[19 BBY]
[Office of the Acting Chancellor {Southern Regions}, formerly Governor's Palace, Eriadu, Eriadu System, Seswenna Sector, Outer Rim Territories]
"...approached by agents of the planetary government about surrender, effectively they want to switch sides Chancellor. My own forces are just about finished at Lorta, the Sector is now secure, and I shall be departing to link up with Admiral Ironhill and General Chorn. As with such, with the Gran..."
Wilhuff Tarkin held up his hand and the hologram of one of his senior field commanders fell silent as he considered the prospect a moment prior to reply "Their desired terms?"
"Something of a fantasy, but in practical terms they wish to retain a Senator, avoid getting their industry and defences destroyed...essentially a minor system version, with lesser rights, of what Sullust got Chancellor"
"Hmm..." Wilhuff frowned, hands together in front of him as he considered the matter, glancing at Gideon who remained silent before answering "...and can you take Kinyen General without such an agreement?"
General Stormcrow, standing at military attention nodded "Yes Chancellor, if those are your orders. We are confident we can eliminate the defence fleet, the planetary shield, and the planetary defence forces, thought likely only via an extended campaign or siege, and losses would be moderate to severe defending on if their Sector Fleets send the Gran reinforcements. Regardless of that, I would state we are essentially at the end of our logistical capacity after this system and will have to revert to a defensive status or risk defeat in detail, or simply see pacified areas rising in rebellion again"
'Not unexpected, these offensives have pressed my forces to breaking point, victories aside' the Acting Chancellor of the Loyalist Sectors of the Republic could admit to himself. They had achieved the primary purpose of the primary offensive in opening the Hydian Way, at long last, and the Separatists had been pushed back into a defensive stance opposite his region of control. It would give time to continue with the general reorganisation of the failed institutions of the Republic into something more secure and effective. Even if it had meant far too many compromises, with the likes of SoroSuub Corporation to change sides for one, and now with even xeno irritants such as the Gran "I would you to preserve your forces General, so make all efforts to peacefully subdue the Gran and restore them to the Republic, but I will state we will accept nothing less than garrisoning of Kinyen, and handover of their fleet assets"
"Of course Chancellor, I've also made preparations in case of potential false surrenders, or a trap, but both of my deployed commanders believe they are sincere"
Wilhuff nodded "Excellent General, we shall confirm Moff status, and that of your fellow OverSector Generals, in the coming weeks...once matters have settled somewhat. We are also, at long last, able to send some reinforcements from Sullust in the form of a number of Quasar Fire-class bulk carriers. Six in the position of your OverSector General, but I'm afraid you shall have to supply your own starfighter wings, and pilots, beyond the skeleton crews to deliver them"
The hologram of the green-skinned near human nodded politely "Thank you Chancellor, I shall put them to go use I can assure you"
He nodded back idly himself "See that you do General, we cannot afford any wastefulness in this war. Now, I shall allow you to return to you operations"
General Stormcrow saluted before his hologram vanished "Of course Chancellor; For the Republic!"
"For the Republic indeed" Wilhuff murmured as the connecting ended, adjusting his stance on the swivel chair to turn to Gideon "We are making more comprises than I am comfortable with I feel at times"
His brother nodded, and then shrugged ever so fractionally "Perhaps, but securing Kinyen is less important than ensuring that Sector Fleet under the Stormcrow remains intact. Our forces are stretched, and while I doubt we'll see any major counteroffensives in the coming weeks, eventually our enemies will launch them. And we had best have secured our rear areas before that point. It is not as if we are doing anything more than allowing the aliens to surrender gracefully...and allow easier occupation of a useful strategic system. Or do you mean in general?"
"In general more than this one instance perhaps" Wilhuff admitted bringing fingers to rest just under his chin but remaining calm and in control of his feelings on the situation "...a strong stance is needed, and I am loath to have any sign of weakness shown to our foes"
Gideon nodded, looking thoughtful before sighing "In regards recent events I would argue there is limited danger of that. Marissa, for instance, has been her usual high energy self, and the Gran are surrendering, or considering it, due to the reputation of General Stormcrow of being utterly without mercy when facing traitors and betrayers. They are likely well aware of the consequences of a second betrayal, the same as Generals Yanthis and Kota have display with their respective OverSector commands. As your son has indicated in his reports, the durasteel gauntlet goes well with the velvet glove as many, many, worlds simply wish to be guided if offered harsh, but fair, leadership"
His brother frowned as he finished speaking for a moment, then shaking his head "Nor can we afford the cost of such right now, not with a war to fight, and the reorganisation likely to take months at least merely to see effective command and control over our auxiliary and allied formations. Current policies are seeing strong indicators of short and medium-term success..."
Wilhuff held up his hand and his brother fell silent. His own son had argued similar, though Garoche be something of a soft-heart at times he'd found "I will be review the analyse and after-action reports in a few hours and I shall listen to speculations on the matter then"
"Of course Chancellor, and what of the situation with Coruscant"
"Hmm...both better and worse than expected..." he answered bringing up a galaxy map showing areas loyal to Eriadu Authority as well as those of other factions "...what matters is they will disturb our rule for now, and that we will gain ships for resources. Something we sorely need while we reorganise and rationalise our shipbuilding efforts to more standardised and uniform, munitions wise, models..."
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[19 BBY]
[Command Centre, Central Military Command, Rexus System, Tion Hegemony, Outer Rim Territories]
Kleeve frowned as the Galaxy Map updated showing advances and retreats for the Confederacy in the past few weeks. Overall the situation was 'positive' in that hundreds of systems had swung in their favour...
'Save many of them are primitive balls of dirt that offer no true benefit compared to failing to regain Sullust and remove the Republic blockade of Geonosis' he thought with a frown. The Republic might have collapsed into feuding factions, but it had also led to a radical overhaul of Republic strategy, defensive or otherwise and that was going to prove a problem he could tell. Gone was the previous strategy of defending every system, and in its place what seemed to be nodal strategy based around large, mobile, fleets that tended to move only over 'important' strategic objectives.
"Problems, General?" came from behind him and he turned his head to see the new head of the Military Oversight Committee, Senator Bonteri, strolling towards him. The massacre, though it was more attempted massacre as the majority of Senators had survived, by the Jedi terrorists had thankfully failed to kill competent Senators like Bonteri, so that was on positive in his mind. Another factor was that'd they'd pushed up through Vena and Nazzro to reunite Onderon with the Confederacy proper, which was a positive...if limited by warnings by the Hapes Consortium over encroaching on their territory.
"No, not truly Senator, though I will admit there are concerns that myself, and the other Chiefs of Staff, have over the nature of the war. For one the GAR, divided though it may be now, has shown a significant improvement in both effectiveness and strategic vision. Several of our efforts have been rebuffed faster than expected, and more worryingly they have reopened the Hydian Way and reunited with the Eriadu back warlords and its ORSF"
"Ah, but they are not the primary trouble at the moment General?"
Kleeve shook his head "No, they are Senator, it just appears the Mandalorians, the Jedi worlds, and that madman rallying the fringe to this...Restored Sith Empire. If we could focus upon them, we could crush them; instead we are forced into multi-front attrition, which we are stalemating currently. I would restate our position that making limited peace with the Republic factions may be in our best interests in the short term, till we can build up again and allow them fight themselves out"
Mina Bonteri came up beside him, frowning "Yes, that has been discussed, but accepting the loss of the Outer Rim Territories to the Galactic South has been a significant hurdle to such talks of peace with the military faction on Corusant currently in the ascendant"
"I doubt they'll last in the long run, outside the Core anyway, as they appear to be having trouble with various populaces"
She frowned slightly studying the map "Our analysts believe that GAR-South, or whatever they're calling themselves now have gained significant support in the Outer Rim. Despite Sullustan objections it is growing increasingly clear that Sullush, and SoroSuub in particular, has genuinely begun to offer tacit support to the Senate on Eriadu"
Kleeve nodded faintly looking at the flashing icon where a Hutt fleet, long unseen outside...or ever really...had emerged mere days ago and turned a neutral world from modern to pre-spaceflight, maybe pre-industrial, almost overnight "Ah, but the Tarkins are not Coruscant Senator, and it would be great if Parliament could work towards separating them from the other factions, and into a ceasefire, or even, wonder of wonders, a peace treaty"
"Hardly the most powerful of the Republic factions, or even hardly a faction at all, merely a more aggressive part of the Coruscant militarists..." Bonteri replied in serious tone, at least pretending to listen unlike many of her colleagues tended to be "...and certainly the most opposed to us by all accounts. There has been growing pressure of late to ally with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, especially in the wake of the Jedi Terror Attack, and the Kuati faction based on the previous peace efforts"
"Perhaps, but they seem to have achieved their operational objectives and their Generals are...aggressive, and they have enough shipyards now to be a problem. Nor do our agents feel they are as united with Coruscant as they appear" Kleeve replied after a moment before shaking his head "As to Kuat...I would caution taking any side in the conflict, directly at least. Nor do I believe is Kuat any more trustworthy than the others. I will be honest Senator...we have enough troubles, ending the conflict after our recent advances is likely as favourable in the short term as can be achieved with the Confederacy's own...political issues needing resolution"
Senator Bonteri sighed "I will consider your words, and please, provide a report on the situation you have just laid out, and, yes, I do accept our continued failure to elect a replacement for Count Dooku is a..."
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