Besk learned an essential truth about Revan in the mission briefing for the Javku invasion: the Jedi commander was nothing like what the Mandalorians would expect from a senior Jedi.
The briefing room of the Incisor was dark, but for the glow of a holotank in the center of the room showing essential items of data in synch with the briefing. Revan was not there himself, but he was beaming the transmission from his flagship along with the relevant data for download onto PDA's. There were a number of Jedi and IRSOG troopers in the room, all taking in the data.
"The target of this operation is Javku, a heavily fortified target in the Mid Rim. It is volcanically active, arid and rocky. The primary industry is mining. It is currently a Mandalorian War Forge. To date, no attempt has been made to take Javku back from the Mandalorians because it is heavily fortified and resources have been deployed elsewhere. However, Javku is one of our theater goals."
The planet was a tan dustball, nothing special on the holodisplay or the downloaded PDA data.
"Javku's networked autoblaster and turbolaser batteries are networked from a hardened command facility at the spaceport. We cannot destroy them from orbit without destroying the facilities, which we must take intact."
And that was the reason that the conventional invasion had not yet happened
"Conventional invasion with shuttles and starships would create unacceptable losses from the planetary defenses and a protracted invasion with ground troops would endanger the war forges. We must have that planet. We have refitted ships with ion weaponry and concussion torpedoes suitable for planetary assaults in order to disable the automated network momentarily. The disruption will not last long enough to allow for a conventional landing without still taking unacceptable losses to our forces."
The other part, left unsaid in the briefing, was that Revan's resources were thin; he had the Mercy Corps, some Navy support and some troops, including one IRSOG, 37. There were militia volunteers that threw their lot in with the Jedi and other do-gooders, along with some military forces. The Repubic was leery of the new support and didn't have much faith in the willingness of the Jedi to prosecute the war. Revan's corps was a low priority, but it got some token assets. Notably, it got a shipment of spare escape pods for ships that had been diverted to elsewhere. The Republic's supply chain wasn't sure of itself, and the creation of a new theater of war under Jedi command created new complications.
But if they were unable to invade without acceptable losses, what were they doing? That made Besk frown.
"As you know, our personnel assets and equipment are scanty, but we have had some surplusses. Among them are escape pods not yet fitted to starships. For the purposes of this operation, we have modified a number of them to carry troops safely into battle, and others to carry mine deployment equipment and auto-turrets. The technicians have modified them to navigate their way down in formation and drop accurately in the designated area at maximum thrust until the last moment."
The specs showed modified escape pods.
"We refitted these escape pods on the basis of intelligence on Mandalorian methods, especially their use of Basilisk droids. These are designed to accelerate faster than the Basilisks, land within 500 feet of the designated landing zone and bring their payload into the fight safely..."
Shields, lots of shields, astromech droid brains on the carrier drop pods and battledroid brains on the ones that were designed to open up and act as automated emplacements. It was an extrapolation of some of what the Republic had learned in grim holding actions against a seemingly endless horde of Mandalorians; defensive perimeters, force multipliers. The Republic was so busy devising new defenses like the Vanjervalis chain that the thought of taking the offense and hitting a Mandalorian planet slipped the mind.
...using these pods, IRSOG forces will assault the Javku spaceport control center, breach it and fortify it against attackers. Weak points in the center's defenses are identified by intelligence, and I leave the methods of entry up to the best judgement of the ground teams. The support pods will disperse mines and lay down fire while the IRSOG forces penetrate the facility and disable or, preferably, subvert, the fire control computers for the planetary AA network. Once the mission is accomplished we will be able to invade with follow-on forces."
The rest of it was an outline of the benefits, since everyone in the room -- or most of them anyway -- had a strong sense of the risks. This was something a Mandalorian might come up with in part, except for the part about seeding the area with decoy capsules loaded with automated weaponry. It was offense-minded and tricky, using shock and assault tactics. The Jedi, the Mandalorian thought went, were unwilling warriors and too respectful of life to be truly effefctive strategists. They were not risk-averse.
The man wasn’t merely aggressive, he was a risk taker. It was distinct from the sort of cautious, ponderous, indecisive defender mentality of the Republic.
”Assessment of Mandalorian forces on Javku is mixed; it is a rally center, a basic traning compound for Mandalorian troops who are given an induction in Mandalorian culture and basic fighting skills. There are, in some places, veterans, but for the most part the opposition are not seasoned troops though they are well-equipped…”
That, of course, was a point Besk would have agreed with – as a traditionally trained Mando raised to it from birth, he knew there was a difference from the other end of the blaster; he was good, even by the lights of his people, and the beings the Republic troops were facing were numerous, well armored and aggressive, but they were not skilled warriors. They had a lot of firepower, a ruthless strategy to direct them and logistics on their side. That, of course, was the doing of Cassus Fett. There were, of course, special Shock Trooper units, that Besk had helped form and lead, but they were a different breed.
Perhaps Cassus Fett or Mand’alor would see it it, he didn’t know. He was unique for being in both sides of the war, he knew this wasn’t merely the addition of jetiise to the fight, adding their light sabers. This was an entirely different mentality. This was like the Mandos of old, getting in on a shock orbital drop, taking the unwary by surprise. Now the tables were turning. They’d planned to fight the Republic. They’d planned to fight Jedi who believed in compassion and humanity, who didn’t have the stomach for a war.
The rest was statistics; the war forges, enemy numbers and dispositions, the rally fields for training new Mandos, the POW's working in the forges.
"May the Force be with you, 37, Revan out"
---
The embarkment area of the Incisor was, this time, the escape pod room. They'd be dropping in pairs if only because the space was tight in the things. Besk, a veteran of basilisk drops, was not struck with nostalgia at the similarities, because there were not so many besides the basic concept. They'd be fired out of a tube at a much faster speed, packed in like Kodo eels pickled in a jar, and landed roughly with braking at the last minute. It promised to be at least as jarring as a basilisk drop.
Others were in the ready area, the armory, getting their equipment. For the Jedi, this wasn't such a big deal, but the IRSOG troops were loaded down with armor and the like. They seemed to be imitating the Mandalorians that'd givenn the republic such an awful black eye so far. Bigger, heavier, thicker...but slower. It was suitable for a defensive war from behind fortifications, a grim fight to hold on against an onslaught. Cassus Fett's methods gave Mand'alor (the Ultimate) fuel for their engine of war.
So there were the Jedi. There were the troopers. Then there was Besk. His preparations were similar to the others; weapons, equipment, armor. His was built primarily to protect the vital body parts, with a mesh-vacuum suit for the rest of it. Cobbled from salvaged Mando materials, integrating equipment he'd learned the use of while fighting in the Republic forces as part of an engineering unit. The result was lighter than the various makes of Neo armor, the regular line stuff as well as the shock trooper stuff, but it gave him protection where he needed it and target assistance above and beyond. Mando systems were rugged and made to last but Republic information tech was extremely sophisticated.
He'd always been one for experimenting around with new ideas. He was one of the men behind Cassus Fett, who came up with refinements on the innovations, a young protégé to discuss new ideas with. A good young leader that could execute these ideas in the field and provide feedback. In the early days of laying siege to the Outer Rim, he’d made a name for himself. The armor was one of those ideas they’d discussed. But then he saw the Mando Shock Troopers in action and realized what the problem was – they’d adapted to the static defenses of the Republic. They were able to outmaneuver men sitting in bunkers and trenches, but they weren’t nimble themselves, except relative to that low standard.
So he’d gone one better on the refinement. Lighten up the armor, maintain what worked, add to it. He’d had plenty of time in a Republic stockade to think of how to change things around, to think about all of it. He'd honestly had a lot of time to think on his deeper motivations. For a long time, there was a sense of shame and cowardice involved in not using armor, not fighting as what he was but trying to hide among the enemy. He only fought with half of what he had, contented himself to stay in his 'place.' Myrkyr, of course, stripped the caul from his eyes. He had to find another way, especially if he ever wanted Fett’s head.
He was in his own little place as he laid equipment out on the table, the things he felt would best benefit him on the ground. The fighting would be indoors, but once in, it’d be a fight to hold. There was a mix of the familiar, to the Republic troops, and the more exotic, bounty hunter type stuff. Things that worked in an ugly street fight on Nar Shadaa. That, of course, included a heavily modified disruptor rifle, highly illegal, instead of the typical Mando Assault Blaster. Sure, it kicked, but it was brutal at range and at close quarters, even if it didn’t fill the air with bolts. He got some of the loathing looks that Jedi and Trooper alike gave the weapon – highly illegal in the Republic – but this was wartime.
Once in a while, he could see a scowl out of his peripheral vision; he was the odd man out, a real loner. They didn’t have to understand his reasons – nor would he easily open up on them – as to why he’d have left the Mandalorian side ten years ago. There were Cathar around, after all, they wouldn’t hesitate to start a fight he’d have to finish. There were others that saw the visions, without connecting all the dots.
It was a roomfull of people, testing their equipment, attaching it to their persons or otherwise preparing themselves under the harsh glow of the lighting.
Then, to break the reverie of weapons maintenance and meditation, the PA system crackled on with a deep male voice, "30 minutes to drop. Prepare to board drop pods on the red light mark..."
The last item of kit went onto his belt.
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