The confrontation known as the Battle of Mindor unfolded between the forces of the New Republic and Shadowspawn's military, as a key part of the warlord Cronal's campaign to seize control of the Inner Rim. Following the demise of Emperor Palpatine, several of the surviving Emperor's Royal Guards allied with the former Imperial Intelligence operative Cronal—also known as Lord Shadowspawn—in a series of attacks targeting the worlds of the Inner Rim. Using the world of Mindor as their central hub, his shadow stormtroopers engaged in acts of terrorism and piracy, as well as conducting mass slaughter against worlds that were allied with the New Republic—the organization that succeeded the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
Shadowspawn went so far as to declare himself the new Galactic Emperor, attempting to instill fear of a renewed Imperial—and Sith—presence. The New Republic responded to this threat by deploying Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker—who had now achieved the rank of general—with the mission to liberate the worlds of the Inner Rim that had been conquered by Cronal. This led to a prolonged and bloody series of battles, resulting in a massive death toll. Shadowspawn, seeking to ensnare Skywalker, laid a trap for the Jedi by fortifying his forces on Mindor.
Skywalker initiated an assault on the planet, supported by the other Heroes of Yavin and the skilled pilots of Rogue Squadron. During the fierce battle, Shadowspawn inflicted significant losses on the Republic and their Mandalorian allies, even though it cost him the lives of his own soldiers. After ambushing the Republic's Rapid Response Task Force above Mindor, his stormtroopers clashed with the Republic's ground troops. Instead of confronting his enemies directly, he utilized meltmassif stones to manipulate the minds of Pawns, who acted as decoys for the actual Cronal.
The grueling battle reached its conclusion when Fenn Shysa's Mandalorian Protectors played a crucial role in shifting the advantage to the New Republic. Shadowspawn's forces fought until their last breath, leading to the complete annihilation of all Imperial combatants. Shadowspawn met his demise during this battle, but he managed to revive himself through the power of the dark side of the Force and later served the resurrected Darth Sidious. Disgusted by what he saw as a tremendous waste of life, Skywalker resigned from the New Republic military as a consequence of the events that transpired on Mindor, choosing to dedicate himself to his Jedi studies.
In the aftermath of Emperor Palpatine's death, several surviving Emperor's Royal Guards joined forces with the former Imperial Intelligence operative and Dark Jedi Cronal—more famously known as Lord Shadowspawn. Together, they successfully seized and maintained control of the Inner Rim, using the planet Mindor as their strategic command center.
Cronal utilized the forces at his disposal, including shadow stormtroopers, to perpetrate acts of terrorism and piracy, in addition to carrying out mass slaughter against worlds belonging to the New Republic—the organization that had succeeded the Alliance to Restore the Republic. His TIE/D Defender wings launched multiple raids against worlds in the Mid Rim, causing widespread destruction and fatalities, and kidnapping individuals from selected worlds.
Due to the extensive devastation, these people were presumed dead by the authorities. However, they were actually sent to Lord Shadowspawn's Sorting Center on Mindor, where they were forcibly conscripted into becoming his Pawns. These individuals were merely extensions of his will, whom he could manipulate. Shadowspawn hoped to undermine the Republic's control over the galaxy and incite fears of a renewed Imperial—and Sith—presence. Consequently, he proclaimed himself the new Galactic Emperor, intending to fully reinstate the Galactic Empire.
In response, the Republic dispatched the Jedi Luke Skywalker—now holding the rank of general—to lead a campaign against Shadowspawn, with the goal of liberating the worlds of the Inner Rim that he had conquered. This resulted in a protracted and bloody series of battles that left thousands dead. Prophecy had foretold that Shadowspawn would face a significant obstacle, which he believed to be Skywalker. Anticipating the confrontation, the warlord devised a trap for the general.
Towards the campaign's conclusion, his troops entrenched themselves on Mindor, preparing for Skywalker's inevitable assault. There, Shadowspawn intended to lure both Skywalker and the Republic into a carefully planned trap. The Rapid Response Task Force was dispatched to Mindor to put an end to Lord Shadowspawn's plans for conquest. Although the Response Force encountered no capital ship opposition, Shadowspawn's forces had enough hangar bases on Mindor and nearby asteroids to launch over a thousand TIE Series starfighters.
Shadowspawn's stormtroopers were entrenched in fortified positions across the planet, forcing Republic forces to systematically eliminate each position. Shadowspawn had chosen Mindor because it was surrounded by debris from the Big Crush, forming a screen of randomly moving rocks and meteors that were nearly impossible to chart. This forced the Rapid Response Task Force to either launch a high-risk attack using only starfighters, or to execute a mission of overwhelming force, smashing the entire fleet through the debris and bombarding Shadowspawn's base from low orbit.
During the battle's planning sessions, General Skywalker emphasized the critical importance of completely destroying Lord Shadowspawn's forces in any Republic operation. Any survivors would be able to establish their own cells of opposition, creating a situation where the Republic would be forced to fight skirmishes on multiple fronts. The leaders of the Combined Defense Forces opted to launch a mission of overwhelming force. The battle plan called for the flagship Justice to lead the RRTF into position near Mindor, using microjumps to penetrate the asteroid field before deploying CC-7700/E interdiction cruisers to prevent any ships from escaping into hyperspace.
Upon spotting the Republic's ships, Shadowspawn launched a small group of his starfighters, and a brief skirmish ensued before an apparently unarmed shuttle hailed the Justice. The transmissions from the shuttle claimed that Lord Shadowspawn himself was aboard, seeking to negotiate a cease-fire. However, the shuttle was a deception. It contained a gravity bomb that detonated extremely close to the Justice, tearing the ship apart almost immediately. Other gravity mines, concealed in the rubble near the planet, were then activated, causing chaos among the Republic's forces and compromising the interdiction field. Amidst the resulting confusion, the rest of Shadowspawn's forces emerged from their hiding places among the asteroids, trapping the Republic vessels against Mindor.
In the days that followed, the Imperial forces on Mindor launched wave after wave of TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors at the Republic's forces. Despite the overwhelming number of Imperial fighters, the 23rd Combat Starfighter Wing managed to establish a defensive perimeter around its capital ships. Captain Tirossk, having assumed command of the RRTF after the loss of the Justice, began utilizing repulsors and gravity wells to consolidate the asteroids into cohesive groups, thereby clearing a pathway for escape into hyperspace.
The Republic's forces were then reinforced by the sudden arrival of a task force led by Lando Calrissian, who had learned of the problems on Mindor and responded swiftly, even recruiting a team of Mandalorians led by Mandalore Fenn Shysa to aid the Republic's forces. Meanwhile, large pieces of debris from the Big Crush collided with the star Taspan, triggering a series of explosions on the sun's surface. These explosions released radiation into the surrounding system, rendering all electronic devices useless. Lando and Tirossk moved the Republic's fleet closer to Mindor itself, using the planet to shield them from the radiation while allowing them to disable the gravity mines and gravity stations scattered throughout the asteroid field.
On the planet's surface, Skywalker was captured by Shadowspawn, who turned out to be a puppet created by Lord Cronal. Skywalker discovered how Cronal was using meltmassif stones to control his Pawns, and with the help of Nick Rostu, managed to escape from the Imperials. Luke then had to confront Lord Cronal before he could capture Leia Organa. His friends Han Solo and Leia Organa also participated in the battle, and afterward shared a stale meal together while still surrounded by dead stormtroopers.
Lando and Shysa realized that by concealing themselves on the dark side of Mindor, they could transport their troops to the planet's surface while remaining hidden in the radiation. This allowed them to position landers and troops - both Republic marines and Mandalorians - close enough to the weapons protecting the fortress to penetrate the stormtrooper lines and breach the domes covering the gravity gun. However, this played into Cronal's hands, as it concentrated the Republic's forces in a single location.
Cronal then activated the gravity stations he had buried beneath Shadow Base, lifting the entire fortress into the sky, where the Imperials were able to use their gravity gun with devastating effects. Calrissian was forced to move his fleet further away from Mindor to avoid the growing possibility that the planet might tear itself apart after Shadow Base lifted free, hoping that his ships could defend themselves against the radiation pouring from Taspan. This allowed the Republic ships to encircle Shadow Base, and then Lando implemented his own desperate plan. Using the gravity well projectors of his interdiction cruisers, Lando redirected Imperial gravity bombs back to their source on Shadow Base.
After Lord Cronal was prevented from taking over Leia Organa's body, he fled the system in an escape craft, but not before using his meltmassif connection to his military forces to compel them into a series of suicide runs at the Republic's forces. In space, the Imperial pilots hurled their TIE Interceptors and TIE Defenders at the Republic's warships, crashing their fighters into the nearest capital ship. Within Shadow Base, Luke confronted Kar Vastor, who was being controlled by Lord Cronal, and was able to use the huge man's strength in the Force to confront and destroy Cronal.
With Cronal's elimination, the Imperial forces he had been controlling were freed and surrendered. However, in destroying Cronal and restoring the light for the Melters, Luke was forced to trigger the semi-organic deadman switches that Cronal had installed in the meltmassif crystal networks in the brains and Crowns of his minions. Skywalker deeply regretted that this led to the immediate deaths of all Imperial troops on Mindor, some 50,000 beings who were mere pawns in Cronal's attempt to seize power.
The Republic's warships managed to forge a hyperspace escape route from the system, and with survivors aboard, the ships narrowly escaped the destruction of the Taspan system. The tragic loss of life led Skywalker to resign from the military six months later, unable to reconcile the unnecessary loss of life with his commitment to the Force and restoring the Jedi Order.
Similar to Emperor Palpatine himself, as revealed in later years, Cronal seemingly resurrected himself using the Force. He would return during the Imperial Civil War to serve the Dark Lord. However, there were also rumors that this was actually Sate Pestage impersonating Cronal and adopting his codename of Blackhole.
The Battle of Mindor was initially created as a reference in Michael Allen Horne's Dark Empire Sourcebook, published as a supplement to Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game by West End Games in June 1993. Shortly after, the battle was mentioned again in Dave Wolverton's 1994 novel The Courtship of Princess Leia. The battle was further referenced and developed in Daniel Wallace and Kevin J. Anderson's The Essential Chronology in 2000.
In March 2005, Abel G. Peña further elaborated on the Battle of Mindor in The History of the Mandalorians, introducing the role of Fenn Shysa and his Mandalorian Protectors in bringing about Shadowspawn's defeat. In October 2005, the revised The New Essential Chronology featured a painting of Luke Skywalker confronting Lord Shadowspawn's shadow stormtroopers on Mindor.
The Battle of Mindor's first actual appearance was in Matthew Stover's novel Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, released in December 2008. The novel adapts and expands upon the brief account of the event provided in Wallace and Anderson's two Essential Chronology editions. Stover used this battle to explore the identity of Lord Shadowspawn, a shadowy character within the Expanded Universe.
Approximately a month before the novel's release, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia revealed that Cronal and Shadowspawn were the same character. Matthew Stover stated on his blog that "Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor is my attempt to get the EU back to its pre-Zahn roots -- specifically, to evoke memories of my all-time favorite Star Wars books, Brian Daley's Han Solo novels."
While introducing new concepts such as meltmassif, Pawns, and the mobile Shadow Base into the Expanded Universe, the novel also recycled older concepts such as the Korunnai Kar Vastor and Nick Rostu. These two characters first appeared in another of Stover's novels, Shatterpoint, which centered around the Jedi Master Mace Windu.