First Battle of Vontor

The Hutt Empire and Xim's Empire were engaged in a prolonged struggle within the Tion Cluster, primarily focused on dominance over the Si'Klaata Cluster. Vontor became the central point of contention in this cluster-wide power struggle. For Xim, the planet held immense strategic value as a major source of kiirium, a crucial resource fueling his war efforts. This resource was essential for the production of war-robots, heavy armor, and starships.

Xim aimed to safeguard his warships using similar principles as his war-robots. Employing methods the Hutts had yet to master, his shipbuilders constructed dreadnought hulls fortified with a unique kiirium ore, designed to deflect laser weaponry. However, this ore was an exceptionally scarce commodity, as the Kiirium Reaches had been extensively mined and depleted of their namesake mineral. Consequently, Xim and his forces were perpetually in search of new kiirium sources. Then, Kossak foolishly challenged Xim to a duel on Vontor, situated deep within the untamed Si'Klaata Cluster. This seemed like a reckless move at the time, as the Hutts considered Vontor a desolate rock, suitable only for staging these ritual combats, seemingly unaware that its soil held the richest kiirium deposits.

Just as a Hutt would never ignore the presence of a spice mine, Kossak wagered that Xim would be unable to resist the allure of a world abundant in kiirium. After issuing his challenge, he secretly transmitted the planet's coordinates to Xim's spies and deliberately weakened its defenses, leaving only a Weequay garrison. His plan was to lure Xim into bringing his fleet into orbit around the world, then seize control of the primitive beacon network surrounding it, cutting off any means of escape, and ultimately destroy the Despot, even with a significantly smaller force.

Xim's forces arrived weeks ahead of Kossak, swiftly overwhelming the Weequay garrison without suffering any casualties. Encouraged by this easy victory, he summoned the remainder of his armada to Vontor. He then deployed scouting parties to explore nearby worlds while his automatons extracted the kiirium ore and affixed plates to every ship hull. It was only when he gave the order for the fleet to prepare for combat that he realized his critical error: the organic pilots under his command struggled to maintain formation due to the intense reflective properties of this particular strain of kiirium, and even extensive training proved insufficient to overcome the limitations of the biological eye.

Kossak arrived at the designated time to discover Xim's engineers in a state of panic, desperately attempting to remove the kiirium plates from the ships. In response, Kossak unleashed every tarrada cruiser and batil fighter at his disposal against the Despot's navy, instructing them to disregard precise targeting and simply saturate the space with laser fire. Xim's pilots, effectively "blinded" by the laser barrage, inflicted a significant amount of damage upon themselves.

Xim retreated with what his engineers managed to salvage, vowing never to rely on living beings again. He gathered the surviving elements of his fleet and reportedly jettisoned most of his "dead organic weight," replacing his crews with war-robots. According to the Hutts, he then plundered worlds within the Cluster to replenish his resources in preparation for a retaliatory strike on Vontor. And because he wanted Kossak to bear the brunt of the beating he would inflict, Xim dared the Hutt to a second ritual combat.

Despite the significant losses suffered by Xim's fleet at the hands of the Hutts, he persisted in his claims, leading to the Second Battle of Vontor.

The First Battle of Vontor was depicted in Xim at Vontor, a holoplay penned by Peshosloc sometime between 15,762 BBY and 15,609 BBY.

It also featured in "The Gleam of Kiirium," a poem attributed to the Croke poet Asenec in the days preceding his death in 244 BBY.

• The Essential Chronology (Initial mention)
• Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds
• The New Essential Chronology
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia , Vol. III ("Xim the Despot")
• The Essential Atlas
• Essential Atlas Extra: The History of Xim and the Tion Cluster on StarWars.com (article) (backup link) (First identified as First Battle of Vontor)
• Xim Week: The Despotica (Part I) on Hyperspace (article) (content obsolete and backup link not available)
• Xim Week: The Despotica (Part III: Xim at Vondor) on Hyperspace (article) (content obsolete and backup link not available)
• Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: The Expanded Visual Dictionary (Indirect reference only)
• The Essential Guide to Warfare
• Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author's Cut, Part 3 - "Xim the Despot" on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)
• Lords of Nal Hutta