Open Planning The Next Moves

Altair Din returned from Korda Six only hours prior, having devastated the planet. Every last military facility was erased and the planet was left in tatters. If there was any chance of recovery, it would take decades before they could come back. There was no chance of any kind of retaliation from the planet or any further attacks from the Kordans. It was the first of several offensive blows Altair hoped to deal.

The tiefling was back on Raxus, calling for a meeting with any moderate to high ranking Imperials and ISB. He knew the gist of the Hutt and Empire wars, but he was not entirely privy to all the details of the treaty struck with Nor’baal the Hutt.

The tiefling waited in a circular meeting room at the head of the table. He was adorned in more formal military attire instead of armor, his helmet off his head for now to reveal the four, pronounced and perfectly polished horns. His vibrant, amethyst gaze would pan across the room as he waited for the others to arrive. It had been years since he stepped into this room as part of the Imperial council and it felt strange sitting here now.

Once they started filing in, he would offer them a polite nod before he spoke, “Thank y'all for coming,” He began, uncaring that he still carried his farmer accent. He used to adopt a clipped and polished accent for the Empire, but he wouldn't change for anyone anymore, “I’d like to get up to speed on this here treaty that y'all fixed with the Hutts and the context behind it. Furthermore, I'd 'ppreciate the ISB tellin' me exactly the level of Hutt activity we got goin' on in Imperial borders and what kinds of shenanigans they been runnin' where.”


@Volene @Javier esschoolbus @Darasuum @Alhon @Wit

There was a time when the uniform she was dressed in would have made her more uncomfortable than anything in the world, yet today all it gave her was a sense of comfort, of belonging. And that would have been the least of her worries, the man seated before them, and his actions Korda Six would have worried her even more.

But she wasn't that child anymore, sometimes you had to get your hands dirty, and she rather if be her doing that than someone else. If you wanted something done, you had to do it yourself. She had trusted others once, the Jedi, the Republic, the Rangers, they had all failed to save what had mattered most to her. Left her with nothing. So life had brought her to a simple decision. Do what needed to be done, and make sure no one else had to endure what had happened to her.

"They're opportunists," she said as the Knight-Captain finished, "and cowards. They saw weakness and tried to take advantage, which we let them. Korda Six will make them question that assumption, but reassurance is always welcome. If you so command the Knights are ready to strike against the Hutts and support any maneuver to repel them from the Empire."

The Jedi frowned upon emotion, anger, hate, revenge, ambition. But she wasn't a Jedi, and there were things she wanted to accomplish that she could not where she was at present. She was not going to miss an opportunity to stand out from the sea of Knights running around the Empire, she wanted more. She briefly eyed Kalique, seated besides the Grand Marshall. She wanted that.

Entering the hall impeccably dressed in her work whites, Guinevere glanced over each attendee with a differing auctoritas as she arrived. The Grand Marshal and Lord Commander were both people she was acquainted with, but the others less so from whom had come already. With a pair of attendees at her beck and call, the Overseer took her place with a small data pad before her.

As luck would have it the Director himself was unavailable to attend the meeting. Having been an instrumental piece on the board that saw the Tiefling off in the first place, the latter's return was a poor omen for his own life. Having likewise been the main instigator in removing the Emperor in the first place, his hold on the Empire had been tenuous at best, although fortunately, the Moff council seemed to catch most of the blame for the Empire's failings in the conflict.

"Grand Marshal, Lord Commander." She started, nodding respectfully to both. "And all else who could join us today." It was a difficult path to trek but Guin had been on this one for some time and had picked up a thing or two.

"The Lord Commander and I located and destroyed a cartel operation during the war, which in of itself did not have an impact per se, but the information gleaned proved fruitful." Utilizing the informant and capture of the subsequent operation, Guin was able to establish key players around Raxus for the cartel before the war.

Additionally, while her colleague tracked down stolen tech the Overseer was hard at work implementing a system that would take the best part of the treaty for their enemy, and turn it around upon them. In their grandiose designs, the cartel members openly flaunted their allegiance to avoid Imperial scrutiny, but in effect, all they did was mark themselves and their compatriots as members.

Guin's system quietly allowed ISB officers across the Empire to track and submit data on persons, goods, and vessels transitioning the Empire and provide extremely valuable data on both the cartel's movements and assets. Once the Empire was ready to reassert its sovereignty, all Guin would need to do was activate the lockdown protocol, and everything that had been flagged down would be systematically hunted down and destroyed.

"We are aware of operations existing on all major Imperial worlds, they're not exactly hiding as it were." She paused to glance over to the Grand Marshal. "Any avenue where a credit changes hand and you will find a member of the cartel attempting to squeeze themselves in between, often to the detriment of the Empire."

"Crime rates have risen, both petty and capital offenses. Under the terms of the treaty, cartel members are to be punished by their authorities rather than Imperial which rather ties our hands officially." That wasn't to say they couldn't achieve success unofficially, although such actions could have consequences if they came to light.

The only real positive news Guin had to bring to the table was that the armed forces had proven capable when they deployed. Although therein lay the problem it seemed.

"Loyalties in the armed forces appeared to remain high, although our initial investigations suggest that the change in leadership caused a significant hesitation for additional deployments. Absent someone above directing forces, the fleets and armies remained on station for the most part."

It was an absolute joke that the Empire was brought to sign a treaty such as it did with all the magnificent firepower at its disposal. But in all things, it was the failure of certain individuals who were unable to lead the Empire they stole and the mismanagement set them back a decade. Naturally, the ISB held a list of individuals whose loyalties were either in question or their competencies.

A list that seemed to grow by the day, as the Overseer kept watch on the off chance another was required to be added.

Days where Altair recognized everyone were long gone. However, he didn’t feel like an outsider here and perhaps he never would. He was familiar with this room, he was familiar with being surrounded by ISB, IAF, diplomats and all manners of officers and military personnel. The tiefling’s gaze first turned to regard Kalique (@LadyRen ), a warm and welcoming presence he had known for a long time now. She had been unwavering through all the highs and lows of the Empire. He admired her for sticking to her duties when even he chose retirement and, from the looks of it, so had her husband. Guin (@Xorism )was another familiar face as was the Imperial Knight (@Volene )that addressed the room. Altair gave them all a smile to acknowledge them specifically.

After everyone had said their piece, there was a look of distaste clear on his face. Unlike perhaps most, he wouldn’t punish the diplomats that cut the deal. With the Hutt fleet looming above, it may have been a deal struck out of compulsion.

The tiefling considered the variables before he addressed them, “I trust we know the identities of the Hutt Lords,” He said sternly, “I want teams deployed to surround and capture these lords,” Altair said, “And I wanna stage a public execution for them,” He said, “We won’t need to do much beyond that to send a message loud ‘n clear that their underlings ain’t gonna get away with conducting their operations no more,” Altair was not concerned with rooting out every single Hutt criminal. Chop off the heads of the top bosses and the rest would get the message.

He turned to Merian, something about her report concerning him in particular, “Do we have evidence of a Hutt and Sith alliance? Or was this a standalone?” If there was a formal Sith and Hutt alliance, that could pose a problem.

Altair calmly listened to the answers presented, weighing each one. When the naval lieutenant (@Alhon ) spoke up, the tiefling had an almost amused look on his face. He waited till the ISB agent presented a rebuttal before speaking, “It is curious..that I’ve been away on a farm for years and still understand that there is, in fact, tremendous unrest and instability within our borders. I still understand that the Hutt bribes offered to our officers have been taking more and more of our people each day. I still understand that it’s laughable you believe the galaxy considers us to be of less concern when even recent reports suggest that everyone is taking advantage of that very fact.”

He sat up straight as he stared directly at the Lieutenant, “Next time I suggest you educate yourself with the facts before taking the first opportunity to swing your cock around in a room with your betters,” Altair said before he turned to regard the others.

“I am convinced their fleet is disorganized and more or less a bluff,” Altair stated flatly, “Hutt Lords being within our borders that we execute mean less that can support Nor’baal’s war machine. Now, to consider the politics of my proposed move - I recommend giving the Hutt Lords we capture an offer to turn on Nor’baal or join in the public execution,” Altair said. He said calmly.

“Rushing out to Hutt space is something I don’t care about just yet,” He said, likely much to the surprise of others, “ISB can be planted there to destabilize the clans. In the meantime, we make it as obnoxiously difficult to even get to us as possible. Blockades, choking tradepoints, swarming refueling stations, hyperspace markers.”

He looked at them all, “Any offensive move we make against the Hutts will be meaningless if they can bleed us from the inside,” Altair said firmly, “We need to win back our people. We need to give our officers incentives to stay. We need to make it abundantly clear we stand as one and then we strike.”

The quick and snappy discussion amused Guin as she sat silently taking it all in. Dealing with the cartel and its influence was a sickening task on a good day, but as the Grand Marshal added, scores of Imperial citizens had fallen prey to its claws. The Empire had signed the accords at a most vulnerable moment before any of the actual fighting had been completed. Once the smoke cleared, it was apparent that the Empire had won most of the battles, with only a token fleet loss in the end.

With proper leadership and direction, the Imperial war machine could outmatch anything the Hutts could throw at it with leagues to spare. When an opportunity to speak arose, Guin took it.

"We don't believe the Cartel possess any warship comparable to our star destroyers, let alone superior." A few destroyers would probably run circles around them while an Onager set to work.

But there would be a time and place for that, in the meantime they had some work to do. "Might I suggest also scooping up any collaborators we have identified additionally? They, alongside any cartel members taken that are not worth dealing with, can be awarded a lengthy harsh labour sentence to repair any damages caused." A strong reminder that the Empire did not forget traitors.

Plus, the Overseer loved her lists.

"Further, it may be more profitable to make a showing of those who have betrayed their leader, whether they did or not. Releasing a handful back into Hutt Space with their heads marked would certainly stir internal unrest." Like rats, these members would be forced to use their resources to fight against the Mogul, rather than for him and further tie down their ability to project influence.

"I can also ensure that the ISB will have the assets available to complete economic strikes as required, in fact, I have several in mind."

Altair regarded Knight Sere (@Volene ) when she spoke, letting her finish before he responded, “I trust our efforts to ramp up intelligence monitoring will hopefully curb any blind spots,” He reassured her, his tone calmer than when he addressed the lieutenant, “We have resources out in Hutt space that have been there for years. Just based on the politics of how Hutts operate, no invasion will be needed to destabilize them. The focus needs to be on building suspicion and paranoia between members of the Hutt council,” As a former spice addict himself, he knew how they operated, “I believe Nor’baal intended to establish his primary powerbase within Imperial borders and it was a gamble on his part that no one within the Empire would catch onto the logistical bluff.”

That gamble paid off thus far, but it was time to stop the bleeding. Altair glanced over at Overseer Guin, “How did the Czerka explosion happen?” He asked, genuinely curious, “Even on the backfoot, Hutts shouldn’t have been able to pull that off so easily..” However, he was getting distracted. He turned to regard the room again.

“Expect mission directives from me within the coming days,” Altair said, “IAF and Knights will be responsible for detaining and capturing the Hutt Lords operating within our borders. They will all have the chance to turn on Nor’baal and sabotage the Hutts for immunity. Otherwise they face execution,” Altair turned to regard Guin (@Xorism ), “I ask that you draft up ISB operations within Hutt territory to cause political unrest and sabotage among the Hutt clans and council.”

It was a two pronged approach and the ISB angle could still deal a devastating blow without deploying massive amounts of resources for an invasion in Hutt space. Timing was everything, so they would have to coordinate and execute before Nor’baal could retaliate.

“Dismissed,” He said curtly, releasing everyone from the room so he could get to work drafting up the missions.