Battle of Vall`to

"Well played."

- Garyth Quorr's message to Tariun Sakaros, shortly before the former's death

The Battle of Vall`to was a space battle above the planet Vall`to in 102 ABY and a major victory for the Golden Empire against the Tetrarchy of Mezlagob. It saw the death of Tetrarchy supreme commander Garth Quorr and led directly to the conquest of the rest of the Vall`to sector.

Hot on Quorr's heels after defeating him at the Battle of Baes, Tariun Sakaros desired to trap and kill the Mezzel commander rather than allowing him to escape again. Coordinating with his sister Rin, he divided his fleet, with forty-two capital ships on a direct assault course for Vall`to and the remainder left on a hyperlane outsystem. Quorr's defensive fleet consisted of not only Vall`to's own force, but all the ships with which he had escaped from Baes, and he answered the Sith's challenge.

Sustaining heavy fire, Tariun accepted the destruction of several of his ships before carefully pulling back and allowing the appearance of disorder. He even had Rin pull back her, continuing to inspire her own troops but taking off her confusing effect on the enemy, and left the Sith Star vulnerable to strafing runs. Buoyed by the feeling of suddenly renewed confidence and sensing and opportunity to kill the Sakaros siblings, Quorr moved his fleet in to attack before they could retreat.

Using all her focus, Rin guided the minds of the navigators on the waiting twenty ships, bringing them into the system precisely behind Quorr's fleet. The reinforcements included the Star Destroyers Rampart and Assassin, and they struck and destroyed several of Quorr's cruisers before the ships could get their rear shields up. Pinned between the enemy forces and boxed in by his own ships, Quorr attempted to get his cruiser, the Anhalia, out of the snare, but it sustained serious damage and its shields failed. Accepting that he had been defeated, he sense a brief congratulatory message to Tariun seconds before his ship blew up. The Dronos Tetrarch

Quorr's second-in-command ordered his forces to fight on, but a heavy salvo led by Kesanion and Redblade Squadron destroyed his ship too. When seventeen Tetrarchy ships had been atomized, the senior captain contacted the Sith Star and begged permission to surrender. Tariun agreed to a cease-fire to ask Rin, and persuaded her that wanton slaughter would do more harm than good, as well as the fact that fifty-seven capital ships would be a useless waste to destroy. Rin agreed, and Tariun accepted the surrender of the remaining ships. Four refused the captain's command and attacked, but the remainder stood by while they were destroyed. The fifty-three surrendering ships were captured by Royal boarding parties and their crews imprisoned in detainment camps, but, true to his word, Tariun had none of them executed.