New Republic task force (Kal'Shebbol)

This task force was a military formation that was part of the New Republic Navy. In 8 ABY, the task force was assigned to the liberation of Kal'Shebbol, the capital of the remote Kathol sector, an area of space that was under the rule of Imperial warlord Moff Kentor Sarne. The task force arrived in the Kal'Shebbol system at a specific time, which allowed a freighter carrying elements of Page's Commandos to infiltrate the planet and bring down the planetary shields. The task force battled Sarne's forces, but were unable to prevent the Moff from escaping the planet when Page's Commandos were successful in lowering the shields, allowing the New Republic to take Kal'Shebbol.

After the liberation, the task force was given three days before it was to head to the Minos Cluster, hook up with Sarin Virgilio and his unit, and head to the Bozhnee sector to counter an Imperial official that Admiral Ackbar was trying to box in. Because of these assignments, the admiral in command could not afford to commit a large amount of manpower or equipment to a mission that had been planned to hunt down Sarne. However, he did release as much personnel and supplies as was possible.

History
This task force was part of the New Republic military. In 8 ABY, it was assigned to liberate the planet of Kal'Shebbol, the sector capital of the Kathol sector in the Outer Rim Territories. Since the death of Emperor Palpatine four years earlier during the Battle of Endor, the sector had been ruled by Moff Kentor Sarne as a breakaway warlord empire. As part of its campaign to deal with the Imperial warlords that had sprung up in the wake of the Empire's destabilization, along with rumors that Sarne was in possession of advanced alien technology, the New Republic chose to end Moff Sarne's rule.

Commanded by an admiral, the task force entered the Kal'Shebbol system at a pre-arranged time and place. As part of the battle plan, an unmarked civilian Ghtroc Industries Class 720 freighter carrying elements of the elite Page's Commandos led by Lieutenant Judder Page had entered the system prior to the task force's arrival. Using the confusion of the assault as cover, Page's Commandos were to infiltrate Moff Sarne's headquarters and lower the planetary shields while the task force engaged Moff Sarne's forces in orbit as well as bombarding the shields.

While the task force fought with Sarne's ships in orbit, Page's Commandos were successful in taking down the shields, allowing the liberation to begin properly. However, Sarne himself managed to escape the planet in the Ambition. Marshalling his forces, he disengaged from battle with the New Republic task force, managing to escape without revealing his hyperspace exit vector.

With Kal'Shebbol in New Republic hands, a mission was planned to follow Sarne into the Kathol sector. However, the task force had orders to leave Kal'Shebbol in three days, rendezvous with a force under the command of Sarin Virgilio in the Minos Cluster, and head to the Bozhnee sector to deal with a rogue Imperial causing trouble in the sector. Lieutenant Page, the planner of the mission, wanted the admiral in command to release a ship from his command to undertake the mission, but the admiral refused. He did inform the lieutenant that if Page could find a ship and a crew to undertake the mission, then he would release as much personnel and supplies as he was able to assist the mission. When Page found a modified CR90 corvette that Sarne had abandoned in his retreat, the admiral honored his word, transferring personnel&mdash;including starfighter pilots Lieutenant Commander Ranna Gorjaye, Dasha Defano and Noell Ciro, navy Petty Officer Colton, and Page's Commandos support operative T'achak T'andar&mdash; and starfighters to the corvette, which had been christened as the FarStar. Shortly after transferring the needed personnel and supplies to the ship, the task force departed for the Minos Cluster.

Organization
The task force was comprised of capital ships and starfighters with enough strength to defeat the forces of Moff Sarne and capture the planet of Kal'Shebbol, providing that the planetary shields had been disabled beforehand. The task force was commanded by an admiral, and the task force included pilots and support personnel for Page's Commandos.

Behind the scenes
The task force was first mentioned in The Saga Begins, a short story written by Timothy Zahn that served as the lead in to The DarkStryder Campaign, which was published by West End Games in 1995.