Raid on the Dlarit estate

The Raid on Dlarit estate was an operation carried out by a group of individuals led by rebel Elscol Loro during the Bacta War.

The Bacta War
After unleashing the devastating Krytos virus on Coruscant with the hopes of ultimately destroying the New Republic, Director Ysanne Isard fled the former Imperial Center in the Lusankya, her flagship Executor-class Star Dreadnought. She immediately dispatched her forces to Thyferra, the planet where most of the galaxy's bacta is produced. With the New Republic desperately in need of bacta and rylca to combat the Krytos virus, Isard believed taking control of Thyferra and most of the galaxy's bacta supply, she could ensure the virus would ravage Coruscant and destroy the New Republic. Isard supported a revolution on Thyferra that placed the Xucphra Corporation in charge of the entire bacta cartel and installed herself as Chief Operating Officer and Head of State of the planet.

The New Republic Provisional Council could not order military action against Isard because the revolution was considered an internal Thyferran conflict, and interfering could frighten other potential member states from joining the New Republic. As a result, Wedge Antilles and his fellow pilots with the elite Rogue Squadron resigned from the New Republic in order to launch a private assault against Isard, thus launching what would later become known as the Bacta War. Recognizing the complexity of overthrowing an entire planetary government, Antilles sought the assistance of Elscol Loro and Sixtus Quin, who ran an anti-Imperial mercenary group that organized local resistance movements and helped citizens fight and overthrow their local Imperial officials.

Targeting Aerin Dlarit
After taking control of Thyferra, Isard created the Thyferran Home Defense Corps, a defense organization consisting Xucphra volunteers established to work in conjunction with the ground-based stormtroopers to defend the planet. Aerin Dlarit, a wealthy and well-known manager involved with the Xucphra Corporation, as appointed general with the Thyferran Home Defense Corps. Dlarit was primarily a figurehead who deferred day-to-day operations to Major Barst Roite, but he served a highly symbolic role hosting several functions and making many public appearances in his Corps uniform. Dlarit generated significant media attention, assuring his fellow Xucphrans that conditions were improving and the Ashern, the Vratix natives of Thyferran fighting against human control of the bacta cartel, were under control. As a result of that high-profile status, Loro and Quin determined he was a perfect target for assassination to undermine the authority of the Xucphran regime.

Iella Wessiri, a former CorSec officer working with Antilles and Loro, was uncomfortable with the prospect of killing someone without any real military responsibilities, and instead suggested undercutting him by attacking other targets and undermining his public statements. But Loro insisted Dlarit's prominent public role made him the ideal target because it rattle the Xucphran society and bring the nature of the war home to them. Loro further determined the assassination would have an even greater impact if it occurred within Aerin Dlarit's own home, a strongly-defended mansion remotely located within the Thyferran rain forests. Wessiri reluctantly agreed to participate in the plan, but convinced Loro not to kill any of Dlarit's children or staff if it could be avoided, arguing it would demonstrate to the public that they are capable of mercy in ways Isard's forces are not. Although the more pragmatic Loro agreed to this, she also developed a backup plan of shooting random Thyferran citizens as an alternative, but more ethically questionable, way of instilling fear into the Xucphran population.

Planning
Loro and her mercenaries studied the Dlarit estate's security system by slicing into planetary computers and conducted surveillance using satellites owned by the Zaltin Corporation, a rival company to Xucphra. The team pulled down real-time holograms of the estate and thermal images of the human guard patrols outside the mansion. They gathered a great deal of reconnaissance information from this surveillance, determining the estate was surrounded by G-003 Tri-Trackers and sensor arrays. They also discovered several weaknesses in the security. The Dlarit estate was surrounded by rain forest on all sides except the back, which was set against mountains with cascading waterfalls. The sensor arrays on the mountain side of the estate were muted so the movement of water and sound from the falls would not constantly trigger alarms. The satellite surveillance revealed the human patrols concentrated more strongly on the mountain side. Nevertheless, the muted sensor arrays led Loro to identify that side as the most vulnerable spot from which to launch an attack.

The attack was planned so that the mercenaries would enter the estate between midnight and dawn, so most of the residents and staff would be asleep. Loro, Quin and three former members of the Imperial Special Navy Force, while the rest of the team consisted of Wessiri, two Vratix and four human Zaltin refugees. All of them were armed with a blaster and a blaster carbine, carried a comlink, and wore dark clothing and a light-armored blast vest with armored plates that covered them from throat to groin, front and back. Although the armor would likely not stop blaster bolts, Loro hoped they might deflect them enough from the body's midline to make any wound survivable.

Infiltration
Led by Quin and his SpecNav troops, the squad approached from the far side of the mountain, ascending the summit at dusk. Once darkness fell, they descended toward the mansion, staying as close to the waterfalls as possible. They sped the descent by rappelling down one of the larger falls and hiding behind the curtain of water, which helped shield them from the sensors' range. Once at the base of the mountains, they moved along the fringes of the sensor's range and cut a labyrinthine path through the jungle. Moving swiftly and silently, Quin and the SpecNav troops moved ahead first, then signaled for the others to come ahead by making a click noise on the comlink. As they reached the estate, Loro spotted two Thyferran Home Defense Corps guards on patrol. On Loro's signal, Quin and his men attacked the guards from the shadows. Unable to risk alerting others with the sound or blue light of a stun bolt, the mercenaries had no choice but to kill both guards. They cut their throats so that no noises would be made from shouts or shots being fired.

Two of the SpecNav troops approached the solarium, then notified the others to come forward once they confirmed it was clear. The SpecNavs then used an electronic device to override the solarium's door lock, and the team entered the Dlarit estate. After fanning through the mansion's lower level and securing it without incident, the team slowly and silently made their way up a stairway to the main floor, which was entirely dark except for light emanating from an open door in the large hallway.

After infiltrating his estate, the strike team found Dlarit asleep inside his office. Loro was about to shoot him when Iella Wessiri suggested that instead of killing him in cold blood, they strip him of his dress uniform and broadcast the image planet wide. Loro only agreed to the idea when her companion, the usual somber Sixtus Quin, cracked a small smile at the idea.

One of the results of the operation was furthering the image of Thyferrans and THDC personnel as idiotic and stupid. It made the Imperials treat their THDC counterparts with more disdain and contempt.

Appearances

 * X-wing: The Bacta War