Battle of Restuss

"What is happening at the Battle of Restuss? Really? I wish I would be transferred over there soon and show them the might of the Emperor!"

- An Imperial stormtrooper in Theed

The Battle of Restuss was a major battle between Imperial and Rebel forces primarily on and around the Naboo moon of Rori. The battle involved aspects of both ground and space warfare and encompassed events occurring across several different planets. One noteworthy aspect of the battle was the Empire's acquisition of Crusader MK III armor from the Black Sun organization.

The prelude
"All civilians were evacuated. You can find them at the space station. You must leave now, it is for you own..."

- An Imperial stormtrooper, before being cut off by blaster fire

Restuss was the second of two major cities built on Naboo's moon of Rori during the time of the Galactic Republic. Its history was mired in tragedy, as Restuss was originally used as a quarantine zone for those affected by the Brainworm Rot Plague. When the plague was finally vanquished, the Republic ordered that the city remain quarantined, out of fear that the disease might somehow resurface. This angered the citizens of Restuss, prompting an unarmed revolt. Huge portions of Restuss, including the hospital and detainment center, were razed to the ground in the ensuing riots. The Republic reluctantly lifted the quarantine, and Restuss was rebuilt around a small starport, which served as the town's primary meeting place and financial center.

With the rise of the Galactic Empire, Restuss served as little more than an isolated artist's retreat, largely removed from Naboo politics. The populace rarely discussed the raging Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic, but when they did, they discussed it as if the conflict was taking place in some far distant corner of the galaxy. All that would change however, when after the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY, the Galactic Empire started using the city of Restuss as a secret base to develop an energy cell capable of powering a Death Star scale installation. This power supply, known as a Star Core, was devised by Galactic Emperor Palpatine and was designed to be small enough to fit in the palm of the hand.

Operatives of the Rebel Alliance, conducting reconnaissance in the Naboo system, discovered the facility used by the Empire to develop the Star Core. The Rebellion recognized the unimaginable energy supply the Star Core could provide, and concocted a plan to not only deprive the Empire of this power, but to claim it as their own. The Rebellion hoped that possession of such a power source could be used as leverage to convince undecided or frightened star systems to join their cause. With this in mind, the Rebellion began construction of a small base north of Restuss, which they planned to build up in preparation for a larger offensive on Restuss. When the Empire learned that information regarding their secret project was in the hands of the Rebel Alliance, they issued an encoded Imperial Directive calling on Imperial forces in the Naboo system to report to their small Imperial Base south of the city.

Sensing the buildup in military tensions, the Galactic Empire ordered a civilian evacuation of Restuss. East of the city, outside the main metropolitan area, a new spaceport was constructed which served as a safe haven for some of the city's residents and visitors.

The battle
"Drafted! I don't want to be drafted and go to Restuss. That place is absolutely dangerous right now."

- An Imperial citizen in Mos Eisley

The early stages of the battle involved both the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance attempting to gain a foothold within the city by gaining control over the moon's resources. Both Rebel and Imperial forces attempted to disrupt the enemy's reinforcements en route to Restuss by controlling landing points in the area. As a result, the battle saw many isolated skirmishes in addition to the concentrated fighting nearer the heart of the city. As casualties built up, both the Alliance as well as the Empire began to request assistance from mercenaries. News of the event escalated to a scale that reached throughout the Chommell sector. It was even reported that the Empire and Alliance alike were in such desperate need of supplies, that freelancers as far as the Kessel system began smuggling supplies into Restuss.

One Imperial objective during the battle was to destroy a group of approximately thirty Rebel fighters making runs to and from the Corellian system. It was believed that this squadron was escorting smugglers from Corellia and providing the Rebel ground forces with vital supplies. The efforts to disrupt this fighter group proved to be more successful than anticipated. Due to the success, the Empire launched an ambitious attack on a Rebel cell in the Karthakk system.

Ground warfare
During the course of the battle, Imperial and Rebel forces began assembling on opposite sides of the city. Both sides were about to commence a large invasion of the city, to gain full control of Restuss. Soon enough, both factions were given the call to march into the city. The Imperial attacks consisted of a westward advance through the city, towards the Rebel base in the swamplands. The closer the Imperials pushed towards the Rebel base, the more resistance they encountered. Even an Emperor's Hand, Aralina Silk, was dispatched by the Emperor to the battle. Before she was able to complete her mission, however, she was defeated by Rebel SpecForces. Her lightsaber, known as the "Jinzu Razor", was presumably lost to the Rebels during the fray.

In light of death of Aralina Silk, Admiral Grot, commander of one of the Star Destroyers in space, was given orders to provide Dark troopers and Stormtroopers to reinforce the Imperial legions below. Unfortunately, Rebel spies intercepted the comm chat and ambushed the landing party. During the onslaught, Admiral Grot was somehow killed by the Rebel commandos. Despite the death of one of the Empire's high commanders, the battle raged on. Following the death of Admiral Grot, the Rebels sent Captain Vrinko, a Mon Calamari, to hold the front near the east gates of Restuss. The arrival of Captain Vrinko and Rebel reinforcements gave rise to bloody skirmishes throughout the city, one of which occurred near the eastern gates. Captain Vrinko was severely wounded in and engagement with an Imperial Stormtrooper platoon and was evacuated and treated with kolto medpacs. At some point during the battle, the prototype Star Core was about to be evacuated from the city using an AT-AT walker. Due to the efforts of Rebel SpecForces, however, the walker was destroyed in an ambush. Because of the massive amounts of energy stored within the power cell, the destruction of the AT-AT caused a chain reaction which incinerated nearly the entire city. Following the destruction of the city, weary Rebel and Imperial salvage crews set up sensor arrays and antennae among the ruins in an attempt to communicate with the rest of their respective fleets. Imperials and Rebels still fought, despite such heavy losses. Both sides continued to make attempts at disrupting enemy communications by capturing or destroying their devices. Many soldiers and other operatives from both sides of the Galactic Civil War were called in from different planets to fight for their respective faction. Most of these mercenaries were deployed to destroy the enemy communication devices.

Behind the scenes
Canonically, it is unknown which faction ultimately succeeded in the battle. Indeed, one could say that due to the heavy losses on both sides, and loss of the Star Core prototype, neither faction won the battle. It should be noted that in Star Wars Galaxies, the precise phases of the battle were decided by the input from players of both faction on their respective Galaxies. In this way, it is possible for either faction to claim overall victory of the battle in the end.