Ambush of the Zeplin

"We will be receiving a shipment of new starfighters, as well as several additional dreadnoughts for the task force."

- Admiral Garik Valyn

The ambush of the Zeplin was the fourth engagement of the subjugation of the Kathol sector in 3,640 BBY, a campaign of the. It resulted in the 's forces in the region, Task Force Nemesis, to acquire new technology and additional ships.

Prelude
With the beginning of the campaign in the Kathol sector in 3,640 BBY, had carried out several successful missions. However, their forces had been somewhat depleted and decided to send them reinforcements. Task Force Nemesis arrived in the to meet up with them.

The battle
The s Nemesis, Retribution, Courageous, and Vanquisher entered the Charis system, sending out seven s. The flight of starfighters was led by Lieutenant Melak Gargun. After a few minutes, another fleet entered the area. Two more dreadnoughts, the Eradicator and the Zeplin, along with two s, the Dark Star and the Iron Fist, entered the system. The Zeplin began to offload several shipments of new starfighters bound for the Nemesis. Gargun and his pilots escorted them.

But two s arrived in the system shortly thereafter, the Victorious and the Guardian. They deployed a squadron of eighteen s to intercept the starfighter transports. Those fighters were attacked by Gargun and his Hawk Squadron. After several dogfights, the Republic starfighters were destroyed. The new Imperial starfighters made it to the Nemesis, and Hawk Squadron turned its attention to the corvettes. Using proton torpedoes, the Hawks destroyed both the Guardian and the Victorious. The Imperial armada then left the system.

Aftermath
"The new starfighters should give you and the other pilots an edge over the Republic forces in the region. But I do not know how they learned about the transfer and were able to ambush us. Its probably the same way they found out about our meeting with Faniir. I'll have to look into it."

- Admiral Valyn after the battle

The new starfighters received by the Imperials would go on to see action in other battles of the campaign and would prove to be very useful. But among the passengers of the arriving ships was Grand Admiral Yasorion Elakati, one of the eleven top officers of the Imperial Navy. He told Admiral Valyn that the reason for his arrival was that the Imperial leadership viewed the Kathol sector an important stepping stone for future campaigns, and decided to bolster Task Force Nemesis. He later told Lieutenant Gargun privately that he was actually there to determine the identity of a possible traitor. Imperial Intelligence provided the location of a meeting that was supposed to take place between pro-Republic Jarell leaders and Republic diplomats, with the task force departing to interrupt their meeting.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Old Republic: Balance of Power