Battle of Borleias (Yuuzhan Vong War; Second)

"I don't plan to die here, Luke. And while I don't think I can hold Borleias, I might be able to make it a name that causes little Vong children to whimper."

- Wedge Antilles

The Second Battle of Borleias consisted of a series of last stand actions by the New Republic forces after the Fall of Coruscant that started with the New Republic retaking Borleias from a Yuuzhan Vong occupation force. Senator Pwoe and his cronies later arrived on the planet and ordered the commander of Fleet Group Three, Wedge Antilles, to hold Borleias in a delaying action. Antilles complied, but only under the condition that there would be no more political influence in his defensive actions.

While the Yuuzhan Vong successfully retook Borleias from the New Republic garrison, they suffered heavy losses, including the death of Czulkang Lah and the loss of a Koros-Strohna worldship thanks to the use of the Lusankya as a ramship. As a result of heroes such as Wedge Antilles, Tycho Celchu, Lando Calrissian, Luke Skywalker, Jaina Solo, Kyp Durron, and Jagged Fel, the New Republic was able to buy some breathing room from the relentless Yuuzhan Vong invasion, which eventually allowed the election of Cal Omas and the formation of the Galactic Alliance. Also, the battle helped inflate Jaina's reputation as an avatar of Yun-Harla.

New Republic Capture of Borleias
"Rogue Squadron to Borleias: We're back. We kicked your butt twenty years ago, now we're here to do it again."

- Colonel Gavin Darklighter

Having been driven from the galactic capital of Coruscant, elements of the New Republic's Fleet Group Three, without orders, attacked Borleias, which had been used as a staging point for the assault on Coruscant and been granted to Domain Kraal. Knowing that refugees from Coruscant would head to Borleias, and wanting to give the Yuuzhan Vong a taste of what the New Republic had just felt, General Wedge Antilles attacked the planet. The New Republic quickly established space superiority over Domain Kraal, and began their assault on Borleias.

Taking the Record Time down to the surface, Lando Calrissian unloaded twenty of his new YVH-1 battle droids. The Yuuzhan Vong initially used the foliage to provide themselves cover, so as to launch thud bugs and razor bugs at their opponents. However, Calrissian had programmed his droids with a unique battle cry: "We are machines! We are greater than the Yuuzhan Vong!"

The warriors, whipped into a homicidal frenzy, immediately broke cover and assaulted the droids face to face. The YVH 1s were able to mow them down. However, the Yuuzhan Vong had summoned a rakamat to provide better cover. Calrissian, with a team of engineers, buried a load of explosives in the rakamat's path, and detonated them once the creature was above them. The rest of the battle was mostly a mopping up action, as the Kraal survivors were forced to retreat and regroup.

It should be noted that this was the only instance in the Yuuzhan Vong War that the New Republic actually retook a planet from the Yuuzhan Vong.

In the chaos that followed the hasty retreat from Coruscant, the remaining members of the Advisory Council and a large segment of the New Republic military forces reconvened at Borleias. The newly self-appointed Chief of State Pwoe ordered commanding General Wedge Antilles to sacrifice Borleias in a holding action long enough for the Advisory Council to flee to heavily defended Kuat. Unaware of the surviving Senate members gathering at Dac, Antilles grudgingly accepted the order, but followed its letter, not its intent, using it as permission to strike against the centralized Yuuzhan Vong forces. Antilles also ensured he received the material he needed to complete his mission by stipulating to Pwoe that 1) any volunteers from the scattered New Republic Defense Force who wished to join would be allowed to, 2) that no politicians would return to muddle his efforts, and 3) the Star Dreadnaught Lusankya would be given to Antilles. In return, Wedge agreed to hold Borleias and relinquish command of Fleet Group Three.

On Borleias, Antilles, Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo and other noted heroes from the Galactic Civil War agreed to set up a network of Rebellion-style cells on worlds to allow the ideals of the Alliance/New Republic to survive through the devastation of the Yuuzhan Vong and ineptness of the present New Republic government.

Antilles had a number of elite units under his command at Borleias, including Blackmoon Squadron, Twin Suns Squadron, Wraith Squadron, the Taanab Yellow Aces, and Rogue Squadron. He would need the services of every one, as well as Danni Quee's yammosk jammers, in the ensuing battle.

The Yuuzhan Vong Response
Due to Borleias' proximity to Coruscant (or Yuuzhan'tar, as it was now called), Tsavong Lah ordered that a fleet under Wyrpuuk Cha, a rival of Domain Kraal, retake the planet. However, Cha was outmatched by Antilles, who realized his superiority. Antilles planned to wear away Cha's forces with little damage to his own, giving Cha the illusion of victory, but draining valuable Yuuzhan Vong resources.

This plan was ruined when, during what was planned to be an inconclusive space battle, the Lusankya reverted in-system in the middle of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet. Antilles ordered his remaining forces to attack join the attack. In the resulting barrage from the New Republic forces, Cha's matalok was destroyed, along with most of his fleet.

Antilles was displeased at this turn of events, knowing that a more competent Yuuzhan Vong commander would be sent to retake Borleias with a larger fleet. Additionally, while Pwoe had delivered the mighty Dreadnaught as promised, he had crewed it with an ill-trained, under-complement, and under-qualified crew. For example, the commanding officer, Eldo Davip, was a Commander, on a ship that merited an Admiral.

Arrival of Czulkang Lah
"He's Tsavong Lah's father. An old, fierce, terrifying warrior and teacher of warriors. He's like the Garm Bel Iblis of the Yuuzhan Vong."

- Tycho Celchu

The Yuuzhan Vong did respond, and in force. Advised by Maal Lah that Garm Bel Iblis was in command at Borleias, Tsavong Lah sent Czulkang Lah, his father and one of the greatest strategists in the Yuuzhan Vong armada, to retake Borleias. Czulkang Lah launched a full scale offensive both in space and on the ground, slowly pushing back Antilles' beleagured garrison. Antilles forced Lah to expend considerable effort to win the battle, prodding him with a variety of tricks and decoys to attract his attention.

The first of these deceptions was the "incarnation" of the Yuuzhan Vong trickster goddess Yun-Harla in Jaina Solo. Jaina Solo, with the aid of Wraith Squadron, was placed in command of Twin Suns Squadron. She was also given top priority and command privileges, and placed over more experienced pilots such as Jagged Fel and Kyp Durron.

Additionally, other familiar tactics such as yammosk jamming, stutter firing, and Jedi shadow bombs were also employed. Jaina, Kyp Durron, and Jagged Fel also worked on using the Force to coordinate firing times to deliver high damage at exactly the same time and location.

Despite these new innovations and tactics, Antilles continued to withdraw his forces until they were concentrated in a tight perimeter around the old Alderaanian Biotics facility, which was slowly being surrounded by concentrated Yuuzhan Vong ground troops. Many of his pilots chafed under the constant retreating, until Operation Emperor's Hammer was initiated&mdash;the use of the Lusankya to deliver a punishing orbital bombardment to the massed Yuuzhan Vong ground troops, a tactic which they had never encountered. After the loss of so many ground troops, the Yuuzhan Vong temporarily withdrew.

Second Offensive
Another fraud perpetrated on the Yuuzhan Vong by the New Republic defenders was "Operation Starlancer", which was a fake long range weapons system supposedly formed by the merging of Yuuzhan Vong lambent crystals and superlaser technology. In a demonstration, the pipefighters involved "fired" on the Yuuzhan Vong fleet over Coruscant. Actually, the weapon was a pure fake&mdash;the damaging blast fired at the Yuuzhan Vong fleet was actually a long range turbolaser burst from a New Republic warship. The Yuuzhan Vong were even more convinced after one of their operatives on Borleias, Tam Elgrin, spotted Danni Quee working on the plans for the large lambent crystals needed in the pipefighter. However, the operative was discovered, turned back to the Republic's side, and used to sow misinformation to Czulkang Lah.

Despite his amazing success in defending the besieged Pyria system, Antilles knew he would not be able to resist a full scale assault by the Yuuzhan Vong forces. In the ensuing skirmishes, the Yuuzhan Vong targeted the space fleet, slowly whittling away at the numerically inferior New Republic forces.

The Final Engagement
The Yuuzhan Vong had slowly drawn the noose around the Borleias garrison and finally launched their final all-out assault. Antilles rapidly began evacuating as many troops as he could off the surface of the planet. Antilles allowed the Yuuzhan Vong to believe the battle was going their way, and even drew off part of his fleet.

Through the use of the new pipefighter and Jaina Solo's growing reputation as the avatar of Yun-Harla, Antilles drew the focus of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet to Borleias. When a sufficient portion of the Yuuzhan Vong had gathered in the Pyria system, Wedge knew the time had come for the Vong to launch their final assault.



However, the entire final engagement was a massive trap by Antilles. First, thanks to Danni Quee, Twin Suns Squadron launched a number of missiles that released the gravitic signature of the Millennium Falcon. Also, members of Twin Suns Squadron changed the role of "Jaina" around, simulating her behavior so she could escape Yuuzhan Vong attacks. The battle came to a head when New Republic forces began yammosk jamming and brought in the rest of the fleet, including the battered Lusankya. In preparation for Operation Emperor's Spear, the Lusankya had been slowly stripped of useful components and weapons while being converted into a massive, explosive-filled, spear with only one purpose: the destruction of the Yuuzhan Vong worldship. Using specially modified missiles to disrupt the maneuvering dovin basals of the worldship, the New Republic forces pinned the worldship in place while Eldo Davip drove the massive Lusankya deep into the heart of the worldship, where it detonated, destroying it and killing Czulkang Lah. Davip escaped from the massive suicide vessel in a Y-wing starfighter that had been concealed in the Lusankya for his escape.

Antilles coordinated the battle from the ground, but as the final defenses were overwhelmed, took off in an X-wing fighter with no astromech droid. He then demonstrated his piloting prowess by engaging two squadrons of coralskippers alone in the defense of a transport and largely defeating them.

The Yuuzhan Vong were thrown into confusion by these losses and the surviving New Republic forces withdrew without any further major enagement. While they were successful in retaking Borleias, the Vong suffered heavily in terms of ships, personnel. They also lost Czulkang Lah, who was, as Tycho Celchu put it: "the Garm Bel Iblis of the Yuuzhan Vong."

Appearances

 * Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
 * Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand
 * Destiny's Way