Callida nods.

They go over several possible contingencies and variations, and in due time, arrive at Ilum.

Regus, grey-haired with a beard and in his formal white Grand Moff uniform, is there to meet them. He bows.

"My lord Occlus."

"Grand Moff. I am here to end the insurrection of Malgus the Betrayer. Know that the Dark Council considers this to be of the highest priority. You are to cease any ongoing campaign against the Republic in as expeditious a manner as possible and redirect your forces until such time as this threat is ended."

"With respect, my lord, the Republic may not cooperate with such a move."

"I intend to offer the Republic and the Jedi a limited truce in order to facilitate this."

Regus looks conflicted.

"Darth Arho's directives are no longer relevant to this situation. It has grown beyond him. Darth Marr and I are in agreement on this point. Now, conduct me to your communications center. And provide my apprentice with the most current tactical report."

"Yes, my lord." He gestures to an aide. "This way."

She goes that way! She would love a full tactical report, what's the situation like?

Not good, to put it lightly. Malgus co-opted many of their best postions and now what remains of the Imperial forces are almost divided in half. The Republic has made a few exploratory probes at the weakest sections, but not committed to a full assault yet, thankfully.

Well, shit. That'll be tricky to fix.

Okay, they can't have their forces almost split like this, they're going to need to consolidate somewhere. You, go get this person, she needs to speak with him about the tactical situation on Ilum.

Occlus makes a call on an open channel.

"This is Darth Occlus of the Dark Council. I have assumed control of Imperial forces on this planet. I would speak with the one styling himself Darth Revan."

There's a long pause, then:

"'Styling'? I'm hurt. That's hurtful. Revan speaking, hello."

"Greetings. Are you in command of the Republic here?"

"Nope! Sometimes they accept my suggestions, though."

"I would parley with you and your commander, then, in regards to our mutual enemy."

"Nnnnot sure I have one of those, but I can get you the commander of the Republic forces if you'd rather."

"That will do."

"Excellent. Is there anything else?"

"I will send coordinates over a secure channel. I will be bringing myself and my apprentice, you may bring as many as you would like."

"Sure. Pleasure speaking with you."

Occlus closes the channel. She tells one of the techs to transmit coordinates for a smaller abandoned shrine, and goes to find Callida.

Callida's at a tactics screen that's displaying personnel listings. Luckily she doesn't actually have to command the battle personally. She's not a bad tactician, but she's not a genius. Instead she's, frankly, cleaning up the command structure itself. A large number of forces defecting, including many major commanders, makes for a bit of a mess. Add Sith who think they're in charge now into the mix, and - well, that makes what Callida's currently dealing with. Augh. She'll get a list together of people she needs Occlus to be personally terrifying at, but for now, she can handle the major cleanup.

"My lord?" she says, looking up.

"We will be going to negotiate the ceasefire in person. Does anything require immediate attention before that?"