Third Battle of Yavin

The Battle of the Jedi Praxeum occured in 23 ABY when the Dark Jedi Master Brakiss led the Shadow Academy and the Second Imperium on an assault against Jedi Master Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum on the jungle moon of Yavin IV in the Outer Rim. Despite superior numbers, the Imperium forces were outwitted by the superior Jedi tactics and the arrival of naval reinforcements from the New Republic. Following severe setbacks, Brakiss discovered that his master Emperor Palpatine had never returned and that his presence was just a holographic illusion. With the death of Brakiss and the destruction of the Shadow Academy, the Imperium forces were routed and defeated. The Dark Jedi Zekk also overcame his Imperial indoctrination and saved his former Jedi friends from an explosion at the Great Temple.

Prelude
"We must transport our station to the jungle moon of Yavin 4 without delay!"

- Lord Brakiss

Earlier, Jedi Padawans Jacen, Jaina, Lowbacca and Tenel Ka had gone on a brief trip to the Wookiee Lowbacca’s homeworld of Kashyyyk to accompany his younger sister Sirrakuk who was undergoing a coming-of-age rite near Thikkiiana City. However, their trip was interrupted by a Second Imperium raid led by their former-friend-turned-Dark Jedi Zekk which made off with several guidance and tactical computer units. During the raid, Zekk informed his former friends that the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV  was the Second Imperium's next target.

Having survived their ordeal in the dangerous Shadowlands of Kashyyyk’s jungles, the Jedi Padawans raced back to the Jedi Praxeum on their starship Shadow Chaser after having it repaired. Upon arriving at their destination after a two-day journey, they quickly alerted Master Luke Skywalker and the rest of the Jedi trainees of the incoming attack. Luke also dispatched Lowbacca on his T-23 Skyhopper to fetch Tionne Solusar and Raynar Thul whom had gone on a training exercise at the Massassi Temple near the lake.

Skywalker also instructed Tenel Ka to gather as many students as she could and to give them a crash course in ground combat given her experiences fighting the Imperium troops, Dark Jedi and Bartokk assassins in her earlier adventures. While Jacen monitored the communications bands, Jaina and Luke went to get the shield generators ready for battle. Earlier, Han Solo had delivered a shipment of shield generators from Coruscant as a stopgap measure before more reinforcements arrived. The merchant Peckhum also arrived on his transport Lightning Rod, just as the Imperium fleet arrived.

By now, the Shadow Academy had arrived in orbit above the jungle moon of Yavin IV. From Brakiss’s perspective, the assault on the Jedi Praxeum would be the Imperium’s ultimate battle and his master Emperor Palpatine’s revenge against Skywalker’s resurgent New Jedi Order. The Imperium’s strategy was a two-pronged attack led jointly by the Nightsister Tamith Kai and his prize-student and Darkest Knight Lord Zekk.

An Imperial commando team consisting of two TIE stealths piloted by newly-found recruits Commander Orvak and his back-up Dareb would be sent to plant explosives at the shield generators and the Great Temple where the Praxeum was based. These modified TIE fighters were equipped with stealth hull platings and damped ion engines to allow them to sneak through a gap in the shield generator; leaving the academy open to aerial assault. . Meanwhile, a fleet of Star Destroyers had been assembled through the use of hyperdrive and computer units seized during earlier raids on Coruscant and Kashyyyk. This fleet would enter the battle to engage any New Republic or Imperial Remnant reinforcements sent to aid the Jedi Praxeum.

First Engagement
"Something's wrong, Uncle Luke. There's been an explosion out in the jungle...oh no! Our defensive shields are down"

- Jaina Solo

Above Yavin IV, the Shadow Academy dropped its cloaking device; revealing its presence in space. Out of one of its launching bays descended the two TIE stealths. These modified TIE/In starfighters shot around the jungle moon before descending to the equator; following the coordinates of the ancient Massassi temple ruins where the Jedi Praxeum was based. Orvak and Dareb were among the Human youths who had been recruited into the Second Imperium’s Stormtroopers and later the TIE fighter pilot corps.

Flying in the skies above the jungles of Yavin IV, the TIE stealths’ long-range sensors sensed the energy shields which covered a section of jungle near a river and an ancient Massassi pyramid. However, the energy shield’s coverage did not reach all the way to the ground; leaving a shallow five-meter gap between the jungle foliage and the deadly force field. This gap was large enough for a small starfighter to travel through.

The two TIE stealths dropped down and dived through the gap. Unfortunately for Dareb, his TIE fighter overcompensated during the dive and its wing hit a branch; causing the fighter to crash on the ground. In the ensuing blaze, Dareb was killed; leaving only Orvak to continue the mission. Approaching the shield generator, Orvak landed in a small maintenance area wide enough for only a small fighter.

Entering the shield generator station, he withdrew two thermal detonators and planted them against the generator’s power cells. Having set the timers, he quickly departed just as the station exploded in a brilliant blaze. Now all that remained was the Great Temple which housing much of the Jedi Praxeum’s facilities. Meanwhile, Lowie had retrieved Raynar and Tionne in his T-23 Skyhopper. Sensing danger, Tionne had them disembark from the aircraft in the edge of the jungle rather than approaching the Great Temple’s hangar bay or landing field.

Meanwhile, Jaina witnessed the blast which destroyed the shield generator station. Returning to the communications console, she discovered that the Jedi Praxeum’s long-range communications were being jammed; leaving them unable to communicate with the galaxy. In response, Skywalker summoned all the Jedi Padawans to an emergency assembly and ordered an immediate evacuation of the Great Temple. The Jedi trainees would retreat into the surrounding jungles in order to draw and to spread-thin the Imperium’s ground assault forces. In anticipation for the attack, Jacen also released his numerous pets including mucous salamanders, piranha beetles and stintarils from his room in the Great Temple and set them free into the surrounding jungles.

The Battle
During the battle, Zekk and Tamith Kai led the ground forces while Brakiss, under orders from the holographic projection of Emperor Palpatine supervised the battle from the space station. Also, early during the battle, Raynar Thul encountered a gang of Dark Jedi under Zekk. Underestimating the Dark Jedi, the spoiled and boastful youth tried to force the Dark Jedi to surrender. The Dark Jedi would have killed him, but Zekk threw him into the mud instead.

As the battle continued, Tenel Ka sabotaged the floating battle platform from which Tamith Kai lead her forces, causing it to crash into a river killing the Nightsister. Meanwhile, Jaina hijacked Orvak's TIE fighter and took on the Imperial fighters. In space, the arriving New Republic fleet, led by Admiral Ackbar, engaged the starships of the Second Imperium.

Other smalls groups of trainees worked together to defeat members of the Second Imperium. Three Cha'a and three avian trainees worked together to ambush Dark Knights from the river flowing alongside the Praxeum. Deeper in the jungles, a tree-like trainee also ambushed a Knight, while elsewhere Tionne Solusar and a group of trainees trapped four Dark Jedi by suspending granite blocks from a temple ruin above their heads.

Amidst the assault, Brakiss engaged his former master Luke Skywalker. However, he lost and was forced to retreat back to the Shadow Academy. With the battle turning against his forces, Brakiss demanded to see the Emperor. Two of the Royal Guards tried to block his entry into the Emperor's chamber but he cut them down with his lightsaber and then entered the chamber. There, he discovered a third Royal Guard working on a bank of controls, computer screens and holographic generators and realized that the Emperor had never returned.

In reality, the Royal Guards had created this illusion so that they could control the Second Imperium. Unfortunately, the fourth guard used his "Emperor's" override controls to activate the Shadow Academy's self-destruct systems, destroying the space station and killing all onboard. The fourth guard then managed to escape on a shuttle and headed for parts unknown. Unfortunately for him, he would later be killed by the anti-Human Diversity Alliance after he refused to reveal to them the location of the Emperor's plague storehouse.

Kyle Katarn also confronted the deranged Jeng Droga during the battle. Droga was on Yavin searching, again, for his Master the Emperor. Kyle was victorious, and finally defeated the murderer who had roamed the galaxy for many years.

Back on the ground, the remaining Imperial forces saw the destruction of the Shadow Academy and surrendered. However Commander Orvak slipped into the Great Temple which housed the Praxeum's headquarters and planted a time bomb. He would be bit by a glassy crystalline snake, whose venom would cause drowsiness, and fell into a deep sleep.

When Jacen, Jaina and several other Jedi gathered around the building, Zekk reappeared and blocked their path. Jaina thought that he had wanted to duel her though Zekk wanted to protect his friends by preventing them from entering the temple. By now, Zekk had realized the errors of his ways. Suddenly, the bomb exploded and destroyed a large proportion of the building though no one was badly injured from the Jedi. With the end of the battle, the Second Imperium had been defeated.

Aftermath
Following the battle, the Imperial pilot Qorl would return to a simple life on the jungle moon, refusing to surrender to the New Republic because of his indoctrination. There, he would remain sequestered until he encountered Anakin Solo years later during the Yuuzhan Vong War following the Peace Brigade capture of the Praxeum.

Reconstruction would also take place on the Jedi Praxeum. The Jedi trainees would also play a role in the clearance of debris and would also hunt for shards of craved stone blasted from the ancient structures, cataloguing them so that the pieces could be reassembled. Off-world engineers, architects and laborers would also be called in to help in the restoration efforts. New Republic military forces and planetary shields would also be installed on the Praxeum to defend it. On one notable occasion, Anakin Solo returned to Yavin IV and helped to rebuild the Great Temple. He viewed its rubble as a huge puzzle to be solved. Unfortunately, the Great Temple would be later destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong during their invasion of the galaxy.

New Jedi Order/New Republic

 * Admiral Ackbar
 * Tenel Ka
 * Kyle Katarn
 * Lowbacca
 * Peckhum
 * Luke Skywalker
 * Jacen Solo
 * Jaina Solo
 * Tionne Solusar
 * Tricky Trap Tree
 * Raynar Thul

Shadow Academy/Second Imperium

 * 4 unnamed Imperial Royal Guards
 * Brakiss
 * Dareb
 * Jeng Droga
 * Tamith Kai
 * Norys
 * Orvak
 * Qorl
 * Zekk

Appearances

 * Young Jedi Knights: Jedi Under Siege
 * Young Jedi Knights: Shards of Alderaan
 * Young Jedi Knights: Delusions of Grandeur
 * Star by Star
 * Dark Nest I: The Joiner King