Ander Tagira
Member
Well, I'll be...
Posts: 567 
Affiliation: GALSAF, Mandalore, Yavin 4 Jedi Praxeum
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Post by Ander Tagira on Sept 13, 2013 18:55:40 GMT -8
The Strategy Room provided GALSAF's military leaders a place to plan long and short term strategic operations. Any GALSAF commando is welcome into the Strategy Room, even during operations planning. This is to allow for a better all-around perspective on prospective GALCOM operations.
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Ander Tagira
Member
Well, I'll be...
Posts: 567
Affiliation: GALSAF, Mandalore, Yavin 4 Jedi Praxeum
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Ander Tagira on May 21, 2014 13:18:40 GMT -8
The following sets the tone of GALSAF's operations for the duration of the Galactic Cold War... Ander Tagira [GC-01]
GALSAF Lord Commander
Unknown Location, Hyperspace Transit, Inner Rim
0800 hrs Coruscant TimeAnder watched from the shadows, leaning against the wall opposite the large viewscreen mounted across from the large oval table that rested at the center of the Basterd's Hand's strategy room. Smoke from the burning cigarette in his hand drifted into the light, coiling and writhing like a dying beast as it rose towards the ceiling, brushing against the illumination panels that hung above the center table. Beings of all species were gathering inside the room, many taking seats at the oval table that housed the massive holographic tactical projector.
Admiral Jethroe Staton, a male Mon Calamari who had served as the Yavin IV Defense Force's premier naval leader, and now GALSAF's, seated himself on the side of the table nearest to Ander. The Hapan male, Lieutenant Coronel Ike Strasky soon followed, as did the Falleen Zed Mul, of the same rank as the other. There was also Coronel-in-Chief Fariq Garmoulis, a Zabrak male, and Foresergent Sylka Duntas, a Human woman. Ander's own adopted son, Leftenant Calo Tagira, arrived with the others. GALSAF's entire chain-of-command was present, as were many of its Sergents, Staff and Gunnery Sergents, 1st Sergents, Leftenants, Captains, Majors and more. As many were present as were not currently deployed throughout the Galaxy. For several long minutes, chatter filled the room, born of dozens of mouths. The growls of arboreal Wookiees, the hissings of reptilian Trandoshans and Barabels, the chitterings of Chadra-Fans. He allowed the talk to continued for some time, listening idly to the speculations and suspicions voiced as to why they had all been summoned.One by one, GALSAF's commandos noticed Ander's presence against the shadowed wall at the back of the room, and each began to fall silent, many halted in mid-sentence by the nudgings of their comrades. When all had come to order, Ander pushed away from the wall and strode toward the oval conference table, his cigarette still burning in one hand. He brought the tobacco to his lips, tasting the sweet, warm smoke as it passed over his tongue and entered his lungs, expelling it from his nostrils. A small metal ashtray rested near the middle of the table's edge, marking where the Lord Commander took his seat. Ander's gaze strafed the room's occupants, catching their own, peeking briefly into the thoughts that were betrayed by their various expressions, both familiar and alien. Ander pulled his chair back and sat down in it, resting his plated elbows against the table's surface. Smoke masked his face like a cloud, expanding and thinning, tendrils curling as they explored the empty space around him."I bet you're all wondering why you're here." Ander said, his voice deep and bold for all to hear. Some nodded silently in reply, the rest merely waited for his next words. "Reports from our intelligence units throughout the Regions have begun to draw a rather disturbing mural of the future. We must be prepared." Ander drew from his cigarette once more, filling the air with another cloud before pressing the butt into the basin of the ashtray before him. Smoke continued to rise from the discarded cigarette and would continue to do so until it had exhausted its remaining fuel. Without a break, Ander pulled another stick from a pouch on his belt, lighting it with a small pocket torch, which he rested on the table aside the ashtray. Smoke plumed as he spoke."The Dark Tide is no longer, as we all have heard. Lord Sinistra has established a new Empire, built on the immolated remains of her former government. Her faith in the Republic has evaporated in the weeks following the Debacle at Kuat." Debacle...yes, that was the word for it. The Mandalorian invasion of the densely industrialized world had ended in Taung H'rel's death and the dissolution of the bulk of the Mandalorian Navy. Ander had foolishly believed he could glean intelligence regarding future Mandalorian plans for the Holy War by siding with them and collaborating with their commanders. He'd wanted to gain the advantage others would need to end the Mand'alor's fanaticism. Ironically, the battle at Kuat had crippled the Mandalorian war effort, effectively ending the war. GALSAF had suffered the loss of one of its two capitol ships, the Hardpoint, along with its crew. Only her assigned forces had been largely spared, as they had already been deployed into the battle. Even so, many had perished as the Kuat Drive Yards had rebuked their attempt to break the station's shields, caught in crossfire as they struggled to return to their ill-fated carrier. The battle had left relations between GALSAF and the Empire in poor sorts, a result that would inevitably cause great strife in future operations."The Republic refused Kuat's requests for assistance in the post-battle reconstruction efforts. And we all know what they say about a woman scorned." If Ander's words seemed humorous, his tone did not, and no one thought to laugh. "But Lord Sinistra is no typical woman. She is calculating, determined, and devoted to her people. We were wrong to fight against her and the Empire. I was wrong." Admiral Staton tapped the fingers of a webbed hand against the table surface."Lord Commander, it does us no good to assign blame at the expense of learning from our mistakes." The Mon Calamari said firmly. Ander's eyes flashed, angry."The only learning that might serve you well, Admiral, is a repeated course of Naval School." He snapped, perhaps too harshly. "The loss of the Hardpoint rests on your shoulders, I won't have you forget." Admiral Staton's lip tendrils quivered in anger, but the man chose not to respond, for which Ander was glad. "We have sent Black Operations to the Deep Core, to investigate rumors of contention between the Imperial government and local forces, as well as to discover what the Empire might want with territories so close to Coruscant. As of yet, the Republic has made no response to the Imperial presence there, but I do not expect that idleness to last."Ander dashed the cigarette against the rim of the ashtray, then brought it to his lips for another drag. "Both the new Empire and the Republic have initiated more stringent economic policies of late, each subtly geared towards limiting the progress of the other. The Republics offer of assistance to the Dark Tide and Kuat following the battle there came only under the condition that the world not rebuild its military forces. The Empire relays predominantly on the Kuat Drive Yards for the production of their naval and military forces. Limiting their rearmament effectively limits the power of the Empire, which the Republic is well aware of. They, and perhaps the Jedi Order, want no competing super power to progress aside from their own."Ander tapped the control panel built into the table's surface. The air above the oval structure flickered, and a miniature reproduction of the Galaxy appeared in a haze of blueish light. "Here we haIve a political map of the Galaxy, showing the various astronomical regions and their corresponding seats of power. As you can see, the Republic controls the most physical territory, yet the distribution of resources worlds is more even between themselves and the Empire. The Corporate Sector, for the time being, remains autonomous, as do most of the Outer Rim worlds and Hutt Space. If the Empire were to become the super power we are beginning to expect from them, the Republic may lash back with military strength. This could be disastrous for the many tactical and resource worlds that remain unclaimed by either side. The only thing stopping this from happening is that neither side truly desires more war, especially following the Mandalorian Crusade. Taung H'rel himself laid waste to two planets, but this aversion to conflict will not last long. A cold war is settling into place between these two government powers, and the first to suffer will be their respective civilian populations. Militaries will continue to be fed and paid as corporations providing war-time resources will flourish. Already we see government contracts for the private sector increasing almost exponentially. Education, health care, and social services will be the first on the economic chopping block. Food and other supplies will follow. Civili liberties, if history teaches us anything, are next."Ander broke from his speech to pull from his cigarette, tapping the fresh ash against the edge of the tray before him. "What does this mean for GALSAF? Our days of open militarized conflict are over, for the time being. The Republic wants little to do with us, and the Empire likely wants our guts for garters. Hutt Space is crawling with, well, Hutts, and we don't have the finances to secure the protection of Corporate Sector Space. The Chiss are xenophobes, the Unknown Regions too remote, and the Outer Rim too poor. Our tactics must change, revert to their more natural state. Thankfully, we are prepared for this. Most of our forces will be divided into their pre-arranged intelligence units; we won't see many large scale deployments for the time being. We will disperse ourselves throughout Republic and Imperial space, observing and learning what we can. We must always be a step ahead. Espionage is the name of the game now, comrades. And yet our values must never falter. It is the people of this Galaxy we serve. Not the Republic. Not the Empire. Not the Jedi or the Sith. Not ourselves." |
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Ander Tagira
Member
Well, I'll be...
Posts: 567
Affiliation: GALSAF, Mandalore, Yavin 4 Jedi Praxeum
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Ander Tagira on Jun 9, 2014 14:15:22 GMT -8
Fariq Garmoulis lifted a light-brown hand, claiming the floor at the end of the Lord Commander's speech. "If I may, what does this all mean for general operations, and the bulk of the Brigade?" The Zabrak's voice was smooth, even. He'd been considering the question for a while, Ander guessed. He ashed the cigarette in his hand into the tray, then pressed several keys on the tabletop console. The holographic projection shifted, now highlighting a score of worlds in shades of red.
"Good question, Chief." Ander said, taking another drag from his smoke. "These worlds you should recognize, they are the locations of all our current or on-going operations. Unfortunately, if the political atmosphere gets worse, we'll have to restrict our operations to priority-level only. That means no more tracking down slaving rings or drug cartels. We won't be able to afford to split our attention between those groups and the major powers. If the economic climate gets any worse, and I suspect it will, we'll have to ground First Brigade entirely, which will ground all of their support units as well. We won't be able to afford the fuel and supply costs. Things are already pretty tight as it is."
Garmoulis nodded, his question answered. Ander looked around. "Any others?" One woman raised her hand, Adel Scoresby, a blue-skinned Zeltron. "Foresergent?" Ander acknowledged her with a nod of his chin. Scoresby leaned forward and rested her elbows on the conference table. "Seeing as how the issue of finances and supplies has just come up, I'm curious if we'll be engaging in any strictly resource-gathering oriented operations? We enjoyed a boon from the Yavin Four recovery mission, to be sure, but the materials we managed to wriggle from the grasp of the Jedi won't feed our personnel, or power our vessels."
Ander frowned, the topic of resource-gathering wasn't one of his favorite. It blurred the lines between service and self-preservation, a position GALSAF needed to avoid in order to maintain the integrity of its nature. 'Resource-gathering' and 'looting' were more alike sometimes than they were different. "I'm open to ideas." He said gruffly.
Scoresby leaned back in her chair and pulled a datapad from her pocket, sliding it across the table to where Ander sat. He slapped hand down on the device before it struck the ashtray, then picked it up at looked over its displayed contents. He pulled on his cigarette as he read, smoke billowing and coiling around the datapad. He set it down after a moment and slid it back to Adel, shaking his head. "No. Far too dangerous." Lieutenant Coronel Zed Mul, who stood beside where his Foresergent sat, jerked his head in Ander's direction. "What's too dangerous?" He asked, his arms crossed over his chest. Ander's frown deepened. Scoresby hadn't thought to brief her Battalion Commander on her ideas, which meant she hadn't fully thought them through. Ander took a deep breath, frustrated, and put out his cigarette before he was done with it.
"Foresergent Scoresby suggests that we raid Imperial and Republic supply storehouses once the tensions rise enough to incite hostilities. She wants us to conduct these operations under the disguise of being an opposing government force."
He leaned forward and stood, resting his knuckles against the tabletop, his hands curled into fists. "We will not be engaging either side in conflict of any kind, as long as it can be helped. I'll say it again: We will not engage either the Republic or the Empire in conflict of any kind." Ander's tone emphasized the sincerity of his demands. "To do so would be utter folly. It was a bad enough decision to assist the Mandalorians at Kuat. I won't be making that mistake again. We have enough resources to get by for the time being. Our benefactors have suffered some economic hardship, but they are otherwise still our benefactors. We will have their supply as long as they can give it. With decreased operations, we will be fine. The most I am willing to tolerate would be scavenging post-conflict zones, if we even see any arise between the Empire and the Republic. One of our goals will be to offer what assistance we can to the Republic, as long as they remain the more virtuous power. If that changes, our position will change, but we will not go galavanting about stealing supplies from either side just to feed ourselves. That reward is not worth the risk...by far."
Ander jerked his head to the door, his expression severe. "Dismissed."
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