The battle at Doron saw the debut of new military weapons by the Imperial Fleet. Our reporter Jaina Towani was granted an interview with Admiral Motti and General Tagge to discuss these new developments and the recent military action:
Jaina: Thank you for agreeing to this interview gentlemen. May we begin by summarizing what the situation was like on Doron?
Motti: Insurrectionist elements within the Doronian government issued an open challenge to the Emperor demanding certain concessions with the threat that if the demands were not met Doron would withdraw from the Empire in direct violation of Imperial Edict 42. The Emperor learned from the Separatists that dealing with terrorists is futile. I was ordered to deal with the situation. My fleet consisted of the first of our new Imperial Star Destroyers, a Dreadnaught, and a Carrack, all outfitted with TIE craft. The Renegade Doronians had an Acclimator, a Bulk Cruiser rebuilt as a fighter carrier, their orbital platform, and a few squadrons of fighters, mostly Cloakshapes though they had a few of those new Y-Wings Koensayr just released.
Jaina: While you're on that topic, can you explain the Navy's reasoning behind deploying the TIE fighter in preference more heavily shielded and armed fighters like the Y-Wing.
Motti: When you're building a small planetary defense force, a corporate security fleet, or even a pirate gang the primary considerations are cost and effectiveness and the roles the vehicle can be used in. For example if you're part of a defense force charged with defending a space installation a Y-Wing might seem to be ideal as it can fight fighters and also attack larger ships. In the Navy we will almost always have the advantage in numbers and thus specialize. We built the TIE to be a superb dogfighting craft for anti-fighter work while the bomber can excel in it's anti-ship and ground support roles. Also, it is a truism that the bigger and more ungainly the craft the easier it is to put any idiot in the craft and have them perform with minimum competence. The Imperial Navy has the best pilot training program in the galaxy and the TIE fighter is built to use that skill to it's fullest.
Jaina: I think our audience is interested in the new Imperial Star Destroyer. What can you tell us about it?
Motti: While some of it's specs are still classified I can tell you that it is a massive craft, dwarfing the Victory-Class that flagged our fleets in the Clone Wars. It has three times the fighter complement and has been specifically built with TIEs in mind. It has more firepower than any ship in active service and an impressive array of defensive weapons and shielding to protect it's crew. The ship is built with Command and Control computers enabling it to command space and ground battles with equal efficiency. We anticipate having about a dozen in service by the end of the year with more to follow.
Jaina: There is a rumor that the ship lacks the ability to enter the upper atmosphere of a planet and this has been criticized as a weakness compared to the older Victory Destroyers.
Tagge: The Victory Class will continue in this role but the enemies of the Empire should not see this as weakness in the Imperial Army. The ship has a vast complement of ground support vehicles and troops and enough dropships to deploy them quickly. The ship is also capable of deploying prefabricated garrisons onto a planet's surface, enabling the army to quickly establish a planetside base of operations.
Jaina: What of the rumors of new ground craft?
Tagge: The Empire has made the decision to retire the AT-PT and create a larger counterpart to the AT-ST. It's called the AT-AT, the All-Terrain Armored Transport. It served in the Doron landing superbly. It has enough firepower to take out the largest enemy vehicles and can quickly disable defenses and provide heavy armor support to our forces. It is also capable of carrying smaller ground vehicles and troops into battle.
Jaina: So what happened at Doron?
Motti: Upon arrival we deployed our starfighters and attacked. Our fighters overpowered theirs with minimal losses. Our capital ships with bomber support destroyed their fleet within 20 minutes of arrival. Using ion cannons we disabled their orbital station and assault shuttles filled with crack Navy troops had control of the station within 7 minutes of landing.
Tagge: The Army landed 3 corps of troops to fight an estimated one corp they had on the ground, divided among three military bases. Though they were entrenched with heavy artillery the AT-AT performed beyond specifications in resisting artillery fire and the battle lasted only 12 hours before they surrendered. Clean-up operations were complete within the next day.
Jaina: With the recent controversy in the Senate how do you feel about the continued build up in the Military?
Motti: When the Separatists defected we were caught off guard. We won that war only through skill and a fair bit of luck. When the Jedi turned on us, it almost cost us the war. We need to be prepared before the next threat arises, whether from within or without. I for one do not want to trust to luck again. Returning to pre-war Navy levels would cripple our ability to do our job and is asking for a repeat of past difficulties.
Tagge: The Army didn't exist and I think the Clone War proves to us how dangerous it can be to be undefended. I would question the loyalty of anyone who insists that a strong military is dangerous. Those who fear the hand of justice generally do not live by the code of justice.
Jaina: Thank you for your time gentlemen.
