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 fought in 3,996 BBY during the Great Sith War, involving 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 and Tetan elite, 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 Vanicus was dispatched to try and interrupt the raid with a force of Republic reinforcements, but was too late to stop the theft of over three hundred warships. However, a recording of Qel-Droma from the attack was discovered, finally leaking the secret identity of the Republic's new enemy.

Background
"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 churned out 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, along with his Krath lover and Tetan elite Aleema Keto as well as his newly-sworn ally Mandalore, coveted these vessels for use in the Krath Holy Crusade he was helping to wage against the Republic. He therefore gathered his fleet, bolstered by his new ally's Mandalorian Crusaders, and had Aleema work a Sith illusion, disguising the force 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. Aleema'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 immensity, and offered to send an inspection crew out, 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, Aleema dropped the illusion, revealing their fleet of Tetan attack ships. Chaos fighters swarmed out to the shipyards, making strafing runs and quickly destroying the defensive emplacements of the facility. The Mandalorians clawed their way into 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.

The shipyards were quickly overrun, due largely to the savagery of the Mandalorians. Qel-Droma, accompanied by Aleema Keto and Mandalore, boarded the station, making 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 leader access.

Communication was soon established with Exar Kun, Dark Lord of the Sith and Ulic'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 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, abandoning 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 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's men discovered that the attackers had damaged as much computer hardware as they could in an attempt to erase all evidence of their identity. As it had been the fourth such attack, Qel-Droma's minions knew just what they were doing. However, one file was found, recorded by the station's automated security systems. Vanicus, who had fought at the Battle of Koros Major with him, recognized Qel-Droma&mdash;the secret was out.

Behind the scenes
The events of the Battle of Foerost take 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.. Some of the characters and story elements of the issue were developed by previous Tales of the Jedi writer Tom Veitch.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War