Battle of Kal'Shebbol

The Battle of Kal'Shebbol was fought between forces loyal to Moff Kentor Sarne and the New Republic in 8 ABY.

Background
The liberation of Kal'Shebbol was part of the ongoing New Republic campaign against the various Imperial warlord factions that sprang up after the fragmentation of the Empire. In addition, rumors that Sarne was in possession of some type of strange new technology concerned many members of the New Republic, although just as many dismissed them as rumors.

Sarne had turned the planet's main continent into a virtual fortress, with an energy shield protecting it from orbital attack, and weapon emplacements providing an effective defense. Although a concentrated assault would have worn down the defenses, the New Republic could not afford to mount a lengthy campaign against a backwater planet. The decision was made to send in a Special Forces team to disable the defenses. Page's Commandos were selected for the mission, and the team's pathfinder, Lilla Dade, was inserted into the planet three days prior to assault.

The battle
Page's Commandos entered the system ahead of the main New Republic fleet in a Ghtroc 720 freighter, and masqueraded as a merchant vessel. When the New Republic force arrived and engaged Sarne's fleet, all civilian vessels in orbit broke for the surface, running for safety. Page's Ghtroc 720 followed them, then diverted away from the landing field towards the Imperial Government Complex. The deviation was noticed, and the freighter was hit by fire from a perimeter defense emplacement. Forced to make a crash landing, Page's Commandos managed to rendezvous with Dade and find a back entrance into the complex. The back entrance was curious&mdash;a large gaping hole in the open leading to an armored tunnel that was later believed to have been caused by Sarne's experiments with the DarkStryder technology.

Meanwhile, Sarne had concluded that the battle was lost and started to evacuate himself and the DarkStryder technology on his Carrack-class cruiser Ambition. Sarne realized he needed to leave the planet quickly so that he had enough forces in orbit to both cover his escape and follow him into the Kathol Sector. He left the majority of his staff fighting the battle to give him the time he needed.

Inside the complex, Page's Commandos split into two squads. One squad, led by Kaiya Adrimetrum, proceeded to the detention blocks to liberate the prisoners, including her friend, the Wookiee Lofryyhn. Page led the other squad towards Sarne's secret hangar, having learned of the location of the Ambition through slicing into the computer. He reasoned that if Sarne had a light cruiser hidden away, he would also have a way to deactivate the shield hidden with it. With an opportunity to lower the shields and capture Sarne, the commandos set off in pursuit.

However, Sarne was able to incapacitate the commandos using one of the DarkStryder devices to stun them and cause intense confusion and disorientation. Although the commandos recovered quickly, the distraction gave Sarne the time he needed to escape. The commandos were able to deactivate the shield shortly after.

With the shields down, the New Republic fleet pressed their attack and liberated the planet.

Aftermath
Although a New Republic victory, Sarne escaped with a large portion of his forces into the Kathol Sector. The New Republic set up a command base in the Government Complex, and the Elomin Monjai was installed as planetary governor.

Sarne managed to flee without the New Republic tracking his hyperspace vector, and also initated his Omega order five on the Government Complex computers, wiping them of all data, from administration files and personnel records, to military files and Kathol Sector starcharts. With Sarne still at large&mdash;and in possession of strange new technology&mdash;his capture was a high priority. However, with limited resources, the New Republic was forced to deploy only one ship, the FarStar, to track him down.

Sarne's Forces

 * Moff Kentor Sarne

Page's Commandos

 * Lieutenant Judder Page
 * Sergeant Keleman Ciro
 * Kaiya Adrimetrum
 * Syla Tors
 * Vandro
 * Gottu
 * Lilla Dade
 * Kl'aal (local recruit)

Appearances

 * The Saga Begins