01.31 : The Light Begins to Dim

[21 BBY][One week after the 2nd Battle of Ryloth]

[Executive Security Solutions Armed Private Yacht Moonlight on Lake Andrasha, Exiting Hyperspace, Hoth System, Anoat Sector]

Hanna Andrasha was sipping from a glass of the finest wine from her homeworld when the indicator button on her side table flashed gently to indicate they had arrived at their destination. All very cloak and danger, and very dangerous too, but that was more exciting than terrifying when compared to have inadvertently blundered unto somebody's conspiracy. Now she was running blockades in the middle of a war along smugglers routes to a secret base her company had established.

Thankfully it was both exhilarating and profitable, so that more than made up for the increased risk of injury or death. It wasn't as if people weren't already out to kill her as heiress to her father's company, nor for her position as CEO of Chandrilla DataSecure. People got rather upset at her for ensuring paying clients information was safe and secure, even law enforcement from time to time. But their little hidey hole here in the Hoth system had been rather profitable since young Daron had discovered it three years ago, and now served other purposes as the galaxy went to dreadful, but profitable, chaos.

"Ah, my dear Luna, it seems we have arrived at your new home for the duration of the contract..." she murmured to the saucy little thing laying on the bed beside her. Not her real name of course, a much more mundane human name of Mon Tarbatha from Hanna's own Chandrilla, and the girl had all the silly rebelliousness like the tattoos and piercings. All so 'I'm a badass slicer!' while her file showed a much more reclusive and shy sort; certainly her time in the bed had indicated such to Hanna after all "...so I'm afraid clothing would be advisable. It is rather chilly planet-side I'm afraid"

"Hmm....." her latest pet murmured nuzzling against her leg "...do we have to"

Hanna gave an amused chuckled after downing the last of the expensive wine and placing the glass carefully down on the side-table "I'm afraid so my tattooed beauty, I'm afraid so. Business before pleasure, and I can assure you that your accommodations inside the base are rather luxurious. A reward for being such pleasant company on the trip here....now get into that shower, I shall join you in but a moment"

Sliding out of the bed herself, she stretched a moment before throwing on light top before sitting at her work desk in the corner and activating the communicator. Captain Ishtar's attractive, and calm as always face, appeared moments later with a brief nod of her head "My Lady, we have arrived at Snowsong Base and standard challenges exchanged. They are prepared for your arrival, and for that of your guests and the cargo"

She nodded "Truly excellent news Captain, there are no problems to report?"

"No My Lady, all systems are functioning at peak efficiency, the stygium cloaking device is active on both ourselves and our two escort interceptors. All Black Site Protocols have been followed to a tee. Do you wish the data-packet supplied by the base to be forwarded to your terminal?"

"Yes, my dear Captain, sent it on and I will peruse it a moment. Unless there is anything else to report I will prepare myself for our landing?"

"There is nothing else to report My Lady..." her personal yacht's Captain replied with the briefest of bows before Hanna cut the feed "...I will excuse myself from your radiant presence, and continue monitoring our approach"

The screen changed as the Captain's visage vanished and the budgetary and actual figures appeared on the base construction progress and on the mineral extraction from the system's gas giant and asteroid belt. Her eyes merely skimmed the majority of it, it could be reviewed in detail later, and focused upon the status of the base's medical facilities and computer-data cores and linked droid-brains. To her relief the medical station was both operational and up to Core-world standards, and that both it and the computers were ready to receive both her cargo and associated staff.

It had been her idea, and management skills, that had allowed the base to be created and expanded so rapidly; one just had to acquire a number of aging transports and bulk hauliers, and construction droids, and establishing a city of sorts had been a simple matter. Getting the deflector shields and anti-space ion batteries had been much more difficult, and the small 'defence fleet' in orbit, but the ex-smuggler Shesagora and ex-pirate Bloodstar, had managed to get around that. Jacques Bloodstar, ex-pirate, soldier, mercenary, wasn't really her type but he was satisfactory in getting this place operational as a fellow member of the Board of ESS. Experience most likely, the half-breed human/solemite had probably done so in smaller scale in other systems that didn't appear on any modern star-charts. Content at the basic's she shed the top and strode towards the softly cascading sound of hot water...

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[21 BBY]

[Governor's Secure Bunker, Eriadu, Seswenna Sector]

Wilhuff Tarkin was unhappy at the current situation, though he was not the only within the family and their close allies to be so. Gideon's report on the current Republic setbacks by the 'reformed' 20th Sector Army were hardly helping the mood; snatching defeat from the jaws of victory rarely did. Not only had the hyper-lanes they had reopened, at a cost of blood and credits, been closed yet again but the cretins had managed to be driven back almost the Tallaan system itself. All thanks to the replacement of their chosen allies and minions with the vaunted Jedi...

He would have sneered at the idea, but that would have shown weakness and that could not be allowed. No, the Great Jedi Generals had taken charge of a strengthened 20th Sector Army....and promptly to defeat after defeat since then. Oh, they called them victories, but the Separatist 1st and 3rd Fleets were back at full strength once again, the Republic supply-lines to Eriadu cut once again, and claims to 'fighting clean' and 'honourable victories' might delight the incompetent Senate, but not the Tarkin family. No, not when decisive action was needed. Ruthless action, without mercy...something the current Grand Army commanders seemed incapable of understanding.

"The Supreme Chancellor has assured us all efforts are being made to relieve our position, but that his Generals and the Senate have stated such actions cannot be authorised with the currently available forces"

Wilfhuff again resisted a sneer or a snort of bitter amusement at Gideon's irritated summary of Coruscant's words "Oh, yes, these grand Jedi and their glorious competence. Just as with the Senate. If they did not hamper the Chancellor, or the Real Generals within the GAR, the Republic wouldn't be on the back foot in this conflict right now"

"I....we, know Wilhuff..." Gideon grumbled as the galactic map with hyper-lanes and currently known force distributions upon it "...but we are, where we are, brother. On a Sector level our efforts are going reasonably well, our forces on Darknell have almost overcome Separatist resistance despite losses, and we continue to hold Sullust and Seswenna despite probing attacks. And, while not exactly the best of allies, the Airam Clans have prevented the Airam Sector going over to the Separatist cause once we reinforced with our auxiliary forces. In all, our current tactical position isn't particularly bad even with the loss of the hyperlanes to the Core and Colonies regions"

Wilhuff nodded idly, he couldn't disagree on either point. Kob Mondray was too much of a wildcard for his liking, even of was human and a member of the Eriadu Patriots. Really it felt as if the shockball player could have gone either way if not for hiring ESS to deal with some piracy when the ORSF had been overstretched thanks to the Zonama Zekot operation. Unreliable allies were in many ways worse than obvious enemies, as you didn't have to constantly watch your back with the obvious enemy at least. Still, if he could tolerate the better sort of aliens and near humans, he could deal with the worst sort of humanity as well.

"At the cost of the Clone Legions sent to us..." he reminded Gideon, with a glance at Admiral Maarisa Zsinj of their Outer Regions Security Forces "...casualties were unfortunately high"

The woman nodded "Yes Sir, losses were unfortunately so, but we have received heavy reinforcement with recruits from the Koradin Sector along with our own Seswenna Sector, and even areas further on the Rim once we opened recruitment conditions. I'll admit the Clones performance has, and generally is, superior to these recruits but splitting the remnants of units up with these new formations, and into specialised commando teams, has maintained our effectiveness. We shall six million ready troopers in mere weeks, while losses of Clone Troopers were in the low tens of thousands....quantity has a quality of its own, especially when the skill gap is truly not all that great to begin with"

"Hmmm.....the problem is often ships and supplies for those formations rather than lack of numbers..." Gideon agreed bringing up a series of symbols and simulated advances and retreats on the display "...which brings us to the proposed Five Veils/Hook Nebula Offensive from 14th Sector Army"

"The long way around for a route. I'd have assumed they would prefer Naboo, it is an established hyperlane, and not diverting and skimming through Wild space for certain legs" Wilhuff noted, but not necessarily in an objectionable tone. The loss of their allies in 20th Sector Army for 14th Sector Army to rescue Twi'leks of all people had been a blow, but even now they were being more useful than the Senate and Jedi were being. Just like Eriadu, and the whole region galactic trailing of the Seswenna Sector, Ryloth, and broad swathes of the Republic spin-ward and trailing of it, were cut off beyond small stealth blockade runners, or the largest and most heavily armed convoys from the rest of the Republic.

Gideon glanced at him "Did you not state such attempts at reinforcing Naboo to be foolish action?"

He nodded in response "Of course, because it would be. Shorter yes, but costly in ships to maintain, and prone to easy attacks from Coreward Separatist Sector fleets, while also being heavily mined I might add. It is just rare to expect sensible operational plans in the current environment, do you not agree Maarisa?"

The battle hardened woman nodded "Yes Sir, we learned the lessons in the Stark Hyperspace war about the dangers of being too direct, but nobody else appears to have done so"

Wilhuff nodded again "Indeed, so it I can dare say I approve of this operational plan....with certain modifications of course. Establishing a chain of hyperspace routes will be both manpower intensive, as well as requiring us to exert greater control over the merchant and civilian traffic where needed. Once we do so we can then move unto reducing, or ideally capturing, Separatist manufacturing depots such as Mustafar..."

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[21 BBY]

[Sabaoth Squadron Destroyer Terror, Cato Neimoidia System, Quelor Sector, Colonies Region]

Cavik Toth, now an Admiral even, stood calmly at attention as his current employers studied his ambitious little plan before his eyes. Well, holograms of them did, but it was as secure as he could make the situation so that competitors in the business didn't get a first move on him. Or Count Dooku got wind of it and attempted to get one of his pets put in charge of it now that Toth had fallen out of his favour....all due to the Jedi's own idiocy at that Cavik thought with distain. Yet the man had already tried to send a group of idiots after him....well, Bella had certainly enjoyed torturing that information out of those wretches to his own delight.

"It is....ambitious we shall give you that Admiral..." the fishface in charge, the new Viceroy of the Trade Federation "...ambitious indeed"

"An ambitious plan that would devastate the Republic is what you asked for Viceroy, and it is my humble joy to deliver on that request"

"Hmm, hmm, yes, risky though"

Ah, but Cavik knew how to speak their language "All business is a risk noble Sirs, warfare is no different in that regards. No, there is risk, but no more than staying on the defensive and waiting for the Republic to build its strength as the next great batch is completed. But it would be a profitable enterprise even with heavy losses....as long as sufficient forces are brought to bear"

"Yes, sufficient forces you say....three whole systems fleets, your own forces, and the Mandalorian Defenders....alongside so many Commando, Marine, and Engineering Droids"

"Tactical Droids too Viceroy..." he added calmly "...but I am confident enough that I am willing to commit the entirety of my forces to this operation..." since he'd sent spies ahead to monitor the planet that only he was aware of "...and it its merely the mobile assets of Cato Neimodia, Neimodia, and Balmorra's system Fleets rather than them their entirety. We have a window of about forty to sixty days in about fifty days by all accounts before the next batches are ready in number. If we hit during this period damage will be maximised, as will be the rewards Noble Sirs. The Republic believes it a great secret, even Count Dooku and the vaunted Intelligence Service he has created appears unaware of this. I can break this ring...as long as surprise is maintained. Surely it would elevate your Noble Selves to greater heights within the Confederacy to succeed so"

"Only if it succeeds Toth, only if it succeeds..." the Viceroy garbled back in his fishy-faced way "...but we agree to your terms. The benefits outweigh way the costs even with the risk of failure. Your requested resources will be made available, and secrecy maintained....Do. Not. Fail. Us"

Calvik smiled coldly "Excellent..."