Jedi Insurgency 173

The next connect call had several figures shimmer into view. 

Jax, the white haired teen was composed as always, and appeared to be slowly spelunking through a sewer or tunnel of some sort. 

Yon, the short, black haired teen was caught mid meal, and was loudly slurping on some noodles. 

The Bad Batch were all in a steam room, toweled and chilling out. 

Bail Organa was dressed in luxurious robes, and was sitting at a desk, appearing like a professional statesman. When his hologram arrived, he raised an eyebrow at the others, then glanced at Corvus with a ‘wtf bro’ kind of look, before quickly regaining his composure. 

Corvus was wearing his mask, and wanted to apologize, but could only shrug his shoulders. 

Rahm Kota was covered in soot, and laughing wildly as he [Force Pulled] the guns out of a dozen troopers hands. Defenseless, they fell to his blade. The bearded middle aged man then plopped down in a chair that had 100% taken blaster fire, and he wore the biggest shit eating grin. 

Commander Pots, and Admiral Clip (he had been promoted), the clones on Eriadu, were calmly sitting in their respective offices. Pots seemed eager to say something, whilst Clip appeared to be disinterested in this gathering. 

Lastly, for this assembly of ‘Team Good Guys’ the image of Jedi Master Jaro Tapal had made an appearance. The massive Lasat was sitting in a meditative pose, and was flexing his understanding of the Force by floating a foot off the ground. 

‘Show off.’ Corvus tsked, when he glanced at Tapal. Although he had such petty thoughts, he was thankful to Bail for connecting them, every Jedi willing to fight against the Empire was a welcome addition. 

“Greetings, my friend-” Corvus got out, but was quickly interrupted by Yon. 

“Masterrr!” Yon excitedly shouted. 

“Master. It is good to see you.” Jax quietly intoned at the same time. 

“Bah hah hah, if only my students were as happy to see me!” Kota slapped his knee in good cheer, and then glared off camera. 

“General.” Hunter lazily waved, steam covered half of his form, but the super commando wore a tired, relaxed expression on his face. 

“General!” Pots stood up, and saluted. 

Clip nodded from his seat, seemingly going over data streams, and typing away at some document. 

Bail Organa clasped his hands, and inclined his head with a politician's smile. “It is wonderful to be amongst friends.” 

Lastly, Tapal cracked an eye open, and snorted. A brief amount of amusement, and befuddlement passed his eyes as he scanned the others, before settling upon Corvus’s masked form. 

“Revan. We meet at last. Your act of heroism upon Tatooine has inspired both myself, and my Padawan. I applaud your kindness.” Tapal's deep, charismatic voice boomed with sincerity. 

“Master, I felt it all the way from Nar Shaddaa! It was a spark in the Forsh no lesser than wha we felt from Coruscant!” Yon excitedly exclaimed. Wolfing down a set of noodles between his words, his sentence came out somewhat jumbled. 

Corvus glanced at Jax, and his taciturn student slowly nodded, confirming Yon's statement. 

“I say boy, I say again, I thought I would be the one to claim all the glory. That the raw materi-els of Sullust would be enough! But you, sar, are a generational talent!” Kota spoke in his Galactic Southern, Outer Rim accent, and slammed a fist on his chair, accidentally breaking a piece off in the process. 

“While I can't speak towards what was felt in the Force, what you have accomplished on Tatooine has undoubtedly inspired hope across the galaxy, my friend. A million new recruits have contacted our proxy forces in the last 24hrs alone.” Bail stated with a warm smile. The confidence behind his words practically glowed in the Force. 

“That’s my Master. He can do anything.” Yon added on, his voice filled with childish pride, like the kind one would have when bragging about a father, or relative. 

Corvus could only run a hand over his mask in embarrassment. The kid had practically bragged ‘my dad works at Nintendo, this is what's coming out in the next Zelda game!’ 

Even Jax had silently nodded along, a tight grin visible at the corner of his lips. 

“It’s true, General. Our recruitment numbers on Eriadu were already high after you healed them. But after this latest stunt, several nearby systems have gone into open revolt, and we're having trouble reinforcing them!” Pots was quick to speak up. 

“Indeed.” Bail nodded along. “My proxy cells had been struggling to gain traction, but this was the chink in Palpatine’s armor that has mobilized them. Due to the relatively close proximity of Eriadu, my agents in nearby systems had become emboldened. Revolution has struck the Triton, Kabal, Tibrin, and Dolla systems.” 

“Those are all within a day's trip for a Class I Hyperdrive from Eriadu!” Pots added on excitedly. “Clip is rerouting ships to these hotspots as we speak!” 

After being named, the Admiral raised his head to nod at them, before going back to work. The clone officer had rings under his eyes, and several liters worth of caff strewn across his desk. 

‘Poor bastard.’ Corvus thought to himself, and silently gave Clip a thumbs up. 

“Oi'll be moving to Triton soon myself. Sullust has all but been pacified, all we're waiting on is a patrol fleet (5 to 10 ships) to weigh anchor, freeing us up to engage the enemy.” Kota continued the conversation, and made his stance known. 

“Your aid will be much appreciated, General Kota.” Pots nodded, and began to do some calculations on a dataslate. “Triton has a strong garrison with a Legion guarding its resource centers. Once we punch through its defenses, we should be able to relieve the siege on Utapau.” 

Corvus nodded along. Relieving Utapau would be big. That was a major production hub for the CIS. If they could secure that corner of the Galactic South-East, then their flank's safety would be ensured. Not for the last time, did Corvus feel himself drawn away from Tython, and pulled towards other military matters. However! Utapau could wait. Worst case scenario, he sent Kota to handle it, as he was in the area. The Jedi had been posted up on Illum for too long. Once he wrapped things up on Nar Shaddaa, he would take them to their homeworld. 

“Thinking about leaving all the glory to me, eh?” Kota asked, a shit eating grin spread from ear to ear across his battle hardened face. 

“Unfortunately, yes. As you are well aware, I know the coordinates to Tython. One of my subordinates has recently rescued dozens of stranded Jedi, and after my mission on Nar Shaddaa, I intend to take our people home. I say unfortunately, because your services will be required to stabilize the front.” Corvus said in an apologetic tone. 

“Bah! I can visit Tython when I'm dead! What you said on Tatooine was right. We've grown too comfortable sitting on our arses, when we should be out in the galaxy, stirring bantha shit up!” Kota spoke crassly, and slammed his fist into his armor plated chest piece with a loud thump. 

“Thank you.” Corvus quietly whispered. 

Although Kota was a raging asshole, the bastard had his back, and was ready to throw himself face first into danger. Maybe saber monkeys weren't all bad. 

“Why do I get the feeling you're thinking I'm a bad influence on my Padawans?” Kota crossed his arms, and narrowed his eyes. 

Corvus chose to ignore this, and turned to address both Pots, and Clip. 

“You two have been busy. Tell us about your recruitment numbers, manufacturing capabilities, and the state of the army/navy.” 

Pots continued to consult his dataslate, and then began to list off different numbers, and figures. 

“Let's start with recruitment. It's been two months since the liberation of Eriadu, and as you are aware, 80% of the original, home army have thrown their lot in with us. After the Imperial invasion, this number has remained steady at about 6.9 million men. Local recruits are hovering between 15 to 17 million men. The first class-about 1 million men-is expected to finish training in two months, whereas we are anticipating 3 million FNG's every month after that. 

Last minute, out of system recruits have surged in the last 24hrs, as the Senator had said. Over 60,000 volunteers have flooded into the system, with thousands arriving every hour. 

Furthermore, we have begun coordinating with the Gungans, and operations surrounding Naboo’s nearby systems are being planned as we speak. As no one suspects the Gungans of turning on the Empire, given that everyone looks down upon them as a species, we are anticipating at least 3 planets to fall due to our sneak attack. The only trouble we have is supplying ships in time to reinforce them from any reprisal. 

The Dugs of Malastare have contributed several thousand units, however, per your instructions, most have been denied service, due to their smaller population. Although they are somewhat disgruntled that they cannot fight alongside their liberator, they have contributed significant amounts of M-Fuel. Our fleets, and factories are not in any danger of running out of energy. 

The 10 million FNG's-now reduced to 8 million after attrition-who were rescued from Kamino are now veterans of Malastare, and Eriadu. They have aided General Kota in seizing Sullust, and are actively training the clone children, as well as the new volunteers. 

Lastly, in terms of troop deployment, the Starcrusher Corp has acted as a reactionary force during this period of time. We have patrolled the space lanes, eliminated pirates, captured smugglers, and halted the flow of supplies along the Hydian Way, Rimma Trade Route, and several other minor pathways. It is estimated that billions of credits worth of materials have been denied access to the Core Worlds. This tactic has forced these worlds to either pay us a stiff fine, or spend days-and in some cases weeks-going around.” Pots droned on, listing one activity after another. Before he could move on to manufacturing, Corvus Paused, and began to analyze the info that he just learned. 

What stuck out to him the most, was the strategic location of Eriadu. Sitting at a nexus of several trade routes, all they had to do, was set up a couple Interdictor Class spaceships, pull incoming merchants from hyperspace, and search them for spies, goods, and anything else. The revenue generated by such an act-or the monies denied to the Empire-would be extraordinary. 

Conquering Eriadu was perhaps the most instrumental action he had taken since the start of this war. Or perhaps it was equally as important as the destruction of Kamino. The point was, seizing the largest trade route in the Galactic South, and the largest military supplier in the region was incredibly significant. Only two to three months had passed since the Tarkins had been killed, yet their homeworld now answered to him. Having such a fortress world as his main base of operations was such a blessing. 

Un-Pausing, Corvus leaned close, eager to hear what else Pots had to say. 

“In terms of manufacturing, our output exceeds all known measurements.” Pots proudly declared, much to the shock of everyone in the call. 

“You have inspired millions, and healed their world, my friend. It is no wonder that they have reciprocated.” Bail muttered, and stroked his goatee, deep in thought. 

“I have noticed similar fanaticism amongst the Wookiees I fight beside. While I believe this is ultimately a good thing, do not be blinded by success.” Tapal's deep voice cautioned. He was not speaking down to Corvus, but was merely sharing his own experience. 

“Oh, don't mind him.” Kota waved Tapal's stern, serious countenance away. “My men love me, and I'd die for any one of them. Leave such pedantry for the likes of my Master.” Kota rolled his eyes, and replied with a wolfish grin. 

“Yes, I highly doubt Master Yoda would approve of his student's current, ahem, countenance.” Tapal raised an eyebrow, and glanced at a bottle of lum that was openly on display in Kota's hands. 

Shrugging unapologetically, Kota took a swig, and gasped in pleasure as the golden liquid hit the back of his throat. “I say, boy, don't mind us old men, continue with your report!” 

Pots cleared his throat, glanced at Corvus, and upon a wave of Corvus’s hand, resumed his speech. 

“The Starcrusher Corp is fully manned, and has a full Legion's worth of ships. We have refitted the captured, damaged ships from the Siege of Eriadu, and thanks to our brothers who are working in the factories, completed another Legion's fleet. There are now two complete system fleets under our control, with a third nearing completion.” 

“Good work, both of you.” Corvus nodded to Pots and Clip. “I want that second fleet-alongside a Legion of troops-to be sent to Kashyyyk, General Tapal is in need of assistance.” 

“It will be done, General.” Pots replied, and disconnected his call to carry out his orders. 

Clip saluted Corvus, and followed in Pots's footsteps. 

“You have my thanks, Master Revan. Although we have liberated this beautiful jungle planet, I can sense that the Empire means to strike again, and soon. Having the means to not only defend ourselves, but take the fight to nearby systems will go a long way.” Tapal spoke in a slow, steady rhythm, his eyes never left Corvus’s masked visage as he conveyed his deepest thanks. 

“Anything for the Order.” Corvus saluted solemnly in reply. 

He then turned his attention to his boys, and the Bad Batch. 

“So. How have your missions gone?”