Battle of Athloopa

The Battle of Athloopa was a conflict that took place on Athloopa, which started the Second Clone War. A small fraction of the New Republic Fleet and a large portion of the New Jedi Order invaded Athloopa to rescue a team of Jedi Knights from imprisonment to the Condorians.

Before the Battle
Jacen Solo, Tenel Ka, Lowbacca, Zekk, Jaina Solo, and Raynar Thul were assigned to keep peace during the Triannual Games, and event that was popularly threatened by the Condorian terrorists. The Jedi team was ambushed in the outskirts of Athloopa's capital by a lone Condorian on a speeder bike, but Jaina Solo shot it down before the team was killed.

The crew, however, was captured at night after a diversion into the outskirts, and an overwhelming force of Condorian specialists took the Jedi hostage. They were taken to Athloopa's South Pole, where the largest Condorian settlement on the planet was located. Lowbacca and Zekk were able to break out of the cell and send a transmission, telling the New Republic lines that the Condorians were planning to start a war by killing thousands, perhaps millions, in the Triannual Games.

Pre-Battle
Luke Skywalker recieved the transmission and summoned the New Republic Navy. The 5th Fleet was assigned to assist the Jedi in rescuing the Jedi and stopping the Condorians. A Jedi Mega Cruiser, along with several starfighters piloted by Jedi, were sent to assist the 5th Fleet in the pre-emptive strike. The 5th Fleet and the Jedi rendezvoused at the Kashyyyk Sector, and headed to the Athloopa System to attack. The Athloopa Defense Corporation was also contacted.

Arrival
The fleet was met by several Condorian Terrorplanes that were orbiting the planet. They engaged, and the Republic forces were met by Condorian Slicers and Condorian Rammers. The capital ships were sent to engage the Terrorplanes, which would not generally be so desperate as to kamikaze into a capital ship of equal size, and the X-Wing and A-Wings drew the fire of the Condorian starfighters.

Han Solo's Expedition
The Millennium Falcon broke off from the main fleet and headed toward the South Pole of Athloopa, where Han Solo knew he could find his children and their friends. At the very brink of the ionosphere, the Falcon was met by friend and foe: Luke Skywalker piloting an X-Wing and several elite Condorian pilots in a spacecraft he had thought he would never have to worry about for more than a decade: TIE Fighters.

Around that time, a solar flare was beginning to approach the planet Athloopa and strike the fleets with quadrillions of ionized particles, interfering with communications, damaging shields, and killing pilots in ships with too little ray shielding. The flares from Athloopa's sun were of greater magnitude than most others, so the natural phenomenon concerned the fleet's commander Darklighter more than usual. As the solar storm began to batter the many craft, the Condorians became confused and the New Republic Fleet's transmissions were gargled and distorted.

At that time, the Millennium Falcon had descended to a point where the ship was somewhat protected from the oncoming solar wind, and the exceptions were shown very vividly in a powerful auora borealis. Han Solo was an excellent pilot and was able to avoid the dancing lights in general, and the Falcon's shields were enough to block the flares from overly harmful damage. The TIE Fighters were not so blessed with shields, though their pilots were just as good as Han.

Most of the oncoming TIE Fighters were damaged, destroyed, or disabled from the ion flares that danced in the planet's upper atmosphere, and the Falcon was less tormented because of the prescence of strong ray shields. Luke Skywalker shot down a couple of the remaining TIE Fighters, though the pilots were very talented and were difficult to shoot, as they maneuvered well through the climactic atmosphere.

The New Republic Fleet quickly developed a signal for emergency communication, using a system of long and short turbolaser blasts to communicate. The rest of the fleet caught on to Darklighter's plan, and the fleet broke through the confused Condorian blockade.

Landing
The Rebel Transports followed directly after the Millennium Falcon, which had broke away from the fleeing TIE Fighters. The troops landed and engaged the security forces of the Condorians, and the anti-orbital cannons were destroyed. Condorian pilots made their way into several Slicers, and fought the starfighter squadrons that were making their way into the lower atmosphere. Commandos on the surface tried to infiltrate the stations and prevent the Condorians from taking off, but were only partially successful.

Luke Skywalker went with Mi-Gaul Jinn in two Hapan Dragon Speeders that were supplied by the Hapan alliance with the New Republic. They liberated the prisoners in the Condorian cells, including the Jedi Knights, and made their way to the main battle.

Payback
The Condorian forces, once in their Slicers, put their craft into walker mode and skimmed the surface of the planet at high speed, firing at New Republic ships above. The Condorian Slicers tended to use this strategy in this type of situation, as they had the planet as a shield and could fire at the fleet above, while the capital ships concentrated more on flying enemies. Several blockade runners and Rebel Transports were lost in this tactic, and the Condorian Slicers scattered to confuse the enemy fleet.

Biggs Darklighter responded desperately to the attack, sending all forces to attack the Condorian Slicers in walker mode. This is exactly what Commander Ravenous wanted the New Republic to do, as the planet Athloopa was now now so affected by the solar storm as before. Contact with the Condorian blockade above was finally reestablished, and the Condorian forces sieged the transports from above.

The Jedi Mega Cruiser was ambushed by several kamikaze Condorian starfighters at this time, but the cruiser was very well-shielded and had plentiful amounts of reinforcement. The Mega Cruiser landed and released dozens of Jedi onto the ground, where they finally saw action.

Retaliation
The Command quarters of the Condorians were discovered near the center of Athloopa's military base, and Luke Skywalker and Mi-Gaul Jinn stormed the area with the assistance of several skilled speeder pilots. The base was infiltrated, and the two Jedi neared the command station. Ravenous ordered a retreat and the leaders of the CIS II were forced to evacuate. The Slicers were sent on a suicide run on the most vital capital ships and to swarm the squadrons of fighters. This did throw the fleet into confusion as the Separatist leaders fled in different directions to separate hangars.

Lightsabers
Luke Skywalker and Mi-Gaul Jinn chased after one of the speeders, which was actually Darth Monarchist. Darth Monarchist was able to very easily toy with the two Jedi Masters, and in his pride, revealed all too much of the CIS II's plans for reawakening the Droid Confederate Army, which had only been deactivated, but not destroyed. Luke and Mi-Gaul dueled the Sith, and the Jedi Masters were knocked unconscious. However, they were able to conceal their presence well enough for Monarchist to think them dead. Medicio Kindoo and other Jedi then arrived in the hangar, having seen Luke and Mi-Gaul chase after a speeder. The new arrivals fought Monarchist with equal haste, but Darth Monarchist escaped in a Condorian Slicer.

Aftermath
The many New Republic ships retreated from the planet, having successfully conpleted their mission. The Condorians prepared to relocate, and Commander Ravenous began to organize an attack on Kashyyyk to recover and claim a large portion of the Old Separatist Army.