The Liberator/Part 10

12 Days Before the Liberation of Milagro

As Mali followed Captain Londenau's gesture on the tacmap, his wrist comlink beeped and he glanced at Aldayr's message: ''T HEY'RE ABOARD. E N ROUTE NOW. ''

He sent back an acknowledgment, then said, "Carry on, Captain, the bridge is yours. If the rest of you will follow me…?"

He needn't have bothered; his three shadows would hardly be left out of a strategy meeting. Mali had made a point of inviting them only to prevent them bickering in his absence. When he crossed the threshold of the bridge, a quartet of Marines detached themselves from the wall and followed. He was still uncomfortable with it—he never had bodyguards aboard the Coronet's Jewel while campaigning against Aresh, and it was somewhat embarrassing. A Jedi Knight shouldn't require bodyguards, he had argued, but Master Cazars of all people had counseled him to accept them.

Having bodyguards, even if they're purely ceremonial, conveys your status—your importance to the fleet.

Jedi shouldn't be about appearances, he had argued.

Neither should they be ignorant of them, she had retorted. And some of these people you're dealing with will ''take note, whether they should or not. Save yourself the headache and keep the Marines''.

Mali had sighed, remembering how Jendaya walked openly on the streets of Corellia with no protection but her blaster and self-confidence. But in the end, he had let the Marines do their job. Indeed, at the moment, a small, petulant part of him wished they could screen out his deputies, too.

"Still no word on whom they've sent, General Darakhan?" asked Malran Sukaz, a tall Duros on loan from the Duro Home Fleet.

"Nothing new since this morning, Admiral."

"I suppose it could be worse," reflected Saikra Vaskolt, the Echani representing the Republic Navy. "I'd expected the Tapani to come with a trumpet fanfare heralding their arrival."

"Let's not share that expectation with them, Admiral."

Commodore Essely Kalliot, a Human fairly high up in the Corellian Defense Force, said nothing, but the commiserating look she gave Mali was clearly meant to convey the mutuality of their annoyance—the two Corellians, bogged down by the high-and-mighty that other worlds had deigned to bestow on them. Mali might have believed it, too, had Essely not spent half her time asserting Corellia's equal standing in the operation (though it had yet to be questioned, at least in Mali's hearing) and lambasting the strategic blunders that had allowed Gasald to get to Allanteen in the first place.

Stepping into his shipboard war room, Mali took his seat at the head of the conference table. The others filed in, leaving Aldayr's seat at his left hand empty. After a moment the door opened and Aldayr entered, followed by four beings. Two of them, dark-skinned and black-haired, were clearly the Kaivalt twins, Raven and Raina. The third was a young girl, bringing up the rear in Raina's shadow, while the last was a taller Human man Mali put in his late forties; fairer than the Kaivalts, he sported a sleek brown mustache that circled his mouth into a short, forked beard. He regarded the group with aristocratic detachment, as Raven Kaivalt stepped forward and extended a hand.

"General Darakhan, I presume?"

Mali shook. "Welcome, brother. Just 'Mali' is fine."

Raven looked surprised by the invitation. At his side, Raina bowed. She wore a cape covering her left side; Mali wondered if it was to keep her lightsaber hidden. "General."

"Raina. Welcome aboard."

"This is my Padawan, Renata Cul'Caritas."

Renata smiled. "It's an honor, sir."

"Likewise, kid."

Raven gestured to the bearded Human. "And I have the honor to present Baron Obveluus Gonzed IV, Jedi Knight and noble member of House Cadriaan of the Tapani."

And indeed the man wore a lightsaber beneath his fine robes—curved-hilted, like Raven and Raina's weapons. Wondering if it was a Tapani thing, Mali extended a hand. "Baron Obveluus."

The man raised an eyebrow and the Kaivalts both glanced at him, and Mali wondered how Tapani greeted one another. After a moment, he condescended to shake, reassembling his smile. "General Darakhan. Your reputation precedes you, of course."

Mali couldn't honestly say the same, so he settled for, "Thanks. Let's get down to it, then."

He resumed his seat. The baron watched Aldayr take the seat at Mali's side and frowned, but the Kaivalts and Renata seated themselves, and Obveluus eventually took a seat beside Essely. Once introductions had gone around the table, Mali said, "Now that we're all assembled, let's talk final numbers. The Republic and Corellia will both provide three hundred capital ships, with a focus on destroyers and heavy cruisers, plus fighter and ground complements.  Duro?"

"I was informed just today that your petition was considered by the Duros High House, General," Rear Admiral Malran Sukaz, "but the Chief Representative Officer regretfully concludes no further forces can be spared for the operation. Duro's contribution will be eighty capital ships, primarily troop transports and corvettes, along with a few frigates and my command cruiser, the Elgorladree."

Mali had expected it, though it was still a little disappointing. "And the Tapani?"

"The Jedi Lords of the Tapani remain committed to providing one hundred of our finest capital warships for the campaign, General Darakhan," Baron Obveluus assured him. "Several frigates and light cruisers—a number of Corellian design, but the majority produced by our own exemplary Fondor Shipyards. Additionally, I bring among my complement six outstanding Tapani Knights, and I'm given to understand the Supreme Chancellor has been so good as to assign Raven and Raina here to your command as well."

"Excellent," Mali said; he wondered if the man hadn't counted Renata because she was a Padawan. "Once we've received the specifics, we'll form the entire fleet up into commands and battle lines based on capabilities. That way—"

"Excuse me, General," said Essely Kalliot. "Aren't they already formed up? Four commanders, four divisions?"

"No. We'll divide forces based on their primary objectives.  I'll take a well-rounded group, plus some extra destroyers and the Coronet's Jewel, for the main offensive against Milagro's defense fleet.  I'll probably have a secondary flotilla, even a task force, for orbital bombardment if we can punch a hole in the shields mid-fight.  We'll hold others in reserve, plus a distant blockade line to prevent anyone from escaping.  I want to go as long as possible without Gasald knowing what's happened."

"Are we to assume that we will have commands other than the forces we bring?" asked Vice Admiral Vaskolt, her silver eyes narrowed.

"If it's in the best interests of the engagement, yes."

"As determined by…?"

"Me."

"General," Essely said, "just so we're all clear, the purpose of Corellia's contributions to this campaign—"

"The purpose of the entire campaign is hamstringing Gasald and liberating Milagro," Aldayr interrupted. "It's a military operation, not a democracy."

Mali held up a hand, though he was grateful someone had said it. The center has to hold. "All of your governments have committed resources to this fight for that purpose, knowing that they'll be under my command. I welcome your tactical input, and you can bet I'm going to employ your talents in battle, all of you.  But if you're not as capable of following orders as giving them, tell your governments so you can be relieved and replaced."

Stony silence followed, but Mali met each gaze in turn, projecting calm confidence; it was a gamble, but he could not go into battle with subordinate commanders he couldn't trust. No one protested, but eventually Baron Obveluus asked, "And what is the precise chain of command, General? Should the worst befall you, who assumes command then?"

"On to the cheery stuff, then," Mali said. Essely smirked, but the baron did not.

"All warfare requires risks, General," he observed.

You don't say. "We'll determine the formalities later. Right now we only have the Jewel and a handful of others in this fleet that'll be going anyway."

"When do you plan to assemble the fleet, General?" Vaskolt asked.

"As late as possible. Sith Intelligence has a long arm and a lot of eyes, and I don't want them to see anything suspicious until it's totally unavoidable."

"The Corellian Sector Fleet is sending a detachment to Byblos and Loronar," Essely put in. "Ostensibly as a security tour, but mostly to camouflage what we're doing with three hundred other ships."

"The Republic is massing forces to counter Darth Saleej," Vaskolt added. "If the Force is with us, the Sith will attribute other movements to that effort."

"No Sith spies will reach the Tapani sector," Baron Obveluus declared.

There was a moment of silence before Mali asked, "And if they do?"

"They won't."

Admiral Vaskolt shook her head, Aldayr looked at Mali, and Essely snickered quietly, but Raina Kaivalt spoke before anyone else could. "On the off chance Sith Intelligence manages to penetrate the Tapani sector, General, the details of this agreement are known only to the Jedi, who will not betray you. Ships and their crews will be told only when necessary."

Obveluus shot her a reprimanding look and Renata looked uneasy, but Mali nodded. "That's a relief to hear, Raina, thank you. Admiral Sukaz?"

The Duros gestured with his large hands. "The ships in question are part of the home fleet; there's no need to detach them until they have somewhere to go. And the Chief Representative Officer has kept the High House's discussions classified."

"Excellent. Moving on…Aldayr?"

Aldayr waved a hand, dimming the room's lights and calling up a tactical map of the southern galaxy.

"Milagro is here," Mali said, and Aldayr highlighted it in gold. "Here's our attack route: The fleet will have final check-in at Pax, which is held by the Seventy-Second Republic Battle Group. From there we'll take the Enarc Run, hop over at Kira, connect with the Harrin Trade Corridor, and sweep straight up to Milagro."

Aldayr highlighted the invasion corridor as he spoke, a line of Republic red connecting planetary dots before it hit Milagro and encircled the gold. Vaskolt studied the map. "These planets toward the Milagro end of the Harrin, General—Coonee, Sika…Nivek, if it's close enough to the Corridor. To what extent does Gasald control that space?"

"Unknown," Mali admitted. "She doesn't have anything in the way of fleets to stop us there, but the bigger threat is gravity mines."

"If the fleet is stopped even once, it could takes hours, even days to clear the minefield," Sukaz warned.

"We've got a plan to handle that," Aldayr assured him.

"The Seventy-Second is supporting us with intel," Mali added. "Once we've got the lay of the lanes, we'll proceed from there."

"And the ground campaign?" Obveluus asked.

"If we don't punch a hole down the well until the space battle's wrapping up, I'll lead the ground assault on Rogeum, with other commanders targeting the other major cities and Sith bases. If the space battle's still going and we get an open shot, we'll begin the ground assault anyway and I'll join it in progress."

"And the beings assigned these subordinate commands…"

"…will be chosen based on their experience and aptitude with the kind of warfare Milagro demands," Mali finished. "Since the Republic is committing the majority of the ground forces, you can expect Republic generals to have the majority of the ground commands."

"Meaning, I assume, Jedi Generals?"

"The Republic has qualified officers other than Jedi, Baron," Admiral Vaskolt said.

"To be sure, but the presence of Sith changes the calculus immeasurably, my good admiral," Obveluus answered. "Entrusting the leadership of commands to Jedi is only practical. Has the Republic itself not made the same decision for us all in the election of our Supreme Chancellors?"

Mali felt mixed emotions in the Force at that observation. Desperate not to get bogged down in that particular political swamp, he said at once, "Every command will have Jedi attached. In addition to your six and the Kaivalts—and Renata—I have twenty Jedi Knights and Padawans at my command, plus Aldayr and myself.  That should be more than enough to handle whatever Sith Gasald has left as a rearguard.  But being a Jedi doesn't make someone a capable leader."

"In the entire Republic, only six Jedi Knights are Jedi Generals," Aldayr said, gesturing to Mali. "My master's one of them."

Mali was touched by his apprentice's pride in him, but he corrected gently, "Five, now. Lishedra Nakaana was the sixth."

"And Lishedra Nakaana was…?" Essely asked.

"She died fighting Darth Vandak," Raven said.

The six Jedi bowed their heads and, sensing the moment they were having, the other three let it pass in silence. Then Mali raised his head. "Other than me, none of the Republic's Jedi Generals are here, so I'll figure out ground commands once we've got a clear operational plan for Milagro's surface. If you have anybody coming with you who has experience I should know about, let me know sooner rather than later."

None of them commented further, though Mali sensed more than one of them wanted to. "I have an operational support staff for day-to-day logistics, but for top-level campaign coordination among us, my flagship's captain, and anyone else we need to bring in, route it through Aldayr. He'll act as my tactical adjutant when the two of us aren't busy killing people and breaking things."

The senior officers didn't look thrilled at that, though the Kaivalt twins nodded. Mali gave them a moment, then said, "Aldayr will distribute the latest intel we have on Milagro, space and ground. Take a day and go over tactical concerns with your senior staff, then be prepared to discuss them with me.  We're adjourned."