Recovery:
Carth Onasi, protégé of Saul Karath and perhaps one of the Old Republic's premiere soldiers, had accompanied Revan during his journey to recovering the Star Forge. He considered himself a friend of Revan and truly believed the man had been redeemed by the Jedi. The sudden betrayal and execution of all those they had been traveling with rocked Carth to his core. Again his loyalty had been betrayed, again his faith had been abused, and again his trust and optimism had been crushed.
Revan, Bastila, and HK-47 tortured and abused him for information following the capture of the Star Forge. Ultimately, he broke and divulged dozens of Republic secrets. However, he had not yet outlived his usefulness. After some months in custody, Revan imprisoned him aboard a Republic scout ship captured in the battle and sent it on an automatic course back to Republic space- a warning that the Sith would be returning.
Kept in stasis, Carth had nothing but nightmares to accompany the several week trip. A medical droid kept him alive and sedated, but there were no other crew onboard. Had the ship been disabled or knocked off course, it would have been a fate worse than death. Carth's ship arrived two weeks before the Manaan invasion, but he was so badly deteriorated that his recovery took until long after Revan had returned. It would take even longer for him to return to any form of active duty, which worked out well for Revan, who had not foreseen the logistical fumble at Manaan. Carth's debriefing was enlightening for the Republic who finally discovered the worst had, indeed, happened.
What remained of the Carth Onasi who had returned from Wild Space was a changed man. Colder, darker, more reserved, and more prone to anger. A far cry from the man who had enlisted in the service over a decade earlier.
Onasi was born on Telos IV and had a moderately decent upbringing. He served in the planetary militia from his teenage years into his early twenties, which regularly required him to spend weeks at a time in all different areas of the planet. Onasi was later accepted into the Republic Navy's air force division. He was stationed at the orbital watch station on Serroco, which was often used as a training grounds for the Republic's fighter pilots due to the planet's unpredictable storms and high-intensity atmospheric conditions.
As Republic naval doctrine at the time had shifted to focus on heavy-frigates and destroyers, as opposed to the more agile corvettes and fighter complements, Onasi was assigned a different role once he graduated from the flight academy. Admiral Saul Karath, of the tactical command-shipCourageous, requested Onasi's transfer from Serroco station. Once approved, Onasi settled in as the alpha-shift helmsman of Karath's command ship and was quickly promoted to lieutenant. As there was little to do from this posting during peacetime, he was also often assigned to pilot cargo ships that ferried supplies from the Courageous to Serroco and back again.
Despite this prominent position, Onasi would be demoted after a series of bizzarely defied orders- including, but not limited to, assisting and harboring a fugitive, assisting and facilitating the escape of a prisoner, and sabotaging peace talks. Karath summarily dismissed him from bridge duty and re-assigned him to Lance Squadron. Onasi would later play a critical role in the capture of theGladiator, a command ship belonging to a massive slave consortium. Concurrent to this, he would also participate in numerous battles during the Mandalorian Wars, earning no shortage of accolades for his service. He would later re-enlist in a non-commissioned role after Karath bombed Telos IV on behalf of Darth Malak. Shortly thereafter, Onasi was assigned to theEndar Spire as a tactical advisor to Jedi Knight Bastila Shan.
After his return from Unknown Space, it took time for him to respond to therapeutic services, and even then he was not recommended for a return to duty. However, he had nothing left except for his duty. Adding to that, the Republic needed those with combat experience, and passing on the enlistment of a man who had spent so much time with the very enemy the Republic now faced was not an option. Despite the objections of his doctors, the Republic pushed Carth back into active duty and elevated him to the rank of commander.
He was assigned to the staff of General Biggs Antilles, who had been put in overall charge of the 3rd, 10th, 202nd, and 313th Armies and had been assigned command of a defense line that ran from Balmorra to Cato Neimoidia, colloquially referred to as the Balmorran Front.
Supreme General Antilles:
Biggs Antilles was born into a Republic military family at Fort Forlorn on Dantooine forty-seven years prior to the outbreak of the Hyperspace War. Antilles graduated from Sentinel, one of the premiere military academies in the Republic, and later attended the Army War College and the Naval War College. The first years of his post-educated career were spent running various sorties against mercenaries in the Mid-Rim and serving as part of the Serenno-Republic Joint Operations Division. He also spent half a year training regiments on Corulag when his immediate superior was mortally wounded by pirate raiders. These actions ultimately elevated him to the position of general, and he lead the Punitive Expedition to Geonosis just prior to the Mandalorian Wars.
Antilles was a popular man among his peers and superiors, known for being easy-going and approachable. He dealt with all staff even-handedly and had a remarkable knack for settling interservice disputes between the Republic Army and Navy in his division. Even during the Hyperspace War, he was often reported to be in good spirits by his staffers and rarely expressed his disappointments publicly.
This attitude and successful record caught the attention of General Leopold Tarkin, who asked for Antilles to be transferred from occupation duty on Geonosis to his command staff in the Core. The transfer was approved, and he was shipped back Coreward. When the Mandalorian Wars broke out, Antilles was one of the first generals sent into combat duty. The 10th Army was assigned under Antilles' purview.
During the Mandalorian Wars, Antilles would lead several successful operations. Beginning by liberating a besieged Kashyyyk, he also landed and secured footholds on Aquaris, Tanaab, Centares, and Vjun. He was even selected to lead scouting expeditions to Mandalore itself, however he was only present for one of them. After being injured by a chemical attack on Felucia, Antilles returned to the Core and taught at Sentinel and the Naval War College. He would remain at this position until the Hyperspace War, when Chancellor Tol Cressa personally selected him to be the supreme commander of all Republic forces in the Core and Mid-Rim.
Antilles and his armies were the first, best, defense against Revan's Empire and protected the most direct path to the Core worlds. Under his command were Generals Liu Benk and Pol Iota, both of whom had experienced combat firsthand as infantrymen during the end of the Jedi Civil War. Altogether, the Balmorran Front was considered to be staffed by the most experienced soldiers of the early Hyperspace War. Adding Carth Onasi to the mix would, on paper, only strengthen that.
Bound by Duty:
In reality, Antilles found Onasi standoffish and hard to work with. He gave his assessments and reports curtly, but refused to engage even when ordered to do so, and sometimes was uncooperative entirely. Oftentimes, Carth was described as a powder keg who could explode at the slightest provocation. His ability to predict Revan's movements was critical to the war effort, but interpersonal difficulties severely dampened his value.
The post traumatic stress of his ordeal had changed Carth beyond recognition. He was easily startled, prone to violent words and actions, and never allowed anyone beyond the surface level. It should be reflected that this is not a personal fault of the man but the direct result of his incarceration and torture. The Carth Onasi who now entered the Hyperspace War was a very different man who had enlisted over a decade prior.
Due to Carth's general hostility, General Antilles was prepared to discharge Carth despite orders to the contrary and send him back as damaged goods had it not been for the sudden intervention of a Jedi Knight named Mical. Claiming the Force had called him to Carth (Unsealed Republic Intelligence files reveal he was actually specifically assigned to Carth by Republic Command), he began working to heal the trauma and assist Carth in truly reintegrating into society. The Republic had, against medical advice, simply cleared him for duty and dumped him back into service and, realizing their mistake, were now attempting to correct it.
Mical was able to forge a special bond with Carth during the following months. As Revan worked every possible angle to reignite his war machine, Mical spent countless hours processing with Carth and letting him be freely open with someone again. They were both veterans of the Wars and both had seen everything ripped away from them. Mical had been on Dantooine researching at the Jedi Archives when it was bombarded from orbit by Malak's forces, and it was through this shared trauma he was able to convince Carth to open up to him. Antilles, advised by Mical, set up specific veterans clubs that Carth could attend, and this proved to be a boon not just for Carth but for thousands of servicemembers under Antilles' command. The most popular among these was the "Boonta Eve Club" where former prisoners of war could get together and, through the group, heal in their own ways.
At the same time as Revan was pursuing Nihilus, Carth was finally making inroads with his fellow commanders and strategy meetings began to proceed with actual progress. With Mical's help, Carth Onasi was able to emulate the man he'd once been. While the war to come would twist him to the butcher he is now known as, for the moment he at least appeared to be a healed man.
The Harvest Offensive:
The Harvest Offensive is the colloquial name for the sanctioned Operation Bookbag, a military operation launched by Darth Revan's forces against Republic targets during the first major harvest of kolto on Manaan. It included the 1st Imperial Assault Group, 3rd Imperial Airborne Division, 60th Imperial Army, composed primarily of Jakku recruits, the 121st Imperial Army, the 125th Imperial Army, the 1st Imperial Technical Division, an army composed entirely from HK-50 war droids, the 7th Armoured Division, and the Forge, Anvil, and Hammer naval fleets.
While the Republic had prepared for Revan to assault the Core, they had still made preparations to fortify the surrounding systems as well in case he chose to strike in a different direction, however these were nowhere near as well fortified. The strongest of these worlds was Onderon, Kashyyyk, and Toydaria. Of course, this was waging war the conventional, the expected and agreed, way. Revan had no intention of doing so.
Utilizing Czerka's continued sabotage of Republic detection systems, the Imperials besieged Christophsis, Gamor, and Malastare. Gamor capitulated within hours to the 125th, and Malastare fell within a week to the 121st and 1st Technical. Christophsis was a different matter entirely. However, the simultaneous three-way assault in wildly different locations caught the Republic by surprise. Their intelligence had reported the Imperial fleets had moved out of Manaan, but their destinations had been unknown. All stations were put on high alert the moment they had left, and it was all for naught.
In addition to being caught flat footed, the Republic was also now completely dumbfounded. Revan had indeed struck but he had done so against seemingly unconnected and innocuous targets. These planets were spread out across the southeastern quarter of Known Space and didn't even house so much as the same industries or populations. Now they had to scramble some form of defense to counteract it, while having to simultaneously acknowledge that they could not predict where Revan would strike next.
While Antilles sent General Iota and the 313th to dislodge the Empire from Gamor, General Benk, along with Commander Onasi, counterattacked at Malastare. This would prove to be an interesting challenge and a focal point of future encounters between Revan and Carth during the war. While Revan's grand strategy, for the moment, was obfuscated by seeming randomness, his strategies on the ground appeared obvious to Carth.
Revan had learned much during his time in absentia and had modified his deployment of troops appropriately. The Republic's best strategists had prepared to fight the same Imperial army they had been against for years and Revan took advantage of this predictability. Carth, however, began to recognize the same tendencies he had seen during their time together. His ability to perceive this and properly devise counters to it ultimately turned the Battle of Malastare into a rout that saw the Republic rebuff the Empire after three weeks.
While this was a major victory for the Republic, in addition to liberating Gamor, they had lost Christophsis. The fleet sent to defend it had been destroyed and the army had been crushed, allowing Revan's Empire to fully secure the planet. However, while a loss, the Republic discounted it as anything other than minor. Malastare was a major fuel resource and could have been a forward operating base to strike behind the Balmorran Front, keeping it from Imperial hands had been a monumental victory. Gamor could have provided more manpower and boosted the Imperial economy. Christophsis was back towards the Outer Rim and traded primarily in lumber, duraglass, and energy crystals, hardly important items in a war effort.
It did, however, give Revan access to the Corellian Run, one of the first super hyperspace routes in the galaxy. More to the point, this super hyperspace route was interconnected across the entirety of the Mid and Outer Rim. The Mandalorians controlled a vital section of the route that would become the Hydian Way, which also had offshoots that wormed their way across the galaxy to worlds such as Dathomir, Yavin, and even Korriban. Although it appeared that Revan's first real offensive had failed, nothing could be further from the truth. By capturing Christophsis he now had access to an unfettered web of hyperspace routes across the galaxy- a web he could send his vast armies across to quickly cripple and overwhelm the Republic.