Second Battle of Eriadu (New Republic)

"All ships, break and attack!"

- Admiral Antidar Madakor

The Second Battle of Eriadu was the first major battle between the insurgent faction led by former head of Imperial Intelligence Admiral Antidar Madakor and the Empire. It was the first victory of the fledgling New Republic and was the decisive factor in its birth. It was also the first—and perhaps only—battle in which Admiral Thrawn was defeated by a clone.

Prelude
Following Madakor's swift coup in the Seswenna sector, the former Imperial Admiral-turned-New Republic Admiral tried to keep the success of the coup a secret. He counted on the fact that the loss of the first Death Star, and with it many top Imperial officers, would throw the Imperial Navy in disarray. He had, however, failed to eliminate pockets of Imperial resistance; a Storm Commando squad rescued the Imperial Governor, Grand Moff Tarkin's wife, and Lieutenant Commander Janek Sunber, who had once been under Madakor's command. Although their ship's hyperdrive was damaged, they nonetheless made it to the nearest Imperial-controlled planet and sounded the alarm.

The Emperor, furious over both the loss of his Death Star and the betrayal of his Head of Intelligence, ordered the Chiss Admiral Thrawn to gather a large fleet and crush Madakor's insurrection. Thrawn mustered a large fleet of around four hundred vessels in preparation for his strike against the New Republic.

Madakor was making some preparations of his own. He sent out Lieutenant CA-1207 'Knife Edge', a Clone Assassin, and Lieutenant ARC-1442 'Miles' to gather help from any friendly systems. They managed to gain the help of the Rendili fleet commander, who lent them ten Dreadnought-Class Cruisers, and the former Seperatist council, who lent them the remnants of the once-mighty CIS fleet. They also managed to gain the help of Null-ARC Ordo and his brother Nulls, as well as Kast Skirata, the son of the Republic Commando Darman and the Jedi Etain Tur-Mukan. However, Miles went even further, disobeying Madakor's direct order and getting help from Tyber Zann and his Consortium. Zann's help would prove instrumental; his gift to the New Republic were two Legacy-Class Star Destroyers and the Mandator II-Class Star Dreadnought Apocalypta.

Battle
Madakor had divided his navy and scattered his most trusted officers in different positions in command, ensuring that even if he were to die, another one of his officers could continue the battle. Madakor himself transferred onto Apocalypta. He placed Commander Cody onto his flagship Bloodshine, placed Captain Reymet Autem on Guarlara and gave Captain ARC-1138 "Switchblade" overall command of the 7th Sky Corp. Switchblade also had control over Eriadu's planetary Hyper-Velocity Guns, enormous Mass-Driver cannons capable of punching through a ship's shields and penetrating the hull; one direct hit was usually an instant kill.

Madakor took control over half of the fleet, designating them as Group Alpha. The other half, Group Beta, was under the command of Commander Cody (CC-2224). Cody further divided Group Beta into Subgroups 1 and 2; Subgroup 1 was led by Cody (who had overall command of Beta) and Subgroup 2 was led by Captain Autem. Group Beta was set in low orbit over Eriadu.

Admiral Thrawn had simply divided his fleet into two: a group of three hundred Star Destroyers and Interdictors led by Thrawn himself and a backup fleet of one hundred Star Destroyers under Captain Gilad Pelleaon. Thrawn held his Interdictors and a few of his Star Destroyers back in preparation for a new tactic he had created.

The Imperials moved first, firing a volley into Madakor's Group Alpha. Group Alpha sustained only minor damage, and fired once the Imperials, downing many ships' shields. Commander Cody's Group Beta, orbiting in a precise position over Eriadu, fired a volley into the Imperials as well, resulting in the downing of almost all the Imperial ships' shields. Captain Switchblade then fired the planetary guns. The effect was devastating: nearly a hundred Imperial vessels were destroyed.

Madakor, realizing that Thrawn would not fall for the same trick twice, ordered Group Alpha and Subgroup 1 to break formation and attack at will. Subgroup 2 stayed in position to attack Imperial landing craft.

The Imperials broke ranks as well. Chaos reigned as both sides attempted to gain an advantage over the other. Thrawn used his ace in the hole; a maneuver that would be called the Thrawn Pincer. He had his Interdictors activate their gravity generators near Apocalypta and ordered the Star Destroyers he held back to chart a hyperspace course that passed through the Interdictors' gravity fields. As Thrawn had predicted, the Imperial Star Destroyers were pulled out of hyperspace almost on top of Madakor's ship, bringing the renegade Admiral under even more firepower.

Madakor defeated Thrawn's strategy by focusing fire on the Interdictors, destroying them easily with his HDMD-77 Heavy Dual Mass Driver cannons. The battle once again was balanced.

On the ground, Imperial General Vos Gaarn and the 704th Legion forced its way past Subgroup 2 and landed on Eriadu. The 7th fought back ferociously, staying their ground at Eriadu City. However, the could not hold on to Phelar City; they lost, retook and lost it again, suffering hundreds of casualties. Delta Squad assisted in protecting the 7th's retreat from Phelar City by sabotaging the 704th's AT-ATs. Captain Switchblade ordered a counter-attack led by Lieutenant Knife Edge. Knife Edge killed General Gaarn himself, giving his life in the process.

Thrawn once again attempted to gain the advantage in space. While Madakor had been distracted by the Interdictors, several squads of Storm Commandos boarded Apocalypta, overwhelmed the clone troopers tasked with guarding the weapons controls, and proceeded to turn the Star Dreadnought's massive firepower against her own fleet. Madakor responded by tasking the remaining clone guards to protect the engine room and ordering Omega Squad, Delta Squad and Squad Seven (an elite group of Alpha-ARCs commanded by Lieutenant Miles) to retake the weapons control station. Delta suceeded in restoring control of Apocalypta's guns to Madakor, while Omega and Squad Seven eliminated the remaining Imperials. Squad Seven then took an Imperial boarding craft and attempted to use it against Thrawn's ship Admonitor, but were captured en route.

In the chaos of the battle, a damaged Imperial TIE fighter crashed into the bridge of Apocalypta and Madakor was knocked out cold. Control of the fleet was transferred to Commander Cody, who deftly defeated the now outnumbered and outmaneuvered Imperials. However, he refrained from attacking Thrawn's fleeing ship, as he rightly assumed the Chiss would have backup. Madakor regained consciousness in time to see Thrawn's retreat.

Aftermath
The Second Battle of Eriadu marked a turning point in the Galactic Civil War. The Rebel Alliance, on the run from the 501st Legion, openly joined with the New Republic. Following the battle and the destruction of the Death Star, many star systems openly joined the New Republic. As a result, the Empire began occupying worlds it had allowed to be untouched earlier, resulting in the escalation of the war. The New Republic itself was formed from the aftermath of the battle, which contributed to its slogan, 'Forged in Battle'.