This mission took place in late 7 ABY on the planet of Tenupe in the Utegetu Nebula. Under orders from Grand Admiral Thrawn, an Imperial Intelligence unit was dispatched to the world to sabotage Killik and New Republic infrastructure to weaken the garrison. The saboteurs took off in three Fierce-class special tarnsports, carrying 250 Imperial storm commandos and three TIE/D Defender starfighters. The ships were identical in appearance to the common shieldships or freighters, but had more powerful shields and armor, as well as ten quad laser cannons and two quad turbolaser batteries per ship.
The Imperial force entered the system as planned, but they spotted a formation consisting of two ships which appeared to be Corellian Action VI transports and two BTL A4 Y-wing starfighters. Captain Tast did not pay attention to this, but when the ships began following the Imperials, he changed course. Upon reaching a distance of two light-hours from the planet, he engaged the enemies and downed the Y-wings. However, the remaining transports retreated to the orbit of Tenupe. This left Tast with one chance: attack their objective, the Killik space station orbiting Tenupe.
The captain's ships docked at the station and unleashed their storm commandos. After fighting through about forty Killik warriors, the Imperials encountered B1 battle droids and Confederate commandos, which ensued a firefight. After losing several men and droids, the Confederate units retreated, and the Imperials entered the bridge of the station, killing all present there, including Admiral Sawto, the leader of the New Republic envoy to the Utegetu Nebula. After that, the commandos planted charges near several areas of the facility and erased the memory banks. They then broadcast a false retreat signal to the Killik and Republic forces in the system and left on their transports.
Prelude[]
Grand Admiral Thrawn returned from the Unknown Regions in late 6 ABY to the hidden fortress world of Bastion and began planning a campaign to restore the Empire. He had a relatively small but experienced navy and army at his disposal, but no major outside supporters save for the Kaminoan Federation which agreed to sell 100,000 "surplus" clones to the Empire in exchange for being "left alone". Thrawn intended to change the political situation by forcing the Chiss Ascendancy to support him. One of the best points where this persuasion could take place was the Utegetu Nebula, the gateway to the Ascendancy, which supplied the Chiss with resources and food. Unfortunately for the Empire, a small New Republic envoy was dispatched to the capital world of Tenupe in the nebula, so a sabotage was necessary to ensure that the New Republic is not alerted.
The battle[]
The three Imperial ships exited hyperspace near Tenube and encountered two transports similar to Corellian Action VIs and two BTL A4 Y-wing bombers moving towards them. Captain Tast initially considered opening fire but finally decided to lure the unidentified followers to a more isolated location in the system. After doing a short jump, they stopped two light-hours from Tenube. After the four craft emerged from hyperspace, the Imperials fired at them, destroying the Y-wings. In response, the two transports retreated to Tenupe.
Fearing that the Action VIs would alert the authorities, Tast docked his ships on the Killik station to "refuel", but quickly deployed his elite storm commandos, who mowed down a small platoon of Killik warriors and officials before proceeding towards the command bridge. The alarm was deactivated by a group of commandos who infiltrated the lower levels' security room and destroyed its equipment, thus turning of the cameras. This allowed the Imperials to safely advance.
The storm commandos then stumbled across a number of B1 battle droids and Confederate commandos, who were looking for Nest Leader Kayaik to assassinate him. The numerical superiority of the Imperials drove the Confederate force back to a hangar, where they retreated to their Ilum-class raid ships and left. Tast proceeded with his operation and wiped out a platoon of New Republic soldiers, while a team of commandos cut off the power supply to the communications systems. The Imperials then entered the control room and slaughtered the Killiks and the New Republic officers present, including Kayik and Admiral Sawto, the leader of the Republic operations in the nebula.
After achieving their primary objective—weakening the primary defensive structure of the system—the Imperials activated the communications array and broadcast a false "retreat" order to all Killik and Republic ships present so that they could leave undisturbed.
Aftermath[]
The New Republic's effort to have the Killiks join them was jeopardized by the death of the envoy. The Killik government assumed that the Republic was unable to defend them and sought to join another faction, but remained independent.
See also[]
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