Saviours of the Galaxy Assemble!

[apothecary]

 In the aftermath of the attack on Naboo, the senate in a desperate attempt to control the panicking citizens across it's many worlds created a task force, whose purpose was to pursue those responsible for the attack, find them and prevent any further attacks. The creation of the Task Force was a highly publicised event since knowledge of it might serve to calm people. The world of Naboo was selected to be the muster world for such an undertaking, with the units and individuals selected to join this task force ordered to assemble there. 

Major Yana Talanskia of the 22nd Orbital Shock Brigade of the 303rd Army, Vartian Republic sipped at a cup of caff, grimacing at the bitter acrid taste. She set the mug back down on the table wondering how other species managed to drink such a foul drink. It was not like Proth, a meat protein based hot drink preferred by the Vartians. Though seated, like all of her species, Yana was four foot nine in height, with the same pale white face, bright purple eyes and fiery ginger hair. Yana's hair was tied into a neat French plait, besides the major's rank which stood on her camouflage uniform, the only thing which denoted her from those under her command was her bionic right arm. 

It had been Major Talanskia's 22nd Brigade that clashed with the raiders in the streets of Theed, leading to numerous civilian casualties. The 22nd under her command was assigned to the task force. "The fact that the senators have announced this to the public is a concern." The Vartian said, her tone curt with an attempt to be polite but her distaste and disapproval was clearly under the surface. "Due to it our enemies will now be on their guard for us, assuming they were not expecting some manner of response to their attack already." She sipped the caff again wishing it was a proper drink rather than this filthy swill preferred by aliens. 

She stared with those purple eyes of her's at the other officers, commanders and key personal of this new task force as if daring any of them to offer an explanation for this. "We should focus on finding their key bases and destroy them utterly." She said calmly, deciding to get to the point as to why they were all here on this planet. 

[Zarkan]

Eli shifted very slightly in her seat before crossing her legs and resting her hands on top of each other in her lap. Externally the woman's pressed dress uniform and blank resting face a sort of serenity internally however, she was somewhat less calm she still wasn't entirely certain why Major Albrect chooses to send the junior officer to the meeting in his stead. She couldn't help but think this might be some kind of test from her superior. Still, she thought as she glanced down at the datapad laid neatly on the table before her, at least she'd get to avoid the perennial pain of being out of the loop for once.

The young tank commander's eyes snapped to focus on the short major seated further around the round table as she spoke. Eli nodded in agreement with the woman but felt she should provide some defense for the republic none the less. "Perhaps they assumed that such a large scale deployment couldn't go unnoticed and decided not to panic the public?" She said keeping her soft voice ringing out in an even tone. "Surely it is unlikely that these corsairs were expecting to go unopposed." She continued before turning her attention to the woman's final statement.

"It would be nice if it were to be that easy," she said glancing at the roster of assets from the twenty-fourth division listed on the datapad before her. "if they decided to bunker up we can simply have our artillery units pound them to dust." The woman paused to take a sip from a nondescript clear bottle of water before continuing with a grimace. "However, it's more likely that they will attempt to fade away into the terrain or worse, try to use the citizens as shields." Eli gave the Major a small apologetic smile. "I'm afraid I'm rather hesitant to give official duty missions to our armored units with the information I currently have." She looked around at the other members of the group assembled around the table. "Does anyone have a more up to date intelligence report?" She asked before continuing. "Otherwise I'd suggest that our first task is obtaining better recon data on their movements and location."

[korzan]

Thalyn was quite irritated by the Republic having chosen to make the public announcement of a task force on this pirate problem, but not just him it was also the SIS that were incredibly irritated. So rather than have the Jedi Master Thalyn here they'd have the Hunter Micah Thorinn. Which was just as fine for the Trianii for the most part. He was sitting back on his chair, armoured boots up on the table in quite a casual manner with absolutely no care for Military Decorum. After all, Micah was just a contractor on hand for his talents in hunting pirates and live retrieval. "If you're wanting to hunt Pirates you should not assume they are some military target you can just throw soldiers and tanks at. That will not get you the result you want and may in fact make things worse for you as they could very well draw on more heavier ordinance to counter it. Or simply fade out and re-group." He'd speak up. "The Republic wants a show or someone panicked, either way it is a very foolish approach that has been taken." He would add to the comment.

The Trianii crossed one foot over the other and got comfortable, his armoured tail gently tapping the ground to some internal rhythm of his as he took a drink of Caf from his Thermos. "I have the Pride and her crew working on analysing the communications traffic of the planet for any signals and frequencies the Pirates could very likely be using. I'll have updates soon on that." He checked the Datapad on his knee with a glance before looking back to the others gathered in that small meeting room. "We are better off capturing the Pirates leadership rather than going full off the rails with explosives and extremes of force. The Republic wants them alive, rather than dead and I intend on collecting on that." There were no actual Bounties, even as the SIS was supporting him in terms of materials that were difficult to acquire. They did want some of the Pirates Leadership and/or any data from their computers. "However.. if we want to really hurt them. Liberating their stockpiles, taking their supplies from them for redistribution or confiscation along with knocking out their communications will throw them into disarray and make them easier to eliminate over a longer period of time as they become less organised and funded."

[apothecary]

"Why do we concern ourselves with the public? If they will not fight to defend themselves then we should not consider them in our operations to combat this threat." The Major countered with the usual coldness of a Vartian when it came to those who existed outside of the battlefield. It seemed an impossible concept for them to accept that there were those who did not fight, could not fight or refused to. After all if the populace had risen up to defend itself and their city, the raiders surely could have been beaten at the very gates. "I agree. I feel as though they would be prepared for a counter response from us." Preferably such a response which allowed for the threat to be exterminated utterly so none might dare rise up from the ashes and strike again. 

"Then surround them and dig them out with bayonets." Yana suggested, her tone indicating that she had no qualms about sending her unit in to fight the pirates and raiders up close where Vartian steel combined with battle drill would once again prove their superiority over the other species of the galaxy. "If you fired anyway they would soon learn to ignore your civilians and not use them as shields. I suspect however your government somehow might disapprove of such a notion, regardless of it's effectiveness." A human shield might have little effect on a Vartian soldier, whose mindset and emotional range was largely control by the Kran Val sector of their brain. Without it the Major may have felt some empathy for the civilian populace, but due to it's functioning, there were no such concerns for her. "Maybe deploy sharpshooters and sniper teams to deal with anyone who holds a being as a shield?" This was an unexpected suggestion for one of her species to suggest, whose usual tendency when dealing with prisoners or those being held as a hostage, was to fire anyway. It showed that Yana at least viewed their survival as important, if only for the sake of maintaining the alliance between her nation and the Republic. She was well aware that the Vartian doctrines and methods of war placed considerable strain of the alliance.

She shook her head. "After the defence of Theed my brigade has been withdrawn from the front to the reserve..." She grimaced as she took another sip of the drink. "But we are nearing combat effectiveness again, replacements are arriving as well as new equipment. We are ready to assault or counter the foe as soon as orders arrive." Yana sounded eager, as if she could not wait to return to the conflict. 

"Indeed. Quite foolish." She frowned at him, his lack of military bearing serving to annoy her. These non Vartians were frustrating, they lacked proper military decency, constrained by their laws and morals. The key to waging a war was to win it. But for the Vartians, bred purely to fight, they knew no other alternative or way of existence, they were born into a war, which they won, then turned on their creators. Perhaps a just punishment, perhaps a curse let loose on the wider galaxy. Their society was entire militarised, but though viewed by them to be nature, happened to be the anomaly in the galaxy. 

"If we eliminate their leadership however we will have removed the head of the problem. The body could easily be chased down and mopped up. They are after all only an armed rabble." Also known as I have no wish to take any prisoners, so why should we bother? Vartians as a rule tended to make for poor prison takers, with a habit of firing even after the enemy threw down their arms and attempted to surrender. "Your forces are more than welcome to suffer casualties by enemy treachery if they attempt to surrender only to attack. I will not lose good soldiers due to cowardly alien tactics." 

[korzan]

He enjoyed watching people get annoyed at his lack of Military Decorum when they were military sorts themselves. "The Government would certainly frown upon someone firing upon civilians and killing them in the process just to kill some pirates." Even Thalyn knew that killing civilians would be a publicity nightmare and something he would have to prevent at best and if it came to it, minimise at worst. It wasn't the best of situations to be put into but they were working with extremes on either side and war would often need such extremes. The suggestion for Sharpshooters did cross his mind as the Vartian suggested it which got a mildly approving nod from him. "Sharpshooters is a good idea to some degree, though there is considerable risk involved on hitting the civilians. Something we do wish to avoid." Shaking his head a little Thalyn stretched out on his chair and leaned back casually once more to watch the soldiers. 

"Do not underestimate the 'armed rabble' that you are facing. They are well armed, well organised and whilst the head is gone which will cause them to fracture, they can and will still pose a threat to any who go after them. A little care should be taken. As for 'cowardly alien tactics' employed against you. It's plausible but if your soldiers are even remotely well trained they know how to appropriately handle a surrendering foe." He'd reply, noting the way the Soldier spoke. After all, engaging in combat risked soldiers lives and that was unavoidable. 

[Zarkan]

Eli grit her jaw as the major Spoke with the mercenary. Her cheeks flushed read the mercenaries' blase consideration of civilian casualties was unfortunate, but not unexpected. The major's cold flippant response, however, wasn't. When the young commander spoke her voice carried a cold brittle quality. "Let me make this perfectly clear major." she began leveling a withering glare at the other woman. "If you intend to start cutting down citizens you had better make sure you can take down my men down with them if you ever want to leave this world." She glanced at the mercenary to ensure he knew she was speaking to him as well. "The Twenty-Fourth won't accept any breaches in the rules of war or Republic military code and we will enforce those rules with force if necessary." She nodded as if to mentally reinforce the point to herself before leaning back into her chair. "If anyone surrenders I'll have command send a unit to collect them."

 Eli stopped to take a drink while the two talked before jumping back into the conversation. "If the rest of your people think the same way you do than sharpshooters are certainly too much of a risk." She could only picture how many wounded they'd be pulling because her men thought the shot was "too important to miss". Eli snorted at the merc's remark before speaking to back him up. "The man's right the easiest way to lose a fight is to assume your opponent isn't worth fighting. These corsairs have successfully driven off or outrun what on paper at least should be a reasonably well trained and equipped PDF for several weeks now." She nodded her head to the merc as she begin to speak. "Ultimately I concur with him, if we seize or destroy their supplies we'll weaken their forces to ultimately either try to take more or to simply move on to better raiding grounds at which point the navies patrol squadron can swat them down when they try to jump world.

[apothecary]

 The Republic's lack of military strength concerned Yana far more than she would be willing to admit to even her fellow Vartians. After all, any weakness that an enemy could exploit would be used against them in a conflict. However... Their government was not like the Vartian Republic and the fact that they had non-military personal happened to be quite an alien thing for a Vartian. It was difficult for her to comprehend as even those not actively part of the military itself were reservists capable of fighting should the needs of the state require it. 
She had been about to cede the point to her fellow commanders when the Republic officer made what very well could be taken a threat. The Major stiffened, it seemed she struggled with some internally, before managing to speak her voice tight and somewhat strained. "Very well but let me warn you that any hostility on your part will be responded to in kind, as per Vartian standing orders and doctrines." It was those standing orders and battle doctrines which made the Vartian Republic a poor ally of the Republic, since they were difficult to integrate into combined operations. "We are not a signatory of your rules of war nor the Republic Military code." This much happened to be true, though whether or not it was because the Vartians never signed it or simply never considered doing so remained up for debate. 

"However for the sake of continuing the alliance between our peoples and avoiding a war which would be negative for the both of us, we will abide by your code of conflict. Since this is after all your world, we do not wish to cause unnecessary distress to your forces or the local population." She grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp pearly white teeth. It made her look more like some kind of predatory creature than a reasoning sentient being. "If we come across any of your civilians we will also report them to you as well as clear them from the area." At first it appeared like the Major was doing this to make up for the diplomatic slight she had all but caused, when she added. "Once they are out of the combat zone we will be able to fire freely without concern of harming your non combatant population... Civilians even" Again that same predatory smile as if what she offered happened to be perfectly suitable. The Vartians would follow orders, it was perhaps one of their more tolerable traits, if given orders whether from a Vartian or Republic officer they would obey to the letter without hesitation or question. 

"We do know how to handle a surrendering foe." Yana snapped at the male, at least she thought he was, it happened to be difficult to tell with aliens. Yet the Vartian way of dealing with enemies who attempted to give up the fight would horrify most, since they regularly and without hesitation cut them down as if they were still fighting. She decided against saying such a thing, causing any more issues in the meeting might result in the Vartians being left in reserve. They were only still here to make up for the chaos of Theed, which had been a nightmare for both the Republic and the Vartians. 
"We will make appropriate counter strategies for the potential situations that accepting the surrendered enemies might bring about." She glanced at the Republic officer, the one she felt certain happened to be female. "As per the rules of war." 

She nodded slowly. "You are correct with that assumption I believe." It was a fair point and one she could not deny nor seemed willing to make such an attempt to do so. "The... Man, he is a male right?" The red haired alien questioned as if it were a normal thing to inquire about. But she did come from an all female clone species, males were not something that featured regularly in their society, if indeed one could call the militarised state the Vartians lived in a society at all. "All foes are worth fighting, how else can one establish superiority over them." Seeing as she was out voted in the tactical department she ceded the ground to them. "Okay since we have agreed on a counter response to our shared enemy, when and what targets are we going to hit?" She asked with a light in her eyes, the hunger of for conflict. 

"Question, if the pirates do not behave like a military enemy would they use non-military objects as staging posts or fueling sites? Like space stations and asteroid belts?" She raised a question to them. "Do we know of any such locations near Naboo? Also going back to the civilian issue again... Would they enslave your people? Or attempt to do so? If so finding these targets should also be a priority for yo... Us." She had been about to say you when she corrected herself. Yana for all her many faults, was at least for the moment attempting to work with her comrades. 

[korzan]

Thalyn sat back amused as the two commanders of their respective forces debated quite hotly on the approach of the rules of engagement up until the Vartian Republic officer relented and agreed to work by the Republic's rules of engagement. It was an elegant, somewhat beautiful moment for the male to see how Commander Yana would try and work with them with her last few questions.
"It is quite possible they will use such facilities as staging posts for their own needs. More often than not though Pirates can and will fortify such places if they see it as valuable or easily done. Otherwise they just ransack it, take everything they can and then leave." He checks his Datapad then looks at the others "From what my crew has managed to get from communications we have managed to decrypt. They have at least one base of Operations located on the third Noobian moon, Veruna. No atmosphere. Additionally we have two bases on Naboo, one near the settlement of Dee'ja Peak and the other buried deep in a forest. We're looking at tracing the location." 

"Some Pirates may enslave others may sell.. it all depends on their goals, infrastructure and ideals. Many pirates and criminal elements tend to have rules, codes of conduct on things they won't do or will do and how. Reports indicate that this lot will capture and sell, rather than put to work in their own operations. So care should be taken." He would add. He stayed leaning back in his chair, watching and listening to the others. A motion with his hand towards both "Since you both are the Military sorts here and I'm just some hunter. What's the plan then?"

[Zarkan]

"I can live with that," Eli said inclining her head slightly towards the major. It might have not been everything she could hope for, but it was enough of a tacit agreement. "Just ensure your troops understand the arrangement and we won't have any issues." She finished turning her attention back to their expert and making a note on her pad to inform her units to keep an eye on the Vartians. "Of the three locations." she began speaking. "I would suggest the lunar base." she said offering a suggestion. "at least provided the major's troops have null-atmo equipment." She added as a caveat gesturing to the Vartian commander. "The fields around the base would make a find battlefield for our heavy armor, we can use naval gunfire to soften any outer defenses, and it limits to pirate's escape routes."

"As for the other options," she began looking down at their datapad for the provided maps. "The forest would be very difficult it would be trivial to hide defenses and ambushes and the impassability would limit the routes our armor could take if indeed they could even pass through the terrain we might even have to abandon our armor and dismount." Eli let out a short sigh as she considered the last possible target. She didn't like the idea of attacking uphill and into the potential crossfire depending on how smart the pirates are when fire support would be so limited. "The final target wouldn't limit our armor as much, but we'd have to be very careful with our fire support being so close to civilians." She began with her first concern before moving on. "I"m also concerned about whether we have the manpower to route them out without the heavy guns. We'll be attacking uphill against fortified positions and in all likely hood under crossfire from the surrounding slopes with we don't clear them at the same time."

Eli turned towards the major. "I've laid out my thoughts, but I'm unfamiliar with your forces so I can only speak to my own."

[apothecary]

 The Vartian looked thoughtful at this information, these pirates were distinctly cowardly. Though her forces had given them a bloody nose when they failed to expect the presence of nearby Vartian units. She knew better than to dismiss them as mere weaklings, even though the innate Vartian superiority happened to be there for all to witness, they were simply superior to all. "My soldiers obey all orders without question." She confirmed though there was a slight edge to her tone as if the statement implied that a Vartian often disobeyed orders. "We are experienced in the deployment and operating in such environments." Yana confirmed calmly. "Though my troops will need to be in the fore on the moon to cover the landing of heavy supporting armour." It was not an implication that Republic troops were unable to perform the role or that the tanks, were unable to. 
It was merely logical, since tanks would need to be unloaded and deployed into a battlefield. The Vartians could provided the necessary cover and time to allow for the armour to be deployed. 

"Standard combat protocols would suggest the destruction of or removal of the forest through fire or chemical agents. However given as our goal is not to destroy this planet I... It's not an option for our forces." If there was not forest left to hide in then the enemy could not hide. However this did not mean such a thing was possible. Yana shook her head at the last target. "Rapid air assault on the position during the dawn hours, combined with a ground attack should result in a victory over the enemy." This was a tough nut and thus clearly an important target, the Vartians would be the ideal choice to take this position, since they were not the kind to back down once committed to an assault. They would have the discipline and skill to carry the day, however... Heavy losses should be expected and planned for. 

"Division of our current military assets is insufficient to take all objectives at once." The major frowned as she considered the potential options open to them. "Do you believe we can use the local militia... The..." She clicked her fingers in her right hand twice as she tried to recall the name. "The Naboo security forces to bolster our assaults? With additional soldiers and air support we may be able to make an assault on the three targets at the same time." Of course it still would mean spreading themselves thinly over three avenues of attack with no guarantee in regards to success. 

Her purple eyes suddenly widened and she pointed at Thalyn. "Your ship, the pirates do not know it as enemy vessel?" She inquired before she swept on without waiting for an answer. "We disguise your ship as a... Blockade runner and weapon smuggler, you then land at either the moon or the base on the slopes. Inside will be some Republic armour plus a detachment of Vartian soldiers. Once you have landed, these troops will deploy to seize the target. At the same time we will launch assaults on the remaining two targets in conjunction with the local forces." It was not a bad idea she thought. 

[korzan]

He listened intently as the two commanders discussed the dispersion of their forces and potential battle tactics to employ against each of the different bases and their various terrain issues. It was quite interesting to hear their different ideas as well as some which seemed to follow similar or logical lines. Then came the question of his own ship which got a muffled snort of amusement. "That ship is a dedicated hunter. If running silent the only way they'd detect our presence is if they looked out the window or we opened fire." He says. "It isn't something I would disguise as a Blockade Runner or weapon smuggler on the outset. Course.. if we pulled off such a plan I would only be able to load on Commando squads and maybe a walker or two but no heavy armour. Our hold isn't designed for such things. Nor do I wish to hollow it out for that." Thalyn shifted around a bit in his chair to be comfortable. 

"However we can still employ the idea as suggested, of course another idea is to employ its Ion Torpedoes and Ion cannon to use in disabling some of the defences of one base prior to landing. Such as the Lunar base to give the Armoured front and troops there a chance to land without being exposed to whatever defences that it may have." He flicks through the Datapad a moment and then looked up back at them "Noobian Security Forces are not the best combatants so they will require significant baby sitting as well, more like an advanced police force than a trained army."

[Zarkan]

Eli gave a curt nod to the Vartian officer before speaking. "I'll send a message to the diplomatic corps to arrange PDF support." The young officer grimaced slightly thinking of the queen's council better to keep pressed shirts away from the major. Eli leaned back and let out a short sigh as the man finished his addition. "Indeed they will." she began gesturing with her right hand as if presenting something before continuing. "They're also woefully ill-equipped for Null-athomo operations so we'll still be on our own for the Lunar assault. My suggestion would be to avail ourselves of their air speeders and long-range guns to cover the forces attacking the mountain and let the bulk of the PDF handle the outpost in the forest." Eli gave a small shrug. "They are likely to have a better knowledge of the terrain than either of our forces."

Eli spread her hands across in front of her. "I propose we split our forces I'll dispatch one of my recon platoons to support the PDF. I can request naval CAS and artillery support so I can send the artillery detachment to bombard any hardpoints not dug inside the mountains, Major I'd suggest you focus your forces there." She said turning to look at the major. "I can lead the attack on the lunar base though I'll need a couple of platoons outfitted for void maneuvers to bolster my mechanized infantry company." Eli brought of the schematic for a republic springbok before sliding the data across to the merc. "Springbok's are the smallest things I have directly under my command though I'm sure we could requisition a walker from one of the marine inventories if needed I think Major Talanskia's heavy infantry would work better for your plan than the light and medium squads I have. Still," she made a dismissive motion with her hand. "You could keep your ship reserve to drop the unit to deal with a particularly hardpoint or to reinforce any of the forces."

[apothecary]

 Yana's face revealed her displeasure at the fact that he was unwilling to adjust his ship in order to allow for it to possess an increased transport capacity. However the expression changed at his continued suggestion with their plan. She nodded clearly pleased with his words. "I would suggest that we put them in the first wave... But having witnessed their performance during the defence of their world..." She shook her head. Many Vartians had been killed in the battle at Theed, dying like countless Vartians before unloved, unmourned for on some alien world far from the desolate homeworld. 
"We may have to use them as a containing force and leave the actual fighting to our own units." She did not trust the Naboo forces as far as she could throw them. The fact that they had no fought hard to defend their world confused her greatly, it failed to make any logical sense to her. Surprise and shock may have impaired them somewhat, but she still found their lack of combat prowess a considerable concern. 

She gave a single nod at the Republic officer. "I am certain that we can rely on your recon unit to ensure the PDF complete the task at hand." She was pleased that it would not be her own units having to support the Naboo soldiers in the field. "The mountains will be flying the Vartian flag swiftly." It may have sounded like a boast, but the Vartian was deadly serious. When they secured their objective, the banner would be flown so all might know of their success. 
"I will be able to supply you with those platoons." She said, trying to think of which of her platoon commanders might be the best suited for working with the Republic forces. "I think the current plan is the best we will be able to come up with... Given the time scale and the relative swift response required." 

[korzan]

"The vessel is capable of acting to reinforce any unit as needed though, once deployed to reinforce a point it won't be available for others if they may need the firepower. Remember, this vessel is more than just a glorified transport. It's a gunship. If a hard emplacement needs to be removed it can do so with superior firepower. Unless there is a plan to keep as much of these emplacements whole as possible so the local forces may make use of these bases?" He asks curiously. Sitting up now and tapping the side of the helmet, the Trianii would consider for a moment "My next question is.. where will you two be leading these attacks? Will you all be in the back or leading from the front?" He wasn't too aware of Vartian doctrine but from knowledge of the Republic, it was rather common for their commanders to lurk in the back so they can direct and strategise.