[Confederate Military Command, Raxus Secundus, Raxus System, Tion Cluster, The Slice, Outer Rim Territories, Confederacy of Independent Systems]
Merai frowned as he sat in the private conference room, looking at the glowing galactic map in the centre of the table as well as his two colleagues, Admiral Trench and General Kleeve. Events were, unfortunately, shaping up as his analysts had predicted…as he had predicted, but the confirmation on the holo-imager was still unpleasant to see in the end. None of the three of them were happy about such facts, the atmosphere tense as all three sat down, the room having been swept for an infiltration devices. Private conversations were difficult to have in recent months, but matters were coming to a head now the Confederacy was once again, officially now, at war with the Mandalorians.
"Sssummoned for Parliamentary Review?" Trench, the harch Admiral, asked, clicking his mandibles unhappily, metallic fingers drumming on the table. Merai gave a nod, the harch giving that sibilant hiss of his "Ssstupid of them"
"Parliament are being parliament about things, I agree" Merai replied unhappily, eyes on the screen "Anteevy has been a fiasco…as was warned"
"There were parliamentary leaks as well, to the Mandos" Kleeve offered, Merai giving a nod. That he knew about, and had proof of, which was why the session ahead would be more problematic for certain members of parliament rather than for he or his junior officers "If we had just left sleep mandos lie…"
"We did not, so here we are, facing them in large scale battle once again" the Mon Cala born admiral answered with an unhappy burble "Still, our advances along the hyperlane towards Bonadan have been heartening"
Trench clicked mandibles "Only to the Corporate Sector. Not unless we attack the rogue droid forces andsss…."
Merai waved it off "That'll never pass motion now, not with current failures, and the Imperials concentrating against the Little Confederacy. Even Parliament is not that foolish"
It was highly unlikely the Imperials would start a war with them now, not with their efforts to build a coalition against the New Republic. But…that did not mean they could afford to not heavily reinforce the southern regions still flying the banners of the Confederacy after the civil war. After all, the Imperials were dangerous opportunists as proven during the civil war when the whole southern fringe of the Confederacy had been peeled away by them and the traitorous, filthy, verminous Bothans. In the end that simple logic meant that a large portion of the fleet was pinned to the defence of the 'Little Confederacy' that was centred on Druckenwell-Dennon. With Stormcrow and Zsinj's Imperial Fleets facing them, while playing silly disappearing games, mistakes could not be afforded there. Not now, not later.
Worse, the Little Confederacy was growing increasingly corrupt as Hutt and Bothan influence came to bear, and the hyperlane became an important slave trade route despite fleet efforts to prevent the trade. Unfortunately the Confederacy of now was not the Confederacy of before the civil war; - there was no longer the resources or funds to do so many things at the same time. Which was why the political idiocy of restarting the Mandalorian War while expanding into old Confederate regions was the height of foolishness. If they had simply sought to restore the old Confederate territories in the galactic north, while making simple mouth noises in the water against the New Republic they could have broad galactic support for such actions. Instead they were making a bed with madmen who screamed to the stars their intention to betray everyone to reconquer the Old Republic…
He paused, shook his head at Trench's look "In this, at least, Parliament is not so foolish. It runs against their self-interest for one. The Sith would also have sufficient support to prevent it"
Merai loathed the damned red-skinned ancient monster that had roared out of the void, out of history, to takeover his homeworld alongside a host of former Republic Jedi. Ones that were refusing to take part in the Mandalorian campaign…which, however agreeable Merai found it politically was grating militarily as the badly needed counters to all the Jedi, Sith, and Witch refugees serving the Mandalorian Alliance. Their presence enabled the smaller, but often qualifiedly superior, Mandalorian strike-forces, to achieve statistically improbable victories. He loathed that, just as it had been during the Clone Wars and the following war with then GAR-South. Now the damned poison of the Republic sat upon his homeworld, infecting the rest of the Confederacy…and, worst of all, having the temerity of taking the correct sides in political troubles of late.
"Sss…true" Trench agreed after a moment "Ssssstilll sssuch does not change the ssstrategic posssition at this moment in time. War with Mandalore is trouble, but advancessss can continue"
"It is diplomatic rather than true miliary force that is gaining ground" the Devaronian, Kleeve, clarified, which was in line with what Merai understood it to be "Those systems retaken have all, largely, welcomed our forces return rather than having to be retaken. Which is problematic enough should it continue. We do not have the forces to expand our anti-piracy operations on such a multi-sector basis should more systems return to the fold ahead of any schedule"
"They will not end the war if we are advancing" Merai said back, pointing out the obvious, though Kleeve did not want to see it "Parliament do not understand the current strategic situation. More systems returning to the Confederacy will lead to further pressure to defeat the Mandalorians, rather than seeing that retaking the galactic north will place an enormous burden upon us, their armed forces"
Kleeve growled, a demonic look from him, but let the unhappiness all three felt pass "That is unacceptable! The New Republic is lumbering forward, and while they are less than…competent…currently…"
"They will improvessss" Trench finished, because the New Republic Navy was undergoing a soft purge, a retirement of the incompetent 'political officers' of the Mon Mothma regime to well paid positions that had no power in the Core. Even the fact the replacement were fanatics wasn't a detriment as the incompetence of the NRN, and its various intelligence services, had been an accepted fact for the past decade. But, like a barely sleeping krayt dragon, the New Republic had resources and numbers to muddle its way to victory in the northern territories.
"They'll need to, and we best hope they don't" Merai had to put forward looking at flashing icons "Their behaviour at Bilbringi, Champala, and Shilli has been monstrous from all reports. The repulse at Chazwa feels more a testing of that fortress world than a true assault"
"Or another Republican officer got a flight of fancy" Kleeve stated, and Merai held his hands up in a helpless 'yes, that could be true' gesture "Our intercepts don't paint a clear picture, beyond failure, so my analysts are still unsure of the underlying reasoning behind the offensive. Beyond the obvious"
"Indeed, though cutting the hyperlane was never going to happen. There is simply too many fleets and system defences in the various sectors for simply sailing up the hyperlane to work"
"Perhaps Merai, but we cannot rely this moment on logic from this foe" Kleeve pointed out in response to his argument "Refugees are already beginning to flee them because they are clearly not sane. Yes, it is obvious that forces from the Empire and the Federation are pouring northern from those OverSectors, and Nouane is the Little Empire in truth, and a dozen other such reasons….but it may not be obvious to Coruscant"
Merai acknowledged that with a nod, falling silent a few moments as Kleeve and Trench engaged in some debate over the minor matter of the failed NRN attack. Reports from the Core did show the new government were serious about their advances, even if in bizarre manners as they mass seizure of industrial droids for war-time deployment. Their more advanced, and likely former so-called 'Resistance' veterans were already raiding in X-wings and various gunships like the Corellian mass-built model, but the primary force was looking increasingly like a strange version of the early Separatist droid fleets and armies. Save with organics and droids in mass deployed old starfighters like the Z-95 with some few elite units in support, massed together alongside Star Destroyers and the few monstrous titans built by the Core shipyards.
Reports from Chazwa were similar to those from Shilli;- Star Destroyers backed up by wave after wave of the older starfighters. At Chazwa it had failed in the face of the heavy missile and droid-fighter defences, with the swift arrival of a squadron of Star Destroyers from the Nouane Imperium., turning a failed attack into a butchery by all accounts. Mandalorian starfighters too, which was a problem as it further supported the two regional powers had put aside their distaste of each other in the interests of mutual defence. That was something Merai badly wished to avoid, as it opened up the Imperial's proxy in the region to having active conflict with the Confederate Navy should they support Mandalore. Something that could destabilise the already perilous galactic scene further.
He let out a burble "Can the situation opposite Mandalore be restored?"
"Ssssshort term? Negative" Trench argued firmly, clacking unhappily "There are breaches in info-ssssec, and the Imperialssss grant them recent heavy aid. Bassssilsksss for example. Morale high. Aggression high"
Kleeve gave a nod "Trench is correct, they'll be receiving significant amounts of munitions, as well as ships, from the Empire in coming days. Our projections hold, however much we would prefer they do not. Nor can we withdraw forces for operations towards Edusa"
About what Merai expected, but it made life much more difficult as he asked for how to adjust for these very problems before they got to the evitable, foolish, changes the Parliamentary committees would demand after they presented any plans…