Round six is in the books and we are beginning round 7. The Talathen Sector campaign will end in round 9, which corresponds to when Return of the Jedi happens. 

Round six is set just before the Battle of Hoth, and imperial probe droids have, while searching the galaxy for the main rebel base, located the Talathen sector base on Axamar. 

As a result, the major focus of this round was evacuating the base before the Empire wiped it out, fortunately, due to good intelligence, the Rebels knew the attack as coming and could prepare. 

Recruitment, and some healthy politics

A regular gang of new recruits were available, but the first recruit up for bid was the Red Queen, ruler presumptive of the newly freed Nimbala. The Basra Consortium, looking to shore up its investments bid 22 Clout for her loyalties, for the short-term at least. 

Also up for bid were a collection of pilots, soldiers and specialists, including the very first force-using character for Imperial Assault missions

Probably the most surprising move of this round was the Luxon militia saving all their clout for one purchase, that of Mozza Thun for 32 Clout. 

Gemma, Dao-Vurn and Hobbie went to work for the Basra Constortium.

Diala joined the Peoples movement, along with Occa. 

Jinn and Beryn joined the Republicans. 

The Basra consortium continued its move away from support people to military specialists. 

In the political round, several changes were made. X-3P0 was forced to step down after a terrible Alliance phase the previous turn, and was replaced by Mozza. From Slave to Alliance leader in one move. 

The racist Nun Diem was also finally sacked from being head of R&D and replaced with the competent, yet slightly boring looking Beryn Krell. The Republicans finally had a non-combat command for the first time in the campaign. 

Which of course means they had to be stripped of a combat command. And Airen Cracken, despite an exemplary record as fleet commander was forced to step aside and let the Beast of Luxon, Oleg Thrax assume command. 


This Major shake-up means the combat roles are now 

Fleet - Basra Consortium
Squadron- Republicans
Ground - People's movement
With the Luxon Militia frozen out of military command and focusing on diplomacy and alliances. 

The strategy phase

Now its worth noting that this phase took place before our epic adventure in Cahn, so notes of a viral outbreak on several worlds in the core system were troubling, but not as troubling as the imminent arrival of an Imperial Armada

Alliance command, under Mozza, secured enough points on their role to activate all alliances this round. The Red Queen, The Wookies, The Hodda Clan and the Bothan spynet would all be contributing this round. A huge swing from last turns inactivity. 

Many considered this a sign that the shakeup had done its job. 

Logistics command stockpiled resources as normal, but hit on several intelligence boosts while trading. Combined with the Bothan Spynet, Rebel intelligence command would have an unprecedented amount to spend this turn. 

Manny Bo'thans, super spy, slipped into the Korvas shipyards to find out what the massed Imperial fleet was doing, it was then he discovered they were heading straight for Axamar and the Rebel base. This changed the earlier discussed plans and everything focused on evacuating the base

Ged'Ruh focused on dropping false leads about the rebellion, shifting eyes away from Nimbala. X-3PO, deposed from Alliance Command, went into deep cover on Talathen VII station. And Sly conducted support missions for the Luxon Militia forces on Luxon, it was probably the only help they would get this turn. 

The Diplomacy core set about opening a dialogue with Kronos & potential rebels on Korvas. 

Lianna tell spearheaded an operation to convince the administration of Selano that the Alliance had more to offer than the Empire, who couldn't even build a base without it blowing up (we miss you Gax).

A stunning pair of triumphs vastly increased Selano's support of the rebellion, and work orders for the Empire were suddenly delayed. 

The Red Queen also consolidated the Rebellions hold on Nimbala

Fleet command had one goal, and one mission. Protect the base until they could escape by ambushing the Imperial fleet as it came out of Hyperspace

Squadron command also had one goal, protect the transports leaving the rebel base. But Lt Telji's squad was also dispatched to investigate rumours that pirates had uncovered the wreckage of a Subjugator class cruiser in the boneyard. 

Ground Command had Besh squad defend the base and hold the line until the last transports escaped, while Del Kern and Cresh squad caused a distraction on Nadir. The Wookies, were once again, fighting alongside the Luxon militia on Luxon

Recruitment had a bumper round, gaining an unprecedented bonus to recruitment, while training and R&D enjoyed modest returns, with Hodda and his cartel focused in on the new virus that had appeared. 

Intelligence spent its remaining points digging deeper into the core worlds of Talathen, Talathen VII and Korvas


Conclusion

The battle lines are set, next up was the evacuation of Axamar base. A three stage battle using Imperial Assault, Armada and X-wing. Update to follow