First Battle of Borleias

Back in 6 ABY, the Galactic Empire still exerted dominance over most settled planets and maintained a firm grip on the vital Core Worlds. The New Republic concluded that capturing Coruscant, the symbol of galactic power and authority in the galaxy, was the most effective way to dismantle the Empire. They began seizing Imperial planets to establish a path towards Coruscant. Because of the Pyria system's proximity to the Galactic Core, the New Republic Provisional Council designated the Imperial-held planet Borleias as a critical staging point for an eventual attack against Coruscant.

Laryn Kre'fey, a Bothan general who gained prominence due to the Bothan Spynet's success in acquiring the Death Star II plans before the Battle of Endor, was tasked with planning the planetary assault. Kre'fey aimed for a swift victory to secure command of the Coruscant invasion. He directed Bothan spies to monitor the HoloNet communications from the small Imperial base on Borleias to assess its defenses.

The Bothan Spynet determined that the base was equipped with a deflector shield generator, four heavy ion cannons, ground-based laser defenses, and two TIE squadrons: one of fighters and one of interceptors. While the shield projectors had been upgraded during the Rebel Alliance era, the Bothans believed this was only to deter the Alliance. The defenses were considered weak and easily penetrable, prompting Kre'fey and his staff of two Bothan colonels and one commander to begin planning an offensive.

However, unbeknownst to the Bothans, Imperial General Evir Derricote, who oversaw the base, had secretly enhanced its defenses to protect a black market Alderaan Biotics facility he operated there for personal gain. To conceal this operation from his superiors, Derricote implemented stricter computer security than most Imperial outposts outside Coruscant. He was aware of the Bothan Spynet's probes and deliberately fed them false information. Consequently, they were unaware of his additional defenses, which included two extra TIE interceptor squadrons and a power generator that doubled the deflector shield's power when activated. The TIE pilots were also more experienced and had more simulation time than pilots at similar outposts.

Derricote had anticipated an attack on Borleias since discovering the Alderaan Biotics facility. He even welcomed the prospect, having previously led the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing to victory at the Battle of Derra IV and eager to fight again. When Imperial Intelligence Agent Kirtan Loor was sent to Borleias by Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard, Derricote became even more convinced of an imminent New Republic offensive and began preparations.

Loor, who discovered Derricote's secret defenses upon arrival, had previously theorized that Borleias was one of about two dozen worlds the New Republic might target to access the Core Worlds for an attack on Coruscant. Loor mistakenly believed Isard had reached the same conclusion and sent him to defend Borleias. In reality, Isard sent Loor to spy on Derricote, believing he possessed horticultural and scientific skills that could be developed into a bioweapon against the New Republic. Had Loor shared his theory with Isard, she would have dispatched a larger defense force to crush the attack and destroy the New Republic forces.

Laryn Kre'fey decided that a space bombardment was the best way to seize the base. The Emancipator, an Imperial-class Star Destroyer captured at the Battle of Endor and repaired by the Rebel Alliance, would lead the assault by bombarding the base's shields with turbolaser and ion fire. Kre'fey believed the deflector shields were vulnerable to aerial bombardment, even when the shield coverage was reduced to protect only essential ground facilities.

Once the shields were down, General Horton Salm would deploy his Defender Wing, comprising the Champion, Guardian, and Warden Y-wing starfighter squadrons. Defender Wing, launching from the modified bulk cruiser Mon Valle, would then bomb the Imperial facilities and defenses. Rogue Squadron, the elite X-wing squad led by Commander Wedge Antilles, would launch from the CR90 corvette Eridain to protect the Y-wings from the Imperial base's TIE forces.

After the Y-wings sufficiently weakened the ground resistance, three assault shuttles would launch from the modified bulk cruiser Corulag to transport commando forces to the planet. Each shuttle would make three trips, carrying 40 commandos each, until 960 troops were deployed to complete the New Republic conquest. Among the commandos was Kell Tainer, who later became a pilot with Wedge Antilles' Wraith Squadron.

The plan was presented to the Provisional Council before other New Republic Defense Force officials, including Supreme Commander Admiral Gial Ackbar, could evaluate it. The Council approved the plan, partly due to support from Borsk Fey'lya, a Bothan councilor distantly related to Kre'fey.

Kre'fey believed surprise was crucial. Due to recent security breaches to Ysanne Isard, who had increased her counterintelligence efforts against the New Republic, the planet and system identity, along with other mission details, were kept secret from the involved military forces, including Horton Salm and Wedge Antilles. Borleias was only referred to by the codename Blackmoon, after the planet's only moon. These measures successfully prevented Erisi Dlarit, an Isard spy in Rogue Squadron, from providing critical information to Imperial Intelligence.

Laryn Kre'fey presented the plan to military officials during a briefing on Home One, one of Ackbar's MC80 Star Cruiser flagships. Kre'fey informed the officials, including Ackbar, Wedge Antilles, and Horton Salm, that the mission would take place in fifteen days, allowing only two weeks for pilot and commando training. This short training period would particularly disadvantage Rogue Squadron, which was short two pilots due to the death of Lujayne Forge and the suspension of Tycho Celchu, suspected of being an Imperial spy. Shistavanen pilot Riv Shiel was also flying despite previous injuries. Salm suggested more preparation time, but relented when Kre'fey, with whom he had previously clashed, threatened to replace Defender Wing with another bomber wing.

Although Antilles did not anticipate a trap, he found the defenses oddly strong for an obscure world but too weak for a planet so close to Coruscant. He questioned the intelligence about the base and expressed concerns about Kre'fey's plan, which he felt relied too heavily on aerial bombardment and should start with a ground assault. He feared the base's ion cannons could slow the bombardment enough for reinforcements to arrive and stop the attack.

Kre'fey, known for his pride, dismissed these criticisms. When Antilles asked if the deflector shields could withstand bombardment even without the ion cannons, Kre'fey had not considered it, but refused to revise his plan, insisting it was irrelevant. This hesitation shook the confidence of several officials present.

Antilles also insisted that too much information was being withheld. Ackbar agreed and ordered Kre'fey to provide more specifics, threatening to cancel the operation despite the Provisional Council's approval. Kre'fey reluctantly complied, although the identity and location of Borleias remained secret, and coordinates would only be provided on the day of battle. Simulation packages with basic information about the Imperial installation were provided for the X-wing and Y-wing pilots, who would spend the next two weeks training on the Colonies world of Noquivzor, from which the attack would launch.

Judder Page, commander of the elite Page's Commandos Special Forces unit, suggested delaying the battle three weeks. During that time, the planet's orbit would pass through an annual meteor shower, which Page wanted to use as cover for a ground reconnaissance mission. Kre'fey rejected the plan because the planet's moon would block the entry and exit vector, posing a serious risk; Page suspected Kre'fey simply didn't want to delay his conquest.

After the two-week training period, Laryn Kre'fey briefed the pilots. Despite his efforts to boost morale and promise future accolades, the pilots were concerned about the lack of information and the plan itself. Corran Horn, a Rogue Squadron pilot, felt particularly uneasy due to his heightened, latent Force-sensitive instincts.

The New Republic fleet jumped from Noquivzor into the Pyria system and launched their attack. The planet and system's identity remained secret; Kre'fey arranged for coordinates to be downloaded to and erased from all astromech droids and navigation computers before and after the operation. Emancipator, commanded by Mon Calamari Admiral Ragab, began its turbolaser barrage against the Borleias base's shields as planned. The dome-shaped shield deflected most blasts onto the surrounding planetary surface, igniting nearby jungle and buildings, worrying the starfighter pilots about complicating the Y-wing bombardment.

Kre'fey was pleased that the shields seemed to be dropping faster than expected, and the base's ion cannons were not firing back at Emancipator. Horn also monitored the shields, having his R2 unit Whistler discern the shield size, ground air currents, and other planetary information. The droid gathered this information using a criminal investigation and forensics package from its past use on the Corellian Security Force, unknown to and unauthorized by the New Republic commanders.

Unbeknownst to the New Republic, Derricote had ordered his staff to gradually reduce the shields by random increments of seven or less. Once the shield hit 75 percent, Derricote ordered it to half-power, then twenty percent, then five, then zero power. Kirtan Loor worried that the fleet would level the base before Derricote's secret defenses could protect them, but the general was unconcerned. The base took less damage than Derricote expected because Kre'fey switched predominantly from turbolasers to ion fire, which would inflict less damage on the base he planned to capture.

Kre'fey believed the Imperial ion cannons were disabled and the base was surrendering, explaining the lack of TIE support. He felt justified in ordering Defender Wing to return to Noquivzor and dispatched Rogue Squadron to escort the shuttles instead, claiming it would prevent unnecessary delays, but secretly hoping to prevent his rival, Salm, from receiving credit for the victory. The pilots were audibly concerned but accepted the order. Salm, however, intended to stay, bringing Defender Wing close to Emancipator so he could later claim it prevented him from jumping to lightspeed.

The X-wings locked S-foils into attack position and began the escort, while Emancipator moved away from the planet to screen for Imperials. The Star Destroyer did not position itself to intercept attacking TIEs or destroy launch facilities because Kre'fey didn't want to damage his prize. The eight assault shuttles launched from Corulag, one carrying Kre'fey himself, who ordered his ship to descend first so he would be among the first to set foot on the captured base.

At that moment, Evir Derricote unleashed his trap, ordering the shields to be restored at two hundred percent of their original power using his secret shield generator. The dormant Imperial ion cannons opened fire, the first blast directly hitting Laryn Kre'fey's assault shuttle. The disabled shuttle fell into the atmosphere and collided with the reinforced shield, destroying the ship and killing Kre'fey and the 40 commandos on board. Derricote then launched his TIE fighters and one of his TIE interceptor squadrons from launch tunnels around the shield dome's perimeter.

With the ranking officer dead, Wedge Antilles took command and ordered the shuttles to retreat and evade until they could escape into hyperspace. Rogue Squadron was tasked with protecting them, and the X-wing pilots switched to proton torpedoes and opened fire on the TIEs as the base's ion fire continued pounding the fleet. Emancipator began to sustain ion damage, and one blast nearly disabled a shuttle. Peshk Vri'syk's starfighter was struck and destroyed, killing the Rogue Squadron pilot instantly.

After a brief starfighter combat that destroyed several TIEs, Rogue pilot Andoorni Hui's lateral stabilizer was damaged, hindering her ability to evade enemies. Despite Corran Horn's assistance, the Rodian pilot was unable to evade a TIE interceptor and was destroyed. Immediately after destroying Hui's killer, Horn and his Gand wingmate Ooryl Qrygg had to defend Devonian, the assault shuttle carrying Judder Page, from an attack by four TIE interceptors.

After a fierce aerial engagement, the TIE fighters met their end, but not before Qrygg was compelled to abandon his X-wing. Debris from a destroyed S-foil of Qrygg's starfighter sliced off the Gand's right arm at the elbow. Around the same time, Rogue Squadron pilots Erisi Dlarit and Nawara Ven were also forced to eject from their own fighters. The remaining pilots feared that the brutal nature of the combat would preclude any rescue attempts for those who had ejected. However, Tycho Celchu, though barred from engaging in combat, had been observing the battle from the unarmed Lambda-class shuttle Forbidden, and he bravely piloted it into the thick of the fighting to retrieve them.

While the Corulag and the seven surviving assault shuttles successfully made the jump to hyperspace, the ion cannons managed to cripple Mon Valle, preventing its escape from the system. As Emancipator and Eridain slowly maneuvered towards a trajectory for hyperspace, Derricote dispatched his remaining two squadrons of TIE interceptors. The remaining Rogue Squadron pilots—Antilles, Horn, Riv Shiel, Bror Jace, Gavin Darklighter, and Rhysati Ynr—engaged the TIEs to safeguard Forbidden during its rescue mission and to provide cover for the retreating capital ships.

Facing odds of four to one, the Rogues were rescued solely due to the arrival of Defender Wing. Defender Wing had remained in the system undetected by the TIE interceptors or the base's ground-based sensors due to their positioning behind the Emancipator. Despite the Y-wings' lack of speed for such a dogfight, their considerable firepower contributed to the destruction of six interceptors during Defender Wing's initial pass.

Overwhelmed and outgunned, the surviving TIE fighters disengaged, allowing the Imperials to concentrate their ion cannon fire on the remaining capital ships. Forbidden completed the extraction of all ejected pilots and prepared for its own escape from the system, accompanied by the starfighter squadrons. The incapacitated Mon Valle was obliterated by further barrages from the ion cannons. No longer under attack from the interceptors, Eridain lingered just long enough to retrieve escape pods launched from the Mon Valle, after which the fleet jumped to hyperspace, marking a devastating defeat for the New Republic forces. The First Battle of Borleias lasted a mere ten minutes.

Ysanne Isard, already cognizant of Evir Derricote's skills as a horticulturist and scientist, was additionally impressed by the military strategies he employed during the First Battle of Borleias and the ingenuity he displayed in establishing the base's covert defenses. Consequently, she ordered Derricote's transfer from the Pyria system to Coruscant, where he would directly assist Isard in the development of the Krytos virus, a lethal disease targeting alien species, which she intended to unleash upon the populace of Coruscant following the New Republic's inevitable conquest of the planet. Therefore, she felt little need to defend the worlds that would give the New Republic access to the Core, which made Borleias more vulnerable to future attacks.

Some time after the retreat, New Republic forces discovered that the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Eviscerator had entered the Pyria system several hours after the fleet's departure. Had the planet been successfully seized, Eviscerator would have likely annihilated the entire New Republic strike force and reclaimed the planet. Wedge Antilles planned to recommend Horton Salm for the Corellian Cross for his crucial role in saving Rogue Squadron. However, Salm, a stickler for discipline, insisted that Antilles report his disobedience of a direct order to jump to hyperspace when instructed by Laryn Kre'fey.

Erisi Dlarit, Nawara Ven, and Ooryl Qrygg recuperated from their injuries through treatments in bacta tanks at Noquivzor. The bacta accelerated Qrygg's Gand regenerative abilities, facilitating a faster regrowth of his severed right arm than would normally be expected. Riv Shiel also sought medical attention at Gavin Darklighter's urging, leaving Rogue Squadron depleted in both pilots and morale.

Reflecting on Laryn Kre'fey's tactical errors, Corran Horn and Judder Page pondered why the Bothan Spynet had failed to detect the defensive measures despite their renowned computer expertise. They theorized that Evir Derricote might have concealed the information even from the Galactic Empire itself. Page suggested that with better intelligence about the still-unknown planet, or if a ground reconnaissance mission had been authorized, the New Republic forces might have found a way to overcome Derricote's defenses and capture the base.

Whistler informed the pair that, while analyzing the planet's wind patterns, he had uncovered a star chart identifying the planet as Borleias. Whistler also located the Alderaan Biotics facility, which served as the secondary power generator for the deflector shield. Horn and Page realized that a starfighter could sever the conduit between the two facilities using proton torpedoes, thereby reducing the Borleias base defenses to their original estimated levels.

They presented this information to Wedge Antilles and Horton Salm, who formulated a new plan and presented it to Admiral Ackbar. New Republic forces would stage an attack on Jagga II, a gas giant located in the Venjagga system several hours away from Borleias, with the intention of drawing Eviscerator out of the Pyria system before launching a renewed assault. Ackbar approved the plan, which ultimately led to a successful New Republic invasion during the Second Battle of Borleias.

Because of concerns that security breaches contributed to the Borleias defeat, Director of New Republic Intelligence Airen Cracken initiated an investigation within the New Republic to identify a potential Imperial spy embedded within Rogue Squadron and Defender Wing. Suspicion largely focused on Tycho Celchu, who had previously been captured and imprisoned in Isard's Lusankya prison. Individuals who survived such imprisonment were often brainwashed into becoming spies or suicide operatives for the Empire. However, Cracken's investigation failed to uncover any evidence of spies or leaks related to the battle.

Although even Horton Salm, a frequent critic of Celchu, acknowledged that the pilot had been too detached from the battle planning to have gained access to any sensitive information, the First Battle of Borleias was used against him in a treason trial months later. Prosecutor Halla Ettyk attempted to link the loss and the suspicions of intelligence leaks to what she characterized as a pattern of treasonous conduct. Conversely, Nawara Ven, serving as Celchu's defense attorney, skillfully used the battle to Celchu's advantage by highlighting his courageous act of flying the unarmed Forbidden into harm's way to rescue ejected pilots, including Ven himself.

The First Battle of Borleias became synonymous with the concepts of defeat and flawed military strategy. The legacy of Laryn Kre'fey, and the reputation of the Kre'fey family name, suffered significant damage as a result of the battle, with the Bothan general being widely regarded as at least partially responsible for the failure. One of Laryn's grandsons, Karka Kre'fey, engaged in physical altercations with Laryn's critics to defend the Kre'fey honor. Another grandson, Traest Kre'fey, went on to serve as a New Republic and Galactic Alliance Admiral, but constantly struggled to overcome the shadow of his grandfather's mistakes. The battle became a source of embarrassment for the Bothan species in general, and particularly for Borsk Fey'lya, who had hoped to leverage a Kre'fey victory to elevate the Bothans to a level of military prestige equal to that of the Mon Calamari. Instead, the Borleias defeat was used as a counterargument against Fey'lya during Provisional Council meetings whenever he attempted to promote an unpopular or controversial initiative.

The First Battle of Borleias was conceived by Michael A. Stackpole and featured in X-Wing: Rogue Squadron, the inaugural novel in the X-Wing series.