Overextension
Thrawn looked over the intelligence reports with annoyance. Ever since Lady Ciaran had decided the rebels of Onderon needed a grand strategy to retake their planet more than they needed daring raids, he had replaced Grievous as head of the operation. It had been intriguing to learn more of their history. The people of Onderon were not well versed in the ways of war, historically united by the threat of the creatures living beyond the walls of their cities.
Their time with Grievous had proven them quick learners of the art of war however, as their strategy after the Kaleesh general was done closely resembled those of the Kaleesh warriors when they fought against the Huk. This luckily bled over into a willingness to adopt Thrawn's strategies with little resistance. This rebellion had been a phenomenal chance to utilize the guerilla tactics he had studied and found little use for at the head of a fleet, and dare he say it had even been somewhat fun.
This report stood to change that however. Reinforcements, more than doubling the number of droids on the planet, led by Sev'rance'tann. She was no genius of the field, but she was still leagues more competent in strategy than the usual droid commanders employed by the CIS. Which meant Thrawn was going to need to change his strategy. Which was a shame, as he had a perfectly good plan to depose the current king.
"So what do we do now? You're good, and we're good, but there's no way we can take out that many droids, even if they just stood still and waited for us to shoot them." said Steela Gerrera. She and her brother Saw were essentially the leaders of the rebel movement, though they deferred to Thrawn in matters of strategy.
"You are not wrong. We simply do not have the resources to repel the Separatists with these reinforcements. Even if we did, the planet if not likely to be habitable knowing the lengths Sev'rance'tann is likely willing to go to. Still, I believe there is a way to deny our foes victory." said Thrawn.
"What is it?" demanded Saw Gerrera. "How can we beat this many droids?"
"I have a plan." said Thrawn cryptically. "But first, I must ascertain something. What are you fighting for?"
"To beat those Separatist bastards." said Saw Gerrera aggressively. "For freedom!"
"For our home." said Steela, more melancholy than her brother.
"And what is your home? Is it where you live? You fight for these woods? Or is it the people of Onderon? Do you fight for them?" probed Thrawn. It was a carefully worded question, phrased as a yes or no, while a third option would have been equally viable. But he needed them to stop thinking of Onderon as the planet and start thinking of it as the people and resources.
"Enough of this!" shouted Saw. "What's this plan of yours? Tell us so we can do it!"
"General Grievous had the rebels attack, and I won't deny the advantage of the element of surprise. But I often find it more efficient to let your opponent overextend their forces. If I know Tann, she will commit all her forces at once to crush us entirely with sheer force. So we let her right into the base, emptied of valuables, and blow every last one of her droids to kingdom come along with the base."
"Where would we go then? We only have the one base. They'd just hunt us down as we tried to get away. We don't even have ships to get away quickly." criticized Steela.
"And a cornered rat does desperate things. If she starts killing the people in the city to get to us…" Saw grit his teeth rather than voice his fears, lest they become reality.
"Indeed, a lack of transport would pose a significant problem." admitted Thrawn, before smiling coyly. "Luckily, our dear Sev'rance'tann is bringing us her own ships. Tell your spies to prep the civilians. We will need to strike quickly."
XXX
Sev'rance Tann was not a patient woman at the best of times. What most people mistook for patience was actually planning. Spending an hour doing something pointless chaffed far less when one had spent time beforehand getting used to the idea of doing something pointless for an hour. Unfortunately, her superiors cared little for her plans, diverting her and her forces to quash some rebellion on Onderon.
She was in a hurry, and had optimized her strategy to produce results quickly, regardless of losses and resources required. Dooku had asked for results from Onderon, not efficient results. It was petty, but it was her revenge. All her forces had congregated in the city that had been targeted most heavily by the rebel forces. Given their lack of heavy transports, they had to be located relatively nearby. Sev'rance had sent out droid scouts in all directions to find their base. She would get an answer, if just from the gaps in the line when the rebels shot one.
Then the results came. One side of the line went dark, one after the other. Others reported being caught in traps in the same area. She had them. Commands were given, and every droid in the city amassed into three armies to crush the rebels with overwhelming force. As they departed the city, Sev'rance Tann sat back and enjoyed the calm before the storm. Soon, she would be back on track, launching her assault of Sullust.
The forces met little resistance as they cut through the jungle, two forces approaching from the front, angled to prevent the rebels from slipping around, and the third sweeping around the rear in case they tried to flee. It was a plan elegant in its simplicity and speed. Soon those pesky rebels would be no more and she could be on her way, Onderon done and dusted behind her.
She heard a beeping noise and answered the call from her commander on the front lines. "Report."
"We've reached the rebel base, but it appears to be deserted ma'am. Just a lot of traps in the woods that got our scouts." came the tinny reply. Needless to say, Sev'rance Tann was no happy to receive the news.
"Then where are they? Search their base for clues, and don't report back until you have something to report!" Sev'rance Tann hung up in a huff, her rage giving her power that had no foe to be directed at. Another hour passed, with Sev'rance Tann destroying the room to vent her anger as she waited longer and longer. Then her communicator beeped once more, and she hurried to answer it, eager to get results.
Her hopes were crushed however, when she saw not one of her battle droids, but Mitth'raw'nuruodo projected before her. "
You. What do
you want?" she spat.
"I simply wanted to thank you. It's not always I can ask for such a straightforwardly aggressive to run headlong into my traps. It would have been much more difficult to usurp your capital ship without you sending most of its security on a romp through the woods." said Thrawn casually.
"You what?!" asked Tann, turning to look out her window at the capital ship slowly flying away from its place above the city.
"Yes, it was quite the daring raid to steal a transport ship, hide some rebels aboard, fly up to the ship proper, take control without raising the alarm, and then board all the refugees of Onderon. Enjoy your empty city." taunted Thrawn. "It's a shame you did not moor your entire fleet. I'm certain Lady Ciaran would have derived no end of pleasure from you being stranded here."
"I will end you." cursed Tann.
"By all means, overextend yourself again. Perhaps in your attempt to end me you will stumble into a room I used to occupy, now filled only with bombs." Thrawn pressed a detonator in his right hand, and Sev'rance Tann heard the explosion from the direction of the rebel base. She didn't need to look to verify what had happened and focused instead on trying to kill Thrawn with the Dark Side of the Force through the communicator.
Thrawn continued undeterred, as casually as if they were sharing a cup of tea. "Don't you worry, I'll be sure to return your rebels once I'm done dropping off these refugees somewhere safe. Don't go anywhere in the meantime."
Sev'rance watched in silent fury as Thrawn hung up on her, and the ship he was aboard left the planet's atmosphere. Finally, the rage inside her burst out. "
THRAAAAAWN!"
AN: Both sides send their Chiss to take Onderon. Too bad our Chiss is best Chiss. Thrawn's plan was originally different, but as I wrote it became increasingly difficult to justify Thrawn not killing Tann by carpet bombing the city, so he had to settle for crippling her armies and coming back to annoy her later, setting everything back to square one.
As for this, which was somehow posted
before I wrote an omake wherein Sev'rance tries to kill Thrawn with the Force over a comm-link, I'll just say Tann hasn't learned that skill yet. Seriously though, that timing. How?
...Right now, I'm wondering if we could ret-con our Muunilist mansion purchase (last turn) so that it turns out we had actually purchased the Damask Holdings superspire. That would be just. so. perfect -- to accidentally lay claim to the Damask legacy, as his rightful protege (the only one that didn't kill him, after all). The building is in downtown Harnaidan, so it still fits the 'cheap due to bomb & blaster damage from the recent battle'. And it would be exactly our kind of luck to unwittingly purchase a building once owned by a Sith Lord. 
