Divided We Fall [Open to all but One Sith and their Allies]

[HK-36]

[member="Gilamar Skirata"],


The droid nodded to Gilamar as he watched the Mandalore stand and speak, listening to his words and calculating as he pulled up information on Empress Teta, connecting to the holo-projector as he changed it to holo-map and pulled up the planet on it, zooming in to its position and displaying intelligence about the target.

"It can certainly be one of the hit points we can discuss later on during the meeting, especially if it would mean arrest of this Revealed Dark Lord Ordo."

HK nodded, looking to the map before turning to Gil and giving him a bow,

"Thank you, my Lord Mandalore. But to finish our current discussion on the possible Vong Navy support the One Sith could be receiving, have your vods gathered any information on how many or how big the Returned Vong navy could be?"

 

[Gilamar Skirata]

He shook his head.
"The Mandalorians have just joined this fight. We know less than you do." he stated simply. His one eye in all of this had dropped off the map, assumed dead. With that, his legs could take no more and he was forced to sit back down. "I'm sorry I can't be more help to you information wise droid."
[member="HK-36"]

 

[Not Ordo]

Buliwyf raised his hand and waited for [member="HK-36"] or [member="Rosa Gunn"] to acknowledge him.

 

[Rosa Gunn]

"Thank you, Mand'alor, I will make a note of your request to be put on the terms of the alliance we draw at the end of this meeting."

She looked up as a hand raised in the back. Her mind ran through the list of names, she couldn't recall his. "Yes?" she said inviting him to speak.

[member="Buliwyf Jarhulda"]

 

[Not Ordo]

[member="Rosa Gunn"]

"The reports I have overheard from spacers is zat zere is a fairly large fleet made up of primarily warrior and shaper cahst of ze Yuuzhan Vong." He said slowly, "Zey haph no vorld ships but zey are rumored to haph taken most of ze assets of the former zealots know as ze Horde."

Buliwyf sat back in his chair and thought for a moment.

"I vould venture a guess ov maybe tventy t'ousand metahs at least. counting fightaz"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Rosa Gunn"], [member="HK-36"]


"Prior to the Silken Asteroids engagement I faced the Horde on Aurum, along with Jorus Merrill and Spencer Jacobs. The savages put the planet to the torch and butchered any living being that crossed their path. Darth Vulcanus was there as their ally...and got beaten by me. They deployed Fire Breathers in notable numbers, forcing a retreat on our part after slaying a great many of the Vong. However, to be frank, the Horde, while as savage as the Reavers on Aurum, were cowardly thugs, barely putting up a fight when Moross came knocking on their doorstep. The breed of Vong in the One Sith's service, as with the entire Sith cult in general, seem far more organised and disciplined, so we can't make any automatic inferences and draw comfort from it. In any event they're not the core of the problem. Likewise, if reports from the battle of Alderaan are any indication, the One Sith have finally moved from using Clone Wars era antiques and salvaged Sith Empire warships since that worked so well at Carida, and churned out new designs to serve their fleets."



Siobhan was no fleeter, though she could appreciate a fine battleship, but she knew Admiral Stahlmann from the time he had served in the Protectorate, and he commanded the Republic fleet at Alderaan, having recently rejoined them.


"As for weaponry, bolters can be used to devastating effect against force-users and Vong, much as they mowed down hordes of Reavers. Firemane designed a miniaturised HEAT shell cut down to a bolter round that has devastating effect on personal armour up to close eight. Explosive bolts that detonate on impact render telekinesis and force barriers ineffective. Likewise Firemane and the Abregado-Rae Guild of Hammers are working on a mobile exoskeleton to serve as a heavy assault platform. What's important to realise is that we're facing full-scale war, against an enemy who's fanatically motivated and has decent leadership, something the Empire never had since Varanin got toppled."



A couple blind ropos would've done a better job than the 'emperors of the week' the Sith got after Roche, Siobhan thought to herself. Whether Exarch Kerrigan had been any better was another question entirely, but not the issue of discussion, so this writer shall not rant. "'Fringe's stance is also not quantifiable. Kaine Zambrano for one happens to be with the OS and a Fringe vassal as Emperor of Panatha." Siobhan had fought the former Emperor during the Fondorian skirmish before he retreated and the space station they were on almost plummeted out of orbit, forcing her to induldge in the use of ridiculously extreme telekinesis. Admittedly it had been sort of her fault it went crashing in the first place!


"'Small elite groups', piecemeal actions and supreme dash with little coordination alone won't do the trick, otherwise it'll be another debacle like Coruscant. Victory will require sacrifices. Large-scale mobilisation. Blood, sweat and tears."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Buliwyf Jarhulda"], [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="Rosa Gunn"],


HK nodded to Buliwyf listening to his words,

"So there was a reason why Horde threw mostly Sith vessels at us, and now we may face actual Vong fleet. With a fleet of that size, especially since they do seem to be more organized now than during the Horde's reign, we can expect presence of some Yammosk, the infamous War Coordinators, the Republic did develop a weapon against them in the past, I have seen it, it came from the Eclipse Station."

At that part the droid would look to [member="Popo"] and [member="Kiskla Grayson"], and other Republicans,

"Unless the Sith have gotten to Eclipse already, we may find there designs to a weapon that can substantially weaken any potential Vong fleets we have to face."


The droid would look once more to Buliwyf, giving him a bow,

"Thank you, that was just the information we needed, if you could find out location of such a force, that would be great."

HK looked to [member="Roth Tillian"] then,

"I hope that answers your question, young warrior."


HK would quiet down again as Siobhan begun to spoke, changing recording on the holo-projector from the map to show Hal Terrano, the unfortunate Sith Knight during the Invasion of Coruscant as he was thrown around and his Crab Armor damaged under Kaida's bombardment from the bolt gun utilizing new ammunition type Kerrigan described.

He would nod to her after her speech,

"Thank you for your insight, Siobhan, we can go into our new weapons and gadgets later on, as well as the tactics of a potential counter-attack against the One Sith, such as strike on Emperor Tetha to arrest the Dark Lord Ordo the Unbelievable."


The droid would look to others, especially Rosa to whom it would be up to give the droid greenlight to continue,

"If there are any more questions on this subject, please raise your hand, otherwise I would like to move on to my next point of presentation, the current models of personal One Sith armor which we can potentially face, including Phrik, Mandalorian Iron, and Duranium Cybernetics."

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew raised his large hand slowly, before leaning forwards towards the table, and glancing directly at [member="HK-36"], before speaking.

"If Baffor pollen is the weakness of the Yuuzan Vong- why can't it be weaponized? Made into bombs, grenades, projectiles. Even torpedos for attacking their organic ships. If we can explotit their weakness, the Vong won't be any more of a threat to us then an army of armed Ropos."

After the Togorian finished speaking, he glanced around at the various people, wondering if his idea was already thought of. Even if it was impossible to weaponize the pollen...

"And if that's impossible, we could always just start planting groves of Baffor trees. It would cost considierably less to plant a grove of Baffor trees in every major city then for any large faction to defend themselves from a full-scale invasion."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Mrrew"]

The droid nodded to Mrrew at his question,

"It can be weaponized, as it used to be in the past, and I would love to see the process repeated, but it is not deadly to the Vong itself, instead their crab armor suits are highly allergic to it, the pollen can cause the armor to swell and burst, which results in explosion that kills the armor, and the being that wears it. Planting groves is a viable option, but they would need to be protected, and from what I gathered telepathy is required to communicate with them, Ithorians would know more about it, if we would be able to get them to agree and help us."

He would look to the map, turning on the map again to zoom in on Ithor,

"Ithor is the plant's homeworld but during the First Vong Invasion they attempted to eradicate the plant, I know that some specimen survived, but I am not sure if re-population of the species was successful, but our Mandalorian representatives already claimed that supply of it will be available to us."

He would look to [member="Gilamar Skirata"] and other Mandalorians once more and give them a slight bow.

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew nodded, and sat back in his chair, watching the faces of the various republican members of the summit. If it was possible to weaponize it, then that could be highly useful. The Vong may not be allergic to it, but if their armor explodes on contact with it... that means the Vong do to. And prehaps some of their other
weapons or armor shared the allergic reaction...

 

[Jonathon Patches]

[member="Siara Kai"]

Can't stop the signal, he used to say. But that didn't mean it couldn't be manipulated or bent to ones will. Now Patches didn't have much taste for politics. A bunch of empty promises, back stabbing and back room deals; the latter of which, not the kind that he was particularly fond of.

Still, didn't mean there wasn't opportunity aplenty around these parts this fine evening. A deal or two on the side for himself couldn't hurt. It was shortly after these sort of summits when people became desperate and more... forthcoming.

However, it wasn't the politicians that stirred his interest this fine evening - at least not at this moment. It was the signal that caught his attention, or more accurately, the code within the signal. To a casual onlooker it was just a bunch of numbers on a screen; to a skilled analyst, it was communications as usual.

But to the familiar eye, it was there... the signal within the signal. It was an older code, not one he had seen in sometime, but familiar none the less.

A smirk drew upon his lips, as an opportunity presented itself that couldn't be passed. From his holotop in his hotel room, Patches added his own little touch to the signal within the signal; a holovideo of a womprat dry humping a bantha's leg. Wouldn't be noticed by anyone else, except for the owner of said code, who would be certain to be a bit... shall we say, perplexed, he mused to himself.

A smirk drew upon his lips as pictured their reaction. He closed his holotop, grabbing a datapad and his bag, and went a hunting, tracking said signal to the best of his ability.

Can't stop the signal...

 

[Preliat Mantis]

"I am also concerned primarily with the Sith infantry, vehicles, anti-air batteries, and their gunships and any fighters that would be supporting their ground troops- and armament of their ground troops. If my men and my platoons are to go into battle, I would hope we have sufficient intelligence on what the baseline Sith infantrymen is carrying, along with their more powerful allies. I'm glad to hear we've established anti-Sith and anti-Vong measures, but I would like to know what sort of fight we'll be in for - though, I doubt the Sith could match most of our armors or weapons."He posed a question, speaking out of turn. The savage sitting there had no interest in respecting the politics of the room. He was a man of action and of conquest.

He turned to stare at @HK-36.

"The Dark Lord will face Mandalorian justice."His eyes flickered over to [member="Gilamar Skirata"], full of more hate and anger than usual.

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Rosa Gunn"]

Ayden was busy tapping away at his console while the meeting proceeded. He would occasionally glance up to look at a speaker before going back to his work. He was dimly aware of a few calls for a review of the One Sith fleet, but he was always cut off by a new concern or thought before he could begin. Once he felt confident that he would not be interrupted, Ayden thumbed the channel back open and began.

"When the One Sith first took Coruscant, it was through surprise and overwhelming force. The Republic was wholly unprepared for an attack of that magnitude so close to their capital. Their defenses were almost entirely ignored and critical sites were rapidly overrun." As he spoke, his hologram was replaced by a projection of the Coruscant system outlining the progress of the first invasion. "The Republic had no warning and little time to attempt a counter-attack before they were pushed from the system."

"Carida. The One Sith attempted to push their advantage and move deeper into the Core systems. As I was personally there to aid the Republic, I gained much first-hand experience with the One Sith. I was surprised, then, to find that the majority of their ships were antiquities; relics of an era long past. Though they outnumbered us, their technological disadvantage showed. Unlike Coruscant, the Republic was ready for them at Carida and met force with force. Even outnumbered as we were, we held the Sith at bay and turned them away from the planet."

He paused in his review to rub one temple, though the projection continued to show Carida and thus the gesture was missed by those in attendance. "I was not present for the attack on the Empress Teta system, but as I understand it the One Sith's fleet presence was negligible. Unfortunately, the Republic did not have a complete picture of the defenses they would face and were routed. Our analysts were curious as to why the One Sith fleet was so absent in a system that was vitally important to their supply lines. Why, exactly, would become evident at Alderaan."

Once again, the holoprojection shifted and displayed the system of Alderaan. "The One Sith fleet that appeared here was quite unlike the fleet that we had encountered at Carida. In a very short amount of time, the One Sith had modernized their fleet. As well, they had the support of several Vong bioships, the likes of which this galaxy has not seen for nearly a thousand years."

The image faded and the Corellian's face returned. "What we know of the Sith fleet is that they are capable of rapidly adapting to their foes. In less than three months, they completely changed the face of their fleet; how they move, how they act, how they fight. The Republic's current military doctrine, and indeed the doctrine that rules much of the galaxy, is simply too old to handle this sort of rapidly-changing threat. We know next to nothing of their production capabilities, where their shipyards are, where they're getting the materials to build these ships from. We need to learn more about the One Sith. This is simple fact."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Rosa Gunn"], [member="HK-36"], [member="Ayden Cater"]


For her part Siobhan still found the idea that the capital defences of Coruscant had been absolutely helpless rather preposterous. The One Sith had not possessed any visible naval presence in orbit, but nonetheless had somehow managed to bypass the plantery defences a capital planet ought to have. Especially after it had already been a target before, as the Graug raid showed. But then it appeared that these days battles were often only fought by a couple magi in duels because armies were background noise.



"Coruscant fell to a horde of Sith because of traitors in the ranks. Plenty of the scum seems to have wormed their way in as a fifth column. Starting Apparine or whatever she calls herself these days. The One Sith didn't bring a grand army to the planet. As for Alderaan, the modernised Sith navy still lost the battle against the Republic. They were on the retreat when the planet suddenly fell." Though apparently until recently the Republic's sole Star Defender had been in use since the days of [member="Aurelia Saelari"] as chancellor.



She briefly looked over to [member="Preliat Mantis"]. He may be speaking out of turn but she did not mind much. She could appreciate bluntness. Well, as long as you did not contradict her! She was not a hypocrite at all. "Haven't encountered Sith armour so far. Past ground battles were terribly forcer-reliant on their part. I'd imagine they have modernised AT-ATs and AT-STs variants, if the old Sith Empire's precedent is anything to go by. Likewise Sithspawn must expected...intel from Alderaan speaks of a giant worm beast. I imagine basilisk war droids would come in handy."

 

[The End Narrator]

She sighed heavily, motioning with her hand as she looked at the datapad infront of her. "Combined Defense Forces, Rapid Response Fleets or QRF even." She shook her head as she stared at the statistics.


"Making our forces lighter in numbers and quicker to strike back. It's not a new concept but one the New Republic adjusted to when the Vong became a serious problem." She motioned to her own datapad. "The numbers show we have stagnate fleets here and there, our numbers are like blocks. We aren't capable of responding to a threat in any particular area at any given time. We need to be able to strike hard and fast when something arises. So the doctrine must revert back to the days of old." She took a deep breath and motioned to the holodisplay. "If you take a heavy armor brigade, and mix it with light tanks, mobile infantry and support and reduce the actual heavy armor...you now have a response force capable of dealing with a multitude of threats."

She switched it to a naval perspective. "The same can be said with naval vessels, taking out all these command vessels and ensuring an organized battle group consists of this many gunships, frigates, etcetera." She closed her display and shrugged. "Then you have a sizable force that will be able to handle threats on a moments notice and not take hours to respond as they did at Alderaan. I, however, am not a military expert or a tactician nor am I a member of the Republic to adjust policy. I just make weapons."


[member="Ayden Cater"], [member="HK-36"], [member="Rosa Gunn"], [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Roth Tillian]

Roth nodded in response to [member="HK-36"]'s answer to his question, and smiled quietly at the further conversation. Excellent. The ball was beginning to roll now. Plans were blooming. Intelligence shared. Then a thought struck him in conjunction with the comments from [member="Alyesa Praxon-Organa"]. If there was one thing the Rebel Alliance was good at, it was fluid, fast-action mobilizations and operations. Once they weaponized the pollen...

He pulled out his datapad and started writing down ideas and propositions as fast as he could while still listening to everyone else. The One Sith moved quickly, and they were struggling to catch up. What they needed was time. He had an idea for how to buy them some. Perhaps at a very high price, but as the lady Kerrigan had said, such was the cost of a war this size. He paused and grinned. This would be something to bring up later when plans became the subject matter. Further information could lead more revisions.

 

[The End Narrator]

"In regards to weaponizing the Baffor Pollen, I will need samples and a few crates to work with." She looked down at her datapad. "I can see about making a few surprises for our friends on the other side. Incom Corporation has the facilities and capabilities."

Ayden Cater, HK-36, Rosa Gunn, Siobhan Kerrigan

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="HK-36"] [member="Mrrew"] [member="Gilamar Skirata"] [member="Rosa Gunn"] [member="Ayden Cater"] [member="Aeron Kreelan"] [member="Popo"]
"I think we are all forgetting something vital here." Noah said as he reached for a satchel and pulled out a datapad. "If we are to defeat the One Sith, there is a quote we must adhere to. 'If you know the enemy, you need not fear the outcome of a thousand battles.' Everyone at this table knows what a Sith is, but that is not knowing our enemy, to know our enemy, we have to know every detail of their lives. That's why I've spent the past two months consulting with my sister, a Republic Intel Officer and everyone who has owed me a favor and compiled detailed dossiers of every high-ranking One Sith, some are extremely detailed and some of them are bare." Noah informed them as he connected his datapad to the holoprojector so he could display the files in they wanted. "I'm not trying to divert attention from other matters, just trying to get a little attention for a matter that I think is just as important."

 

[The End Narrator]

[member="Noah Corek"]

"Thank you for your efforts, I'm sure everyone here can appreciate this information." She would gesture around the room to the other leaders. "Just as much as I appreciate you, Rosa, if I may address you by that...." She paused for a brief second and looked back around the room again, her hand lowering. "You managed to bring us all together at a table and not a single blaster has been drawn." She would chuckle softly and then bow her head. "I neglected in the midst of my rudeness earlier to thank you."

[member="Rosa Gunn"]
[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
[member="Ayden Cater"]
[member="Popo"]
[member="Kiskla Grayson"]

 

[Saki]

Likewise Sithspawn must expected...intel from Alderaan speaks of a giant worm beast.

"That was a fun one." Saki stood there and smirk looking at Siobhan and stretched while she listened. "That nasty is actually easier to take out. Without Hauntruss there to control it the beast attacks everything including its own people. Problem is someone crazy enough to climb atop a command ship sized worm and fight an ancient sith lord with more power then many can believe." She turned to Noah and spoke. "Best intel I can give from fighting them is they go down when you cut out the toys and the psychology and simple punch them in the face. Worked on Teta, worked on Korriban, even worked on Alderaan. Now she was taking a seat away from the others and gave a small bow of her head to Ayden and even Yusan was here. "The other forces they have well Blackblades from Kaine, sithspawn that explode and spread that weaponized waters, darkside nexuses, leviathans, smaller war worms and one a few on speeders making for a great weapon to throw."