Quesh war

Prelude

Circa 3642 BBY, the already strained Cold War between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire teetered on the brink of transforming into the full-blown Galactic War. Although the Treaty of Coruscant, which had brought an end to the Great Galactic War a decade prior, remained nominally in effect, the Empire began a series of military actions targeting the Republic, aiming to instigate open conflict. Simultaneously, the Republic escalated its support for the Balmorran resistance on the Imperial-occupied planet of Balmorra, doing so in a more overt manner. Discovering the existence of Quesh, a world rich in the valuable chemical compound venenit queshaaga – commonly known as Quesh venom – which could be processed into potent military adrenals, the Empire formulated a plan to dismantle the Republic's mining infrastructure there, hoping to provoke a forceful military response.

The battle

Imperial invasion

Upon their arrival at Quesh, the Imperial military leadership initially believed that a rapid, decisive strike could cripple the Republic's presence on this sparsely populated world. However, the Imperial Military managed to seize only a limited number of Quesh venom mines and a single processing facility before the combined forces of the Republic Military and the Three Families—a trio of Hutts who had broken away from the officially neutral Hutt Cartel to capitalize on the resources of Quesh and forge an alliance with the Republic—counterattacked and pushed back the Imperial advance. Moff Dracen, the Imperial commanding officer, then gave the order to convert the captured processing station and its associated warehouses into an Imperial Garrison. Moff Dracen, along with his key subordinates, including General Koloch, Major Faradin, and Colonel Drefin, established their command headquarters within one of the storage warehouses, directing the Imperial operations from this base. The Republic's defense of Quesh was entrusted to the experienced General Korvan, supported by his subordinate Major Treeg, and the miner barracks located at the Republic Operational Headquarters were transformed into a fully functional military installation.

Initially, the Three Families coordinated their defensive efforts from their opulent Palace. However, a confluence of factors prompted them to relocate their command center to a newly established war camp situated to the south. The Three Families Palace was largely inaccessible to Republic personnel, due to the sensitive information stored within. Additionally, the addiction of the Hutt Portho Kaltemmic to adrenals had become a source of discomfort for the other members of the Three Families, Jeelta Urdosh and Broga Masrii. Furthermore, the palace was deemed unsuitable as a strategic and efficient operational headquarters. Consequently, the Three Families established their new war camp between Broga's Palace and the Republic Operational Headquarters. The Empire also established an outpost, intending to utilize it as a base for venom research. However, setbacks and repeated attacks by Republic forces significantly hindered the Empire's research efforts. As a result, the Hutt Cartel deployed some of their forces to the outpost, and the base evolved into more of a staging area for Cartel battle droids than a dedicated research facility as the conflict progressed.

The Three Families were in the process of preparing to transport an experimental adrenal formula to Attis Station, and when Captain Franges intercepted their communications, he dispatched an Imperial unit to seize the formula samples—ultimately retaining the formulas for his personal use, due to his own addiction to adrenals. Sergeant Molvar and Alpha Squad were assigned to secure a location for a supply depot, to facilitate the movement of Imperial troops and equipment deeper into the nearby mines. However, they encountered Republic defenders who had been enhanced with powerful adrenals. The Republic soldiers decimated Molvar's squad, resulting in the deaths of all twelve soldiers. Molvar survived only because he was rendered unconscious by a grenade explosion. Severely wounded, Molvar sought assistance from other Imperial forces in the area, who were ultimately able to secure the site for the supply depot.

The Republic initiated the construction of a powerful shield generator, intended to protect their mining operations, utilizing a large crane for the construction. Sergeant [Darro]—responsible for organizing raids against the Republic's mining operations—dispatched a contingent of soldiers to destroy the crane. However, his reconnaissance was inaccurate, and his forces were overwhelmed by a Republic defense force three times larger than anticipated. Consequently, he requested support from other Imperial units to destroy the crane, and the destruction of the crane significantly hampered the Republic's mining efforts. After the Republic's Manka-class Armored Transports began to disrupt Imperial mining operations, Moff Dracen deployed Bravo Team on Operation Tripwire. The Imperials were tasked with planting proximity explosives, specifically calibrated to disable the Republic walker convoy, at strategic checkpoints along a bridge on a walker route. However, Bravo Team was eliminated before completing their mission, forcing Moff Dracen to rely on other Imperial operatives to plant and detonate the explosives.

Early in the invasion, Republic admiral Monk—secretly a spy working for the Sith Lord Darth Baras—thwarted an attack on outlying star systems by Baras's former Sith Master, Darth Vengean of the Empire's ruling Dark Council. Baras dispatched his apprentice to pursue Monk as part of Plan Zero, a scheme devised by Baras and Vengean to reignite the galactic conflict, and the Sith Warrior located Monk at Fort Phalanx on Quesh. Baras's apprentice successfully completed the mission to assassinate Monk, although the admiral revealed that Baras had manipulated the entire situation to portray Vengean as incompetent in the eyes of the Dark Council.

Major Faradin proposed luring the Republic leadership into an ambush under the guise of peace negotiations, but Moff Dracen decided instead to deploy Imperial forces to destroy the specialized filters that the Republic were utilizing to maintain the safety of their mines by removing noxious gas. Imperial forces attacked the Yuna Bore mine, destroying the filters and depriving the Republic of a valuable source of Quesh venom. Around that time, the Hutt Cartel dispatched the Hutt Graag to oversee Cartel forces on Quesh, with the objective of eliminating the Three Families, as a means of appeasing the Empire and preserving their neutrality. However, Graag and his Cartel droid armies were unable to make headway against the Three Families, due to the presence of Jedi defending their factories. This prompted Dracen to dispatch Imperial forces to target the Republic's adrenal synthesis factory. Upon infiltrating the factory, Dracen's forces either destroyed the production equipment or eliminated the Selkath scientists working there, dealing a significant blow to the Three Families' financial resources.

Dracen also secured the allegiance of Portho Kaltemnic, and with the assistance of the Hutt and his Chevin advisor Norvaan Kel, the Empire either infiltrated a small force into the Three Families' palace or launched a full-scale assault on the structure's entrance. However, Jedi Master Berin Fraal had personally evacuated Broga from the palace before the Empire initiated their attack, and Dracen's strike force was only able to eliminate Jeelta during their raid. The squad also killed Portho, as the Hutt had outlived his usefulness, and then transmitted the Three Families' data on processing adrenals to Moff Dracen. As part of his final offensive against the Republic and the Three Families, Dracen dispatched Imperial forces to hunt down Master Fraal and Broga at the Quesh Venom Refinery.

Dracen's forces killed Fraal but spared Broga, as the Hutt agreed to work with the Empire.

Republic resurgence

Broga's loyalty to the Empire proved to be short-lived, and he rejoined the Republic's side shortly after his release. Consequently, Moff Dracen ordered a siege of Broga's palace, culminating in its capture, and an enraged Broga was forced to command the Three Families' remaining forces from their war camp, while the Moff established the palace as his personal fortress.

Senior Field Agent Suria of the Republic Strategic Information Service, the Republic's clandestine intelligence agency, was tasked with facilitating the defection of Doctor Orlian, a crucial scientist at the Empire's Quesh venom processing laboratory. Suria sent Agent Meldo undercover into the factory to manage the operation. However, when Meldo failed to report in at two consecutive check-ins, Suria dispatched another Republic operative to disable the Imperial facility's security station and rendezvous with Meldo. It was discovered that Meldo had been unable to respond due to heightened Imperial security. Meldo decided to capitalize on the operative's presence and extract Orlian. The operative successfully extracted the scientist, despite an attempt by Imperial Captain Jesh and his security team to intercept them, and Meldo transported Orlian to one of the SIS's safe houses.

Gallia, the foreman of one of the Republic's mining crews, was instructed by General Korvan to construct a tunnel beneath a nearby Imperial base, enabling the Republic to launch an attack from below. However, the crew's drill malfunctioned. To acquire replacement parts for the drill, Republic forces raided one of the Imperial mining operations, allowing Gallia to resume the tunnel construction. When the Ithorian Jedi Goonawaro discovered that the Imperial method of extracting Quesh venom—excavating massive pits in the ground to access the chemical—was releasing clouds of toxic gas into the atmosphere, he sought assistance from General Korvan's forces to plant explosives on Imperial storage tanks, thereby disrupting the Empire's production.

Lieutenant Meric detected Imperial activity on the rooftops of several captured Republic factories. When the soldiers he dispatched to investigate failed to return, additional forces stormed the roofs of the factories and successfully prevented Imperial war droids from detonating explosives that would have destroyed the structures.

Republic Major Donovan deployed the Safecrackers, a platoon within the Republic Special Forces Division specializing in assaulting enemy bunkers, on a mission to raid an Imperial bunker. However, the mission went awry, and the platoon became trapped. The head of Special Forces, General Elin Garza, dispatched the elite Havoc Squad to assist Donovan in the rescue operation. Havoc attacked an Imperial command bunker to divert enemy forces away from the Safecrackers. Despite being vastly outnumbered by the Imperial forces in the command bunker, Havoc Squad managed to overcome the enemy and create a sufficient distraction for Lieutenant [Coria] to lead the remaining Safecrackers back to Republic lines.

A Republic privateer named Captain Ozzik, who had been smuggling combat medications and adrenals to anti-Imperial organizations in the Outer Rim Territories, found himself trapped on Quesh when the Imperial admiral Harridax Kirill, known as the Voidwolf, attacked Ozzik's convoy with turbolasers. Confined to the hangar that his convoy typically utilized, Ozzik transmitted a distress signal that was intercepted by a smuggler employed by Senator [Bevera Dodonna]. The smuggler's crew came to the privateer's aid. After rescuing Ozzik, the smuggler destroyed the Voidwolf's Planetary Sensor Station, which was identifying starships for the Imperial turbolasers to target, enabling Ozzik's convoy to depart Quesh.

As the galactic war intensified, Darth Baras—newly elevated to Vengean's position on the Dark Council—once again dispatched his apprentice to Quesh, with the objective of bolstering the Imperial offensive there. Commander Ollien became aware of a Republic strike force attempting to detonate a series of caverns beneath an Imperial command center. The Sith located Captain Trey-yen and his men just as they completed installing the explosives. However, Trey-yen's attempts to detonate the explosives failed, and the warrior eliminated the Republic strike team—only to be contacted by Baras's other apprentice, Lord Draahg. Draahg revealed that Trey-yen had been dispatched by one of Baras's Republic moles, and the entire operation was a trap designed for Baras's first apprentice. Draahg immediately detonated the explosives, but the Sith barely managed to escape the collapsing caverns and survive.

Behind the scenes

The Quesh War is a prominent element in the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic, developed by BioWare and LucasArts. The events of the War are comprehensively detailed within the in-game Codex, as well as through the Imperial and Republic world and class missions. All missions are designed to be completed by a group of players, and any class can undertake both the world missions and side missions. Consequently, this article refers to the player characters in each quest as a group of Imperial or Republic operatives, and assumes that each faction completes their respective missions in accordance with their respective moral alignments. However, during the Imperial mission "Quesh Showdown," players have the option to kill Broga the Hutt for dark side points. Despite this, Broga continues to appear in Republic missions, which take place after the Imperial missions, suggesting that the decision to spare Broga for light side points is considered the canonical choice.