Evacuation of Dac

"Win or lose, live or die&mdash;some battles must be fought. If we choose to do nothing, then we kill hope. I will fight this fight&mdash;alone if I must. But I will fight."

- Admiral Gar Stazi

The Evacuation of Dac was the action taken by the Galactic Alliance Remnant, the New Jedi Order and their allies in response to the Final Protocol administered by Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire to culminate the Genocide of Mon Calamari.

Prelude
The major allied victory at Ralltiir and the subequent counter-ambush of the First Coruscant Task Force by the Galactic Alliance fleet angered Darth Wyyrlok and the Moff Council on Coruscant. Determined to strike a serious blow at the anti-Sith allies, several key operations were launched. Moffs Rulf Yage and Fehlaaur were dispatched to Agamar to distrupt a Jedi/Fel loyalist conference while Darth Azard and Vul Isen were instructed to execute the Final Protocol on Dac. Developed by Isen, the protocol involved the releasing of viral spores that were capable of killing all life on Dac within seven days. Azard protested, pointing out that the Sith-allied Quarren would also be affected. Wyyrlok was unmoved, though he allowed the Quarren to begin evacuation of Dac without helping or hindering their efforts. Wyyrlok's plan was for both operations to deal a serious blow to the allies. If successful, the ambush on Agamar would capture Fel and the poisoning of Dac would lure Admiral Gar Stazi and the GA fleet into a trap.

Discovery and Dogfight
"We cannot pick every battle we fight, General Jaeger. Win or lose, live or die- some battles must be fought."

- Gar Stazi, speaking to General Oron Jaeger

Three days following the start of the Final Protocol, Rogue Squadron was dispatched on a routine recon mission to Dac. During the mission, Ronto noticed a new landmass forming in Dac's upper western quadrant. Monia Gahan, Mon Cal native of Dac and Rogue member, discovered the horrible truth- that the supposed landmass was in fact millions of dead bodies, all victim of the Final Protocol. As the Rogues took additional scans, a group of six Predator-class starfighters entered the area and proceeded to engage the Rogues. Anj Dahl, the squadron's leader, ordered the Rogues to fall back to Stazi's fleet. Disobeying a direct order and disgusted by the actions of the Sith Imperials, Andurgo engaged the Imperial fighters. Maneuvering his CF9 Crossfire fighter, Andurgo managed to destroy one of the fighters. Unwilling to abandon one of her squadron mates, Anj Dahl orders the rest of the Rogues to engage the Predators and cover Andurgo. After the remaining Imperial fighters were defeats, the Rogues headed back to the fleet to inform Stazi of the situation on Dac.

Second Battle of Dac
Alerted to the dire situation on Dac, Stazi immediately moved into action. Stazi contacted his Imperial allies on Bastion to obtain their aid for a massive rescue operation. With Fel out of contact and engaged at Agamar, it fell to General Oron Jaeger to respond to the admiral's request. Despite his being sympathetic to the Mon Calamari and their plight, General Jaeger informed Stazi that he was unable to commit the Fel's loyalist fleet without a direct order from the emperor himself. In addition, Jaeger expressed his concern that the whole event was designed as a trap to catch the allied forces. Undetered, and despite the lack of aid from Fel's forces, Stazi was determined to act. Still onboard the Alliance following the ambush in the Arkanis sector, Jedi Master Te Corso offered the assistance of the New Jedi Order. In addition to offering the a Jedi fighter group, Master Corso informed the admiral that the Order knew of a safe world were the refugees of Dac would be safe. Encouraged, Stazi put his plan into motion.Knowing that the defenses on the Mon Calamari Shipyards were still formidable, Stazi dispatched elements of Rogue Squadron led by Ronto and Sword Squadron led by Master Drok to inflitrate the yards and disable their defenses. On the planets surface, Jedi Master Asaak Dan, Captain Tanquar and the Mon Calamari Rangers engaged Imperial stormtroopers on Heurkea, securing the cities docks to serve as the base of operations for the evacuation.

With the shipyard defenses disabled and Heurkea secured, Stazi and the Galactic Alliance fleet emerged from hyperspace. The Alliance, backed up by multiple Scythe-class battle cruisers, captured Pellaeon-class Star Destroyers, and numerous frigates, engaged a token Sith force of five Star Destroyers. Outnumbered and overwhelmed by superior firepower, the surviving Sith warships retreated. With the space around Dac cleared, Stazi signaled the evacuation fleet. The genocide of the Mon Calamari and Wyyrlok's final protocol had angered citizens from across the galaxy. A fleet of private starships, ranging from old Mon Cal cruisers to Clone Wars-era Star Destroyers to private transports descended enmass on Dac to rescue the world's population. Settling down on and around Heurkea, the armada commenced rescue operations. Nat Skywalker, former Jedi and uncle of Cade Skywalker, was among the private citizens who arrived, as well as smugglers Chak and Kee onboard the Grinning Liar. Twelve hours into the evacuation, events had unfolfed fairly smoothly. Aware that Dac was home to other sentient life forms like the whaladons and Moappa, the Galactic Alliance fleet dispatched YZ 3000 tankers to rescue as many as possible to guarantee the survival of those species. A delgation of Quarren, angered that whaladons and Moappa were being rescued, demanded that their species take precedence. Angered by their demands and unsympathetic to the Quarren due to their collaboration with the Sith, Stazi refused. Still, despite his anger, Stazi allowed one out of every tenth ship to focus on rescuing those Quarren who remained.

Engaging Sith reinforcements
With the Galactic Alliance fleet engaged in rescue operation, the Sith Imperials sprung their trap. The Outer Rim Third Fleet, under the command of Admiral Krion Grail and supervised by Moff Geist and Sith Fist Darth Stryfe, dropped out of hyperspace behind the Alliance fleet. Possessing a larger fleet and the element of surprise, the Sith expected a quick victory. Stazi anticipating this, countered with a trap of his own. Several old warships, including MC80 cruisers, CR90 corvettes, and a Venator-class Star Destroyer, moved forward to engage the Sith. Detecting that the warships had no life signs, Admiral Grail assumed that they were droid bombs. On Geist's command, the Third Fleet opened fire with all batteries to destroy the oncoming craft. The destruction of the ships was exactly what Stazi wanted. Each was loaded with powerful ion bombs, which proceeded to disable the Third Fleet's sensors and other critical systems. Knowing that the effects of the attack would not last for long, Stazi ordered all Galactic Alliance capital ships to surge through the Imperial lines in a variation of the Ackbar Slash. Five of Third Fleet's Star Destroyers were destroyed or disabled, though the flagship Relentless survived due to the quick action of Admiral Grail. Undetered, Darth Stryfe ordered the Third Fleet to open fire on the first wave of evacuation ships heading for hyperspace. As Stryfe predicted, Stazi placed the Alliance between the Imperial fleet and the refugee ships. While the Alliance absorbed withering fire from Stryfe's Star Destroyers, Rogue Leader Anj Dahl orders all GA fighter squadrons to cover the refugee ships and engage the Predators that were attempting to strafe them.

Arrival of Bastion Imperials
"A fine epitaph for a world, Jhoram- they did all they could."

- Gar Stazi, speaking to Jhoram Bey about Dac's fate

On the bridge of the Alliance, Captain Jhoram Bey informed Stazi that the ship's shields were failing. The Duros Admiral refused to withdraw until all the ships of the evacuation fleet were safely away. Suddenly, a fleet of Fel loyalist Star Destroyers under the command of General Jaeger emerged from hyperspace directly behind the Sith fleet. Jaeger had decided to take a portion of Bastion's fleet and position it a short hyperspace jump away from Dac. Jaeger's gamble paid off, as Roan Fel, who himself was escaping the Sith-Imperial trap on Agamar, ordered Jaeger's fleet to engage. Caught between Stazi's battle cruisers and Jaeger's Star Destroyers, the Third Fleet sustained heavy losses. Moff Geist, realizing that the battle was hopeless, implored Stryfe to withdraw, noting that his former master Darth Krayt would not foolishly risk the loss of the entire Third Fleet. Stryfe conceded and ordered the remaining ships of the fleet to withdraw from Dac.

With the Sith Imperial fleet defeated, Stazi and Jaeger continued with the evacuation of Dac. Twelve hours after the battle, the last of the refugee ships was loaded and prepared to depart to the secret safe world the Jedi provided. Down on Heurkea, Captain Tanquar refused to leave his people, noting that to many were unable to escape. Asaak Dan was sympathetic, but reminded Tanquar that he was now one of the Mon Calamari's recognized leaders. Together, the two boarded the last shuttle in the city and returned to the orbiting fleet. On the bridge of the Alliance, Jhoram Bey informed Stazi that nearly 20% of Dac's population had been rescued. While numbering in the billions, it was only a small percentage of the world's total population of 27 billion.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Legacy 47: The Fate of Dac