Battle of Eriadu (Bane Crisis)

The Battle of Eriadu was a battle fought between an alliance of smugglers and Eriadu security led by Jedi Master Dooku and an army of mercenaries under the control of the Disciples of Bane.

The Bane Crisis
For ten years the Disciples of Bane, led by Darth Galepius had gathered an army to topple the Republic. But Senator Valorum went to Jedi Master Dooku and his padawan Qui-Gon Jinn for help. Against his padawan's advise, Dooku decided to head for Eriadu and stop the cult. But on the way they were captured by pirates led by Mera Dan, who was under the control of the cult. Taken to a secret base in Wild Space the Jedi were tortured by Galepius and his apprentices Sisidou and Verona. They later escaped, killed Verona and fled the system. Meanwhile Mera Dan, angered at what the cult was doing, left their service. Assasins were sent to destroy him but he escaped and rallied a force of loyal smugglers against the cult's army. They met up with Dooku and went to Eriadu to end the cu;t's threat once and for all. With the aid of Valorum and his security force, the allies sneaked by security and reached Galepius's fortress in the hills and planned their attack.

Assault on the Fortress
In his fortress, Galepius and the other three remaining Dark Jedi prepare to launch their fleet upon the galaxy. But a sentry spots a group of soldiers led by Mera Dan appear on a ridge about a mile away with a ship's blaster cannon which they had brought up. Setting up a defensive perimeter around the cannon and levelled it at the fortress and fired. The defenders weren't expecting the shot to travel so far and so accurate and the shield hadn't been activated. The first shot struck the side of the fortress, sending rock and masonry falling onto the defenders. Darth Clous ordered thye shield to be activated but by the time it was, two more shots struck the fortress, weakening its structure. Then Galepius rallied his forces and dispatched Darth Doruk and most of his ground forces against the attackers and ordered the fleet to be prepared for flight.

Battle of the Plains
Leaving the fortress by the front gate, Doruk led the army across the plains and up the slope towards the hill. The dozen men with Mera opened fire and sent some scattered blaster shots into Doruk's ranks. Turning the canon downwards, they even sent one blast into them before they fell back. As Doruk and his army breasted the hill, they were confronted by the main army that Dooku had marshalled against them. Dooku's force was ready for them and they opened fire. However, Doruk's men wasted no time in returning fire and both ranks fired into each other. Dooku and Doruk used their lightsabres to deflect as many shots as they could but the fighting was intense. Mera's six gunships swooped overhead, raining destruction down on Doruk's army, but even that wasn't enough. As Doruk's front ranks were being cut down, many more troops were marching up the slope towards the battle.

Sabotaging the Fleet
Qui-Gon meanwhile, had snuck his way into the fortress through an ancient tunnel that linked the fortress to an old dried up lake. He came out in the hanger bay, completely undetected. Seeing the crews preparing the ships for takeoff, he knew that he didn't have much time. In the rush to launch the fighters into battle, the crews had left many of the fuel tanks in the hanger bay. Qui-Gon simply opened them and allowed fuel to flood the hanger bay while leaving a timed charge at the fuel dump as fighters and small ships began to take off. In the confusion, none of the crews noticed this. However, Qui-Gon was spotted and the alarm was raised. Galepius ordered the Jedi to be killed and sent many of his forces into the hanger to find him. Qui-Gon didn't fight them, knowing that a stray shot could set off the bomb, so he fled back down the shaft, persued by Galepius's forces. As Qui-Gon fled down the tunnel, the charge blew, destroying the fuel dumps and sending flame shooting along the fuel, catching on the resting ships and destroying them as well. Qui-Gon barely survived, diving from the tunnel entrance at the last moment as the explosion sped along it. The plan had almost worked perfectly, but scores of fighters, a dozen frigates and one light cruiser had made it into space. More then enough to destroy Mera's small band and then crush Dooku's army.

Battle in the Sky
From the secret bunker underneath the fortress, Darth Galepius and his apprentice Sisidou oversaw Admiral Driez as he directed the fleet from his chair in the heart of the bunker. The cruiser, surrounded by the fighters and the frigates went at full speed towards the battlefield. There it was met by Mera's flagship, and a host of small corvettes and scout fighters, a paltry force, that Driez was confident that he would easily sweep aside. Above the ground battle, Mera's gunships spun round and headed to join the air battle. Mera's captains, though outnumbered and outgunned, had speed and maneuverability on their side. At the last moment, they gunned their ships forward, firing all their weapons at the fighter screen. They swooped on the first frigate, consentrating all their firepower on it. They were quickly rewarded with a huge explosion in the aft section as it nose dived towards the ground. However, they had lost all but one of their gunships, half their corvettes and a third of their fighters in that battle. Nethertheless, they fought on bravely.

The Wild Charge
The ground battle was also going ill for Dooku's main force. Having lost their air support, the army began to fall back, allowing Doruk's men to breast the hill and rain fire upon them. Valorum gave the retreat and the army broke, falling back, but only two hundred paces. Then they turned, levelled their blasters, and fired. This momentarily halted Doruk's advance, stunned with shock, his men waited a split second. That was all it took. Off to the side a duct cloud could be seen, the dirt was being stirred up by something big. Some of Mera's men had gone off to find a herd of wild animals and had gathered then together and stirred them into a frenzy and sent them in a huge stampede towards the battle. This stampede gathered speed as it closed in on Doruk's army. Doruk's men turned and fired but the beasts skin was impervious to blaster wounds and they carried on, smashing into Doruk's flank, scattering soldiers and weapons. Even this wall of flesh didn't stop the wild beasts and they continued, mowing down scores of Doruk's men.

Turning the Tide
Seeing the opposing army suddenly in disarray, Dooku ordered the charge. Leading his troops forward, they ran straight at Doruk's men, firing as they went. The few soldiers that were ready to face them only fired a few shots before they were swept aside in the assault. Driven back by this new onslaught, Doruk's men broke and fled. In the confusion of the retreat, Dooku found himself face to face with Doruk himself. facing each other, they saluted and engaged. Fighting backwards and forwards across the battleground, ignoring and being ignored by everyone else. They clashed again and again, Dooku's green blade against Doruk's red. They continued the fight as the battle continued beyond them and passed out of sight. Then Doruk used the force to fling Dooku away. As Dooku lay stunned for a moment, Doruk went in for the kill but found himself under fire from Mera. Deflecting the shots he prepared to kill the pirate when Dooku threw his lightsabre at Doruk, piercing his hand. Yelling in pain, Doruk fled the scene, retreating to the temporary safety of the fortress. Dooku collected his lightsabre and led his men forward.

The Seige Begins
With the battle on the grasslands over, Dooku's men fanned out around the fortress, which was now defenseless. The explosion in the hanger had not only destroyed much of the fleet but had also ruptured the shield generator and severely weakened the south western tower of Galepius's fortress. Dooku's men gathered outside, exchanging fire with the defenders. With no heavy blaster cannons apart from the one they lost in the battle, the attackers had no hope of breaking into the fortress. Then the south west tower of Galepius's fortress began to crumble and the tower began to rip away from the central hub of the fortress. It fell to the ground, crushing several of the defenders and crashing into the nearest wall, knocking a huge hole in it.

Final Assault
As the rubble began to settle around the breach of the fortress's outer wall, Dooku and Mera led their men on a charge towards the hole. Galepius, along with Doruk and Clous, ran up to gather their forces to repel the attackers. But Dooku and the front runners were already over the breach and cutting down several defenders as they rushed forward to defend the wall. More attackers passed through the breach, driving the defenders back. Galepius rallied his allies together and they attacked, attempting to drive Dooku's army back. They crashed together and the battle joined at the foot of the breach. Meanwhile Qui-Gon emerged from the ruined hanger, cutting down any troops trying to flee that way, sparing as many as he could. Back at the breach, Galepius's men began to fall back, unable to hold back Dooku's force. Doruk, seeing the battle turn completely against them, tried to flee, only to be met by Qui-Gon. They dueled, Qui-Gon driving Doruk back into the fortress itself.

The Rout
The defenders could stand no more and they finally broke, persued by the victorious attackers. Dooku found himself face to face with Clous and they fought but Dooku quickly outmaneuvered him and severed his arm. Galepius returned to the bunker, finding Sididou and Driez the only ones left. He told them to destroy the bunker and leave. They did, setting a timed charge. They emerged and headed towards the secret entrance to Galepius's private hanger. But they were met by Mera who shot Driez down. Sididou however, was not so easily beaten, he deflected Mera's shots before halving the pirate leader and leaving for the hanger. As the remaining defenders fled into the fortress, the bunker exploded, undermining the foundations and causing the fotress to slowly collapse. Doruk and Qui-Gon, having fought to the very top, were flown clear. Qui-Gon was lucky, he managed to use the force to soften his fall, but was still knocked unconcious. Doruk was not so lucky, stunned by a peice of debry, he went flying straight into the north wall and was killed by the force of the impact. With the battle on the ground almost over, Dooku picked off the last mercenaries before he confronted Galepius, who was heading for his hanger.

Dueling the Sith Lord
Confronting each other across the ruins of the battlefield, the two opponents eyed each other up. Hands on their lightsabres, they prepared to engage in battle. Galepius moved first, his crimson blade striking at Dooku's head. Dooku parried, driving Galepius's blow back. The Sith lord attacked again and again but Dooku stood firm before whirling his blade to attack. In a frenzy of blows the two dueled, battling it out to the death, fighting towards the deep crevasse that lay just outside the fortress ruins. Galepius taunted Dooku, telling him his faults and how he would never win and how Qui-Gon would die shortly after he did. They continued to fight and Galepius gained the upper hand, his words disheartening the exhausted Dooku. Then Galepius told Dooku how his father was so ashamed of him. That drove Dooku over the edge and he gave in to his dark side and renewed his attack. Galepius found himself on the defensive, barely able to block every single blow. Dooku drove him back, right to the end of the crevasse and in a whirl of blades they locked together, using brutre strength to drive the other back. Galepius was pleased with Dooku's display and told him that he would make a good Sith. Dooku scowled and swore that he would never go to the dark side. They disengaged in a flurry of lightsabre blows and struck repeatedly. Then Dooku swung, striking Galepius's blade and driving him back, right over the edge of the crevasse. Galepius, leader of the Disciples of Bane, fell several hundred feet to the ground below. Dooku disengaged his lightsabre and ran over to Qui-Gon, checking that he was alright. Lifting his unconcious padawan, he carried him off to the med center across the plains.

Victory
With Galepius dead and the ground forces wiped out, the battle was almost over. However, Mera's airforce was being annilated by Galepius's fleet. Then Mera's flagship, badly damaged, flew on a suicide mission straight a the single enemy cruiser. The ship penetrated the shield and the resulting explosion destroyed both ships. That and the timely arrival of Eriadu's security fleet, ended the battle and the remaining enemy surrendered.

Aftermathe
The Discples and their army had been wiped out, even though Sisidou had escaped in Galepius's private sloop. He arrived on Coruscant where Galepius was waiting for him and they celebrate the annilation of a possible threat of the Dark Jedi. Dooku and Qui-Gon took Clous back to Coruscant and they talked, Dooku chastising Qui-Gon for letting his guard down. On arrival Clous escaped, partly because of Qui-Gon's leniency. Dooku reprimanded him again, but said that Qui-Gon could take the trials, and he passed them easily. The Bane Crisis was over, but great events were already moving, and Galepius and Sisidou were watching.