The Western Reaches Operation was a campaign launched by the Galactic Empire around 17 BBY, to drive out the holdout forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems from the Western Reaches.
During the final days of the Clone Wars, after the fall of Bomis Koori IV, the remnants of the CIS forces fled Rimward down the Corellian Trade Spine into the Western Reaches, seeking shelter amid the pirate bases and slavers' nests of the lawless region. After the rise of the New Order, Emperor Palpatine tasked Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin of Eriadu with pacifying the region.
Tarkin regarded the Planetary Security Forces in the Western Reaches to be unreliable, and considered the number of pirates and Separatist holdouts to be a significant threat. Consequently, he appealed for significant military resources. In response to Tarkin's request, Admirals Terrinald Screed and Bannidge Holt were given joint command of the Western Reaches Superiority Force, while General Hurst Romodi was assigned to lead the ground forces and Tarkin commanded from Eriadu.
General Romodi leading from the open hatch of a Floating Fortress.
Advancing from Eriadu, Screed and Holt's forces defeated the Separatists early at the Battle of Kelrodo-Ai after the TIE Fighter ace Shea Hublin made a daring run against the Citadel of Axes, bringing down the planetary shield in preparation for Romodi's ground assault. The Empire won a further victory at the Battle of Pendaxa.
With the Rimward front secured, Tarkin turned his attention north. Imperial forces moved up the Rimma Trade Route and defeated the Separatists at the Battle of Ord Vaug, before swinging back south down the Corellian Trade Spine and winning victories at Halm, Ichtor, Little Petrovi, and the Feather Nebula, where Hublin won further accolades. During these battles, Hurst Romodi became famous for directing assaults from the open top hatch of a Floating Fortress.
The campaign resumed in the south at Bryndar. There, Bannidge Holt was killed and Romodi badly injured in an ambush by Iska pirates disguised as local officials. Despite being blinded, Romodi continued to direct the ground operations of the campaign from a bacta tank.
Screed and Hublin smashed the Iska pirates at the Battle of Fanha, forcing the pirate lord Guun Cutlax to flee into the Atravis sector. Cutlax linked up with Separatist forces under the command of General Kendu Ultho, but he was pursued by Screed and Hublin back up the Hydian Way. Cutlax was defeated at the Battle of Tosste, and the campaign was concluded with the defeat of Ultho at the Battle of Ogoth Tiir.
During the course of the operation, the Empire liberated ninety-five worlds and restored order to eight sectors.
The Western Reaches Operation captured the imagination of the Imperial citizenry, with the battles at Ord Vaug, Halm, Pendaxa and Ichtor becoming famous throughout the Empire. In later years, Imperial citizens were said to always remember where they had been when they heard of Holt's death and Romodi's injury at Bryndar. The campaign was heavily propagandised by the Empire, and dramatised in films like The Charge at Feather Nebula and The Guns of Kelrodo-Ai.
In the aftermath of the campaign, Hurst Romodi became the representative of his native Lambda sector in the Imperial Senate, though psychological issues brought about by his injuries led him to serve only one term. His last command would be as Battle Station Operations Chief aboard the First Death Star under his old commander, Tarkin. The operation was also the peak of Terrinald Screed's career: he sank into obscurity after the operation and ended up leading corrupt business and slaving schemes in the Outer Rim with Governor Bisad Koong of Roon.
- The Essential Guide to Warfare
- "A Certain Point of View: The Death Star Coup" — Star Wars Insider Special Edition 2014
- Strongholds of Resistance