Empire's Vanguard: Sovereignty | Star wars

2. Derra IV: Patrol to Battle

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle."

General Norman Schwarzkopf

18 BBY

My career was going well, and I was assigned to patrol the expansion region with a small fleet. While rumours circulated about increased partisan insurgent activity in the expansion region with raids and losing contact with many patrols, there were only a few minor smugglers, criminals, and even a brief skirmish with them. They denied cooperating to offer any transponder scans with my patrol.

My ship, the "Fury," two Raider classes, and two Arquitens make up my small fleet; one of the Arquitens was part of the patrol group that vanished after their group was attacked and formed an alliance with me. A number of them shared with me typical tactics they have come across, like isolation and hit-and-run. Simple tactics that any insurgent with limited resources would employ, but they included one extra detail—a more aggressive assault pattern—that further sparked my interest.

The Partisans have demonstrated a similar pattern and style of attack on the empire, according to current information and updates on the terrorist organisation engaged in insurgency. Saw Garerra.

After speaking with Commander Brandei, who provided me with some insight into his experiences, Lieutenant Jorad informed me of the most recent attacks, which have mostly occurred in this area. He also says that the attacks are dispersed, which makes sense, and that it may be difficult to locate their potential main battle group. Following an attack, Saw Garerra is the type of person who never stays in one place. He'd keep moving so he didn't get caught.

It's best to force him into one area where he may believe it's in his favour, but it will actually be mine, even though it might take some time.

To lure them out and determine a specific trajectory for where they would reside for a specific amount of time, I will need to make a significant request to Imperial Naval Command for the donation of a small group of baits. That's why I'm asking Commander Brandei for help, asking him to send a small group that's dispersed throughout the expansion area.

Garerra is a difficult fish to catch because, prior to the rise of the empire, he was our chief troublemaker, but now he is more of a hindrance. His fleet is small, so he has to make do with what are presumably older Republic ships. However, I think he's laying a net, and he's not realising that the net is far too small for this gundark.

FEW SKIRMISHES AND WEEKS LATER...

Saw Garerra deserves some credit for his persistent efforts to bring down the empire. We lost about five patrol groups in a short period of time, some of which are severely damaged but still repairable, but it was a good opportunity. Partisans mostly targeted patrol groups that were situated close to the Mikaster sector.

After receiving the necessary information from Lieutenant Jorad about that particular sector, I was able to focus my search on their main battle group or assumed base of operations, which was four planets listed in that sector: Armath, Atrakus, Derra IV, and Mikaster III.