First Battle of Qotile

"Tell the fleet to begin the jump to lightspeed! I want that conference site turned into a crater! I plan to wipe several layers of scum from beneath my boots!"

- Ranulph Tarkin

The First Battle of Qotile was the opening battle of the Stark Hyperspace War.

The prologue
Troiken had been chosen to be the host of a meeting between the Stark Commercial Combine, Galactic Republic, and Trade Federation to debate the Combine's seizure of bacta shipments for needy worlds during an apparent bacta shortage. However, Senator Ranulph Tarkin had assembled a secret fleet with the goal of disrupting the talks.

The Jedi and Republic negotiators arrived on Troiken, meeting with Stark and his Combine co-directors. Once the first meeting began, Federation Minister Nute Gunray activated a homing beacon on his mechno-chair, transmitting the co-ordinates of the meeting to Tarkin’s fleet. Tarkin ordered the ships to enter hyperspace, intending to attack the summit and kill both the Combine’s leadership and the Republic’s entourage.

No sooner had the Combine’s leadership been seated had Jedi Master Tyvokka, the lead Jedi negotiator present, suggested they skip the formalities and head to what Combine leader Iaco Stark intended to be the real solution. Stark agreed, and his men drew their weapons on the Republic negotiators, using the pretext of Gunray’s treachery.

The battle
Stark revealed his knowledge of Tarkin’s fleet&mdash;as well as the fact that he had piggybacked his Combine's navcomputer virus on Gunray’s signal, incapacitating the navigational computers of Tarkin’s ships.

Many emerged from hyperspace in areas that would destroy them (such as near stars or black holes), others emerged in realsapce safely but far off course, and only fraction&mdash;including Tarkin’s flagship Invincible&mdash;made it to the Qotile system, where they immediately came under fire from the Combine ships that outnumbered them.

Although Republic negotiator Finis Valorum protested that he knew nothing of Tarkin’s unsanctioned plans, Stark would hear none of it, insisting that the Republic team surrender. Tyvokka, realizing that his earlier suspicions about Stark's duplicity were true, literally turned the tables on Stark’s men, with the Jedi springing into action.

Under Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn’s advice, the panicked Gunray ordered his security droids to “kill them all.” The droids opened fire on both Stark’s men and the Jedi, critically wounding Tyvokka and forcing the Jedi to destroy the droids while Stark and his co-directors escaped.

Regrouping
The Jedi and their charges quickly made their way back to their Consular space cruiser while they still could (Gunray’s transport having been destroyed just before their escape) retreating to Mount Avos.



Tyvokka died en route, ordering Adi Gallia to protect Valorum to ensure a peaceful solution, Plo Koon to rally Tarkin’s troops lest the Senate surrender (as well as to join the Jedi Council as Tyvokka had hoped), and Jinn to seek a way to override the computer virus. En route, Koon used his telepathic abilities to scare off the Stark fighter following them. Upon arrival at Avos, their damaged Consular exploded.

Overhead, less than a fourth of Tarkin’s fleet remained. After the Invincible received critical damage and he received a message from Valorum informing of their retreat location, Tarkin ordered his crews to abandon their ships and aim their escape pods for Mount Avos.

The fighting ships of Tarkin’s fleet surrounded the troop carriers while their crews left, before being evacuated themselves. The Invincible was destroyed just after Tarkin and his staff evacuated, the burning hulk impacting near Avos, as the Jedi and soldiers began to regroup inside the mountain’s abandoned spice mines.

Galactic Republic

 * Officer Jace Dallin
 * Officer Jan Dodonna
 * Officer Laslo Dorits
 * Jedi Master Adi Gallia
 * Minister Nute Gunray
 * Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn
 * Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Jedi Knight Plo Koon
 * Senator Ranulph Tarkin
 * Jedi Master Tyvokka †
 * Senator Finis Valorum

Stark Commercial Combine

 * Co-Director Boor-Daa
 * Co-Director Tam Gozon
 * Co-Director Lom Portom
 * Officer Shorshone
 * Director Iaco Stark
 * Co-Director Trodos
 * Captain Zur

Appearances

 * Star Wars Republic: The Stark Hyperspace War