During the renewed conflict between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic, a battle of three factions erupted in 3640 BBY over the planet Leritor, a world abundant in minerals. Having previously been ousted from Leritor in a prior conflict, the Sith Lord Darth Gravus spearheaded a fleet to the planet, engaging the Republic Navy forces there from his flagship, the Harrower-class dreadnought known as the Exemplar. However, the prototype battlecruiser Ascendant Spear materialized in the system under the command of Darth Karrid, Gravus' rival vying for a position on the Empire's governing Dark Council. The elder Human then commanded his fleet to assault the Falleen in an attempt to remove her as a competitor. Gravus' choice enabled the Republic fleet to decimate his own, and after the Exemplar initiated the conflict, the Ascendant Spear obliterated both fleets. Following the death of Gravus at the battle's conclusion, Karrid rose to lead the Sphere of Technology and secured her place as a Dark Councilor.
In 3640 BBY, shortly after the Sith Lord Darth Gravus successfully conquered the planet Taris during the Galactic War waged between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, Gravus was dislodged from control of the Mid Rim planet Leritor, a world rich with mineral resources. Driven to reclaim the planet and solidify his standing on the Dark Council as well as his leadership of the Sphere of Technology, Gravus amassed a fleet consisting of three Terminus-class destroyers and eighteen Fury-class Imperial interceptors, augmenting his Harrower-class dreadnought Exemplar for an impending assault.
With Gravus at the helm, the fleet jumped into the Leritor system and commenced engagement with the Republic fleet, commanded by the Valor-class cruiser Mardorus. Supporting the cruiser were two Hammerhead-class cruisers, three Thranta-class corvettes, and six BT-7 Thunderclaps that served as the fleet's light offensive units. Upon arrival, Gravus deployed the destroyers to confront the corvettes and Thunderclaps, while the Exemplar maintained a long-range position and the Fury-class interceptors initiated strafing runs against the Mardorus and the Hammerheads. However, not far into the engagement, Darth Karrid, Gravus' rival for the Council seat, arrived aboard the Ascendant Spear—a formidable prototype warship controlled by the Sith Lord through a fusion of Sith alchemy and cybernetic enhancements. Karrid hailed her rival as she neared the battle, offering assistance, but Gravus rebuffed her offer. One of the Hammerheads broke away from the main conflict and began an assault on the Spear with two of the BT-7 Thunderclaps, but Karrid effortlessly eliminated the two fighters and subsequently the corvette.
This enraged Darth Gravus, who then commanded the Exemplar and the remainder of his fleet to shift their focus and attack the Spear. The interceptors ceased their assaults on the Mardorus and the remaining Hammerhead, and the Terminus-class destroyers broke off their attacks on the Thranta-class corvettes to engage the Spear. The Republic capitalized on the Imperials' confusion, swiftly eliminating seven interceptors and bombarding the retreating destroyers with turbolaser fire. Karrid then steered the Spear directly through the heart of the battle, surprising both fleets as the massive capital ship initiated close-quarters combat, plunging the entire theater into disarray. A Thranta-class corvette and two Thunderclaps attempted to halt the Spear as it engaged the Mardorus, and eight interceptors defended the damaged Imperial destroyers from the rest of the Republic fleet, while the remaining three attempted to attack the Spear, and the last Hammerhead engaged the fleeing Exemplar. The Republic's efforts proved futile, however, as the Spear obliterated the Mardorus in mere seconds, but Gravus resolved to exploit Karrid's preoccupation by firing upon his rival.
With Gravus' attack, Karrid was then free to engage the Imperial ships without fear of reprisal from the Dark Council, and she quickly destroyed the Republic starfighters attacking the Spear before turning to the Imperials. The Exemplar was forced to break off its assault on the Spear when the pursuing Hammerhead caught up to it, and Karrid destroyed two of the attacking interceptors while the Republic corvettes destroyed one of the Imperial destroyers. She then maneuvered the Spear into a near-impossible bank, causing the remaining interceptors to collide with the ship's hull, and the Sith Lord swiftly eliminated the remaining interceptors before turning the Spear's weapons on the corvettes and destroyers. The Hammerhead attacking the Exemplar was the last Republic ship to fall, granting Gravus the opportunity to attempt a jump to hyperspace—but a calculated strike from Karrid disabled her rival's engines. Ignoring his attempt to contact her, Karrid destroyed the Exemplar and relinquished command back to Moff Gelmid Lorman so that she could rest.
Following the death of Darth Gravus, Karrid stood as the sole remaining candidate for the Dark Council seat, and the Council convened several hours later in their chambers beneath the Imperial Citadel on the capital of Dromund Kaas to assess the battle. Despite acknowledging Karrid's deception in eliminating Gravus, the other Council members accepted Darth Marr's proposal to reward her with the position. Analysis conducted by Davidge, the Imperial Minister of Logistics, indicated that the loss of the Imperial fleet outweighed the resources gained by the Empire from controlling Leritor.
The second conflict over Leritor is depicted in Chapter 8 of The Old Republic: Annihilation, a 2012 novel penned by Drew Karpyshyn as a tie-in to the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. The battle includes inaccurate designations for several Republic and Imperial ship classes, but the descriptions of the ships facilitated their correct identification. The Valor-class cruiser Mardorus was referred to as a "D-class attack cruiser", the Thranta-class corvettes as "CR-12 corvettes", and the three Terminus-class destroyers as "C-class destroyers".