The Battle of Bessimir was one of the first major engagements between the organizations of the Galactic Republic and the Alsakan Union in the Alsakan Crisis of 13,000 BBY. The Alsakans named it Operation Lonestar. Van Tien, leader of the Alsakan Union in the wake of the death of the former Vicar Lharra, commanded an attack on three planets simultaneously. With two attacks being launched on the planets Ruan and Metellos, the planet Bessimir was the third target. Alsakan Commander Freyr Kange, under Captain Zaneak Loyalar, brought Alsakan ships to the planet's atmosphere. The planet Coruscant had been taken from the Republic earlier, and the Alsakans wished for further victories against the Republic.
In contrast, the Republic aimed to use their superior fleet and manpower to destroy the Alsakan forces attacking Metellos and Bessimir, and to capture their commanders. Admiral Aurelius Knite, of the Republic Navy, worked in conjunction with the Republic civilian force to fight off the Alsakan attack. When the Alsakan fleet arrived, they ordered the Republic to evacuate before a certain time. After the time had been reached, the Alsakans began bombing the planet. The Republic civilian force arrived from hyperspace and engaged the Alsakans, with more forces than the Alsakans had. Grappling Alsakan ships and jumping to hyperspace with them in tow, the Republic sent coma gas into the ships and boarded them. Having captured Kange and Loyalar, they requested Aurelius Knite to pick up the prisoners. Knite, having arrived, imprisoned the captives and took them to the planet Anaxes.
The battle[]
Prelude[]
The Vicar of the organization of the Alsakan Union, a young girl named Lharra, had led the Alsakans as they declared war upon the Galactic Republic, the main galactic government of the time. The war, occurring for religious reasons on the part of the Alsakans, had seen many meetings between either side. Lharra, had been called to the planet Ossus in order to meet with Grand Master of the Jedi Order, Banik Kelrada. When the Vicar was assassinated on the visit, seemingly by the Grand Master or his associates, the Alsakan Union condemned the Jedi for her murder. The Republic, having been openly affiliated with the Jedi Order, were also condemned by the Alsakans. The Alsakans saw the move as an assassination by the Republic, who had coerced the Jedi into killing the Vicar.[5] In the wake of this, the new leader of the Alsakan Union, Van Tien, called a council of war to discuss how to revenge the death of the Vicar.[2]
With the Alsakan High Command, including men such as Venator Furtificus, CDR-382 and Zaneak Loyalar, called to meeting, Van Tien began plotting an attack on the Republic. Initially, Furtificus proposed an attack on the Republic capital of Corellia, in order to strike what they saw as an important target. Van Tien, however, was reluctant to make such a move, and proposed a three pronged attack instead. Despite the reluctance of such men as Furtificus and CDR-382, Tien settled on the idea of a three pronged attack. Choosing three Republic worlds, Ruan, Bessimir and Metellos, he ordered a simultaneous attack on each one. CDR-382 led the attack on Metellos, Furtificus the attack on Ruan. The Assault on Bessimir was allocated to Alsakan Captain Zaneak Loyalar, with his deputy, Commander Freyr Kange.[2]
The battle[]
One of our pilots saw the communications officer laying on top of his dashboard. There must have been some sort of gas that was released in there. No sign of damage to the air supplies.
—An Alsakan fighter pilot.
Galactic Republic Supreme Commander, Arthur Tudor, was in a stealth ship above Bessimir, and witnessed the arrival of the Alsakan attack fleet. As the Alsakans formed into attack positions, Tudor jumped to hyperspace. The Alsakans, having not seen Tudor, presumed themselves to have no resistance when attacking Bessimir. The Union forces sent a demand to Bessimir, demanding their immediate surrender. If the Bessimir government refused to comply, the Alsakans warned they would open fire. With Republic forces already engaged at Metellos, the task of defending Bessimir was given to another division of the Republic military, the Republic civilian force. Miran Aderre, the commander of the fleet sent to Bessimir, arrived from hyperspace and used the planet to block the Alsakans sight of their arrival.[4]
The Alsakan forces are surrounded.
The Republic forces outnumbered the Alsakan forces, and the Alsakans came under heavy fire. Having not expected any resistance, and having been outnumbered, the Union forces were damaged by the blasts. Despite the successful nature of their initial strikes, the Republic jumped to hyperpsace to recharge their shields. Three minutes later, they had emerged from hyperspace. Using coma gas on the Alsakan ships, they subdued those on board long enough to grapple the Alsakan ships, preparing to board. Instead, the Republic jumped to hyperpsace, dragging the Alsakan ships with them. This act crippled the Alsakan hyperspace drives, and prevented them from being able to jump to hyperspace. For the second time, coma gas was sent in as the Republic emerged, with their captives, near Bessimir. Freyr Kange was knocked out by the gas.[4]
The Republic civilian faction sent a message to Republic Admiral Aurelius Knite, informing them of the capture of the Alsakans. Knite, having arrived, demanded the immediate surrender of the Alsakans, and the powering down of their engines. The Alsakans accepted defeat, and complied.[4]
Aftermath[]
...ping each of the Alsakan ships, give them ten minutes to respond. Either they deactivate all systems but life support and allow us to board, or we open fire.
—Aurelius Knite.
After the surrender of the Alsakans, Aurelius Knite and the Republic forces quickly took control of the remaining Alsakan ships. The Alsakans, unable to fight back with the added impetus of Knite's Republic forces to the Republic civilian force, were forced into cells aboard their ships. During this time, Knite interrogated Loyalar, leader of the operation, on board his flagship. Deeming him to be guilty of crimes against the Republic, Loyalar was arrested alongside Kange and the other Alsakan soldiers. The Alsakans, with Kange and Loyalar, were taken to the planet Anaxes.[4]
The bombing of the planet had very little overall effect against Bessimir, the Republic having been able to intercept and engage the Alsakan force before it was able to cause any major damage. Unlike at Ruan, where many Republic buildings were damaged with bombing, the damage caused in the battle was primarily inflicted on ships, and the Republic lost less than the Alsakans did during the battle. The mass arrest of many Alsakan soldiers meant that the Union lost many of their ships and soldiers to the Republic.[4]
Shortly after arriving in a Republic prison cell, Loyalar and Kange were interrogated by the Republic. Both Loyalar and Kange refused to betray the Union.[6][7]
Legacy[]
...we are removing this blasphemer of the Jintu Church. He has no authority of Shalharra, he can not hear her voice! Yet he still leads us, postponing the search for a new Vicar in his desperate plead to stay in power.
—Dakar Claudius
The Battle of Bessimir had the exact opposite effect that Van Tien had hoped. Whereas Van Tien had aimed for the battle to result in the capture of Bessimir and the defeat of any Republic forces who resisted, it instead ended with the defeat of the Alsakan attack force and the capture of two of his most senior officers. When this news returned to the Union, the support of Van Tien dropped considerably, with many within the Union questioning his right to lead. The loss of the officers and the strike force meant that those within the Union sought someone to blame, and much of the blame was turned on Van Tien. After the Battle of Metellos ended the same way, this furthered the dissent against Van Tien. This ultimately led to Venator Furtificus and Alsakan Admiral Dakar Claudius assassinating Van Tien, and putting a new Vicar in charge of the Union.[8]
Despite the change in leadership, Alsakan forces had been severely damaged by the assault. The rescue of CDR-382 by Furtificus amended the loss of another of the most senior of Alsakan officers, however Zaneak Loyalar and Freyr Kange were not rescued during the course of the war.[9]
One of the greatest effects of the Battle of Bessimir was the psychological and morale effect it had on those within the Alsakan Union and the Republic. Whereas the Union were angry and low on morale, the Republic gained morale at their success. Despite the change of leadership within the Union, the Alsakans, who had already been initially outnumbered in the war, were outnumbered even further. After the Republic deemed the Union responsible for a terrorist attack, a fleet was sent under Aurelius Knite to engage the Alsakans, in the Battle of Alsakan. After Xenvaer was destroyed and the planet Alsakan, highly important in the Alsakan religion, was devastated, the Union surrendered, thus ending the Alsakan Crisis.[3]
Behind the scenes[]
The Battle of Bessimir first appeared on TheStarWarsRP.Com, a Role Playing site. The Battle of Bessimir first appeared in the Role Playing thread titled Operation Lonestar (attack on Bessimir). There are very few differences between the version that appeared on TheStarWarsRP.Com on the version that appeared on Star Wars Fanon. After the Battle of Coruscant, the Battle of Bessimir was one of the first major battles to occur in the Alsakan Crisis timeline on TheStarWarsRP.Com.[4]
The Battle of Bessimir, although written here by Thomas Rattim, did not feature any of Rattim's characters. The article was written as a sequence of articles in a semi-collaboration with fellow author and Head Administrator of TheStarWarsRP.Com Brandon Rhea. In the collaboration, Rattim would write one article and Rhea the next, and vice versa.
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Battle of Coruscant thread on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Revenge and Retaliation thread on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Betrayal Revealed thread on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 Operation Lonestar thread on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ Meeting the Vicar thread on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ Interrogation thread on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ The Blessed's Words thread on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ Revelation thread on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ Rescue and Release thread on TheStarWarsRP.Com
External links[]
- TheStarWarsRP.Com, on vBulletin.
- The Battle of Bessimir thread, on TheStarWarsRP.Com.