Go Fourth to Meet the Shadowy Future...

[Adonis Inirial]

"Look not mournfully into the past, it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present, it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

* * *

Sulon - Sullust system

The shuttle descended effortlessly through the atmosphere of Sullust's habitable moon, soaring above the rusty pockmarked with the droid-run fields and agriculture that provided much-needed food to the barren and volcanic Sullustan homeworld. Villages and townships were scattered across the landscape, clustered beside lakes and rivers, or clinging to the sides of mountain slopes. Idly, Adonis mused that, with the right filters to make the scene take on more verdant hues, one could almost pretend that they were flying over Alderaan.

Alas though, this was Sulon, and not his shattered homeworld; and while sightseeing was a pleasant enough distraction, the Subdirector of Fleet Intelligence was here on business.

Cresting the Hanto Mountains, the shuttle banked, varying it's corse to begin a final approach towards the starpoard at Baron's Hed. The stark black tower of Government House - his ultimate destination - stabbed upwards from the heart of the city, in stark contrast to the other earth-hued buildings of the rest of the city, which hugged low against Baron's Knoll. It had, he was told, been constructed by some corrupt governor or other as the seat of his rulership of Sulon; since the liberation of Sullust however, it had been given over to Alliance High Command, and was now the headquarters of the Fourth Fleet.

Thankfully, the tower disappeared from view as the shuttle dropped into the starport; a half-formed thought about requisitioning several thousand gallons of beige paint drifted through his mind, but he shoved it aside. He wouldn't have to worry about the ghastly structure for much longer; soon he'd be inside and, barring some monsterously oversized mirror perfectly poised outside the window, he'd be spared for a few hours at least from gazing upon its stark facade.

As he descended the ramp, a Sullustan officer - he guessed young, given that they were only a Lieutenant, though in truth he hadn't yet learned how to distinguish age amongst the short-statured species - jogged over, hunched low against the updraft from the shuttle's still-idling repulsorlifts. "Subdirector?" he asked, his voice chittering away in a half-shout over the noise.

Adonis didn't bother making an attempt to speak; he merely nodded curtly, and followed in silence as the officer led the way to a waiting landspeeder. "The Captains are assembling in the briefing room," the Sullustan explained, forced to use a strategically positioned box to clamber into the speeder behind Adonis. "I trust you'll be ready to begin as soon as we arrive?"

"Indeed," Adonis answered calmly; any other conversation was robbed by the rush of air as the open-topped speeder rocketted off through the city streets. Idly, Adonis mused at the rant his sister would no doubt have had over the 'inappropriate' mode of transportation, expressing her sincere hope that there would be somewhere upon arrival for her to fix her hair. A smile briefly formed, but immediately died; given how things had changed since the destruction of Alderaan, he wasn't entirely sure if such bouts of vanity were still in Carré's now battle-hardened nature anymore.

The thought occupied his mind the full distance to their destination, proving much harder to shake than he might have expected. I may need to contrive an excuse to visit the Wheel again, he mused, as he was led into Government House and towards the conference room set aside for him, hesitating briefly at a reflective surface to check that his appearence was still satisfactory.

"Thank you," he said at last, with a nod of appreciation towards the Sullustan; the officer had been chittering away for some minutes, but Adonis' mind had dismissed it as idle banter and had zoned it out. Now however, his mind snapped into sharp focus, effortlessly sliding into the role of the cool and unshakeable Intelligence Officer that everyone no doubt expected him to be.

As he stepped into the room, his eyes swept across the half dozen or so assembled starship commanders - the senior Captains from Task Force 42. "Captains," he greeted, adding a "General," as his eyes settled on the Dauntless CO. He came to a halt at the lecturn, hesitating only for a moment to connect his datapad to the holoprojector provided before continuing. "I am Subdirector Inirial; thank you all for coming." His eyes swept his audience again. "I'm sure you're all anxious to get back to your ships," he said slowly, picking up on the subtle signs of restlessness and irritation from one or two, "So I will endeavour to be as concise as I can."

[General Dan]

General Dan sat with his right leg crossed over his left knee, already in keen anticipation of Subdirector Inirial's arrival and speech. While he certainly felt more comfortable aboard Dauntless than locked in some kind of bureaucratic circle-jerk, he had a distinct feeling this was less about some sort of vague policy-setting within Big Fleet, but more a clarion call to a genuine campaign, which Dan had privately been pushing for over the past year. The opportunity to use Tast Force 42 as more than just a harrassment tool on Imperial shipping lanes appealed to him, and he hoped to find more than a bit of substance to Inirial's meeting.

He looked around the table at the other Captains of the Task Force. Having worked with each of them extensively, he had a comfortable rapport not only with their personalities, but also with their styles of combat. It gave the Rebel task force a sort of organic strength, one that Dan had inwardly considered potent enough to potentially reverse some key Imperial advances of late.

[Rhinn Ikthoos]

Rhinn was sipping on a hot steaming cup of cafe as the Subdirector walked in. His leg was in a constant state of jittering. He was always more at home on his ship in deep space, not on a planet, sitting in on a mission briefing in a sit-rep room. General Dan was here along with other Captains that he had worked with in the past.

Battle had a tendency to burn away the people who were not committed to the cause. Because of this, most Captains had learned to trust those that proved themselves time and again. It was like a brotherhood. He knew their styles and favorite tactics... and they knew his.

As the Subdirector plugged in his datapad, Rhinn activated his, preparing for the mission briefing... or whatever he had planned.

[Rhinn Ikthoos]

Rhinn had just finished his cup of cafe and grabbed his datapad. His last mission had been an overall success. Though he had not recieved word what the cargo was, Rebel Command had approved the 3 Action VI freighters and the 8 Tie Fighters to be added to his group. The two bulk freighters were going to be added to their supply fleet.

Pity, Rhinn had an idea of what to do with them. Instead, he looked up at Subdirector Inirial who was about to begin his spiel.

[Dou'lesa Grov]

Arching a delicate brow at the Subdirector's arrival, Lesa took another glance around the room at her fellow Captains. Adonis - an oddly appropriate name for the young man - settled himself at the lectern while she once more lamented the fact that she was the only woman at the table. She'd heard tell of other female fleet captains, but had yet to make any of their acquaintances.

Perhaps the opportunity would soon arise.

Nodding as the man began, she sat back and crossed her slender legs, balancing a datapad on her knee with one hand, while the other held a cup of caf.

[Soto Terius]

They were an odd ensemble - himself, a Corellian; a Duros, or Nemoidian, or somrthing of that ilk; a Falleen, if the skin tone of the woman to his right was anything to go by; and the General, whose last name he didn't know, from whatever planet the illusive man happened to originate from - all taking orders from one of the survivors of shattered Alderaan.

All we need, he thought to himself, running musing fingers through his beard, Is a Captain with fur and a Captain who looks like a fish, and we've got ourselves a stereotypical assortment of Rebel scum.

Unlike the others, who seemed to be suffering from varying levels of irritation, boredom, and unrest at being stuck planet-side for yet another meeting, Soto wasn't nearly so phased by it. Though he found himself far more at home aboard a ship than he did on a planet, his years working as a research and development designer for CEC had hardened a callous against meetings and briefings filled with beaurocracy and paperwork; his tolerance for it all was far higher than the average Navy Officer.

That said, he pondered, fingers interlacing in front of his face, knuckles drumming idly against his lips as he waited for the Alderaanian to speak. Even I have my limits.

[Adonis Inirial]

The holographic image that sprang into life was superfluous - the rotating orb of the gas giant Bespin, that warranted only a passing reference in his briefing. Even so, he had observed that many of the individuals to whom he presented such briefings reacted better when he provided visual aids. While some Naval commanders were admittedly masters of strategy, the Rebel Alliance had somewhat more lax recruiting standards than most militaries, and as a result many had a little trouble grasping the grander picture.

Idly, he wondered if he should perhaps have prepared notes with pop-up holo-pictures for the Captains, so they could read along.

"Our dilemma is simple," he stated, refraining from the knee-jerk compulsion to append the statement with gentlemen, lest he have to clumsily aknowledge Captain Grov's alternative gender. "Alliance Intelligence has recieved reports that, in the face of military losses to the Rebellion, and political losses to other separatist factions across the Outer Rim, the Empire has begun to bolster its presence in loyal sectors elsewhere in the Territories, in an attempt to prevent our continued operations."

He gestured towards the hologram. "Recently, the Empire renewed its military presence on Cloud City, and has begun to increase fleet operations in the Greater Javin and surrounding sectors. Their military disposition seems to focus on smuggling and piracy: if they manage to counter those illegal operations, they will succeed on tightening their grip on the Outer Rim, which will make life very difficult for us, and our continued success."

His eyes settled on Captain Grov in particular, remembering his encounter with one pirate in particular - her uncle - at Bothawui several months before. "Our job," he stated carefully, watching for subtle shifts in her reaction, "Is to ensure that, for now at least, those pirates and smugglers are able to continue to undermine the Empire."

[Rhinn Ikthoos]

Rhinn shifted in his seat a bit and he looked at the information on the holo of Bespin. The crew that had been captured with the freighters had given information that they were bound for Bespin. Though Rhinn had not inspected all cargo, there was more than enough there to supply a base.

The plan made sense. If they could disrupt Imperial shipping, without having to face off in a slugging match, then they could disrupt live on those planets and bases that the Imperials held. It would frustrate the Imps to no end while helping the Rebels. Those planets might see that the Empire can’t provide for them in the way they promised and it might convince a few systems to overthrow their Imperial handlers and then the Rebels can step in swipe them up. Of course there was always danger. Too many strikes against their convoys, and one of them could be an ambush set to destroy the pirate forces.

Rhinn raised his hand. “Will we be allying with the pirates and smugglers, or just turning a blind eye to their escapades?”

Rhinn also knew they walked a fine line with this tactic. If they let it go too far, then any attacks on the populace would look badly on the Rebels. If they didn’t reel in the pirates and smugglers when the time was right, they might be fighting the pirates for control of a planet. As much as Rhinn wanted to see the Imps out of the area, he didn’t want to see whole populations be held hostage by organized crime either.

[Dou'lesa Grov]

She allowed her smirk to blossom into a smile that brightened her features, fingers setting aside her datapad and now empty mug. Arms crossed over her chest after tugging on the top to her uniform, fingers tapping silently along her upper arms.

Before Lesa could say anything however, the Duros piped up and asked an excellent question. Changing her thought pattern, she continued in that same vein with a question of her own. Dark teal eyes never left Adonis' gaze as she spoke.

"If we're permitted to openly ally ourselves with them, there's a strong possibility my uncle would be willing to help. Provided we can guarantee that Captain Tyree will be several sectors away, of course."

[Adonis Inirial]

"Commodore Tyree -" he responded to the green-skinned niece of his father's Clone Wars nemesis, stressing the officer's recent increase in rank that she, of course, had no reason whatsoever to know about. His mind searched for an appropriate euphamism to mask the current assignment of his "Uncle Vansen" and his command. "- is otherwise occupied at the moment, so in the short term, your uncle is safe." There was a beat of hesitation. "From him."

He drew in a slow and careful breath, though it wasn't nearly as careful as his choice of words when he came to answer Captain Ikthoos' question.

"Officially," he stated reluctantly, "The civilian government of the Rebel Alliance does not condone the actions of pirates. Thus, any kind of political alliance with such individuals would, officially -" There was that word again. "- be out of the question. However..."

His voice trailed off, a reluctant gaze settling on Captain Grov again. "High Command does appreciate that there are certain instances where the objectives of both ourselves and the pirates align. In such instances, you are advised to 'make the most effective use of the resources availiable to you as possible'."

His gaze lingered for a moment longer, ever such a subtle edge creeping into his tone. "We are not, of course, in the business of exonerating murderers and war criminals, and you will of course be expected to remain within the acceptable confines of morality at all times."

[Dou'lesa Grov]

"Of course, Subdirector."

Lesa replied, tone flat and expressionless, her gaze not straying from his as her expression left little doubt that there was much unsaid. Her arms uncrossed in a smooth movement as she reached for her datapd once more, holding it lightly as she made a few notes with the stylus.

Not the least of which was about Tyree's recent...promotion. That certainly merited some rumination.

[Rhinn Ikthoos]

"It would probably do good to hit in totally random intervals, to cause as much frustration to the Imps while also making it harder for them to find a pattern to our attacks. Couple that with any attacks that actual pirates do and it will give us a window of opportunity to actually try to take down a single target while they play their guess game."

Rhinn looked around at the other Commanders.

"I would suggest our target not be something that we have to hit to achieve success, but one that just our getting in the way achieves the desired outcome. Say, like one of Imps more isolated sectors. We randomly harrass shipping to that one particular sector, the Imps would have to either devote more resources to getting the supplies there and we are free to hit another target, or they simply deem it not desirable and don't reinforce it. Then at random intervals, we attack a totally random target just to throw them off."

[General Dan]

Dan said little, making a few notes here and there for his own reference. Harassment of shipping lanes was less than he wanted as far as a decisive answer to the Empire's resurgence in the Anoat sector and outlying regions.

"I assume a good amount of our exploits involves liberating Imperial supplies and materiale from our enemies. Beyond what we can initially use, it might net us some capital if we distribute the rest to potential allies in the nearby sectors. If we can project enough soft power around the Imperial outposts, we might gain useful intelligence and support for our activities."

He thought about it more, and continued.

"Is there a follow-up in play, assuming our successes are met? With respect, we're ready to begin drawing the Empire into attacks on our terms. I understand the realities of the here and now, but we're so close."

[Adonis Inirial]

Once again, Adonis chose his words carefully. Captain Ikthoos' suggestions were sound: distraction and disruption were their best weapons in this situation. Their job was not to defeat the Imperials outright, but merely to unbalance their efforts, shake them up, and provide the local insurgents, pirates, and smugglers with the kind of break they needed to continue their own harassment. It was all about keeping the Empire on the back foot, and keeping them distracted with crisis reports from all corners of the galaxy, to make the situation seem as grim as possible.

Though his response answered them both, he directed his eyes towards General Dan. "Since the emergence of the Independents, the Empire has been drawn into protracted conflicts on multiple fronts, and has lost vast resources in the process. While there are certainly merits to the idea of engaging them on yet more fronts, I believe it is important that we retain perspective."

He hesitated. "Anoat is an isolated flashpoint, far from any other lines of conflict. The surrounding sectors, while low in significance on the Imperial hierarchy, are still loyal. Any decisive action we made would no doubt be met with swift retalliation: if only as a means for the Empire to show it's citizens that it can still win victories. We are a nuisance, yes, but for now the Independents are the far greater concern. For now, we must be content with small victories; keeping the Imperials so off-balance that they cannot prepare for a unified response."

A slight shrug tumbled off his shoulders. "If we drive a single dagger into the Empire, they will turn around and stab us back. If instead we drive in a hundred needles, we can make the Empire bleed to death before they've even decided who to lash out at first."

[Rhinn Ikthoos]

What Odonis said made sense. Hit them little and alot and they won't be able to respond to all the little stings... much like the pirrahna beetles of Yavin could take down a nerf in minutes. The only downside to this strategy was that it required patience to pull it off and while the results would be favorable, it would not provide a galvanizing victory for which the Rebellion could claim like they did at Yavin. Most planets would seem them as little more than pirates in some sectors while others would see their lack of victory as weakness.

It was a very fine edges sword that they balanced on, though High Command no doubt would have thought of that. Rhinn looked around to see if anyone else had anything else to say before he spoke.

"The advantage to this tactic, beside giving them too many variables to defend against is that if they get used to the small attacks, we can combine forces and slam a major target to throw them off balance down the road."

[Soto Terius]

"We represent a broad spectrum of tactics," Soto chimed in, agreeing with Captain Ikthoos' assessment. "Some of our battle groups are geared towards combat with patrol vessels; others with convoys and their escorts; by playing to our own strengths, we provide the Empire with a broad spectrum of potential threats to contend with. No one response on their part can prepare them to defend against all of us."

His fingertips stroked their way through the scrag of beard that hung from his chin, mind musing over what sort of assets the Empire might be able to bring to bear in the kind of backwater corner of the galaxy that the Subdirector had identified. Systems of any real importance to the Empire more or less ended at Eriadu; the remainder of the Outer Rim was littered with resource worlds, or outlying systems like Endor and Bakura, the fate of which mattered very little to the Imperials. Ordinarily, they could expect strike cruisers, Dreadnaughts, and outdated Star Destroyers - perhaps a few of the Empire's more powerful and formidable ships spread out amongst the sectors, but they would be few and far between.

The idea that the Empire was bolstering it's forces in the Greater Javin gave him pause, however. According to standard Imperial doctrine, 'bolstering' seemed to be a euphamism for throwing as many Imperial Star Destroyers at the problem as was logistically possible, and hoping it would sort itself out. In most instances, it was a typical example of the Empire's wastefulness but, against his forces at least, and quite probably those of his fellow Captains as well, an Impstar would be enough to cause serious problems.

"It seems," he said slowly, his voice escaping in a low rumble, "That hit and fade operations will be the order of the day; just as they have been ever since the Rebellion began."