Third Battle of Eriadu

The Third Battle of Eriadu was a battle in the Dark Order War between the Greater Sith Empire and New Republic forces.

Prelude
Once fallen Jedi Jaden Korr was killed in the Second Battle of Bakura, the New Republic assumed that the Dark Order of Korr was was fragmented without a leader. However, unknown to them, a Dark Lord of the Sith known as Darth Persia had taken control of Jaden's forces after his demise. He then led his forces to Eriadu to kill the last members of the organization which supported Jaden, in what was known as the First Battle of Eriadu.

Rumors of a battle on Eriadu between two Imperial warlords reached the ears of the New Republic, which, hoping to kill any possible successors to Jaden, sent a fleet to the industrial planet. The Republic forces were almost completely obliterated by Darth Persia's fleet. Afterward, the change of command in the Dark Order was revealed by Persia himself in an open declaration of war against the Republic. Fearing an imminent Sith attack, a considerably stronger and larger fleet was sent to Eriadu to engage the Sith fleet, and inflict enough damage to prevent an immediate retaliation.

The Battle
After exiting hyperspace, the New Republic capital ships engaged the Sith vessels at point-blank range. Heavy damage was inflicted on the Kerl-class vessels by the superior Republic designs, but the loss was made up for in numbers. The Assault Gunboats, armed with varying payloads of missiles and torpedoes, performed bombing runs on the Republic Victory I-class Star Destroyers. Along with torpedo volleys from the Persia, the Star Destroyers were demolished.

The Republic Assassin-class corvettes, coordinated by Jedi Generals, were sent to key positions across the battlefield. The corvettes and A-wings inflicted heavy casualties on the TIE Interceptors, but the corvettes didn't last long against the guns of the Star Dreadnought.

Under Darth Persia's orders, the Sith Gunboats and TIE Fighters executed a complex flanking manuever, which resulting in disabling the Corellian battleships and several Republic frigates. The A-Wings, E-wings, and Defender-class Star Destroyers moved into a box formation and inflicted additional damage on the Kerls and Dreadnaughts, but many of the fighters were surrounded and atomized by the Sith corvettes.

At this point, the New Republic commanders were becoming desperate, so in order to kill Darth Persia, they had their entire fleet concentrate on his flagship. The waves of turbolaser fire and torpedoes eventually brought the Dreadnought's shields down, despite heavy losses. Once the Persia began to take hull damage, the vessel retreated from the area. A protective screen of Kerl-class ships prevented any ships from persuing.

Shortly after, due to Persia's fleet coordination, the lead Republic capital ship was destroyed, taking the Jedi Generals with it. Following this, the remaining ships were in disarray, which lead to severe losses, followed by an all-out retreat.

Aftermath
The destruction of the fleet and loss of the four Jedi was a demoralizing blow to the New Republic, which showed the Sith as a dangerous adversary. News of the defeat spread throughout the galaxy and even caused the entire Seswenna, Vivenda, Mayagil, and Sluis sectors to join the Sith Empire, believeing the Republic would be unable to protect them. Afterward, with the New Republic fleets withdrawing to the Mid-Rim Border, the Sith would begin to expand across the galaxy.