I stare out into hyperspace. Jabiim, one of the greatest losses in the first year of the war. It started with an army of Clones and Jedi large enough to take on Sy Myrth with a good chance of success. And yet it had ended with a Republic retreat lead by Skywalker, only a Commander then, and Kenobi missing in action. Not to mention the deaths of twenty seven Jedi, six of which were Jedi Generals, heavy losses in the Clone forces sent and the loss of all the Republic armor. Worst of all, the retreat had abandoned the Jabiimi Loyalists to the hands of the Nationalists, suddenly drunk on victory and both sides enraged at the Republic.

  “Exiting in thirty.”

  And now, I would make good on one of the largest shames of the first months of the war. I chuckle lightly, oh Maker. The Jedi could not do it with their clones and armor, but I would. I was certain of it. Krugwolt was chomping at the bit to lead the actual siege himself, gaining an equal amount of prestige out of this endeavor and currently on route with the ships stationed at Xoraes since the start of the operation.

  “Five, four, three, two, one, exiting.”

  I don’t think I’ll ever tire of seeing the ships assemble from hyperspace. Lines were already forming, corvettes and Arquitenses rushing forward to begin engaging the enemy’s present garrison over the muddy, mineral rich world while the cruisers formed proper lines. Venators and Dreadnoughts in front, alongside their individual pickets, followed by a line of Acclamators, frigates holding down the second line’s flanks, and a third line of transports, seven Acclamators, already assigned to the eventual siege, and my Fondorians.

  “Scanners picking up enemy vessels. I’ve got a Lucrehulk, a Providence battleship, six Munificents, three Munifexes, two Diamonds, three Captors and three Gozanits, though there might be more pickets lurking about.” Lieutenant Welder says.

  I feel a frown forming and look towards Mi-Kus who is sharing the expression. There was supposed to be double that here. A single thought is racing through the minds of every Adjutant, Captain and flag officer in the taskforce. If the enemy isn’t here, where are they?

  Rear Admiral Hatha was currently standing at the head of a full conference table. This meeting had cost him a decent bit of influence he had gained fighting along the southern half of the Perlimian, but it would be worth it, he was sure of it. The Neimoidian looks around the table taking measure of all the present faces.

  There was Commodore Klurn, a Gotal man a few years younger than the Neimoidian and a decent defensive planner. The Commodore had organized and lead the siege of the Tierr’Skiar pass near Randon, before the closing Republic fleets forced him to repair his forces at Boonta, then being requested to rebuild the defenses at Dellalt and take over as the system’s primary defensive officer.

  Then there was Commodore Mixyez, a rather short human from some minor world in the Tion cluster. The man was an older warhound and loyal Separatist. Not to mention the primary convincing force behind getting Commodore Klurn to leave Dellalt and to meet up with Hatha in person.

  Another was Commander Kiletip, the commanding officer of the ships formerly stationed in the Wyndigal system, the final stronghold of the Separatists in the Ash Worlds a month ago. Now though, after the occupation of Byss, Astigone, Balshebr and Astigone it was simply the linchpin of the Separatist controlled Ash World’s supply lines.

  Finally there was Commodore Paz, the second in command of Jabiim’s forces. He had been ordered to attack into the Ash Worlds by way of Altratone. He had taken half of Jabiim’s orbital defenders with him. The Jabiim native was looking rather mutinous at this conference, probably intending to rush back to his homeworld as soon as possible.

  The Neimoidian clears his throat as he begins: “Gentlebeings. I have gathered us here for a single purpose. The Black Hussar is believed to be running amok along the northern Triellus Trade Route after seizing booth Jubilar and Xoraes. We cannot be certain, but we have lost all contact with Dennogra, Taskeed, Oovo, Komnor and most recently Jabiim. We’ve also lost contact with multiple scouts and convoys heading into what we believe to be the route taken by Admiral Dericote.”

  “He’s split his forces, that much is clear.” Commodore Klurn says, “We might be able to intercept him at Handooine with enough spare time to prepare our defenses.”

  “No, an outright attack on Jabiim is what honor demands. If Dericote is already in system every minute wasted here is another where he could be subjecting my homeworld to invasion!” Commodore Paz barks.

  “Maybe evacuating our forces from our current salient is for the best. Seize whatever war-materials we can before returning to more secure positions.” Commander Kiletip offers.

  “The best decision really comes down to what the bastard Hussar’s target is.” Commodore Mixyez says, “Rear Admiral Hatha, you have the most experience with the man. What do you infer from his current movements?”

  A decent setup from Hatha’s long time political ally. The Neimodian goes directly to the holographic display and punches in his information.

  “We know Dericote received reinforcements totaling something around a battlegroup’s worth of warships. However I do not think he would commit all of them until it is far too late for us to react. The fact that all we faced in the Ash Worlds was the local garrisons, seeing neither hide nor hair of Dericote’s Slice Hussars or Commodore Abelard’s squadron, it may be worth assuming he has committed more ships to this campaign than usual, focusing his forces at high value targets, such as Cophrigin, Toong’l and the Mon Cala system. Those forces could be rallying now to force us back.”

  The Neimoidian pauses a moment before nodding to himself and continuing: “Dericote’s final target will be Handooine. It is a good staging ground and vital for the defense of the Ash Worlds and as a buffer for Jabiim and the remaining Triellus Trade Route. His primary target is likely Jabiim, but he will stop at Handooine, unless Sy Myrth’s defenses are far lesser than anyone knows.”

  “Sy Myrth should be able to withstand anything short of a full fleet of warships.” Commodore Klurn says, the Gotal’s tone definite. He would know, he was an expert in defensive action and had analyzed the defenses of the planets around Dellalt, partially for inspiration, partially to find weak-points in similar defenses.

  “So then his final destination would be Handooine.” Commodore Mixyez says.

  “For the majority of his forces? Certainly. However I would not be surprised if the Hussar used Handooine as a jumping point for raids throughout our industrial heartland. It is not an overly difficult journey to jump from Handooine to Anzat or Wobani, never mind Sy Myrth.” The Rear Admiral adds.

  “But he should rest before even a consideration of attacking Sy Myrth. He has spent some four days in non stop travel with the occasional engagement. He will have little to no choice, but to rest at Handooine.” Commodore Mixyez presses.

  “Yes, he will halt at Handooine, I have no doubt in that.” The Neimoidian agrees.

  “Then we should make haste to the desolate system.” Commodore Klurn says, “Dellalt is well defended now, I can spare the forces I have here for this engagement without issue.”

  “I would rather we engage the enemy over Jabiim, but Handooine could lead to a possible counter attack to retake my home.” Commodore Paz says, “You will have my ships.”

  “Wyndigal is secure.” Commander Kiletip says, “I only used two thirds of my ships for the engagements in the Ash Worlds. I shall request supplementary forces for Wyndigal, but you shall have my men.”

  “Excellent.” Mixyez says, “Then let us not dally!”

  “We make for Handooine.” Rear Admiral Hatha says, a smirk on his face.

  “Rear Admiral Sykes has command of the line. He’s to take the 209th Squadron, the 99th Battleship and the 2323rd Light alongside his 382nd Battlegroup. The rest of us, make a break for Jabiim and prepare an open broadcast.” I order calmly.

  “Codes transfer ready.” Mi-Kus reports and I insert my codes cylinder to allow the Rear Admiral the ability to take direct command of over half my forces. I was placing my trust in the man, he better not disappoint.

  “Comms are ready.” Lieutenant Slas says.

  “Don’t bother with bouncing it as usual.” I order before waltzing over to the holoprojector, starring down at the world below. That mudball would fall to me and mine.

  I nod towards the Lieutenant before inhaling. I get a nod in return from the Mon Calamari and I begin to speak: “People of Jabiim. I am Admiral Dericote of the 120th Battlegroup and Taskforce Tranquil Billhook. I wish to apologize on behalf of the Republic for leaving you behind, however, after nigh on two years we have returned to liberate you once more from Separatist tyranny and we will not abandon you this time. I would rather leave my corpse in your mud than abandon you once more. I ask the Separatist occupiers to surrender unconditionally and our allies on the surface to give us your preferred landing site. Long live the Republic.”

  “Sir, we’ve got an incoming transmission. It’s using older codes and a bit of an odd frequency, but the codes are what were used at the tail end of the battle of Jabiim.” Lieutenant Slas says.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  “Use our precautions for enemy comms and put them up.” I order. Better safe than sorry.

  Soon enough the visage of a Jabiimi man appears before me. He’s wearing a mix of camouflaged phase one clone armor and a Jabiimi uniform. He looks younger than any of the previous loyalist officers the Republic had worked with in the past. His beard is gruff and his blue eyes tired. Beside him stands an equally tired looking Clone and an exhausted man in a hodgepodge of Republic and Jabiimi armor with welder’s goggles on his open faced helmet.

  “Admiral Dericote?” The man in the center asks.

  “Yes, you are?” I ask.

  “I’m the leader of the Jabiimi Loyalists. Name’s Nolan Gillmunn. This here is Major Izzum and the Clone you left behind is Major Mud of the Loyalist Army of Jabiim.” The man says, his eyes daring me to ask how the Clone had transferred from the GAR to the Jabiimi’s local militia.

  “Very well. Do you have a preferred location for our transports to land? We have the 227th Infantry Division and two garrison regiments in system as of this moment, but we expect an additional corps, the 53rd Volunteers, to arrive within an hour or two.” I ask.

  “There’s a plateau a couple clicks north of here where you could land Acclamators.” The Clone offers.

  I frown at that: “We have no intention of landing heavy armor, we won’t need to risk our cruisers in atmosphere. Is there an alternative position you would prefer?”

  There’s a look of confusion in the Clone’s face, but Gillmunn takes charge: “In that case there’s a couple hills about three clicks north of our current headquarters you can use. The enemy hasn’t prepared them because they think we booby-trapped them. Mind you, they’ve got somewhere between six and twelve heavy artillery pieces close by and a battalion of men protecting the guns, but the ion storms should be letting up any moment now and allow your men down with minimal effort .”

  “Very good. Captain Chain?” I ask and the Clone steps forward, eyebrow raised, “I would ask you and our Clone detachments to lead the speartip of the landing zone and secure the enemy battery. I think the 12th Alsakan is scheduled to be your backup, remind Colonel Cain of that if you will.”

  Chain nods before turning towards the holograms: “The men are eager. Can we trust in a company’s worth of men supporting us in our assault?”

  “I’ll do you a bit better. Major Mud, I’d ask you to lead our second battalion against the enemy’s artillery near the landing site.” Gillmunn asks.

  “It’ll be my pleasure.” The Clone says, before placing his helmet on and marching out of the room.

  “I’ll leave the more precise planning to Major General Krugwolt when he arrives, but I would like to ask if you’ll be requesting any major orbital bombardments while we have the majority of the ships assigned to the campaign in system.”

  “No, that would be a bad idea.” Major Izzum says, “We’ve partially gone to ground and still have cells and teams working in the cities and factories, requisitioning food, weapons and medicine. Any strategic bombardments now would risk our men and the civilians.”

  “Then you will likely have to negotiate with Commodore Prittik’s 304th Colonies Cruiser Section if you require any bombardments or bombing runs, though General Krugwolt does have a handful of Starfighter Corps squadrons attached to his Corps, so you shouldn’t be too reliant on a Navy officer.” I inform the two men.

  “Hells of my foes, compared to what little air support we had previously I won’t mind barking at some Navy fuck to get me a bombing run.” Major Izzum laughs.

  “I will be sure to inform the Commodore of your preference and suggest he keep at least one or two Acclamators in orbit at any time.” I offer.

  “We’ll take pretty much anything at this point.” Gillmunn says.

  “Sir, the battle is concluding.” Lieutenant Welder says.

  “Very well. Excuse me, I have reports to see to.”

  The two Jabiimi nod in acceptance as their holograms go out. My gaze is stone cold as I look at the rapidly forming tactical display. A Dreadnought, an Acclamator and a trio of corvettes have gone gray, but in return the enemy force has been turned into useless slags or broken ships.

  “Contact Sykes.” I order calmly. Lieutenant Slas nodding in agreement as the first LAATs begin emerging from various hangars within my ships.

  Soon enough the man’s visage appears before me: “Admiral Dericote.”

  “Rear Admiral Sykes. Good job in disabling the Separatist forces. We’ll be assembling our forces once more and deploying our rescue operations, the scavengers and intelligence gatherers post haste. Prepare our attached regiments to deploy to the surface. The 304th will assemble in orbit and the rest of us will form up in the usual lines.”

  “Thank you, sir. It will be done.”

  “Excellent. We’ll see about getting any desperate repairs done in the next five hours, but we should have time to get anything else done over Handooine. Reorganize your forces so that the more damaged Acclamators are left here at Jabiim. I’d recommend replacing them with their same mark from the 304th Colonies Cruiser Section.”

  The man ponders my orders a moment before nodding: “I see the logic in that. It will be done. Anything else, sir?”

  “No, I believe that will be it.” I reply.

  “Then I shall take my leave.”

  “Very well. Good work, keep it up and I’ll look into a commendation for you.” I offer.

  “Thank you, sir.” Sykes replies, the transmission cutting out a moment later.

  It takes another hour before Krugwolt shows up with the forces formerly stationed at Xoraes and his Corps. He quickly boards my Little Revenge and we both find ourselves standing in front of a strategic display of Jabiim. The mudball below already holding three regiments and my two companies of Clones alongside the Jabiimi Loyalists in a close engagement with the enemy.

  “What do you think?” I ask.

  “The 12th Alsakan and your Clones made good progress and the perimeter the rest of the 227th Infantry has set up is looking good so far. The entirety of the hills and the nearby ravines are secured. The mud and rain are slowing us down more than I’d like, but for only a couple hours of fighting they’ve done well. Colonel Cain has certainly earned his imminent promotion.”

  “To Brigadier?” I ask.

  “I’d prefer Major General, but the GAR is slower in promoting us, especially the volunteer units. Stars I’ve been doing the work of a Lieutenant General for half the war now. But yes, I’ve already commended Cain for Brigadier General, especially after his repeated bravery it is very much deserved.” The Major General says.

  “Very well. On a separate note, the Loyalists have also seized multiple villages and towns throughout the south and have contested a handful of cities in the south and equator.” I say, gesturing towards the affected areas.

  “I see that.” The General mutters, “I think I’ll be deploying five of my regiments to the south, return your clones and the 227th to orbit for your future use. Then deploy seven regiments total, though split into their respective battalions, throughout the secured towns and villages, shore up defenses and begin securing the supply lines between them and our expanding foothold in the south.”

  “Will we risk deploying men to the cities?” I ask.

  Krugwolt frowns, seemingly asking himself that very question: “I think … yes. I’ll deploy my 4th Bandomeer to that large city along the equator, then deploy the 1st Dac and 2nd Mon Cala to secure the two southern cities.”

  “Will that be enough?” I ask. I was slightly out of my depth here. I was much better at supplying ground troops or supporting them from orbit than commanding them directly.

  “It should be. If it isn’t I’ll still have my trusty 30th Anaxsi. I’m keeping them in reserve, because they’ll bite on any bit of ground I send them to and hold until their next orders.” Krugwolt says.

  “We still have our Anaxes regiment?” I ask baffled.

  “The enemy hasn’t made it past Taanab yet, despite their best efforts. We’ll keep the 30th Anaxsi until further notice, thank the Stars.” The Major General says.

  “Good. I was worried we’d have lost Taanab by now.” I mutter.

  “It’s only been a week. The Sector Generals would rather resign than let the enemy pass Taanab so quickly.” Krugwolt reaffirms.

  “Of course.” I reply, “If your require it, we should be able to leave behind another regiment or two.”

  “Are you joking? You’re only taking seven regiments yourself to Sy Myrth. I’m already uncomfortable in giving a sole Division and three garrison regiments such a tough nut to crack.” The General balks.

  “Sy Myrth is ambitious, we all knew that going in and I don’t think we can seize it even with your Corps. It will be better to leave you with forces which know how to pacify recently occupied worlds.” I try.

  “No, you will take your seven regiments here alongside my repulsor armor and I will hear nothing else from you on that.” Krugwolt doubles down.

  I sigh as I nod: “Very well. We could always divert the reserve regiments from Pammant and the Dominus Sector if Jabiim drags on or Sy Myrth can be cracked.”

  “I will not strip Pammant of her forces, the world is still … questionably stable.”

  “But the Dominus Sector?” I lead.

  He tilts his head slightly: “We’ll put five regiments from the garrisons on standby, plus whatever Targonn is willing to spare, Stars know they’ve already supplied us with enough men for two divisions. We’ll need more transports though, Peltas especially if we wish to land troops despite the storms.”

  “Bombers still fly halfway decently in that, don’t they?” I ask.

  “Sure they do, but that’s mostly because we’ll be using ARCs and the old PTB-625 bombers with escorting Headhunters for it. Y-Wings and Starchasers don’t do well in these climates and the ARCs and Headhunters only do the bare minimum. Only the PTB-625s were purpose built for worlds like this. LAATs are shit out of luck as air support.”

  “Some of the Peltas of Commodore Hugh’s squadron could be left behind for that.” I offer.

  “I’ll only need another four or so.” Krugwolt says.

  “I think we can sacrifice those.” I agree.

  “Sir, report from General Tapal. He engaged another Sep convoy. Enemy lost four Munificents and seven Captor transports alongside three bulk freighters. The enemy’s haul was mostly in munitions, body armor for humanoids, blades, blasters and four regiments of droids, sans armor.” An Adjutant interrupts.

  “His losses?” I ask.

  “He reports the loss of eleven fighters and two bombers alongside the mauling of three corvettes which will require extensive repairs once he reaches Handooine.” The Adjutant answers.

  “His eta?” I ask.

  “‘Bout an hour delay.” The man answers.

  “Adjust our own timing, or let him catch up.” Krugwolt muses the obvious question. I feel like the man is teasing me for pointing out what he could see on the map of Jabiim.

  “We’ll stay on schedule. The plan is to spend twenty four hours over Handooine conducting repairs, refueling, rearming and resting. The loss of an hour for General Tapal’s force will not cripple them.” I conclude.

  “Very well, sir. I shall inform Captain Mi-Kus.” The Adjutant says, before snapping a salute and marching off to where my Senior Captain was resting.

  “It’s almost insane how much territory we’ve gained in less than a week.” Mi-Kus mutters, having switched the map of Jabiim for one of our campaign.

  “I remember when I barely held the Mon Cala and Dominus Sectors by the skin of my teeth.” I reply.

  “And now the regional command is almost fully in Republic hands.” Mi-Kus says.

  “There’s still the Sep remnants in the Ash Worlds, Pakuuni and Keldrath Sectors, not to mention the southern tip of the Tion Hegemony.” I counter.

  “But remember, when I arrived we barely held a quarter of the Jubilar Sector, the Mon Cala Sector still harbored the Sep strongholds of Pammant and Mintooine and we barely had more than a dozen systems in the Ash Worlds. We’ve come rather far.”

  “True.” I reply before returning my attention to the tactical display and switching it back to represent Jabiim, “Reports show ion storms loosening near the south. Now would be the chance to deploy some of your men.”

  “I’ll go and inform the Colonels now.” Krugwolt says. We exchange nods as the man departs for a comms station.

  I turn to the tactical display once more. A small gesture has an Adjutant change it to the strategic display of the campaign. The Seps definitely knew something was up now. We had lost all communications with Astigone, Byss, Altratonne and Balshebr. They’ve likely fallen to Sep hands. Now the question was where the two Sep forces were headed next? It had to be two, probably the second half of the Jabiimi Nationalist fleet and some of Dellalt’s defenders.

  Would they attack Coprhigin and decimate the world’s infrastructure? Invade the headquarters of the Republic’s forces in the Ash Worlds? Or would they make a run for Xoraes, stretching our supply lines and forcing us to divert our convoys through the Jubilar Sector? My eyes lock on Handooine.

  “Would they double back?” I wonder aloud.

  “Possible, sir.” A yawning Mi-Kus replies, sliding in beside me with a cup of caf in hand, “Especially if Hatha is with him. He’d want to engage us as quickly as possible.”

  “He was reported to be in the southern Perlimian.” I counter. Hatha’s ships had been sighted there not even half a week ago.

  “Could be diversionary. Stars know how how well you try to keep tabs on him.” Mi-Kus teases.

  I roll my eyes: “He’s a worthy foe.”

  “Certainly, sir.” Mi-Kus replies.

  “If the enemy heads for Handooine we won’t have much time for repairs.” I mutter, my tone becoming rather pensive.

  “Handooine is a strategic position we cannot easily afford to loose.” Mi-Kus says, frowning.

  “Not to mention it is the linchpin of our possible raids into Sep space.” I agree.

  “We could delay the hour General Tapal is running behind on. Get some more repairs and begin resupplying from the first batch of transports that came with General Krugwolt.” Mi-Kus suggests.

  “And risk the enemy entering the system first?” I ask.

  “It could be worth it.” Mi-Kus pleads.

  I hum in consideration. Eventually I do speak: “We’ll stay on schedule. The 111th Colonies Cruiser Squadron is almost entirely undamaged, my 97th is in a similar position, as is Rear Admiral Sykes’ 300th Core Squadron. It isn’t a lot and nobody is exactly well rested, but it should be enough to hold off an equally sized enemy force long enough for Tapal to show up with his detachment.”

  “That’s only twenty five ships of the line.” Mi-Kus objects mildly.

  “Yes, but two of those are Corellian destroyers and eight of them are Fondorian Hammerheads.” I counter, a smile growing on my face.

  Mi-Kus sighs: “I shall inform the men.”

  “Good, once you’re done you’ll have the bridge. I have about a days worth of sleep to catch up on.” I reply.

  The man simply salutes before marching off. I turn to the windows once more. Maker keep me. This campaign was going to go to all nine Hells, I could already see it. At least the view was gorgeous. The distant nebulae and stars making the darkness of space just slightly less all encompassing. I sigh, I had work to do.