Bankor

When most of the staff had exited, SIS Handler Claire Alincot took the spotlight. "We have a covert operation underway for this sector. Thus far, we have been on the defensive against this woman." She pulled out a remote and clicked the display open to show one Eralynn Varad.



"You know her well, you may very well hate her by now," Claire continued, "After sabotaging her munitions, she has gone into observation for this sector. No 'welcome gifts' or the like this time from her. So it's time that we take the offensive. Captain Organa already led a strike force to take out some of her forward outposts. This will give us a much needed gap in her security but it will not last long. And so, we will be assaulting her forces in about 36 hours at her very encampment." She pulled up another display, a formations map. "This will be a quick and dirty operation. A spearhead will take the blunt of her forces while a strike team goes for their leadership."



"Excellent." Rear Admiral Myranda Dennor smoothed out her jacket. "From your intelligence reports, I noticed that they will not have great anti-air support there. I will send in an order for a bombing run to soften their defenses for the spearhead operation."

"I'm afraid we can't do that, Rear Admiral Dennor. From what SIS has deduced, the prisoners she has must be inside her base of operations."

The arkanian nodded. "I am well aware of that fact."

Claire blinked. "There are children in there! Most of the remaining prisoners are children."

Still the white-eyed woman did not react. "I have thought on the matter."

Niall had stayed behind, and he glad he did. He stood up, his expression bleak.

"Admiral, as I'm sure you're aware, the Republic is not in the habit of committing war crimes. The pilots would be entirely within their rights to refuse an order like that. And frankly, if they didn't think of it, I might suggest it to them."

"Captain Organa. A pleasure to meet someone of your reputation," she said with a friendly, genuine smile. "May I remind everyone that we have no idea where the prisoners are placed. We are basing it off of conjecture. But we do know that their snipers were capable of inflicting massive casualties among our forces."

Baesal was about to leave herself when the mission briefing started...and she was appalled by the admiral's suggestion

She raised her hand to speak: "House Varaad are responsible for many crimes and delight in the most gruesome of war crimes. I am certain they have knowingly placed the captives, especially the children, in strategic locations to prevent bombings or make us pay the price if the republic tries."

She looked around to those still present

"As a representative of the resistance, I implore you not to do these bombings"

"All the more reason we cannot risk allowing Clan Varad to escape. With the snipers' efficacy demonstrated in the desert, I have no doubts that the casualties will be high for the strike force. We cannot allow this assault to detract too much power from combating Clan Kryze, either."

She took the remote from Claire and pulled up an image of another woman.



"Reports also indicate that Clan Rodarch is joining the field," Myranda continued, "Keilynn Rodarch, sister by blood of Eralynn, is leading another warband alongside her husband. We need to make this assault decisive before another warlord arrives."

"We cannot make good decisions by ignoring our intelligence reports." Niall said sturdily. "And our reports indicate that the prisoners are in that compound. They are not expendable, Admiral."

She nodded in agreement with Niall

''If we harm the civilians then...'' Baesal paused suddenly, something flashing in her mind ''Wait...I think we could use history to help us here.''

She turns to Niall

''Do you know of the battle of Serroco?''

"Trust me, Captain, I am neither ignoring them nor considering them expendable." The Rear Admiral typed into the console and pulled up the planet of Alderaan. "Your own planet. The Republic strike force was faced with terrible odds. A lump sum of the Alderaanian forces were trapped along with an entire division of the main Republic army." She zoomed in to the region. "Any transports would have been shot down out of the sky. But the Sith Empire had one area where they lacked control: the sea.

"Of course, the Imperials were not foolish. They knew we could escape there. They marched their troops towards ours in overwhelming numbers. But on the way, there was an outpost containing a brigade of five thousand men, Captain. We could have ordered them to retreat as well. We couldn't know if everyone could have escaped in time.

"But they stayed. And the rest of the men were able to be extracted due to their sacrifice."

She crossed her arms. "The Battle of Serroco was three centuries ago. Are you suggesting that you know that the Mandalorians here possess nuclear weapons?"

Niall frowned briefly, but then nodded.

"I do, yes. During the last major war that the Republic had with the Mandalorians, if I'm not mistaken. During Revan's time."

-----------------------------

Fluff roll, battle of Serroco?: 1eP+2eA+2eD 2 successes, 1 threat

Baesal nodded

''Yes...well not quite but you are close''

She adressed both Niall and the admiral

''In that battle the republic forces had set up their camps near the population centers betting that the invading the Mandalorians, led by Mandalore the Ultimate, would not risk bombardment because they would hit the cities. Harming non-combattants would have been dishonorable and a threat to their loot. However, the Mandalore found that strategy to be dishonorable in itself and bombed the camps and cities anyways.''

She paused

''Could'nt we goad her out by accusing her to be a coward? To bring her to a straight fight? She is vile, yes, but she is a commander and thus must have a minimum of honor to maintain as to not lose the respect of her troops. She keeps using psychological warfare to demoralise us, why not do the same?''

"If that tactic was going to work, then we would have drawn out Varo Kryze when we first set foot on the planet."

''I don't think so'' she replied

''The mandalorians have been defeated twice now and Varad is forced to relocate despite the tactics she uses. I am sure that many mandalorians are starting to question her leadership...victory can ease distasteful tactics but defeat makes them worst.''

Niall cleared his throat. "We can certainly discuss possible stratagems. But I'm inclined to think that we won't be able to draw them out. These Mandalorians are far from those who fought the Republic three-hundred years ago."

He looked back to the Admiral. "But the viability of that tactic has no bearing on a decision to bomb prisoners."

"Their profiles lean towards fanatically loyal." Claire massaged her forehead. "The only one who questioned her leadership was Garreth Varad. However, he's a butcher, unconcerned with honor, only so-called glory. And he defers to Aaroth Varad.

"Her snipers are mainly composed of widows and widowers, their loved ones lost in the very same event that took Eralynn's husband." She shook her head. "It's almost like a suicide pact."



"Loyalty aside, would she combat us here, in this jungle? Or would she wait until she gathers the resources she needs to recuperate? Calling for a 'fair battle' could draw in Clan Kryze as well." She turned back to a map of the current theater of war. "The decision is not about the prisoners. The decision is about the base. We know her forces will be keeping watch and her prisoners may be located in there."

''I am trying to bring ideas to the table since I cannot approve of bombing'' she simply replied ''Can we use her sadism to set a trap then?''

"Well, let's go over her profile. Before her husband's death, Eralynn kept herself in the sidelines as ranged support and technician. She personally managed her own gear and her husband's." She opened her mouth on one point but kept silent on the matter for now.

"Afterwards, her tactics switched to more CQB." She clicked through muted footage, clips of the warlord seen during the initial invasion. "Her armor is what you would expect from a Mandalorian. She has a micro-rocket launchers installed on her shoulders and a sidearm as a ranged complement." One image showed her cleaving a man in half with a greatsword and another of her impaling a man with spiked vambraces. "Any strike team that goes in should be ready to deal with her armament.

"Alongside her is Aaroth Varad." The man was seen in the footage hefting a shield and imposing himself in the way of shots. "Most engagements show him being by her side. Footage indicates that he is a sort of father figure to the woman."