Let's see how she performs in battle.
—Admiral Merak referring to the Asperity
The Battle of Fondor was an assault on Fondor Shipyards by the Confederacy of Independent Systems in 20 BBY, using the recently-captured prototype Executor-class Star Dreadnought Asperity. After capturing the Asperity from the Kuat Drive Yards and modifying it to accommodate battle droids, Separatist Admiral Merak planned a new campaign against the Galactic Republic. The target he selected to test the Super Star Destroyer on was the shipyard at Fondor, one of the Republic's most important construction centers, which had been untouched by the war until then. It was defended by a fleet of Venator-class Star Destroyers and some smaller vessels.
When the attack began, the Republic defenders were taken by surprise and unable to properly respond until it was too late. The Separatist armada, with the Asperity spearheading the assault, drove through the lines of Republic ships to the center, destroying much of the shipyard and giving the defense fleet heavy casualties. Leaving not much more than a smoldering ruin, the Confederate fleet then retreated into hyperspace. The attack was deemed to be a major success by the Confederacy, and horrified Republic military leaders. News of the battle spread, with many Republic worlds demanding more defenses for their systems, which caused tensions in the Galactic Senate. The Republic's military forces, already stretched thin, were not able to try to track the Asperity.
Prelude[]
In 20 BBY, the Clone Wars, a conflict that has been raging for the past two years, was at a stalemate. A Mon Calamari officer in the Confederate Navy, Admiral Merak, decided to try to break the stalemate by doing something drastic. He sent Separatist spies out to keep track of Republic activities, and they reported to him that a new prototype warship was being constructed at Kuat. Merak led his Confederate Second Fleet to the system, where his forces captured the ship, which was the prototype Super Star Destroyer Asperity. Excited with his new gain, the Mon Calamari admiral began planning a new campaign against the Republic to turn the tide of the war in the Confederacy's favor.
He selected Fondor as a target, due to the presence of important shipyards in the planet's orbit. They were the Republic's main manufacturing facility of Venator-class Star Destroyers after Kuat, and so far had been untouched by the war because of the facility's formidable defenses. After the ship was modified to accommodate droids and his living officers learned how to operate the vessel, Merak decided to use the assault as a field test of the Asperity. The Mon Calamari admiral then led the fleet to the Fondor system from aboard the dreadnought, which became his new flagship.
The assault[]
Admiral! We have enemy ships sector eight!
—A Republic officer
The Asperity near Fondor.
Admiral Merak's fleet entered the system at a close distance to the shipyards. The Republic naval force defending Fondor was taken by surprise at the sudden appearance of Separatist warships, with the massive Super Star Destroyer among them, and hesitated before beginning to respond. That was all Merak needed to take the initiative of the battle, and his armada began firing at the nearest Republic vessels as it made its way towards the shipyards. The guns of the Asperity reduced two Venator-class Star Destroyers to rubble before either of them had even received orders from the fleet commander. The rest of the Republic defenders, recovering from the shock, began moving into defensive positions around the shipyard. The shipyard's turbolaser emplacements began to open fire at the Separatist force as well.
But by then it was too late to make a difference. Spearheaded by the Asperity, the Separatist advance cut a path through the line of Republic ships and approached the construction yards. Their turbolaser batteries did little damage to the Super Star Destroyer, and soon were reduced to slag along with the shipyard itself. Several vessels under construction were also destroyed along with the shipyard. With its objectives finished, the Asperity recalled all vulture droid starfighters that it deployed and began moving away from the engagement. The rest of the Confederate armada provided cover fire as they performed a fighting withdrawal. But by then, the Republic defense force had taken heavy casualties and was too shocked at the sudden turn of events to put up an effective attack.
Upon getting clear of the wreckage of the battle, the Separatist fleet made a jump to hyperspace, leaving behind a smoldering wreck that once was the shipyard and its defending Venator-class Star Destroyers.
Aftermath[]
Looks like a pretty successful attack for the Seps. The fleet commander reported a massive warship that dwarfed every other vessel in the area just tearing through their defenses and destroying parts of the shipyards. The most alarming part of this is that the warship was originally one of ours, hijacked by the Separatists."
"Remind me again why we didn't have more security placed on the ship when it was under construction at Kuat?
—A clone naval officer and Admiral Wullf Yularen
Although not the entire shipyard was destroyed, with parts of it surviving, it was nonetheless a crippling blow to the Republic Navy's production of capital ships. The destruction of much of the defense fleet at Fondor forced the Republic's Outer Rim Command Center to dispatch more ships to the area to replace the losses, stretching their already thinned-out fleet even further. But the attack arguably had a bigger psychological effect than a military one. The HoloNet news reported on the assault before the Republic government could tell them not to, showing footage the the behemoth Super Star Destroyer tearing apart the Republic fleet. Many citizens of the Republic were terrified at the thought of such a ship attacking their planet, and demanded more protection. This was impossible, due to the fact that the Republic Navy was already outnumbered and stretched to the limit. A debate in the Galactic Senate over the issue ensued, causing some divide in the Republic government.
But the most shocked of them all was the Republic military. Since the Asperity was hijacked only about several days before it launched its attack, much of the Republic's military leadership was unaware of that happening and assumed that it was a new Separatist design. Most of them were not even aware of the dreadnought's existence before the hijacking, as measures were taken to keep it a secret. The Jedi Council was especially alarmed, fearing another situation along the lines of what happened during the Malevolence crisis. However, the Grand Army of the Republic was engaged in several major campaigns at the time, and so they were unable to pursue the Asperity to attack it. Admiral Merak, meanwhile, was congratulated by Count Dooku and General Grievous for his success at Fondor, which was used as propaganda by the Confederate government. The CIS Shadowfeed, which was the Separatist equivalent of the HoloNet, made a special news cast on the event.
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