[member="Darth Carnifex"]
"I would still like to understand." She said. "But if we're changing the topic for the time being..." Vanessa considered the question. What she knew about them was simple enough, after all. Her research into the ORC had still been somewhat minimal, all things considered, but of the Silver Jedi there was much she could provide him intelligence on.
"I know that they believe themselves to be right. That through their willingness to consider the advice of others, a willingness to provide at least a sensation of safety and freedom, a willingness to spare the rod even when justified in a myriad of cases... they have garnered loyalty." She said. "The Jedi Order we face now is not the Jedi Order we faced those decades ago, Kaine. They, like the Sith, have evolved as the counterpoint to our very existence. And their reach, while at the heart of the Silver Jedi, is not necessarily omnipresent within the Outer Rim Coalition."
She took a sip of the wine before bringing a hand onto the table, the center of it flipping over to expose a holoprojector that gently glowed within the room. "The Silver Jedi will require a much firmer hand. The government and military are infested with Jedi, and as showcased by Romi Jade's defection during the ORC's attack on our territory, those who remain are not so easily corrupted, by Taeli or any other infiltrators you have within them." She took another one of the crackers and savored its taste for a moment before continuing. "The Silvers are also a much larger threat militarily. Their forces are unified, uniform, and possess a far more dangerous army and navy than our southern rivals. Namely, their dreadnoughts." Subtly this was a hint on why Vanessa had desired to acquire such a vessel, in order to end the most dangerous weaponry available to the Silvers.
"Removal of those vessels from play will permanently shift the balance of power in our favor. By operating multiple fleets with dreadnoughts at their core - and we have more than enough dreadnoughts to do this to a reasonable degree - we will be able to overwhelm the firepower of their remaining naval units once their dreadnoughts have been eliminated. As the front advances into their territory, orbital bombardment fleets will devastate the military infrastructure of the worlds whose space we have secured, while our soldiers conquer the planet, never needing to be at the frontlines and never needing to risk being cut off by a loss in space. And eventually, we will reach Kashyyyk, use our strength to force the Silvers to submit to us or watch as we destroy the government they have created one planet at a time. They will bend the knee, of course, as their loyalty to their people outweighs their desire to destroy us. And hardliners will resist, but we can more than effectively deal with them as needed."
She cleared her throat as the holographic images shifted to the Outer Rim Coalition, its logo and the military equipment utilized by it hovering semitransparently before them. "Our southern opposition is going to be quite a bit more difficult to fully extinguish. Certainly we can defeat them militarily with few if any issues - their fleets are comprised of a hodgepodge of worn out ships, ill-maintained and easily defeated. A single one of my battlecruisers was enough to defeat the resistance put against it." She smiled. "Their soldiers are anything but - brigands, smugglers, and rabble-rousers, the lot of them. The only thing keeping them able to rival us are the Jedi from the Galactic Alliance, those who survived the treason."
Another sip, another bite. "Your best bet to deal with the Outer Rim Coalition is to assemble kill-teams of the finest assassins the Sith has ever artificed. Infiltrators, murderers of the highest skill and finest caliber. Send kill-teams after the leading Jedi within our enemy. These kill-teams will cut off the head, the veteran Jedi who have managed to survive our subterfuge and who now rule the smugglers' paradise from the shadows. Those novice Knights and Padawans who remain will not be able to control such an eclectic and.. multicultural group of individuals. Internal chaos will result, and that is when we strike." Another sip, and she was refilling the bottle.
"I already have plans to neuter their ability to adequately defend against this. There are several stations along the border of their territory, storage facilities where much of the arms, vehicles, and starships of the Alliance-in-exile went. The ORC could, in theory, utilize its strained resources to reactivate this equipment and utilize it against our incurring forces. My plan is to strike at these facilities before our next official engagement with them, ensuring that when our war is truly declared on them, they will not be able to stand before us. I will capture whatever I can and destroy what I cannot." Now that her glass was full again, she took another sip, the wine having already stained her lips a slightly darker hue than normal.
"Once this denial of resources and assassination of leadership has been performed, the main assault can begin. Our army and navy will effortlessly sweep aside their forces, but I expect a good portion of them to dump arms and go underground. We will need to leave a heavy peacekeeping presence within their territory for a long time, potentially years, in order to prevent a popular uprising." She nodded.
"And how do we prevent such an uprising? We act kindly towards them. Patronizing, in a way. We subdue them with at least feigned benevolence, indicate to them that we do indeed care about them. We eliminate crime. Allow their agricultural, industrial, and artistic bases to flourish. We bring the best of them within our military and civilian populace. And we do as I have done to those who now serve me - we give them a reason to be loyal other than fear. And that's going to be important, because the moment that the remaining loyalist ORC give them a reason to rebel against us, the moment the yoke of oppression is seemingly removed from their necks, they will turn on us without a second thought, viewing us as nothing more than tyrants rather than the government that now rules over them. How you wish to instill such non-fear-based loyalty is up to you, but without it, we will not be able to maintain long-term control over that region of space, just as we failed to maintain long-term control over Commenor."
She took another bite. "Have you any thoughts on my words, Kaine - regarding either your pet project or the answers I have given you?"