Battle of Foerost (Great Sith War)

"I am closing this shipyard. Give me the operations codes of every newly completed warship."

- Ulic Qel-Droma

The Battle of Foerost was a conflict that occurred in 3,996 BBY during the Great Sith War. It began as a raid carried out by the Krath forces of Sith Lord Ulic Qel-Droma and the troops of Mandalore the Indomitable. Qel-Droma coveted the many ships under construction for the Galactic Republic for use in his Krath Holy Crusade and employed his lover, the Sith sorceress Aleema Keto, to create an illusion, allowing the forces to slip into the shipyards unchallenged. Once inside, the illusion was dropped, and the Krath forces, bolstered by the armies of Mandalore, stormed the facilities, managing to secure the operational codes to the newly-completed vessels. Fleet Captain Orley Vanicus was dispatched to try and interrupt the raid with a contingent of Republic reinforcements, but was too late to stop the theft of over three hundred warships. A recording of Qel-Droma from the attack was later discovered, finally leaking the secret identity of the Republic's new enemy.

Prelude
"Wake up down there, Grid Seven! We've got a ship leaving hyperspace&hellip;askin' to dock for repairs to her hull! A big one, from the readings I'm getting. Maybe the hyperscan's broken."

- Tower Bravo

By 3,996 BBY, the shipyards maintained by the Galactic Republic at Foerost had been established as one of the oldest and most successful starship construction facilities in the galaxy. For hundreds of years, the facility had produced warships for the Republic Navy, drawing raw materials from the surface of Foerost, an uninhabited planet. The vessels built at Foerost were prized by the Republic as some of the most advanced warships in their arsenal. More than three hundred of the ships, most either newly completed or near-complete, sat relatively unguarded in the shipyards.

Ulic Qel-Droma, fallen Jedi and new leader of the dark side Krath cult of the Empress Teta system, coveted these vessels for use in the war that he was helping to wage against the Republic. He therefore gathered his fleet, bolstered by the Crusaders of his newly-sworn ally Mandalore the Indomitable, and set out for the Foerost shipyards. Upon arrival, Qel-Droma had his lover, the Sith sorceress Aleema Keto, conjure a Force illusion that disguised the Krath armada as a single, large vessel, which they dubbed the "Golthar's Sky."

The "Golthar's Sky" made its way to the shipyards, requesting clearance to dock for repairs. Keto's illusion even fooled the monitors' sensor systems, giving the impression of a massive vessel leaving hyperspace. The dock supervisors in Tower Bravo noticed the ship's density and offered to dispatch an inspection crew, as none of the Foerost docks could possibly hold the vessel.

The battle
"Well done, well done. We'll need all that armor for the engagements I have planned. Gather more ships while I train my Jedi!"

- Exar Kun

At that moment, Keto dropped the illusion, revealing their fleet of Tetan attack ships. CX-133 Chaos fighters swarmed out to the shipyards and engaged in strafing runs that resulted in the swift destruction of the facilities' defensive emplacements. The Mandalorians penetrated the modules using Basilisk war droids and quickly stormed the control decks and operations centers. Tetan troops, equipped with jetpacks, also boarded the stations, adding to the overwhelming force of the Crusaders' attack. While the Republic forces attempted to fend off the Krath assault in futility, one of their number, a Human named Dace Golliard, fled the battle in an attempt to save his own life.

The shipyards were quickly overrun, due largely to the ferocity of the Mandalorian assault. Qel-Droma, accompanied by Keto and Mandalore, boarded the station and made his way to a control center. There, he demanded the operational codes to the newly-completed warships, killing the first person to deny knowledge of said codes in order to demonstrate the gravity of his request. The other technicians present quickly realized their predicament and fully complied, giving the Krath warlord access.

Communication was soon established with Exar Kun, the Dark Lord of the Sith and Qel-Droma's Master. Kun had managed to sway twenty Jedi Knights to their side of the war, which Qel-Droma found to be rather meager in comparison to the two armies and now the three hundred vessels that he had acquired. The Krath leader announced to Kun his plans to attack Coruscant, the seat of galactic power. The Krath forces then pulled out and abandoned the shipyards.

Aftermath
"Captain Vanicus reporting&hellip;receiving an emergency distress signal. My fleet has been dispatched to the Foerost Shipyards, the target of yet another vicious raid. This time we had hoped to catch the mysterious pirates, to confront them with our superior military strength&hellip; but we are too late."

- Captain Vanicus

Upon receiving news of the attack, the Republic Navy sent a fleet under the command of Captain Orley Vanicus to try and interrupt the raid, but the reinforcements arrived too late. All of the complete and near-complete warships had been stolen, the facilities largely destroyed&mdash;the scene was a graveyard. Corpses of slain yard workers floated among the wreckage. Vanicus resolved to salvage as much as he could and investigate the scene in the hopes of discovering the identity of the attackers.

Few rescue pods remained to be recovered, leaving very few witnesses to the raid. Searching through the control centers, Vanicus' men discovered that the attackers had damaged as much computer hardware as possible in an attempt to erase all evidence of their identity. However, one file was found, recorded by the station's automated security systems. Vanicus, who had fought at the Battle of Koros Major alongside the Jedi, recognized Qel-Droma&mdash;the secret was out. Qel-Droma's treachery was not the only one exposed either; the Republic also learned of Dace Golliard's absconding from the massacre at Foerost. He was branded a criminal of the Republic and spent the next several decades of his life as a fugitive.

Thirty-three years after the raid on the Foerost shipyards, Dace Golliard&mdash;who had since turned to a life of crime as a slaver&mdash;was apprehended by Admiral Saul Karath of the Republic Navy. Karath was especially eager to capture Golliard, since the Admiral's father, Craddock Karath, was one of the many Republic soldiers who had perished while Golliard had escaped to safety. Karath vowed that the outlaw would finally face the court-martial that he had tried so desperately to avoid.

Behind the scenes
The events of the Battle of Foerost took place in the comic book Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War 1: Edge of the Whirlwind, which was written by author Kevin J. Anderson and drawn by artist Dario Carrasco, Jr. Several of the characters and story elements of the issue were developed by previous Tales of the Jedi writer Tom Veitch in the preceding story arc, titled Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith. The forty-ninth issue of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic comic series, entitled Demon, Part 3, revealed that Knights of the Old Republic character Dace Golliard participated in the Battle of Foerost. The death of Craddock Karath during the battle, who was the father of KOTOR mainstay Saul Karath, was also brought to light in the same issue. Demon, Part 3 author, John Jackson Miller, identified Craddock Karath as the dock employee who was gunned down by Mandalore and Ulic Qel-Droma upon their entry into the shipyard control room.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War 1: Edge of the Whirlwind
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 49: Demon, Part 3

Notes and references
Schlacht von Foerost (3996 VSY) Batalla de Foerost (Gran Guerra Sith)