Unwilling! Truly unwilling!
This was the strongest thought in the heart of Wilhuff Tarkin, governor of the Republic 18th Army...
With his hands behind his back, he gazed out at the vast starfield beyond the viewport, unaware that tens of millions of kilometers away, Sefrans Tann was watching in this direction in the exact same posture.
More than anyone, Tarkin wanted to win this battle in spectacular fashion. At the same time, he understood that this was also the expectation of Chancellor Sheev Palpatine. The Galactic Republic had poured vast quantities of troops and resources toward the 18th Army. Even as General Grievous pushed all the way into the Antar system and threatened the Inner Rim of the galaxy, reinforcements for the 18th Army continued to arrive without end.
He had once hoped to defeat Dawn Star Planet's offensive head-on, and after receiving intelligence that their commander-in-chief was Admiral Sefrans Tann, he had looked forward to it even more.
In fact, after the series of battles involving the raid on Sarabin Planet, which caused the great blackout across the Core Worlds of the Milky Way Galaxy, the raid on Christophsis, the raid on Cato Neimoidia, and the seizure of the Blade Fleet, this female Chiss commander was now almost universally acknowledged throughout the Milky Way Galaxy as its foremost military commander.
Even when Sefrans Tann was mentioned alongside the equally notorious General Grievous, many believed that while General Grievous excelled more at overall strategic command, when it came to commanding a battle or campaign, Grievous was far inferior to her.
Even now, the Galactic Republic Army was still discussing how to defeat Sefrans Tann—because yes, she had never truly suffered defeat on the battlefield!
Wilhuff Tarkin knew very clearly that if he achieved this, it would be an enormous boost