First Battle of Shel Du

The First Battle of Shel Du, originally called simply the Battle of Shel Du until the second in 134 ABY, was the term used for the conquest of the planet Shel Du by the Golden Empire 120 ABY.

The Empire arrived and attempted to negotiate for the world's acquistion into its fold, but quickly discovered that there was no clear authority to authorize the surrender. The native Selff and Vimesk loathed one another, and each refused to appoint a negotiating party which involved more than a token amount of the other species. The Prime Fleet waited in orbit while the Ministry of Diplomacy attempted to arrange a compromise party without success.

Losing patience after nearly a month, Rin Sakaros authorized an invasion of Shel Du. Native efforts to repulse the Royal Army were hampered by the fact that, even in the face of invasion and forcible subjugation, the Selff and Vimesk could not agree on a unified strategy, debating everything from appropriate defensive positions to who should have overall command. In the end, each species tried to fight the Empire separately, although many units took the opportunity afforded by the chaos to attack their ancestral enemies rather than the invaders.

Shel Du was conquered in less than a week. A strong Royal garrison was left on the planet, though it quickly became apparent that the garrison and the Consul would have more difficulty keeping the natives from fighting each other than the Empire.