Chapter 51

Star Station ‘Independence’, Murkhana System

Auril Sector

Admiral Trench patiently waited for two orderlies to leave the Supreme Commander’s office before announcing his presence. Instead of erecting the Office of the General on Raxus Secundus, or any Separatist star system, Sev’rance Tann had instead opted to repurpose the former Mandator-class star dreadnought Pride of the Core into the CAF’s mobile headquarters.

It took time for the old Harch to grow into the idea, but he could see its merits. The renamed Independence was definitely large enough to serve as the CAF’s primary arcology, should it had been established planetside. Furthermore, the great vessel was always on the move, leaping from one system to the other, and by virtue of being a starship, permitted tighter security of its perimeter. The Confederacy’s enemies would find it much harder to infiltrate the military, from now on.

“Pleasant news, Admiral.”

The Supreme Commander’s personal command room was found in the citadel of the Independence, repurposed from one of many combat information centres the old Mandator possessed. It was Trench’s first time visiting the station, since the completion of its retrofit, and the old Harch still did not know what to expect.

Knowing Sev’rance Tann, maybe he should have. She was an inordinately busy woman these days, having to not only manage the newly reformed CAF, but also navigate the exhaustive politics that came with the position. With the establishment of a new Independence Military Academy aboard the Independence itself, if the Supreme Commander was not found in her command centre, then she most certainly was supervising the progress of her personal project.

The walls and ceilings of the command centre were covered with viewscreens and holograms, each displaying a different sector of space, dimly lit so as to not strain the eyes. At the very centre, a double ring of repeaters and readouts, blinking with the details of the innumerous assets of the burgeoning Confederate Armed Forces. And at the centre of the double circle, a simple metal chair, swivelling around to reveal the woman who spoke; Sev’rance Tann.

“Murkhana is now completely in the control of the CAF,” the Pantoran stood up, “Courtesy of Passel Argente. Extend my gratitude to the Magistrate.”

“That can be done, General,” Trench folded a pair of his arms behind his back as he strolled around the room, “But I am here for a different reason.”

“Of course.”

“Rear Admiral Bonteri has contacted me for the sixth time,” the Harch Admiral studied the stoic features of the blue-skinned woman, and studied the positions of the 2nd Fleet Group on a nearby display, at the same time, “He has fought Jedi General Alrix half a dozen times, never getting the upper hand. His complaint, naturally, are the chains around his wrists. He demands a reason as to why he is not allowed to go on the offensive.”

“It surprises me he hasn’t already,” General Tann mused.

“It is a matter of trust, General,” Trench said, “He has served under both of us, for a time. He knows we wouldn’t give orders–or a lack thereof–without reason. He now asks for us to return that trust.”

Tann’s finger curled, and the nearby display flashed into a starchart of the Rimma Trade Route, “And what will you tell him this time?”

The old Harch stroked his remaining organic mandible, “The Twenty-Eighth Mobile Fleet has been authorised to proceed with Operation Storm-Door.”

Sev’rance Tann’s opaque red eyes narrowed, “You are saying…”

“The Republic has taken the bait,” the Harch chuckled, his skin-crawling chitter filling the room, “Their Second Sector Army has ignored Mechis-Three and Yag’Dhul, and are pouring down onto the Rimma. Our forward scouts spotted the Open Circle Fleet’s redeployment; one half under Anakin Skywalker leading the vanguard to Sullust, and the other half under Obi-Wan Kenobi to Kashyyyk.”

“In the New Territories?” a low excitement burgeoned in the normally stoic General.

“Admiral Kirst’s First Fleet Group has been pushed back to Shaum Hii,” Trench built momentum, “He, too, is allowing the Republic to attack unhindered. The Republic’s Third Sector Army has reached Lantillies, and will soon reach the front lines. The Sixteenth Sector Army’s offensive has pushed General Farstar all the way to New Cov. We are losing territory all across the front.”

The two greatest flag officers stared at each other, a singular conclusion arriving to both their minds; Operation Storm-Door has succeeded. By enforcing a strict ‘no first action’ policy across the CAF, they had virtually allowed the Grand Army of the Republic free rein over the front. As expected, the Republic was launching an all-out offensive, poised to knock the Confederacy out of the war. The public motivation for the ‘no first action’ policy was a fallacy from the very beginning, but a very useful one.

The Republic already despised the Confederacy for the Attack on Coruscant–nay, that was a sore understatement–the Republic will now stop at nothing to bathe every Confederate world in Separatist blood in their quest for vengeance. No amount of pleading and backpedalling will change that–no, this policy was to invite the Republic to attack, and thus justify what will come next to the citizens of the Confederacy. With Murkhana and the Hyper-Communications Cartel now in their hands, the CAF controlled the information nexus of the entire Confederacy, from the Separatist HoloNet to the CIS Shadowfeed.

It will be a simple matter to double down on the already common belief in this nation that the Republic staged a false flag attack on their own capital, over-exaggerating the damage to justify breaking down the armistice negotiations. When the choice was believing enemy propaganda or trusted federal news sources, the choice was predictable. Besides, how could there possibly be a CAF fleet in the Galactic Interior? That was simply astrographically and strategically impossible.

The ‘no first action’ policy would preserve their moral high ground in the eyes of the Separatist people, and lure the Republic to launch their renewed offensive at the same time, justifying Operation Storm-Door. And they did. And by drawing out all remaining Reserve Armadas of the GAR, they made the Republic leave their house completely empty.

And just as the Republic seeks the Confederacy’s destruction at all costs, the Confederacy seeks the otherwise.

“And now all our Mobile Fleets have to do is walk through an open door.”

And what will happen then? When the Republic faces not one, but three fleets marauding through the Core Worlds? The Republic will no longer accept peace unless it was at the end of a turbolaser battery. The Supreme Commander was determined it was not the Confederacy, but the Republic, staring down the smoking barrel of peace.

“The Republic will panic.”

“The Republic will overcorrect.”

“The Republic will bring their fleets home.”

“And then we can cross the border unhindered,” Admiral Trench finished, “And pressure the Republic into a treaty with overwhelming force.”

This is the true nature of Operation Storm-Door. There was no hiding the extensive fleet redeployments in the prelude to Storm-Door, so they may as well use the Republic’s intelligence to their advantage.

Operation Storm-Door enabled Operation Starlance, and Operation Starlance enabled Operation Storm-Door. One would not be possible without the other, two halves of a whole. It was the shield, the spear, and the counterattack. Operation Starlance did not even exist on paper–the operation was so secret there was not a single physical record of it that hasn’t been destroyed. It existed only in the heads of the staffers who devised it, and the officers participating in it, a number that could be counted on two hands.

Make no mistake; the twin operations were their last shot at knocking the Republic out of the war. The brutal truth was clear; the Confederacy was no longer able to take the Republic in a straight fight, not this deep into the war. No amount of confidentiality was too much confidentiality–not a single officer on the front could know of the reason for their standing orders out of fear from enemy interception. Not even those participating in Operation Starlance.

They had to draw the Republic’s armadas as far away as possible from the Core for Starlance to have any chance of success. And similarly, Operation Starlance had to draw as many Republic armadas back to the Core for Storm-Door to have any chance of success.

It was for this reason the 19th and 28th Mobile Fleets will be provided a blank flimsi to rampage and maraud as strategically able in the Interior, at least until they found Admiral Dua Ningo’s Bulwark Feet. From there, the Fleet Groups of the Confederacy can exploit the Republic’s panic to gouge out an opening in the Core for the three fleets to extract from.

Sev’rance Tann deflated in relief. If not for Trench’s keen, six-fold and artificial eyesight, he would not have noticed the brief lapse in poise. For the first time, the old Harch Admiral saw through the act; it was not the indomitable Pantoran who fought tooth and nail to seize control of the largest military in the galaxy, but a mere girl, too many times his junior, wearing a uniform and rank that still seemed far too large for her.

“There were two ways the Republic could have reacted,” the girl leaned against the consoles, once more showing no sign of weakness, “They knew for certain Operation Storm-Door was some sort of trap, but they did not know what kind. They could have either acted cautiously, prodding the trap before making any major action–or they could have rushed in, attempting to destroy the trap with brute force.”

“Not knowing that by doing so, they have already fallen for it,” Admiral Trench approached the Supreme Commander, towering over her, “You have foresaw their reaction perfectly, General.”

“Then it all the more crucial Operation Starlance produces the intended effect within the Republic,” Tann remarked, “We must prepare accordingly. Is the Second Fleet Group ready for action? You will be pitted against the most fortified Republic front of the war.”

“Your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary, General,” Trench staked out the room, examining the fleet positions in the Perlemian on the displays, “Rear Admiral Merai’s Dac Offensive has secured the Quarren shipyards of Calamari Space, including the Pammant Docks. With this, the dreadnought Subjugator has finally entered service. With both Malevolence and Subjugator, my Second Fleet Group can pierce even the strongest enemy positions.”

The Subjugator-class star dreadnought was the heaviest Separatist warship ever put into service, designed by the Free Dac Engineering Corps as the response to the Republic’s own star dreadnoughts. Nearly five klicks long, it possessed a massive through-deck ion pulse cannon that could disable entire fleets with a single shot. The first to enter service was Malevolence, followed by her sister ship Devastator. With the newfound security of the Pammant Docks however, the original testbed and namesake, Subjugator, can finally complete its retrofit and enter service.

After the damning success of the designs at the Battle of Columex, a fourth ship of the class had been ordered, and its keel recently laid down in the Quarren shipyards of the Enoth System.

In any case, with two Subjugator-class star dreadnoughts on the Perlemian Front, the GAR’s 3rd Sector Army will be due for an unpleasant surprise.

“Very well,” the Supreme Commander circled back to her seat, “Then let us reveal to the Republic the true depth of our willingness to fight.”

The Pantoran quietly composed herself, then toggled the integrated comlink on her instrument board, “This is the Supreme Commander to Admiral Kirst of the First Fleet Group. Be notified that all actions pertaining to Operation Storm-Door have been authorised. Maintain your defence-in-depth of the New Territories, and make the Republic pay dearly for every world they take. You may inform the Nineteenth Mobile to proceed with Operation Starlance.”

Unlike General Farstar’s defence of the Corellian Run, Admiral Kirst was explicitly ordered to give ground. The strategy was twofold; the 1st Fleet Group was facing not one, but three GAR Sector Armies–the 7th, 8th, and 9th. The 10th Sector Army would have been included, if they were not poised to combat Trench’s own 2nd Fleet Group on the Salin Corridor. The reason for a defence-in-depth strategy, then, was more obvious.

But there was a more sinister reason behind Admiral Kirst’s defence of the Confederacy’s northern holdings, devised by the adroitly sinister mind of Rear Admiral Calli Trilm. The Raxus Government’s main internal political rival in the Serenno Government established its main powerbase in the galactic north. By fighting for every inch of ground and calculatively permitting the Republic to advance through the New Territories, every system lost ripped away another pillar of Count Dooku’s support.

When the Republic captured Banking Clan affiliated worlds, for instance, the Raxus Government also dealt with another internal threat–slowly setting the stage in the deplorable case the Confederacy finds a civil war unavoidable. For a woman born and raised on the Serennian colony world of Clysm, Calli Trilm bore frightening little loyalty to her homeworld… or anything other than herself, for that matter.

“This is the Supreme Commander to General Farstar of the Third Fleet Group,” the Supreme Commander prepared the next transmission, “Be notified that all actions pertaining to Operation Storm-Door have been authorised. Hold the enemy at New Cov, encircle, and destroy them. Let them take not an inch of the Mid Rim.”

General Atticus Farstar, the protege of Sev’rance Tann herself, recently promoted after his success in Bothan Space. Farstar’s strategy was simple; stop the GAR’s 16th Sector Army dead in its tracks at the fortress world New Cov, while their Bothan allies under Rear Admiral Laryn Kre’fey holds his flank at Kalarba. Then, Commodore Karoc’s 224th Strike Division, awaiting at Daalang, would proceed down the Gamor Run to Milagro, effectively cutting off the 16th Sector Army from its supply lines.

“Admiral,” then was Trench’s turn, and the Supreme Commander gave him the oral command; “Be notified that all actions pertaining to Operation Storm-Door have been authorised. I don’t believe it necessary to elaborate upon the strategy you personally devised. You may order the Twenty-Eighth Mobile to proceed with Operation Starlance. They will first jump to Yag’Dhul to cut off the 2nd Sector Army’s supply line, then begin their incursion with the Nineteenth Mobile. Inform them the Fourth Fleet will take their place in Sullust.”

“You seem confident Admiral Bonteri can still defeat General Alrix. He has been engaged in battle on six separate occasions,” Admiral Trench observed, “And not once has he been able to take the upper hand. What makes this occasion so different?”

“The commanders of our two Mobile Fleets are very different people, but unbeatable when the battlefield plays to their strengths,” the Supreme Commander stood up, lifting an open palm, as if there was an invisible spider resting upon it, “I have made my considerations when choosing where to deploy them. Admiral Trilm is like a spider, knitting her web in silence, awaiting her enemies to tangle themselves in her invisible threads, before finishing them off. The standing order to ‘hold your position’ would work entirely in her favour.”

“Which is why she was posted in the neutral Kashyyyk System,” the old Harch concluded, “So that the Republic could not attack her?”

“Perhaps I am looking down too much on the Republic,” she admitted, “But that would be correct. For Operation Storm-Door to succeed, the Republic must grow suspicious of our Mobile Fleets and redeploy their most dangerous assets to the front accordingly. Considering one half of the Open Circle Fleet was retasked to Kashyyyk, this ploy has succeeded.”

“Admiral Bonteri, on the other hand,” as if making her point clearer, General Tann lifted her other palm, “Is like a viper. He shines in unrestrained, offensive actions, and like a viper defending their nest, he will twist even the most defensive battlefields in order to strike first. There is a common thread when you study his battles; the First Battle of Christophsis, Battle of Teth, Battle of Metalorn, Battle of Columex… these were all defensive battles, and yet in each one Admiral Bonteri fought as the aggressor.”

“You believe…”

“I believe that if Admiral Bonteri was permitted unrestrained action, he would have annihilated General Alrix’s fleet before the Republic could even realise he was at Sullust,” the Supreme Commander confirmed, “Thus he was forced to be hamstrung, and put in an unfavourable position most counteractive to his expertise. And as expected, General Skywalker and the vanguard of the Open Circle Fleet was sent to reinforce General Alrix’s positions.”

“There was no telling the Republic would react that way,” Admiral Trench stroked his mandibles in thought, “To assume the enemy’s reactions is a risky endeavour.”

“Then we must disagree, Admiral,” General Tann smiled thinly, “Do you not realise it is the Republic who would realise just how dangerous Admiral Bonteri is? In every battle I had listed, Admiral Bonteri fought against one or more Jedi Generals, and defeated them. It is the Republic who understands how he fights more than anybody. I imagine they must have panicked, realising the inexperienced General Alrix has been pitted against the Hydra himself. It is natural they send the Jedi General who has the most experience dealing with him to reinforce Alrix.”

“And when Admiral Bonteri jumps to Yag’Dhul, General Skywalker will be too far away to stop Operation Starlance,” Admiral Trench finished.

The Supreme Commander nodded sharply, visibly pleased. She then prepared her final transmission.

“This is the Supreme Commander to General Ambigene of the Fourth Fleet Group,” –the final, and most critical to Operation Starlance, was the First General on the Rimma Trade Route, “Be notified that all actions pertaining to Operation Storm-Door have been authorised. Take Eriadu with all haste and fortify Sullust in anticipation for the enemy offensive.”

The appointment of Horn Ambigene to the 4th Fleet Group was undeniably a deft political move, one apparently originating from Sev’rance Tann herself, instead of Calli Trilm. The First General of the Confederacy was loyal not to the Confederacy, but the Separatist cause itself, making him a neutral agent in the political turmoil gripping Raxus and Serenno. Furthermore, his renowned reputation and skills was necessary to inspire and restore morale among the troops of the Rimma Trade Route after the losses dealt by the Hundred Days Offensive.

From the military angle, however, Trench had his reservations. The First General of the Confederacy was not suited to large-scale campaigns. He was a field officer, his experience and command style forged on the bloody battlefields of the Tydane System which he called home. He was far more suited for his former role of Commander of Organic Training. However, Trench had to admit, if there was one officer who could make the GAR–nay, the entire Republic–fly into a hysteria, it was Horn Ambigene.

“We must be prepared to shoulder eternal damnation if Operation Storm-Door is to succeed, and win the war, General,” Admiral Trench was old. Harch of his species could live for centuries. He would live for decades more, but at mere mention of Horn Ambigene, his bones already ached, “For the longevity of the Confederacy, I hope this is worth the price.”

Sev’rance Tann looked at him, then looked down, “I presume you speak of General Ambigene. Yes, his invasion of Eriadu will be bloody, but there is no commander in the CAF better suited to planetary warfare.”

“Invasion?”

There will be no invasion. This is Horn Ambigene we are speaking of.

Trench saw straight through the mask of the Supreme Commander, at this slight confusion swirling behind her red gaze, “Yes, invasion, Admiral. General Ambigene will invade Eriadu with overwhelming might, then move to and fortify Sullust before the Republic reaches. I am well aware of his brutal methods, but I consider them a necessity for an otherwise swift capture of a world as fortified as Eriadu.”

“Supreme Commander,” Trench felt Doctor Cratala’s prosthetics dig into his flesh, “I am afraid you have underestimated Horn Ambigene. You cannot judge him with the same criteria you judge the rest of us with. He is a man of a completely different calibre.”

“A smaller or larger calibre?”

“An older calibre,” Trench stressed, “He is a guerilla general, who has only fought a war of defiance his entire life. He considers ‘victory’ and ‘defeat’ not in terms of territories gained and lost, but in terms of enemy soldiers killed compared to allied soldiers lost. Even I cannot fathom the horrors he’s been through. General, nobody can imagine the personal crusade Horn Ambigene waged against the powers that be, before he took Dooku’s offer. For decades, he alone protected the natural wealth of Tydane, single-handedly fighting off the persistent encroaches of the Judicial Forces and corporate overlords of the Republic.”

Sev’rance Tann frowned, “I had imagined those were exaggerations made by our overly-excited media. Not even the Stark Commercial Combine could fend off the Republic in the Hyperspace War for more than a year, and yet you claim the Tydane System did so for decades?”

“Horn Ambigene gained a reputation for being more trouble than he was worth,” Trench said grimly, “Can you conceive one must do to achieve such a reputation? General, this requires more than just mere ‘brutality.’ The Republic took from him his allies, his friends, his family, and everything he held dear. And yet, the Ghost of Tydane was a man who would still rather tear his homeworld apart than surrender to the Republic.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Admiral Trench did not fault the Supreme Commander for her ignorance of Horn Ambigene’s true character. In the grand scheme of the galaxy, Ambigene was but a single man, protecting but a single star system in a small corner of the impossibly vast expanse of the Outer Rim. It was natural that hardly anybody has heard of his decade-long plight.

But Trench was an admiral of the Corporate Alliance, and he was no stranger to violence and exploitation and should it come to be, doling out atrocities in the name of greed. He has always held himself to a certain standard, and never personally engaged in such acts, but the old Harch has never denied bystanding and even enabling the inevitable horrors that arise from such exploitation. He has, after all, been many times the leader of the Alliance Fleets that scoured the Outer Rim for riches and resources.

It was natural that in his long career, Trench had come to learn of the so-called Ghost of Tydane; the vengeful guardian deity of a rich star system on the fringes of civilization. The Ghost that brutalised every prospecting fleet, commercial convoy, and Judicial Force escort that coveted a foothold in the Tydane System, until even the largest megacorporations considered the place more trouble than it was worth. If strange turns of fate and a common enemy had not made them unlikely allies, perhaps Trench would have eventually tested his mettle against the Ghost of Tydane.

It was for this reason then, that Trench has only met Horn Ambigene in person once, during the ascension of the Supreme Commander on Raxus Secundus. It was then that Trench realised just how much first impressions could be deceiving, because he had a complete idea in mind when he first met the infamous Ghost of Tydane. The First General was an ageing man, by human standards, who spoke with a hard, grating voice. Otherwise, he could have been dismissed for just another greybeard officer, who has lived long enough to tell a few fascinating stories of war.

Even now, Trench could hardly reconcile these two very different images of the same man. It was only out of concern and benefit of the doubt did Trench decide to warn Sev’rance Tann of the stories that swirled around Horn Ambigene among the ranks of former corporate officers.

“Eriadu is the symbol of everything he despises,” the two most powerful officers in the Separatist Alliance locked gazes, “An Outer Rim world who betrayed the plight of the Outer Rim, who would lick the boots of Coruscant. Who would abandon the common cause of the Rim, so they could stand with the exploiters rather than the exploited.”

“If you want the Republic to panic, General, then Horn Ambigene was undoubtedly the correct decision to make,” Admiral Trench found the holochart displaying the 4th Fleet Group around Eriadu, “The Republic will panic, I assure you, but not out of fear of the Coalition Armada and the Bulwark Fleet.”

“Then what will they fear, Admiral?”

“They will fear what I fear, General,” and Admiral Trench felt fear in his old bones, because not even he could fight the way Horn Ambigene does, “And I fear Horn Ambigene is about to teach the galaxy exactly how long it takes to turn a planet of twenty-two billion souls into a tomb.”

Sev’rance Tann levelled with him, her fingers edging towards the comlink once again, as if contemplating withdrawing her orders.

“Is that,” the old Harch warned, “A burden the Confederacy is willing to carry?”

Then, the Supreme Commander withdrew not her orders, but her hands, and folded them neatly onto her lap. She stared blankly over his shoulder, and Trench distantly realised she was in one of those trances of hers, from which she made a thousand calculations in the span of seconds, that would put even the Givin of Yag’Dhul to shame.

“I can only express…” after a silence, her lips finally peeled apart into a grim smile; and Trench understood the true depths she would bring the Confederacy for victory, “Anticipation.”

⁂

Sululluub Asteroid Field, Sullust System

Brema Sector

Rear Admiral Rain Bonteri marched onto the command bridge of battleship Chakdrukke with a tempest in his step, his cape billowing at his back like a purple flame. All who came under his presence stopped and saluted, whether they be his personal Onderonian Guardsmen, Koorivar Fusiliers, Gossam Commandos, Skakoan Legal Deputies, Neimoidian Gunners… or Asajj Ventress and the officers of the 28th Mobile Fleet themselves.

It has been one-hundred and thirty-one system hours since the first engagement between the Sululluub Field and Sullust, and Taskforce Conciliator has engaged the 28th Mobile Fleet six times, slowly chipping away at its strength. Finally, Admiral Trench has unshackled them, and given the order to proceed with Operation Storm-Door.

Rain Bonteri gently pressed his palms onto the round table, meeting each and every officer there with a certain blankness in his eyes that conveyed nothing but a chill, merciless fury, framed by dark shadows that belied hours of non-stop planning and strategizing. The air is suffocating, Ventress thought. It was not heavy, or oppressive, or any way similar to that of standing under Dooku’s presence. No, the air was… empty.