30th day of Month 14 ABG

As news anchors go, Jarvin Maslovar checks all the boxes any studio would look for: He has that booming, authoritative voice that carries across the whole studio and oozes with confidence; his appearance is everything one might look for in a human male; he's smart enough to sound intelligent when put on the spot; and he's wise enough to say what they tell him to.

That latter point is particularly important in a war where the difference between information and misinformation can win over the countless governments and civilians choosing a side. The HoloNet News Outer Rim Borderlands Subnet isn't just about getting views, it's about conveying the right message. Jarvin is just interested enough in their message to make it sound genuine, and just disinterested enough that he doesn't start introducing his own opinions. That's what a perfect anchor does.

He just reads the holo-prompter that's a few meters in front of him, which sits right next to one of the six cameras (four holographic, two flat image) that are in the Korphir studio. With a bold smile on his face, he sits up straight, adjusts his maroon-colored tie, and once the cameras start rolling, he pronounces:

"Just when it seemed like the CIS was gaining traction with victories such as their defense of Sullust and invasion of Tlactehon earlier this month, the heroic efforts of Republic generals in recent weeks have more than made up for past losses. First, a pirate base in the Bes system backed by the Separatists was defeated by High General Windu, dramatically improving safety of transit along the southern Rimma. A Chief Tax Chaplain within Holy Ugor Taxation Collection Agency has claimed that the pirates were attacked illegitimately and demanded that the Republic compensate two and a half-fold to the Angel of Taxation and Imports. Conversely, King Ebareebaveebeedee of nearby Skor II described the action as 'elite unhaggled enforcement that will promote epic prize-gathering along our hypertravelling lanes.'"

He gives a brief pause to take a deep breath and let the audience chuckle at the strange alien phrases, and then continues the lead-in to the night's main story. "More importantly, High General Sadiya Keldon has successfully secured Bandomeer and captured General Grievous, a world which proclaimed loyalty to Count Dooku more than two years ago."

His co-host, the Paigun Kitak Gulis, then takes over, "That's right, Jarvis. Not only has Bandomeer, in a strategically advantageous position, fallen into Republic hands, but yesterday, it was officially confirmed that the elusive General Grievous is inside the Separatist holdout, which is now limited to a single town, Selbar. At this point, his execution is… merely a matter of formality." Kitak functions as both the alien and the woman, which are necessary to give the newsroom a bit of balance in its demographics. Her croaking voice is a bit unique but not unpleasant.

She's also probably the smartest one in the room, but that isn't always a good thing. She hesitated on that last bit, like she thinks finishing off Grievous won't be easy.

Jarvis gives his most sincere smile and nod, trying to resell that point which she messed up, and then he continues, "Although Bandomeer was an essential Separatist stronghold because of its position along the Hydian Way, a well-executed feint by General Keldon tricked Grievous into diverting a portion of his naval forces to Thomquizzar. With the Separatists on Bandomeer not at full strength, that was when Keldon chose to strike a couple weeks ago, and the Republic dominated the orbital battle. Admiral Dorain outmaneuvered the Separatist fleet with a bold opening attack that took out the Providence-class flagship Huakil, killing the Separatist naval commander, who is presumed to be Admiral Veem." Demonstrating uncertainty as he did over the minor points like the Separatist Admiral's name is essential, because it shows they care about fact-checking and makes the key points feel more certain by comparison.

He continues, "The remainder of the CIS fleet was split between Grievous's ships and those of Babteer Pil, the terrorist group of Meerian nationalists who coerced Bandomeer's government into joining the Separatists. With the Admiral dead, the two allied militaries could not coordinate their efforts, and Admiral Dorain consistently forced his opponents to get in each other's way."

One of the most important messages for HNN and its subsidiaries, which is to be found in just about every segment, is that the Separatists don't have a real government; they're just a disorganized bundle of corrupt businesses and terrorist groups. With that in mind, it's quite believable that they'd have a hard time coordinating. Even if not, the broader points still hold, and Jarvis collects his paycheck either way.

Kitak picks up, continuing "When the aerial victory looked inevitable, the strategy shifted toward helping the ground invasion. Republic starfighters were diverted to protect bombers, which attacked ground-based military targets in the capital of Bandor, which is the only true city on Bandomeer."

That's technically true based on Republic bylaws, which require at least 1,000,000 sentients in order for municipalities to be formally classified as cities. Core Worlders like to throw that definition around in order to offend Rimmers like Jarvis, who grew up thinking that a couple hundred thousand people would count as a big city.

Now, he avoids making the city/town distinction whenever possible. Whichever he picks, it upsets either his Core World bosses or his Outer Rim audience. Meanwhile, his co-host carries on about how "General Keldon delayed landing until almost all of the surface-to-air defenses in Bandor had been neutralized, although damage to the Acclamator-class assault ship Devastator forced her to finally launch its gunships to evacuate the clone troopers who were onboard."

"And of course, the invasion of Bandor was successful," Jarvis jumps in, "as General Keldon led from the front lines, freeing the city which was once infested with droids and Babteer Pil alike."

Kitik responds, "The bombing runs took out some of the key defenses, and the Republic was able to overwhelm their surviving fortifications by dividing their forces and striking in small, short bursts from different directions." She's always good at covering details of events.

"The walls and turrets of Babteer Pil's garrison were damaged heavily by bombers, and Keldon avoided attacking it at first, instead letting other battles play out. The intent was to take it with a large number of clone troopers after the rest of the city was secure, but the terrorists chose to flee rather than try to prevent their garrison's inevitable seizure," he announces. HNN writers do love referring to the Separatists as "terrorists" whenever possible.

"To this day, some are hiding in the wilderness or among Separatist sympathizers and fighting a guerilla war, although they are only a minor nuisance in the grand scheme of things," Kitak adds. This time, she does a little bit better of a job at hiding her skepticism about the Babteer Pil being so trivial.

"Yes, Kitik, I'm sure they will be," he ad-libs in for a bit of extra punch on that point, then he returns to his line on the prompter, the "Separatist-allied Governor LanBeeb fled Bandor before the senate building could captured, but she is suspected to still be on-planet, possibly in Selbar. Treasonous planetary Senators including FalWeer, PonSet, and RiNam were captured, and a representative from Offworld Corporation, Cralto Aquizoon, was formally installed as interim Governor three days ago." RiNam once came on his show and made something of a ruckus, so he can't help but smile at hearing of her capture.

He then sits back a bit and glances over to watch as Gulis says, "While securing Bandor was the primary objective, the secondary goal was to attack the town of Selbar, which was and is both the headquarters of Babteer Pil and General Grievous's location. This attack was, unfortunately, significantly more involved."

"The town was built as a fortress centuries ago, with walls and a shield protecting it from any sort of bombardment. On its north and east boundaries is a steep slope down into an azurite strip mine. While ramps once allowed for pedestrians and repulsorlift vehicles to go up and down, the Confederacy destroyed them during the battle, effectively isolating the town.

"The assault, like the one of Bandor, began with an aerial approach, but a number of surface-to-air turbolasers in the city combined with droid starfighters stationed there made the attack difficult, and the Republic squadrons suffered heavy casualties before General Keldon ordered it off." It was a nice long monologue by her, and since this part of the segment is just voicing over a projection of some footage and maps of the battle, he takes advantage to sip some water.

He finally steps in, "LAAT Gunships landed clone troopers and vehicles to surround the city and prevent the Separatists from escaping while keeping up a steady barrage against Selbar's shield. As planetwide battles raged on, General Grievous began consolidating his defeated forces in Selbar. Droids from the nearby towns of Liznob Bot and Rinbam were pulled back into Selbar." I do have to give the Meerians some credit for nice and easy to pronounce names.

With the footage of the maps complete, the cameras turn back to the two anchors. "Babteer Pil and droid forces in other towns that are further away, such as Bandor, fled in Selbar's direction as the tide turned in our favor, but by the time they arrived, it was thoroughly blockaded by Republic forces. Most of them are still at large, hiding either in Bandomeer's wilderness or with Separatist sympathizers in nearby towns."

"Yes, and even Grievous's naval forces began retreating to Selbar's spaceport," he replies, "A damaged Munificent-class frigate and about half of the Separatist starfighters on Bandomeer were able to land there as well."

"With the Separatist fleet routed, the Republic fleet now has more freedom to move about. A lone Acclamator-class assault ship Vanguard stayed above Selbar while the rest of the fleet went into a further orbit. While this defense would be sufficient to intercept Grievous before he could escape into hyperspace, the Separatists actually wanted to get ships into Selbar. An odd choice, certainly, considering that it is effectively captured, but believable when one considers the desperation of the defeated Grievous. Instead of admitting his defeat on Bandomeer, the CIS chose to double down and devote more resources to their doomed holdouts," she explains.

Taking on a more grim-sounding tone, he adds, "The Lucrehulk-class battleship Venture arrived from nearby Thomquizzar and came out of hyperspace close to the surface and almost directly above Selbar, apparently stocked with fuel and munitions. The Vanguard didn't have enough firepower to stop it alone as the Venture raced down into Selbar. Our flagship, the Praetor-class Kalpana, sailed in at the last minute and dealt significant damage, but there wasn't enough time to destroy the Venture before it plummeted into Selbar."

Kitak elaborates, "The only reason they made it to Selbar in time was because they traveled at an extremely high speed, and it wasn't even able to properly slow down before what was essentially a crash-landing in Selbar's airfield. The Venture might never fly again. That's what desperate tacticians do."

"However, this is just a minor setback," he points out, "Because Grievous has no way to generate power, and once their supply runs out, the shield will be disabled, and we can achieve swift victory by bombarding strategic targets."

"Strategic targets" was a nice little ad-lib addition on his part. HNN loves the phrase because it sounds like precise military jargon but can really mean whatever you need it to mean. Given how deep Selbar's support for the CIS is, basically every building in the city could be a strategic target.

Kitak affirms, "And that will be soon, because the Separatists are not able to resupply the town again. The Kalpana has remained closer to Selbar ever since, and after ten days of fighting, the entire rest of the planet was secured. There are four star systems with hyperlanes to Bandomeer, and none of them are in Separatist hands."

Once again, the holo-cameras turn off so as to show viewers a map of the galactic space around Bandomeer. Jarvis narrates, "To the west along the Braxant Run is Thomquizzar, which was once a Separatist world, and where Grievous had been resupplied from. However, with the Venture having gone back to Bandomeer, the remaining Separatist defenses were minimal. General Wom-Nii Gnaden led an assault on the planet, and its defenders were forced to retreat westward. The Mekith Corridor goes south out of Bandomeer, to Gorm Minor and then Vanquo, both Republic worlds. Along the Hydian Way, the southwest direction leads to Wrodi, a Republic-held world, while the next planet to the northeast is Harloen, a so-called neutral world.

Harloen borders Separatist territory, so the planet acts as a blockade which limits General Keldon's ability to advance further north to Mepha'as Prime or Botajef."

According to HNN, there are no neutrals in this war, so planets who are not with the Republic are against them. Harloen likewise forbids the Separatists from sending armies to Bandomeer, but they're not supposed to give them any praise for it. Kitak replies, "Harloen has joined the Alliance of Neutral Worlds, which is becoming a bigger roadblock as it now contains 15 star systems and has a growing army, which includes Mandalorian mercenaries. As such, Jedi diplomats are on the planet attempting to figure out a solution that can please both parties, although corrupt Separatist negotiators are attempting to incite the planet into further conflict with us."

For the most part, HNN likes to focus on the soldiers rather than the generals, but for some reason, the writers today have given exception to High General Sadiya Keldon, whom their scripts consistently praise. "That means for now, General Keldon's brilliant offensive is hamstrung by waiting for the Jedi. However, regardless of how long it takes for us to get past Harloen and advance into the Belsmuth Sector, the Battle of Bandomeer is a great success which has eliminated General Grievous and stonewalled the Separatist advance along the Hydian Way."

"So, tell me more about this High General Keldon," asks Kitak.

"Of course. She actually left with the Jedi over ideological disagreements as a teenager and served with the Judicials for more than a decade. Some may remember her extremely anti-Jedi rhetoric, particularly after the Battle of Taanab, in which she said on our show that, 'the Jedi are unfit to lead armies. Monks are not generals.' And she was rightfully upset about that particular instance: Jedi Knight Mewrineelee-remalior betrayed her and leaked crucial intelligence prior to the battle, contributing to a defeat," he explains.

"But is her viewpoint accurate overall?" she asks.

"For that," he says, "I'll bring in military analyst Chomwell Kard. Chomwell, what do you think?"

The area in front of them is filled by a projection of the heavy-set older man from Anaxes. He points out that "She may be onto something, Jarvis. While Jedi often get all the glamor and attention for commanding our victories, individuals like Keldon highlight that their sorcerer's ways and the 'Light Side of the Force' are not the key to military success."

Jarvis once saw a Jedi lift a cup with his mind, but so far, he hasn't been given any reason to believe that Jedi are anything more than particularly compact tractor beam projectors.

Kard continues, "Enlisted non-Jedi like her and Admiral Dorain are crucial to the war effort, as are the brave, white-armored soldiers. How many Jedi victories are the work of their valiant underlings, and how many Jedi defeats could have been avoided under better leadership? A huge number of Jedi are in charge of the invasion of Jabiim, which has not gone well so far, and we have witnessed another Jedi betrayal very recently, this one at Sullust. Just like Taanab, it led to a major defeat, and Sullust has stayed in Separatist hands for now."

"However," Jarvis interjects, "Things have been going well along the northern Hydian, haven't they?"

"They have," Chomwell answers, "But it is hard not to notice that it is the one location where a non-Jedi high general is in charge. Indeed, we've seen similar effects of clone troopers succeeding after their Jedi General is killed, such as in the successful defense of Nojic just two weeks ago. Perhaps the key to success in the rest of the galaxy may be a change in leadership."

Kitak comments, "That aligns with what we're hearing from Coruscant. Senator Ask Aak recently introduced a bill that would create increased opportunities for clone commanders and other military veterans to advance into the leadership roles that are usually held by Jedi."

That's the short of it. From what Jarvis heard, generally in the past, Jedi have been promoting their own into such roles. While they retain that power, the Office of the Chancellor would be given the ability to make additional promotions of overlooked individuals. It also would allow Palpatine to create something called a "Chancellor's Hand."

He makes no mention of the additional power that this would give Palpatine, instead reading off the prompter, "Supreme Chancellor Palpatine spoke in favor of Senator Aak's bill, stating that 'victory in this war will require contributions from individuals from all types, and this program will promote fairness and equality within our military.' If it passes in the Senate, he intends to sign it next week."

Kitak follows up, saying, "The Jedi High Council has not responded to our request for comment."

Chomwell jumps back in with the finisher: "Regardless of whether or not other leadership changes, General Keldon's campaign may single-handedly win the war for the Republic. The shipyards of Botajef are within arm's reach, and Count Dooku's homeworld of Serenno lies as a prize in the distance. If she can continue to push north along the Hydian, CIS holdings in the New Territories will be cut off from their allies to the east. A dedicated offensive along the Hydian will not be easy, but if things continue to go as they have been, it is certainly possible. The path to victory lies before us.