Operation Safe Passage

Details are obscure about the planet Talfaglio. Somewhere in the Galactic Core region of the galaxy, this reddish orange planet dwelt peacefully underneath the rule of the successive galactic governments.

When the Yuuzhan Vong invaded, most people thought that Talfaglio, like so many other planets would be culled for victims for the Vong to sacrifice to their barbaric gods. However, after the fall of Duro, the Yuuzhan Vong captured many refugees, some going up for sacrifice, but the vast majority being held prisoner around Talfaglio. Previously, Nom Anor, one of the most cunning and notorious Vong agents the race had ever produced, met Leia Organa at the Bilbringi Shipyards. He offered her a simple deal: divulge the location of the secret Jedi base, Eclipse, within a week, or the Vong would execute all of the refugees around Talfaglio.

Clearly, the New Republic had to take action. However, public approval was turning against the Jedi, and most of the unconquered worlds in the Inner Rim and Core regions supported the turnover of the Jedi base. These worlds, including Kuat and Corellia, among others, were some of the most influential in the galaxy. Their Senators carried a lot of power, the Senator from Kuat in particular, the crafty Viqi Shesh. A lot of the military generals of the New Republic, in particular the Bothan Traest Kre'fey supported the Jedi. He and others knew what a valuable asset the Jedi were in battle. Their piloting skills, augmented by the Force, and their innate mind meld to other Jedi pilots made them an unmatched fighting force. In fact, for months, he had been supporting Jedi actions by rotating shiny new XJ3 X-wing starfighters and other craft into Eclipse’s hangars.

With the New Republic caught up in a quagmire of heated political debate and red tape, the Jedi decided to act. With the blessing of the Chief of State, Borsk Fey’lya, the Jedi prepared to mount an attack on Talfaglio. Their primary goal was to break the Yuuzhan Vong blockade, but a secondary goal was to capture one of the Vong’s war coordinators, a yammosk, for study.

The strike force assembled in the far reaches of the Talfaglio system. About fifty personnel were flying XJ3 starfighters, of whom about half were Jedi. About two dozen Jedi were operating blastboats and other support craft, including the battle coordinator Jedi Corran Horn. In addition, Kyp Durron’s Dozen-and-Two Avengers and Saba Sebatyne’s Wild Knights were also present. There were two main Eclipse squadrons. One was called the Sabers, a Jedi squadron led by Luke Skywalker. The other was called the Shockers, a non Jedi group led by a man named Rigard Matl. Each squadron consisted of about fifteen pilots. Han Solo and Lando Calrissian were present in their ships, the Millennium Falcon, and the Lady Luck, respectively.

Each squadron would make a microjump into the mass shadow of Talfaglio separately. The Dozen jumped first, the Wild Knights following with the Eclipse forces following them. Once they reached the system they found that the fleet was larger than they had expected. Present were four cruisers, a warship analog, a coralskipper carrier, and about twenty frigates. The skip carrier held about 200 skips, while each cruiser had their own squadrons. Seeing that there were more coralskippers than previously estimated, Luke decided to call off the yammosk action, focusing solely on breaking the blockade.

Suddenly, the tide turned. Two Star Destroyers, the Mon Mothma and Elegos A'Kla, under the command of Generals Wedge Antilles and Garm Bel Iblis respectively, jumped into the system supposedly on a “shakedown cruise”. The two capital ships had been equipped with hidden gravity well projectors, and wanted a chance to test them. Squadrons of XJ3s and Series IV E-wing fighters boiled out of the hangars of the ships. In addition, Antilles dispatched [Rogue Squadron] to help with the Wild Knight’s effort to capture a yammosk. With their forces augmented thus, Luke decided to continue ahead with the yammosk action. Both Star Destroyers took cross fire positions to either side of the projected escape corridor.

The Dozen took the lead, utilizing the newly developed shadow bombs to destroy a cruiser. This cleared the escape corridor, and refugee ships started to escape. On Corran Horn’s mark, the Shockers and Sabers microjumped to Talfaglio and began attacking. The Shockers took point and the Sabers covered them. Both squadrons managed to destroy four and wound eight light corvette analogs. By this time, the Dozen was down by three pilots, all EV. Luke ordered the brash Durron to withdraw and cover the fleeing refugee ships.

During this battle, it is interesting to note that the Jedi fought better than ever. In Saba Sebatyne’s words; “…the Force was with us that day”

The Vong responded by moving a large number of frigates into a defensive screen. The Shockers and Sabers managed to break this screen, but lost three pilots, including Rigard Matl, when they went EV. Past the defensive screen was the heart of the Vong fleet, four cruisers, the warship analog, and the coralskipper carrier. The ships instantly maneuvered, the carrier and the now identified yammosk cruiser retreating behind the warship, and the other three cruisers deploying their coralskippers and moving to engage. Luke quickly formed a plan, consisting of feinting at one of the attacking cruisers, but at the last moment attacking the skip carrier. His wife, Mara Jade, came up with an alternate plan. The plan was to fire at the cruiser, but shut off every starfighter’s sublight engines and fire shadow bombs at the skip carrier. Part of the plan was a glowing Force sphere to be used as a diversion. The tactic worked, the skip carrier was destroyed.

The way was now clear to capture the yammosk. Saba Sebatyne and Danni Quee in the Wild Knight’s blastboat, the Jolly Man, along with the Falcon and Luck, moved to take the cruiser. However, it dropped its coralskippers and prepared to microjump away, for clearly, the battle was lost for the Vong.

They were in for a nasty surprise.

The blastboat launched concussion missiles and decoys at the cruiser, serving as a distraction for Wedge’s plan. He activated the Mon Mothma’s gravity well generators, trapping the cruiser, which broke into three pieces. The fleet then mopped up the rest of the Vong while Lando sent YVH war droids into the destroyed cruiser to recover the yammosk.

The liberation of Talfaglio served as publicity for the vilified Jedi. They had saved tens of thousands of refugees, and annihilated a Yuuzhan Vong fleet. Fey’lya, now seen as the director of Antilles and Iblis’s arrival at Talfaglio, threw his support behind the Jedi, issuing a directive directing the military to cooperate with the Jedi despite the protests of Senator Shesh. Talfaglio was a success, a beacon of light in a sea of what had seemed like an interminable string of defeats.

Appearances

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