime."
"You're not proposing charging straight back in, are you? Your predecessor proved the folly of such an act." Jethran asked with a smile.
"Not at all. Nal Kuat is the Empire's main naval base, but it is not the source of its durasteel or tibanna. The Empire's main fuel sources have been identified as the refineries on Vaedor 1,2 and 3. Well beyond our current striking range. None of the planets in the Kuat System are major food producers of any sort, yet Nal Kuat has over a million inhabitants living on its ring."
"Are you suggesting we place them under siege?" Crisis asked. "We proved the Almuhit Maelstrom was navigable to a determined ship when we struck them at the start of the war."
"That is true, but that is also what I'm proposing." Hollander replied. "We could leave your entire 7th Fleet at the wide gap in the Almuhit near New Thyfeeria and the Empire will still find ways around it. That's why it is imperative to find a narrower chokepoint."
"And have you discovered one?" Jethran asked.
"We believe we have." Deputy Director Spiz answered. He waved his hand at a location coreward of the Anax System. "This is Judicar. A two-planet system inhabited by a mixed colony world that specializes in commercial cultivation of subsidy crops and Judicar Aurek, which has a small mining facility focused on something called Mirkanite."
"It's used in lasers." Jethran disclosed as he leaned towards the holoimage. "This system is only a few dozen million kilometers in diameter. Even I would have to bunch up my ships in tight formations to get them through all at once."
"Exactly our thoughts as well, Admiral. Those worlds are hot ones, being so close to their star, but we're dealing with the same conditions on Mercury here in the Sol System. If we placed several airbases there with a large contingent of our X-Wings, we'd effectively seal off the route, thus sealing off resupply of the Kuat System. Gentis and his fleet will starve for fuel and food within the year." Hollander explained.
"Judicar looks to be protected by forward elements of the Imperial 41st Elite Legion, and that system doesn't allow for a lot of room for our ships to maneuver." Crisis objected.
"True. Luckily it is within range of the next system down the Run." Hollander manipulated the image one system rimward to the Anax System, located neatly between the Kafrene Outpost and the Judicar System. Unlike New Thyfeeria, Anax looked to be at the edge of bombing distance from Kafrene Outpost.
Spiz took over from Hollander. "This is Anax. It is an Imperial logging world with a single town. According to Fulcrum and our own reconnaissance flights it has been largely abandoned. The system itself is extremely porous and the local star looks to be undergoing spurts of a coronal mass ejection event which started shortly after the war began."
"Those play havoc on a ship's internal systems and shields. I doubt Admiral Gentis would want to fight under such conditions. I'm hesitant as well." Jethran asked.
"While a detriment, they are hardly fatal to a ship, and Anax itself is protected by its magnetosphere. We plan on landing a Legion there to protect a construction battalion. They will build a forward airbase from which we can start reducing Judicar's defenses."
"I suppose you need our help with this." Jethran sighed.
"We are quite capable of handling Anax. Life signs readings and Fulcrum's reports left less than a hundred people there after the Empire's evacuation. Most of the inhabitants were ex-Stormtroopers who we believe re-enlisted after the war began and moved elsewhere. Not a lot of need for lumber during a Star War after all." Spiz chuckled darkly.
"I'm keeping my capital ships at Kafrene Outpost for the time being. It will save fuel while the situation at Judicar develops. We could use some of your vessels in the area as a deterrent in case Admiral Gentis sends one of his fighting Admirals out on a raid like they did at Ro-Loo." Hollander suggested. "Of course, we could use your help if the Empire says 'fuck it' and charges straight into a conclusive battle with our larger combined fleet at Kafrene."
"Even with the Ares, they can't stand against the full might of the 7th." Jethran declared.
"I doubt the false Empress would allow them to throw away their entire fleet. Palpatine she is not." Crisis crossed his arms as he studied the holoimage for flaws. Anax looked simple enough but Judicar might be tough without a proper reduction. Luckily, it looked as if the Earth was willing to throw its Legions at the problem rather than risk his 23rd Legion.
"Once you have Anax and Judicar under your control I suggest you fortify it. As you do so, I will bring my fleet with a healthy portion of yours to the gates of Nal Kuat itself. Once the First Order has control of the Kuat System the Empire will have little left to resist our Alliance with." Jethran stated, causing Admiral Hollander to nod and smile in agreement. "You can do as you wish with the rest of the Bloodstripe Run."
"Agreed. The Judicar Campaign may slow down the tempo through the autumn but once it's in our hands, Phasma and the rest of the Empire will fall like ripe fruit." Buffet interrupted the military planning with his outburst, but none of the attendees disagreed with the businessman's sentiment.
Crisis looked at the holomap once again. The plan had its merits and if it succeeded, he could see the end of the war from here. "To the victor goes the spoils."
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Up Next- Closing in on Fulcrum