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| - The Audacity has lifted off from its landing zone in the military base on Mon Calamari, without any further delay it heads towards a pre-arranged spot in the system not too far from the primary planet but not close enough that it should be within view of everyone that just mosies on in. It is with a mere twenty or so minutes before they are supposed to rendez-vous with a particular starfighter that they requested here. Rasi has reserved the ready room for the upcoming, and there he sits sipping from from a cup filled with warm tea and reading over this section's report or that. Having made the jump from Trandosha, Enb'Zik is wearing armor rather than his usual robes when he arrives in the ready room. The door hisses open to admit him, and the Sullustan nods at Rasi upon finding him inside. "Commander Cen," he greets, reaching out with his right hand, a clamshell helmet held underneath his left arm. "I got here as soon as I received your invitation. What's going on?" Entering the room behind Enb'Zik, Lynae is clad simply in her standard duty uniform with only the addition of a blast vest layered between her undershirt and her uniform jacket. Two serious looking gentlemen who practically have the words 'security' stamped on their shirts take up position out in the hallway. Before she does anything else Lynae says, "I'm sorry I had to bring them with, but the Presav's chief of security and I are still negotiating as to what is a reasonable number, and this is as close to not having a detail as possible. so far," which is said in a quiet voice that's akin to a mutter before she steps forward, one hand extended to Cen, "Commander," she says and gives him a brief handshake before taking a chair. Before exchanging handshakes, Rasi puts away the datapads and other such items, clearing the table as best as is possible. "Thank you for coming here, Jedi Enb'zik and Commander Cassius, please sit down.", he points to the two seats flanking the one he was occupying at the head of the table. "I'm afraid that we will have to keep this brief, the Audacity will have much to do over the coming days and weeks." Ikihsa's grip is strong before he releases Rasi's hand and takes one of the seats as directed. "We value your time, Commander. I've been in your position before, so we won't waste it." He glances over at Lynae and nods to her shortly before returning his gaze to Cen, "What can we do for you?" Lynae settles into her chair, edges it towards Zik in order to be able to study Cen from the same angle while remaining silent. "Thank you. I would like to formally request that you, and your wife, give us your aid and assistance, to whatever degree you can provide, in this coming fight for the system and sector.", he turns to Lynae next, "We know that the Caspian Democratic Union is neutral in this, but there are a few things that we will request of you and your government as well. If you have not been informed the situation just took a turn for the worst today. Here, listen.", a slight tap on the console before him and a holographic message begins to play on the screen at the far corner of the room. Enb'Zik nods to Rasi as the man makes his formal request, "On behalf of the Jedi Order, I will be there. If you wish, I will contact Master Skywalker, as well. It may be that we can recall some of the other Jedi from the different corners of the galaxy. Johanna in particular is quite adept in fighters." Zik watches the transmission, but his expression is not surprised. It's clear that he's seen it once before already. He glances over at Lynae again, recalling a discussion they'd had before. "Is this not precisely what you've been preparing for now, though, Commander? It doesn't seem so much a turn for the worse as a confirmation of what we already expected." "It's not just that we're neutral," Lynae says quietly, her words pick with obvious care as she studies Cen for a long moment. "It's that we're still at war with the Empire ourselves and that we're in a state of armed neutrality that we will enforce with every ounce of our military strength. What are you suggesting as a way that we may aid you in this endeavor that will not bring us back to open war status?" "We have been preparing for covert aid, and perhaps even an attack several weeks if not months from now. That they have gone to this point shows that they are prepared to move very soon. Whether they will move shortly against Mon Calamari en force, or this is just a feint matters little, though I am inclined to believe that it is not a feint. Regardless, we are prepared either way." That said, he turns to Lynae, inclining his head to show that he understands. "We do not ask for much, just that you place at our disposal the general readings from your SONG network, that you deploy groups of your vessels close to areas where they might pick up possible Imperial movements between Kashyyyk and Chandaar, or any portion of that area you can agree to. As for you, Jedi Enb'zik, that is indeed appreciated. However, we have a specific task for you, one that will see you go deep into Imperial territory and spy on their staging areas. In particular, their Kessel Redoubt." Enb'Zik leans back in his seat and props his right ankle up on his left knee, interlacing his fingers over his lap. He keeps a neutral expression at mention of the Caspian SONG network, letting his brow raise only when Kessel is mentioned. NOT his favorite place in the galaxy. The Sullustan draws a breath slowly and nods at the same pace. "That's not all, though," he suspects out loud. "After all, probes can spy on staging areas. You have something additional in mind?" "Yes, a probe has a large change of being detected and would be far more likely to be destroyed by automated defences or fighter patrols and the like. We also need you to determine if the region is being used as a staging ground. This will require a person being able to detect tell-tale signs such as cargo transports, troop ships and other such vessels. So on and so forth. And we all need this very quickly, within days at most. Afterwards, we will ask that you stay around and help in anyway possible with the defence of Mon Calamari.", Rasi replies before sitting back, the message that had been on a loop now closed and the screen shut down. There is another slow nod as Enb'Zik considers the momentary silence that Rasi's request has gleaned from the Caspian representation. "So, drop into Kessel, see what's going on there over a course of...?" He pauses, waiting for Rasi to fill in the blank on how long Zik should monitor. Then he adds, "And once that's done, slip back to the Mon Cal system and deliver an assist here?" Lynae studies Zik for a quiet moment, well knowing the heavy weight of the request that Cen is making of her friend. But she also knows that Zik is not the sort who'll back down merely because of the weight of history upon his shoulders. Her gaze shifts towards Cen again and she says, "So, access to our SONG network, small battle groups deployed in areas that would be advantageous to have our deep space sensors pinging in the direction that you'd expect an approach from a large battle fleet - banking on the bet that they'll leave a sensor footprint en route, but you're leaving the where and the what up to the union navy to decide." "Thirty six hours, and not necessarily at a single point in the system. You may stay for an extra twelve hours for a total time of two days, but no more. We need to learn as much as possible for us to make it perfectly clear to the planetary government and other concerned organizations of Mon Calamari and Quarren that the Empire was behind all of this and is preparing itself to invade this planet to extend its rule. With the population with us, we might win, without it, we might as well pack it up and retreat." And retreat is never something that he likes to consider without inflicting as much damage as possible on the Imperials. And retreat from Mon Calamari is something else altogether. "Yes, precisely that, Commander Cassius. I hope that it is not too much to ask? We also ask that you place your own navy on alert. This might be the beginning of a galaxy-wide offensive against all border of the Republic and other government. I do not think that the Caspian Union can afford to look as though it is letting down its guard." "Due to recent data acquisition, the activity you've had in your backyard of late and the so cordial broadcast by Fleming," Lynae pauses ever so slightly after speaking before she continues, "I can say that the Union navy would already be on alert and maneuvering in the likelihood that the Empire decided to make some grand push. There's been some open speculation already so to why they've been so quiet of late. Perhaps this is the reason after all," she leans back slightly in her chair while thinking for a silent moment. "You have the fleet break down that I gave you?" she asks of Cen. The Sullustan disengages his fingers and lifts one hand to rub absently at his dewflaps on one side. He is contemplative for a span while he parses out the details of this assignment. Just getting into Kessel isn't a necessarily easy task. Remaining there up to two days without being detected will be even harder. Doing so with Snarl, who isn't used to being cooped up for those kinds of time periods, would drive her nuts; she'll have to travel to Republic territory separately. For now, Enb'Zik says nothing while he goes over things, listening also to Lynae's question and Rasi's response to it. "Of course, we asked you in particular, Mr. Enb'zik because we are hoping that your training and expertise as a Jedi will somehow grant you an advantage in doing this task undetected and otherwise not raising any suspicions. While they have tipped their hand, we must not let them think that we know of the degree of offensive they are planning." He turns to Lynae then, nodding once more, "Thank you in that case, and yes, I do. We have paid particular attention to who is likely to serve as second and third in command of whatever group the Marshal will end up bringing to battle. In particular those who will command the various sectors and sections of the battles. Defeating them using whatever weaknesses they have will be key to winning this battle. And if there are any that hold the old Imperial mindset, well that will only work to our advantage." "I can only stress, again, how vital it is for you to be prepared to fire as soon as they enter system," Lynae remarks in a quiet voice. "I know you can't have your weapons armed and ready at every single second of every hour between now and when the Empire graces you with their presence," yes a touch of irony can be heard in her tone of voice. "But there's logic to the sentiment of 'get off a shot fast, it'll startle the enemy and give you time to make the second shot perfect'. If you can somehow drum this concept into your gunners between now and when it happens then you stand a better chance of getting a leg up on the enemy." She rubs at her left wrist while speaking, "You're facing an enemy that doesn't see itself as individually important, Commander Cen. Each fighter each soldier, not just the clones, are utterly and entirely replaceable. It's far less expensive to train up a new recruit than it is to properly defend and arm the ones already. So barring the potential use of these new fighters, which flies directly in the fact of standard Military machine mindset. The men and women that you're facing know that their lives may be important to them, but that they are utterly expendable. One of the moffs once reported that the battle he was conducting was experiencing heavy losses, somewhere upwards 75% of his fighting force was wiped out in the first couple engagements with the rebels. But in the end, he won the battle. The loss of life was staggering, and inconsequential all at the same time. Why? Because he won. "
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