"We're not expected to survive that occurrence, my lord."

He resists the urge to roll his eyes. Ugh.

"All right then. Hand me your comlink? I'll confirm with your command that you've been given new orders to pull back and fortify Base Camp."

He can't actually swing 'get them home' (yet) but they'd almost certainly prefer being out of the main conflict. The Sith are the backbone of this operation, if they get rid of enough of them, the Imperial Military will be free to pull their men out of this stupid, stupid conflict.

"Yes, my lord." He hands it over.

     "Sir, you can't-"

"Shut it, private."

"Thank you." He takes the comlink, checking to make sure it's tuned to Imperial Military command, not something crazy like 'all frequencies.' Some Sith might get it into their heads to injure these men for 'defying orders,' even though they've been strong-armed into obeying any and all Sith their entire lives. Because that makes sense.

"This is Darth Revan. I'm sending a squad of men to fortify Base Camp -" he glances at the insignia on the armor, and names the corresponding squad, "- please direct any Sith that have a problem with this order to Way Station Phi." That would be the shrine he just took. "Thank you, that is all."

He tosses the comlink back.

"That's about the best I can do. Hope you get off this snowball."

"Yes, my lord." He turns to his command. "Pack it up, we're moving out!"

And with military efficiency, they bustle off.

Good, that went well.

He looks properly Sithy until they are well and truly gone -

- then drops it with a sigh, and sits. Ugh.

He probably did not actually manage to save their lives, they will probably get another stupid set of orders that will definitely get them killed. He so despises military inefficiency.

And that looks like Ana's cue to come in for the hug.

Revan appreciates Ana so much. Hug.

"Sorry," he says. "I realized after that it might be a bit, uh. Freaky. To watch me go full Sith Lord."

"A bit. But you're back now, right?"

"Never left, just looked a bit scary for a while. But yeah, I'm fine."

"That was pretty cool, though."

... He laughs, a little. "Thanks, I try."

"I guess we should report back."

"Yeah. Though I did introduce myself as Darth Revan and say that any Sith that had a problem with my order could come here and fight me over it, so. That's relevant, we might get a couple of Sith Lords eventually."

"Uh."

"If all the Sith show up to duel me, they're not busy rubbing their noses in crystal caves like cranky children. And if we kill enough of them the Sith in charge will get the message and bugger off. Granted, I will probably have to go break more things for them to care, I don't think this is enough to make anyone that isn't already paying close attention take notice. They weren't expecting to hold this spot."

"I guess we'll stick around for a while longer, then."

"Yeah. We'll comm the Jedi and let them know I'm being crazy."

"Maybe don't say the Sith thing."

"I will be the picture of innocence about the Sith thing. Unless they ask, in which case, I will tell the truth."

So they call in their success, and get some people out to help them hold the position.

No Imperial response is forthcoming.

Eh. About what he expected. Guess he'll just have to pull this trick again.

He'll be sure to wear black next time.

There are more skirmishes over the next few weeks, mostly inconclusive. The Sith are proving troublesome to dislodge. Proper Republic reinforcements arrive at about the same time as Imperial ones, so the overall balance doesn't change much. Trenches are dug, supply depots contructed, artillery emplacements erected.

And from above, the Cipher watches it all.

There's one small wrench in her plans. Apparently, someone on the invasion team was really good friends with someone in the Imperial Science Bureau, because they got sent a sample of Adegan crystal. And that scientist used the sample to construct a functional cloaking engine prototype. So now Ilum is more than a pissy Sith's pet project, it's a strategic resource and will be getting full military support. This is, to put it mildly, not good. Cloaking technology will completely change the face of the war, and not in a direction she wants to pursue. She needs to lock this down.

...It may be time to push Darth Malgus over the edge. He's a war hero, led the attack on Coruscant. Impatient with the political infighting and anti-alien prejudice he sees as weakening the Empire. Private correspondence indicates he has slowly pieced together a faction that would support him in a coup against the Dark Council. If she gives him the opportunity to seize the cloaking tech, he'd likely capitalize on the tactical advantage to enact his rebellion. With the cloak, he'd be as much of a threat to the Republic, and both sides will turn on him. Lots of opportunity in the ensuing chaos to make sure of the factory that the Imperials are currently building is destroyed, the scientists involved are assassinated, and the plans are erased.

Yeah. That'll work.