Battle of Magrex

The Battle of Magrex was the decisive battle that halted the threat posed by Grand Admiral Grekins.

Pre-Battle
After capturing the Clantosh System, the New Republic discovered a research base. While most of Admiral Groank's fleet stayed at Clantosh, a task force under the command of Captain Seppri and Major Aiddat attacked the base. The battle was a Republic victory, and valuable information concerning the location of Grekins' fleet was discovered. He had withdrawn to the factory moon of Magrex, over Asenonn.

Admiral Groank was quickly informed, and he organized his forces. He gathered about 1700 capital ships and 75 squadrons of 16 starfighters each. The Republic was soon ready. Meanwhile, several other warlords, some allied, some not, also discovered the location. They would not allow Grekins to take the Galaxy. Each planned to take Magrex for himself.

The Battle Begins
A mere day later, the New Republic force dropped out of hyperspace. They were surprised to discover a few other factions had arrived, and more were still coming, prominently those under officers Yugdab and Mli. Some of the Republic fleet was tangled in it, but all ships that could pulled back to let the warlords weaken each other.

A few hours later, the remaining 1500 Republic capital ships and their fighters rushed into the action. Grekins had many more starfighters, but the clouds of TIEs were quite easy targets. With expert flying and shooting, New Republic pilots and gunners whittled down the TIEs by the thousands. Also on the Republic's advantage, there was considerable friendly fire on the Remnant side. This was because of both the swarms of TIE fighters and the fact that all the Remnant factions used the same models of old Imperial starships.

After long battling, the Ravager and the Vanquisher, two of Grekins's main Super Star Destroyers, were destroyed, albeit with heavy Republic casualties. Thousands of TIEs and hundreds of Star Destroyers were falling every hour. However, the Republic still took heavy losses, and at a few points the battle seemed to be in favor of the Remnant.

Attack on the Conqueror
However his flagship, the Conqueror, was escorted by scores of Star Destroyers. She seemed intangible until the Raging Tuskcat was sabotaged by a Republic boarding party. This cleared the way for a few cruisers stretch out the weak spot in the Conqueror's defenses. She and her escort came under heavy fire. However the Conqueror-class ships were made tough.

Grekins's flagship managed to destroy 26 Mon Calamari cruisers almost by herself. However, one by one, the escorting ships went down. 15 squadrons under the command of Aiddat came in. Aiddat's group took heavy losses, but fighter squadrons managed to avoid her flak cannons and turbolasers and destroy the bridge, killing Grekins. Aiddat himself played a major part in this, and may have even fired the final shot while his wingmates were occupied.

With the destruction of the bridge and Grekins with it, the rest of the ship was easily destroyed. By now the other warlords were almost completely eliminated. Grekins's fleet was losing quickly, too.

Capture of Magrex
The Magrex moon base had a large reactor that powered all its factories. The base was probably quite hastily started, as a large portion of the reactor was above ground, and so was a vulnerable target. Grekins's fleet had already gathered protectively over the reactor, but he had not divided his forces, which may have been more useful. Grekins may have been successful if he had a large force defend away from the reactor, and have a small but powerful force on the reactor side, ready to come around and join the rest of the fleet. However, fortunately for the Republic, Grekins's campaign was already sliding down with the capture of the Clantosh System, and his fleet was not completely prepared for battle.

Aiddat had only 42 fighters left, but he was temporarily given command of 184 fighters whose previous leader had perished. With 14 and one eighth squadrons, he assaulted Magrex. His forces took heavy losses from defensive missile turrets. Finally, several capital ships managed to get the turrets within range and destroy them. With the turrets being distracted and destroyed, more fighters and capital ships pounded the reactor and its shield. The explosion of the reactor destroyed nearby buildings and units, and all power to the moon base was shut off.

Grekins's forces were steadily being depleted. Without shields or power, the Magrex moon base was quickly taken by the New Republic. Eventually the remainder of Grekins's forces surrendered. The battle was a victory, but with heavy losses on both sides.