Saga of the Bridgers-Year 6

Chapter 5: Uneasy alliance

February 12.

Sitting on the floor of Tarfful's hut, Iulius was listening and trying to understand what the Wookiee Chieftain was trying to say. But really, he had never had much time to learn their language, so he could only show to be attentive and wait for the protocol droid to translate.

"Chieftain Tarfful says that the Wookiees will fight to defend the Empire alongside you, Lord-Protector. However, they do not wish to be sent in the Outer Rim to fight, as he believes that those peoples rebelled because they didn't want to be imperial citizens. He says that they have all the right to seek happiness on their own, and he will not order the Wookiees to help oppress them."

"You have my word, Tarfful," Iulius replied sincerely. "the recruitment of your warriors is purely defensive. As long as you oppose entry on the planet to the Coalition, not a single Wookiee will be forced to fight in the Outer Rim without consent."

Tarfful made a growl in a tone that Iulius found quite positive, and the protocol droid confirmed.

"Then it's settled. Under these conditions, the Wookiees will fight for the Empire."

Iulius put a hand over his heart. "Thank you, respectable Chieftain. The Empire is honored to have you at its side."

After exchanging the last pleasantries, Iulius stood up and left the hut, rejoining his escort and Qathora in the middle of the Wookiee village.

"Hod did it go?" she asked.

"Tarfful agreed to send some of his warriors to the local garrison. We'll be able to free up the stormtroopers we have here."

"Sounds great."

"Yeah. In a way." he muttered.

He would've worked even better if Coruscant hadn't significantly reduced his budget. Iulius' initial idea had been to bolster planetary armies for their self-defense while investing heavily in the recruitment of stormtroopers to prepare a large-scale offensive in the Outer Rim, but the sudden budget cut had crushed that plan. The Lord-Protector had wanted to extend the recruitment for the Corp to non-Humans, but the lack of funds prevented him from commissioning new equipment to the industry, so for now only near-Humans were allowed to enlist, because the standard armor could be issued to them as well.

What bothered Iulius the most, was that he didn't know the reason for this monetary restriction: Qathora had kept an eye on Minister G'Ray and she did find proofs that the budget projections had been altered, but in order to know why somebody would have to go inquire at the highest levels of government. Even Moff Gideon said that he could not divulge anything about it.

So now Iulius had to literally scrape the bottom of the barrel. He needed to bolster the ranks of the Army with every able-bodied sentient and free up as many possible candidates for the Stormtrooper Corp as possible.

There were also a lot of additional complications: different species also meant different needs, between medicines, food, environmental protections...there were now countless variables that were driving the folks at the logistic department crazy.

The only exception were the standard weapons: most imperial weapons like the E-11 could be easily wielded by most of non-Humans, so at the very least, the new recruits could be given the main tool for a soldier.

Luckily for the Lord-Protector, he had Thrawn. The Grand Admiral had studied the history of the Imperial Federation during his imprisonment, and he had learned how the Systems Alliance could manage such a diverse army. His insights had been extremely precious to ensure that the reorganization of the army didn't leave the Mid Rim forces in complete chaos that would have left an opportunity for the enemy.