Clan Australis HQ - Command and Control

The hive of activity that was the Clan's command and control nexus aboard The Rock never ceased, with transmissions from across the galaxy all routed to this one location, it could be nothing but flat out all hours of the solar day and night.

Cerani in person and the Australis children via holo had monitored the Alor's meeting with the Clan chieftains; not that it was a secret meeting, but Kaine had been fine with the rest of them viewing the meeting, and he would be relaying the information upon his return regardless.

Arrogance and stupidity all in the same package. Konig said with disdain.

Efficient of them. Amaranth quipped. Vevut, Marit and Reyn's holoimages remained silent for a long moment. Finally Reyn was the one to speak.

Arrogance isn't always exclusively a Mandalorian trait, vode.

He brought their minds back to the task at hand. The fact the Clan chiefains had even attended Kaine's summons was a minor miracle in and of itself, and was a surprise to the Australis vode. Kaine had made his offer in good faith, though the rest of them had advised against him going to Manda'yaim. The Mandos would do what the Mandos would do.

Where are we with the operation? He spoke of the Clan's next expedition, a far more militant one than the recent Battle of Wayland. It would require a mobilization of a considerable portion of their Clan's armed forces, and was ambitious in the extreme, half-baked, and very Australis.

Cerani turned to face Reyn's holo. We're ready to launch at the appointed hour. All is in readiness.

Weeks of preparation had gone into the operation, from scouting to logistics to endless simulations for the pilots and troops. Clan Australis was ready for war.

Holodisplays and map tables arrayed before him, Kaine took in much of the data coming in at a glance, as much as he was able. He understood his role encompassed more than military operations, but for him, that was the part he knew best, and the part that always took up his attention first. Delegating responsibility came easy to such a lazy soul, and he had become of the habit of delegating the administrative details and anything not involving violence off to anyone but himself. His mood was off colour, for despite his best effort, somewhat wishful thinking if he were truly honest with himself, though the Hoth and Thyferra campaigns had come off successfully and to plan; Byss had not. As he had been advised by many of his closest advisors and pretty much everyone else, an attack on Byss was a foolish idea. Cerani, his intelligence chief had put it first, and clearest when she had chewed him out following the abortive attack.

Some days earlier.

You were told what would happen.

Kaine hung his head, but the diminuitive Twi'lek wasn't of a mood to show mercy. She didn't work her posterior off for him gathering information and working to provide intelligence so he could ignore it and look like a fool. She managed to swear at him in six languages he recognized and understood, a couple more he didn't follow, and some he couldn't place at all. The meat of it was, she was smarter than he was and he should ignore her at his peril, and what hurt the most was she was right.

You were told the Ren wouldn't fight you, and you went anyway. Now we look like a menace to the rest of the galaxy.

He knew that too, though part of him, the stupid part, liked being a menace to the galaxy just fine. The sensible part, buried deep down, knew better. He was older now, and was responsible to more than just a scattered warband, or a private military company. He commanded millions of soldiers across dozens of worlds, not to mention still being the Alor of a large and excessively armed Mandalorian Clan. In addition to his role as a Mando'ad, he had taken on a responsibility to the Vegemites, one he took as seriously as his duty as a Mandalorian. It amused him that even though he'd risen about as high in rank as anyone could, he still got shouted at regularly. Finally, Cerani either ran out of breath or ran out of languages and inventive invective to throw into his face. She punctuated things with a slap across his face, which was the only part of him not encased in beskar'gam. The strike stung, and it also let him know he was forgiven.

So, what now?

She smiled, the first smile she'd shown since he'd returned from Byss.

Now, we get back to work, Marshal. It's time you see everything we've built and grown over the past year or so. You've been busy on campaign, did you think the rest of us had been idle in your absence?

Kaine grinned, though inwardly he knew ahead lay logistics, administration, and the sort of work he loathed. Everything leading up to battle, the details that made the fight, that was what he saw as the worst part, the fight at the end was what he lived for. Though he knew trials of numbers and lists lay ahead, Kaine Australis remained undaunted, knowing there were still battles to be fought beyond.

Let's get back to work, then.

Present day.

And so, the Marshal and Alor and a bunch of other shabla titles was plunged back into a world of details, preparing for the next fight.

While Kaine played soldier with the troops down on Myrkr, Cerani, head of Clan Intelligence, was left to oversee operations across the galaxy from the HQ, high above Myrkr, deep within The Rock. With a wide array of screens and holodisplays, she was at the centre of a wealth of information, and the young Twi'lek expertly divided her attention between observation and various command tasks, talking to herself sometimes as she did so.

Hrm...

Keeping an eye on the younger Australis children was a full time task, none of them liked to be monitored. Reyn was at Mandalore, along with König and Amaranth, and much of the Clan's fleet. Vevut was on Kiffu, and Marit was on Hapes, at the treaty signing. She could clearly see that Myrkr was short on reinforcements, with many of the fleet's ships seconded to the Inner Rim Imperium while their own fleets were drawn up, what was left over was well stretched. With much of the fleet due for maintenance, there wasn't enough operational forces.

Cerani took time to look over the latest designs from MandalArms. Kaine had been screaming for a new heavy transport and a gunship, and it looked like sometime this month, he would get both. She had no doubt he'd immediately want something else, but she liked the look of these craft. Unique and somewhat peculiar designs, but like all Mandalorian designs, they would be most effective if used well. She'd been aboard one of the new Dungeon-class Star Frigates, and she had liked what she had seen. So had the commandos who specialized in boarding and zero G combat.

Time to check the banks..

With the logistics and military to one side, she next looked in detail at the economic situation. The latest figures surprised and delighted her, looking far healthier than expected. MandalArms provided the lion's share of revenue, and it seemed that even with the 10% export nerf that Kaine had ordered, the new starfighters were selling extremely well. The rare foresight that the Alor had shown by signing long-term contracts with MandalMotors, Baktoid Armor and Tendrando among others had paid off, with supply lines now well established and production growing each month.

Politically, the gamble of attempting to establish an economic alliance between the Inner Rim worlds was paying off. Good lines of communication had been established between many independent worlds, and the benefits of free trade were aiding Myrkr as much as the economic powerhouses of Thyferra, Hapes, and Manaan. Each member world's speciality brought them many new opportunities, and Clan Australis had a near monopoly position for all things military, from munitions to personnel to hardware.

Nobody's misbehaving this week, hmm?

There was little to nothing on the threat boards, beyond the normal pirate and smuggler activity, and even that was being knocked back by the constant patrols. The criminals were getting the message that it did not pay to play in the IRI's territory. Having Mandalorians knock on your front door was often very instructive, even to those observing the fate of others. Clan Australis was doing very well for itself, and Myrkr was prospering. Likewise, she had observed that their work with the Inner Rim was doing wonders for their reputation. A long peace had come to the galaxy, and what would normally be lean times were instead fruitful.

Initiate Phase Three.

'

Cerani stared at the words on the screen before her. Kad Damn, the old bastard was actually going through with his half-baked plan to assault Byss. She supposed that she couldn't fault his preparation, not with ten full companies of commandos and five divisions of the legions, along with more hardware than the Clan generally liked to carry with them. She was surprised, though she supposed she shouldn't have been, that Kaine had insisted on going in with the first wave.

Idly, she looked across the lists of units and resources assigned, and the level of preparation that Kaine had put into this mission. One last hurrah, she knew how he thought. He was certainly committing to the operation, utilizing most of the Clan's firepower in one swift devastating assault. They would be outnumbered, and the First Order knew that they were coming. Recent activity focused on the Byss system made that clear, though there had still been efforts to spread the enemy's attention; there would be no surprises here.

One kriffing ship. Kaine was betting his entire stack on a single roll of the dice. If his approach wasn't perfect, they were in serious trouble. She consoled herself that at least he would have the best of the best to aid him, and keep him out of trouble. The list of officers read like a who's who of Clan Australis. General Rhael Nebus would command the legions and the army. Kaine had included ten commando companies, and most of the Captains General; Grunt of the First and Attichitcuk of the Second. Riva Shiel would lead the Third, while Strabo represented Reyn and the Stormwolves. Luthi represented König and his Lion Cubs. The mercurial Bronzi led the 6th, the vaunted Redbacks, while Marbo and his 7th would bring their own brand of violence. That was not all. The 8th were included, a full hundred of the bastards, led by the nastiest Bothan bastard of all, Jaing Nail'ya. Any misbehaviour on their part would be curtailed by the presence of Sigurd-Adofo and his Guard. The golden giants were the pinnacle of gene-science and training, and each was a commanding presence on any battlefield. Along with these came Kaine's own Jare'rami'kade, the most eclectic and undisciplined of the lot, but they were all fine warriors.

Even a thousand Australis supercommandos would not stand against a world on their own. Rhael and her legions would come with the army and the bulk of the vehicles that would reinforce Kaine's initial assault into a comprehensive occupation, and destruction of resistance on the ground. He had selected well, with some serious surprises for the enemy, provided the reinforcements could make it to the ground. They would come in hot on the heels of the main assault, breaking out for the planet from the attack force, aiming to reach and reinforce Kaine before his commandos could be overwhelmed and wiped out.

Cerani sighed, reached forward, and acknowledged receipt of the order. She had little left to do but wait and watch...