Near Salanda

[John Hammond]

In the systems near Salanda, Imperial Battle Fleets started to make their arrival to secure a perimeter for the coronation. It was a top secret operation, each fleet operating independently from the others, ordered to hold their position and radio silence, in order to respond very quickly to an emergency call. This would hopefull prevent the enemy from knowing where and how many fleets were assembled.

[Dan Zorko]

Further off, out of range, the BMP fleet was arriving in empty space. They would be staying within a 10 minute hyperspace jump, just in case something went wrong. In that case, Dan's flagship would signal the rest of the fleet, and they would spring into action.

[Jalua Solast]

The 1st Royal Support Group and the 18th Forward Assault Group gathered outside of the normal space lanes. On board the flagship of the 1st was the Empress, who was going over plans for the upcoming assault on Republic controlled worlds. In front of her, several systems in red could be seen, while her Empire was in purple, the Remnant in Blue and faint dashes of Black for where the Black Moon had influence or control. The Mandalorians was a yellow mess beginning to look like they were surrounding her empire, but for now, she would leave them out of the negotiating table. They hadn't approached her, and she wanted to get more territory and firepower before going into negotiations, the Mandalorians liked worthy opponents, and the Coalition would soon become one.

With the Republic Territories breaking away or holding the last few loyalists, they were ripe for the picking. Demoralised and chased throughout the galaxy, there was not much more they could do, their tactics would need to change if they were to survive, but for now, nobody was giving them a clear sign to follow. Jalua would take advantage of this the best she could, securing systems before the Remnant had a chance to take them all.

There was Hutt Space to the flank of the Coalition, but they would have no intentions of invading other empires, they were more concerned of their own power struggles. Although she could expliot this, it would raise too many possibilities without much control. Instead, she picked with the tap of her fingers, several targets on the holomap.

These were Commenor, for it close location to Kuat and being a tactical advantage. Nubia for it's ship making facilities and space lane location, giving them the resources and facilities to continue production on a mass scale of the R-Wings. Manaan because of it's reserves of healing agents and a peaceful planet which would be good for the economy. Sarapin because of it's relation to Corellia and the core worlds.

There was other secondary targets, mainly securing the space in between these primary targets. These included Lannik for securing the flank to Hutt Space, Mimban to help secure the Gyndine area, Antar to further provide expansion opportunities, Humbarine for it's bridge between Sarapin and Commenor, Talasea for it's border expanding possibilities and Ambria because it would secure the border to the Mandalorians at Onderon with Telti and Merson then joining the Coalition cause.

Zeltros was the world which had been a tactical nightmare for the Coalition planners, and Jalua was determined to do something about it. The planet was a party haven, which attracted criminals, drug users and dealers, and generally a nightmare for security forces. So although the Coalition would rather have it outside of their control, it was going to be even more within their borders, so what to do? Jalua decided that an agreement with the planet would have to be reached, where trade along selected space lanes wouldn't be taxed by the Coalition but free access for Coalition citizens and security forces would have to be allowed. While this was drafted and the proposal sent off, Jalua studied the other surrounding planets.

Galaxy Map website

[Jalua Solast]

With the targets selected, the fleets throughout Coalition Space was given their orders.

• The 1st Royal Support Group would take Commenor, Humbarine and Sarapin.
  
• The 2nd Royal Defence Fleet would be mobilised to protect the existing borders.
  
• The 18th Forward Assault Group would take Ambria, and then secure Telti and Merson.
  
• The 4th Gyndine Support Group would secure nearby Mimban and Antar.
  
• The 9th Imperial Task Force would secure Talasea, Manaan and Nubia.
  
• The 5th Forward Reconnaissance Group would secure Lannik.
  
• The 8th Forward Reconnaissance Group would spread out and secure space lanes to all new territories.
  
• The 6th Forward Assault Group would be ordered to Tythe, which was deep in the Outer Rim and although not in Coalition Territory, would provide that outpost with progressive expansion opportunities in nearby regions.