The Death Star has been destroyed. While the Coalition celebrates, Ezra and Jaral return to Lothal, to spend some time with their family and introduce Luke to the ways of the Jedi. But the Empire is far from broken, as Grand Admiral Tanis and his fl...
The federal offensive was progressing, but not as fast as Jaral had hoped. Columex had been occupied only after a week of stiff resistance, and the imperials had clearly changed their tactics, showcasing that Iulius was overhauling the doctrines of his forces to slow down the Coalition. Problem was: what was he biding time for?
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That was the question that bothered both her and the Intelligence. The most logical choice for the Grand Admiral, the salarians officers argued, would've been to keep pressure on the rebel flank, after his forces had taken Saleucami. However, he had halted his offensive and the front had been stabilized.
Speaking of Saleucami, Jaral was still quite upset. The rescue of Iblis and his remaining forces had been successful, since the imperial Admiral tasked with capturing him had run away the moment the massive rebel fleet had appeared in the system, allowing the rebels to recover the hotheaded general.
Since the disaster at Charros had been caused by Iblis' disobedience, Jaral had had no other choice but to court martial him, and the trial had ended only two rotations before. Iblis had been found guilty, and not simply because there were many in the higher ranks of the Alliance that distrusted him. However, Jaral had put him in front of a choice: he could accept being demoted back to 2nd Lieutenant and maybe recover his rank one day, or he could leave the Alliance and establish his own splinter group. He had chosen the latter.
Many had questioned Jaral over this decision, but it was actually driven by pure logic: the defeat was only caused by Iblis underestimating Iulius. After the thrashing at Charros, Jaral was sure that the corellian general would not repeat that mistake.
Besides, Iblis didn't like Mon Mothma and Jaral's prudent strategy for the war, and his presence only caused factionalism inside the Alliance, so it was better for everybody if he just left and waged his own war against the Empire, though Jaral had managed to negotiate that he kept contacts and accepted to be resupplied by the Coalition. Apparently, he was now trying to establish another base somewhere in the Mid Rim, right in the middle of imperial lines.
However, all of this paled in front of the next activity on the horizon. For today, Empress Benedetta IV dei Vignoli, together with her daughter Anastasia and the Citadel Council, was coming to visit Lothal as part of her royal visit to the new Sister-Nations of Andromeda and the soon-to-be-proclaimed allied nations: the New Republic, the Mon Cala Kingdom, the Raxus Conglomerate and other independent governments, either of freed territories or in-exile.
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