User:PrivateAttorney/Sandbox III

Background
After its defeat in the, the remnants of the were forced to abandon the  and flee into uncharted. There, on the planet of Dromund Kaas, they rebuilt their civilization, under the leadership of a new Sith Emperor. The new Sith Empire spent thousands of years in isolation as it rebuilt its strength. Finally, in 3681 BBY, it emerged from the fringes of the galaxy and launched a massive invasion of the Galactic Republic. Its opponents were caught entirely by surprise, and Republic defenses crumbled before the Sith onslaught in the Outer Rim. The Empire made great gains by the end of the first year, destroying the shipyards at Sluis Van and taking back the ancient Sith homeworld of Korriban. It was during that first year of the conflict that the Imperial High Command decided to begin an offensive to seize the Minos Cluster, located on the edge of the Outer Rim and the location of many resource-rich worlds that contributed to the Republic's war effort.

Similarly to the other regions attacked by the Empire, much of the Minos Cluster was quickly occupied by the Imperial Military. However, tenacious resistance continued by Republic troops and local partisans, which were supplemented be recently-arrived Jedi Knights from Coruscant. The Imperial Armada began a blockade of the Rimma Trade Route, which ended in the Minos Cluster, to keep the Republic from resupplying its forces there. However, it was broken in 3680 BBY by a fleet of smugglers and a Republic Navy task force, and as a result Republic troops in the Cluster began the slowly regaining lost ground. In order to cut them off from supplies and communications with the Republic, Imperial High Command authorized an attack on the world of Travnin, the closest Coreward planet of the Minos Cluster. Travnin also sat on one of the main supply routes, allowing the Empire to cut off the defenders of the sector from supplies and reinforcements.

However, Republic Strategic High Command was also very aware of the planet's importance to its efforts in the Minos Cluster. Therefore, not long after the end of the Imperial blockade on the Rimma Trade Route, it deployed a large garrison of troops to Travnin under the command of General Davik Athelsyn, a veteran of the war's early battles. Athelsyn immediately began preparing the planet for an Imperial assault. He believed that since many of his troops were of questionable quality and since the Empire would have numerical superiority, he would not seek to engage them directly. Instead, he would try to bog them down for as long as possible. Athelsyn had civilians evacuate Travnin's capital city and began heavily fortifying it. The defenses included a complex system of trenches, pillboxes, bunkers, ruined buildings, and other fortifications. The Empire, meanwhile, decided to deploy a task force to take the strategically important planet.

Republic build-up
Originally, General Athelsyn was given a garrison that totaled nearly one million men. However, as Republic forces from nearby systems were rushed to his assistance, that number turned to about five million troopers. While many of those soldiers were hardened veterans of earlier campaigns, there was also a large number of enthusiastic, albeit ill-prepared, new recruits. To complicate matters further was the arrival of large numbers of civilian volunteers who wanted to defend the planet from the Empire. The majority of them were natives of Travnin, although some were refugees from other planets throughout the Minos Cluster. The skills and experiences of these volunteers varied greatly, but for the most part they had no military training and had never fought in a battle. However, most of them made up for their lack of combat experience with enthusiasm to defend their home region against the Imperial invaders.

While the Empire was taking its time deploying its forces, Athelsyn and his staff went about preparing Travnin for the upcoming assault. He instituted a rigid schedule for the civilian volunteers that consisted of some time for building fortifications and the rest spent receiving training from the professional Republic Army troopers. Most new recruits did not have time for anything except basic infantry training, but some had been prepared for other tasks, such as mechanics, saboteurs, artillerists, and medics. The number of newly-arrived volunteers increased day after day, and soon General Athelsyn had a total of about 11 million men under his command. To differentiate them from the regular Republic Army units, the names of the new formations were given the prefix of "Volunteer". The combined forces on Travnin were never given an official designation, but Republic Strategic High Command often referred to them as "Battle Group Athelsyn".

The general planned to make the planet's capital a large fortress. Along the outskirts, a vast system of trenches, bunkers, pillboxes, minefields, and automated turrets was constructed to serve as the first line of defense. Many of those structures were connected not only by trenches but also by tunnels. Next, most of the buildings in the city were demolished, forming 'rings' which served as the secondary lines of defense. The buildings were also connected by tunnels and trenches, and were used to construct deep underground hideouts in the event of air raids. The city center was turned into a 'Citadel', as the troops referred to it, consisting of several large walls (mainly formed from destroyed buildings) and bunkers. Several minefields were put together as well, both along the main defensive line and further in the ruined city itself. Travnin Spaceport, which was located along the outskirts of the city, stuck out like a bulge from their lines, and thus it was determined that it would be abandoned, with defensive lines established further in. Most of its structures were destroyed and anything that could be potentially useful to them was taken further into the city.

Additionally the Travnin fortress had a large collection of artillery, both to defend from attacking bombers but also for usage against ground forces. Athelsyn wanted to turn the situation into a siege, and artillery would play a major role in such an event. His troops also received a large amount of various tanks, walkers, and other land vehicles. They also modified civilian landspeeders by adding turrets and armor plates onto them, which would serve as mobile weapons platforms. However, the defenders possessed no air support, not having any usable landing areas since most of the city was in ruins, including the abandoned spaceport.