The Battle of Fort Nowhere unfolded a year following the Battle of Endor.
Fort Nowhere served as both a city and a sanctuary for smugglers. This Class Two military installation was located on the obscure planet of Ruusan. Consequently, its population consisted primarily of smugglers and, later, dissenting colonists from Sulon, although the majority of the latter group established themselves in the wastelands surrounding the town.
The conflict pitted Jerec's Imperial faction of Dark Jedi, who sought the Valley of the Jedi situated nearby, against the local residents of Fort Nowhere.
The Vengeance Battle Group appeared in orbit above Ruusan. They neutralized the weather satellites controlled by the smugglers and initiated a survey of the uncharted planet using probe droids. Sulon native Grif Grawley observed these events and attempted to alert the other colonists.
Sariss deemed the settlement disposable and advocated for its immediate destruction. However, Jerec favored interrogating the settlers for any knowledge they might possess regarding the Valley. Imperial envoys Sariss, Boc, and Yun engaged in negotiations with Mayor Byron Devo III of Fort Nowhere. Initially met with hostility from the settlers, Sariss resorted to nearly Force-choking a settler named Lasko to near death in an attempt to intimidate the population. The Dark Jedi extracted information from Mayor Devo, Marie Peeno, and the tapcafe's proprietor, promising to leave Fort Nowhere undisturbed despite its numerous violations of Imperial law.
Despite Devo's cooperation and Sariss's assurances, the Seven Dark Jedi, convinced that the settlers possessed no knowledge of the Valley and were therefore expendable, proceeded with the town's destruction. They selected an enclosed valley as a staging area, where they established a temporary maintenance facility and buried fuel bladders over a period exceeding twenty-six hours. The perimeter was guarded by a pair of AT-STs and heavily armed troopers. The most skilled members of the Vengeance Battle Group were chosen to pilot the TIEs and shuttles, emphasizing speed and surprise.
Simultaneously, the settlers utilized their available resources. Volunteers equipped with electrobinoculars served as the target-acquisition system, while Peeno directed the defenses from an underground bunker, with a teenager acting as weapons-control officer.
The Imperial offensive was primarily a ground assault. The Imperial forces consisted of six TIE/LN starfighters and four assault shuttles filled with stormtrooper platoons (amounting to four times forty stormtroopers), deployed twenty-six hours before the battle on the nearby plains.
The TIE Fighters initiated the attack, employing laser fire to obliterate significant portions of Fort Nowhere's defenses, including the southern gate, extensive sections of the walls, and a storage shed. Settler Dinko, manning one of the blaster cannon turrets, successfully shot down one of the TIEs. Four gunboats were en route. The Alpha Wave of TIEs managed to destroy two of the defensive turrets, attempting to evade the heavy fire from the remaining four. Missiles decimated half of the Beta Wave before it could launch.
The assault shuttles followed, prompting the launch of six surface-to-air missiles, which were effectively neutralized by chaff. However, one missile managed to bring down Imperial assault shuttle number three. The remaining shuttles then targeted the Fort's missile silos.
By the time the remaining three shuttles reached the settlement, three of the turrets had been destroyed. One TIE executed a low-altitude pass to eliminate fleeing refugees attempting to reach the caves. The shuttles landed amidst the chaos, and the stormtroopers quickly overwhelmed the smugglers and settlers. Squad Two secured the main road, while Squad Three secured the power station.
The forces of Fort Nowhere were no match for the Imperials, and the battle lasted a mere fifteen minutes to subdue the fort itself. The three Dark Jedi actively participated in the conflict. Sariss personally decapitated Mayor Devo during the battle, while Boc found amusement in executing wounded smugglers and settlers. Yun was tasked with destroying the fort's subsurface farms. An additional twenty minutes were required to clear out the extensive underground system of caves and tunnels.
Fort Nowhere was completely destroyed, and the majority of its inhabitants were killed. Only a small number managed to escape, most of whom were subsequently hunted down by trainee stormtroopers. Aside from the downed TIE Fighter and assault shuttle, Imperial losses were negligible.
Some survivors sought refuge in the badlands, eventually reaching Grif Grawley's location. Acknowledging their error in dismissing Grif's warning, and unfamiliar with the terrain outside the Fort, they sought his assistance. He agreed to help, leading them to the ruins of a Jedi temple located fifty-six kilometers south of the settlement. Grif Grawley transmitted a looped message in a Primitive binary code, indicating their location, possibly in an attempt to attract more survivors.
Several days after the battle, after the Imperials had moved on to the Valley of the Jedi, Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors arrived at the former site of Fort Nowhere aboard the Moldy Crow. Appalled by the devastation, the Rebel agents searched the ruins for survivors without success. Following Grif's signal, they located the temple and joined the survivors, who assisted them in finding the Valley of the Jedi.
The Dark Forces: Jedi Knight narrative mentions the participation of "TIE fighters," specifically six, in the battle. However, the accompanying illustration (see main image) by William C. Dietz depicts six TIE bombers in flight.
The audio drama suggests a larger Imperial force consisting of "couple of dozens" TIEs, as well as hovercraft and gunboats. In the novella, Marie Peeno is situated in a bunker while Dinko mans a cannon turret, whereas in the audio drama, they are together and perish together while Peeno is arming missiles.