Battle of Coruscant (Alsakan Crisis)

The Invasion of Coruscant was the first battle of the Alsakan Crisis in 13,000 BBY between the Alsakan Union and the Galactic Republic. The battle resulted in the Galactic Senate fleeing from Coruscant, which effectively made the planet a territory of the Alsakan Union. The Alsakans began planning terraforming projects to return Coruscant to its natural environment, and as the Republic set up a new base on Ord Mirit the Jedi Order attempted to negotiate a peace between the two sides.

Prelude
After the foundation of their alliance with the Tae, the commanders of the Alsakan Union believed that they were ready to begin a more proper war effort against the Galactic Republic, as their previous efforts had failed. Believing that the best course of action was a bold one, the military leaders of the Union planned a massive invasion of Coruscant in an effort to take the planet away from the Republic quickly while the element of surprise was still on their side.

The Alsakans knew that the war would not end there, as the Republic would likely carry out a counter-attack, but they felt that if they could accomplish their main goal before hand then the war would be short. Lharra, the Vicar of the Alsakans who had been told of atrocities on Coruscant such as children and other people being mistreated and the so-called horrors of the globalization, approved of the plan and she gave her blessing for it to be carried out.

What Lharra did not know was that the stories she was being told about Coruscant were highly exaggerated. Her circle of advisers and caretakers knew that while Coruscant did have faults, they were not nearly as bad as what they were telling her. Because Lharra was only a young girl, her advisers, who some said were more radical than other Alsakans, knew that they would be able to manipulate her to the point of her approving their radical plans. They also decided amongst themselves that they would not hesitate to do all that was necessary to achieve their goals.

The Battle
Once the Alsakans prepared their vessels, they sent out a group of them that had been somewhat modified to resemble Republic warships, and their transponder codes had also been altered to resemble a Republic vessel for when they were detected. Once these vessels arrived around Coruscant, they destroyed all of the hyperspace beacons around the planet in order to cut off a potential Republic escape attempt. Shortly thereafter, the rest of the fleet that was ordered to participate arrived and began fighting the small Coruscant defense fleet.

The Coruscant defense fleet called in reinforcements from wherever they could, but they noted that they would only have the one hyperspace lane to travel through. The Alsakans also knew this, so without the defense fleet’s knowledge the Alsakans placed a large group of mines where the Republic would exit hyperspace to fight them. Once the Republic vessels arrived, they fell victim to this trap and the mines exploding, greatly crippling their fleet to the point where both sides recognized that the Alsakans had a clear advantage through their superior numbers.

While the battle was progressing, the Galactic Senate was called into an emergency session by Supreme Chancellor Relana Isolde Tanoor. She recommended having the Senate evacuate Coruscant, which the Alsakans were going to allow, and have all Galactic Senators return to their home worlds before being told where a new location for the capital would be established. Many Senators, such as Corellian Senator Judah Matthew Zaren, did not agree with this as they felt that the battle could still be won by the Republic and they did not believe it was a proper to leave the people of Coruscant in the hands of an enemy force. Others such as Alderaanian Senator Alcor Bac, however, felt that it was important to ensure the survival and effectiveness of the Senate and that the only way to do this was to move off world. The majority of the Senate agreed with the side argued by Bac, and it was agreed that Tanoor would be given the right to decide where the emergency location would be.

As the Senate was evacuating, thousands of Republic and Alsakan fighters were filling the skies of Coruscant, fighting against one another in an effort to gain an upper hand. However, the Alsakans continued to hold the advantage due to the events that had taken place in the beginning of the battle, and the efforts of the Union forces eventually proved too much for the Republic. In order to cut their losses, the Republic agreed amongst itself to order a retreat to other Core Worlds. The evacuating Republic forces were also able to provide cover for the Senators that were evacuating in the event that the Alsakans decided to attack them. After many hours and casualties, the Alsakans had won their victory of the Republic and Coruscant was officially in their possession.