A minor conflict that took place on the planet of Helska IV in the year 25 ABY is considered the initial engagement of the Yuuzhan Vong War. Kyp Durron and his squadron, the Dozen-and-Two Avengers, unknowingly approached the Helska system, where the Yuuzhan Vong were present, leading to the Battle of Helska.
After departing from Lando Calrissian's asteroid mining operation, Durron and his Avengers checked a monitoring buoy designed to track local traffic and identify smugglers. Upon reviewing the holo-recording, Durron spotted a Spacecaster-class shuttle en route to the Helska system, prompting him to launch an investigation.
Upon arriving in the Helska system, they discovered Helska-4, a desolate, frozen planet. Unbeknownst to the Avengers, a Yuuzhan Vong worldship had landed on the planet and established a substantial base. As they approached the planet, they noticed small, asteroid-like objects clustering around them. Without any warning, these objects opened fire on the Avengers, who quickly realized they were not asteroids but rather a type of starfighter equivalent. The Avengers engaged the enemy starfighters (later known as coralskippers), and initially held their own until the Yuuzhan Vong deployed dovin basals to disable the Avengers' shields. Without shields, the Avengers' fighters were rapidly destroyed. The remaining fighters attempted to escape, but they were attacked by Grutchins. Miko Reglia's ship crashed on Helska, resulting in his immediate death, and Durron, along with an unidentified A-wing pilot, made desperate jumps into hyperspace; however, the latter's ship likely exploded due to its overloaded engines before the hyperdrive could fully engage. Kyp Durron emerged as the sole survivor of the engagement.