Battle of Serroco

Battle of Serroco

TheBattle of Serroco, also called theSerroco tragedy and thedevastation of Serroco, was an engagement during theMandalorian Wars between theGalactic Republic and theMandalorian Neo-Crusaders in theyear3963 BBY. Anticipating that theMandalorians would move on the muddyplanetSerroco in theExpansion Region,Republic NavyAdmiralSaul Karath assembled abattle group and moved to defend the world. The Navy decide to place their camps next to Serroco'sStereb cities, betting that the Mandalorians would not want to risk wrecking thecities and depriving themselves of the loot to be found within—they were wrong. When the Mandalorians arrived, their chief,Mandalore the Ultimate, deemed the Republic tactic "without honor" and unleashed a barrage ofnuclear bombs that destroyed the Stereb cities. With Serroco devastated, Karath marshaled his remaining forces and retreated, hoping to link up with reinforcements further away from shattered Serroco. The Mandalorians pursued, finally catching up to Karath'sflagship, theCourageous, in deepspace. TheCourageous was severely damaged and boarded, and Admiral Karath barely escaped with his life. The devastation of Serroco was decried as an atrocity and a crime by the Republic, and Serroco's memory became a rallying cry for the Republic throughout the rest of the war.

Prelude[]

In3976 BBY, theMandalorian warrior clans, led by their chiefMandalore the Ultimate, began conquering unalignedworlds on theOuter Rim. After their crusades drew no action from theGalactic Republic, the Mandalorians began to lean towards theCore, threatening resource worlds near theecumenopolis ofTaris. The Republic finally responded, sendingRepublic Navy forces out to the front lines to stand against theMandalorian Neo-Crusaders.^[1] Truewar finally broke out in3964 BBY, with the Mandalorians launching a three-pronged offensive aimed at seizing Taris^[9]—the Mandalorians had little trouble conquering worlds likeVanquo, andbesieged and occupied Taris. From there, the Mandalorians began to advance inwards. In3963 BBY, the Mandalorians, moving from their stronghold ofJebble, set their sights on the planetSerroco, in theExpansion Region's^[1]Ploo sector.^[10] Serroco, a rainy, muddy world prone to violent storms, was thehomeworld of theSterebspecies—and, by 3963 BBY, a full member of the Galactic Republic.^[4] The Republic saw the Mandalorian advance on Serroco coming, andAdmiralSaul Karath of the Republic Navy assembled^[3] what he calledBattle Group Serroco^[5] to defend the planet.^[3]

The group was headed by theInexpugnable-class tactical command ship^[11]Courageous, Karath'sflagship. The battle group set down camps near Serroco'sStereb cities, which housed a great number of naval personnel alongside freelance tradespeople who tagged along, offering food and other services. Notably, Serroco'sCamp Three featured the extremely popularLittle Bivoli eatery. Unbeknownst to the Republic Navy, theLittle Bivoli was run by two of the Republic's most wanted fugitives—Zayne Carrick, a formerJediPadawan accused ofmurdering his whole class on Taris, and hisSnivvian "accomplice"Marn Hierogryph. By setting their camps so close to the cities, the Republic was hoping that they would be better able to protect them, counting on the idea that the Mandalorians would not want to destroy potentially valuable loot in the cities. In addition to theRepublic Army troopers^[4] and Navyshuttles and other craft at the camps, Battle Group Serroco surrounded Serroco with a blockade of vessels, includingHammerhead-class cruisers, similarly-designedstarships,Foray-class blockade runners and a number ofAurek-class strikefighters.^[3] However, Carrick had avision—the former Jedi Padawan, while on a break from his duties at theLittle Bivoli, foresaw thatMandalore the Ultimate would order the cities destroyed out of disgust for the Republic's tactics. Horrified, Carrick resolved to warn Admiral Karath and attempt to avert disaster.^[4]

The battle[]

Carrick hitched a ride up to theCourageous on RepublicpilotCarth Onasi's^[3]short-haul craft,^[6] theDeadweight, but upon reaching thebridge was immediately recognized as a wanted fugitive. Karath thought that Carrick was a Mandalorianspy, and refused to heed his warnings. Expecting the Mandalorians to arrive anyminute, Karath decided to keep Carrick on the bridge of theCourageous, to show him what the Republic would do to Carrick's "friends"—sure enough, a Mandalorian battle group featuring aKandosii-type dreadnaught and severalJehavey'ir-type assault ships emerged fromhyperspace. It was small enough of a force to draw Karath's curiosity, as did their holding position at the edge of the Republic force's weapons perimeter. Without further ado, the Mandalorian ships launched a number ofnuclear bombs that appeared to be heading for the Republicfleet. As Karath prepared countermeasures, themissiles suddenly changed course and angled around the ships—they were never aimed at the fleet. Just as Carrick had foreseen, the missiles hit the planet's surface, dealing heavy damage to Serroco'sHuman settlements^[3] and turning the Stereb cities into glass craters.^[12]

With the Republic force on Serroco decimated by the bombs destroying their camps—their missile-defense systems were not active, and thus only eight ships on the surface were able to make a getaway—Admiral Karath was left with no choice but to retreat and find a place to make a stand.^[3] With theCourageous group on the run, the Mandalorians pursued Karath and his forces through thelanes between Serroco and^[13] thebanking world of^[14]Telerath. Karath was hoping to make it to the planetMyrkr or theRyyk Nebula, where he could merge his forces with theTremendousgroup in the region, but faced major difficulties. Karath had sworn that he would not allow the Mandalorians to take any of the ships in hisflotilla without a fight, and theCourageous saw plenty of action to this end.^[13] The Mandalorians finally caught up to theCourageous in deepspace, severely damaging theCourageous and boarding the listing vessel. Karath, Onasi, andCommanderDallan Morvis were still alive, and made the decision that they had to scuttle the vessel. Faced withNeo-Crusader shock troopers pouring into the ship, the three retreated from the bridge under heavy fire, with Onasi narrowly saving Admiral Karath from a direct attack.^[7]

With Mandalorian troopers on three levels, Karath, Onasi and Morvis gathered several soldiers and made their way into the ship's brig, hoping to find a suitable place to make a stand. After barricading the door, they went straight for theprison cells, where the still-captive Zayne Carrick had beenmeditating—as the Mandalorians drew nearer, Carrick rose from his spot to reveal that he had usedthe Force to gradually loosen bolts in the wall behind him, opening a passage from his cell to the ship's emptycargo bay. Onasi was able to fly Karath, Morvis, Carrick and several troopers out of the fray in theDeadweight, evading Mandalorian pursuit when the ship was noticed leaving the bay.^[7] With the loss of theCourageous, the entirety of the Serroco battle group was lost.^[8]

Aftermath[]

After narrowly escapingdeath on theCourageous, Admiral Saul Karath and the passengers of theDeadweight were roped into a scheme byArkoh Adasca, head of the medical corporationAdascorp, to establish himself as a majorgalactic power by offering either the Republic or the Mandalorians the services of the massive and deadly creatures known as theexogorths. They came face-to-face with Mandalore the Ultimate himself in the process, and in the ensuing chaos Adasca was killed, Carrick escaped custody, and Karath, Morvis and Onasi were able to slip away.^[2] Admiral Karath limped back to the Republiccapital ofCoruscant, and immediately submitted his resignation to theAdmiral of the Fleet, who refused to accept it and instead publicly praised Karath for his performance.^[5] Having claimed victory at Serroco, the Mandalorians moved Coreward toNouane, another world that would end up being ravaged by the warrior clans.^[15] Although Serroco was severely damaged as a result of the Mandalorian attack, Carth Onasi was able to save many Stereb lives by calling in warnings from the planet'sorbitalwatchstation and sending them to safety in Serroco's catacombs.^[11] Life on Serroco did eventually continue, but irreparable damage had been done to the planet's surface^[12]—furthermore, only eight of the ships grounded on the planet were able to make an escape.^[3] One of them carriedJedi KnightMeetra Surik, who was one of a number of Jedi regularly assigned to the world.^[16]

The loss of theCourageous threw some Republic planets, such as Telerath, into a panic,^[17] and the "crime" of Serroco's destruction was immediately condemned by the Republic.^[18] TheCourageous itself was melted down for scrap by the Mandalorians, and part of it was fashioned into abattle-axe carried by Mandalore the Ultimate.^[19] The memory of Serroco would become a rallying cry for the Republic going forward in the war. In transmissions aimed at the Mandalorians, Republic propagandistBenegryph Goodvalor named his imaginarywarship theSerroco,^[20] a name that would later be lent to a real Republicship by thetime of theGalactic War several centuries later.^[21] "Goodvalor" was a Serroco survivor himself—he wasLittle Bivoli host Marn Hierogryph, who, along with theTrandoshancookSlyssk, had escaped the carnage in the nick of time by stealing a Republic trooptransport, saving half a sleepingbattalion in the process. For this, he was celebrated as the "Hero of Serroco", and the episode was turned into a propaganda story by the RepublicDefense Ministry.^[22] About a decade after the Battle of Serroco, during theDark Wars,^[6] a group of Republic veterans of the battle formed agang in theRefugee Sector of the Smuggler's Moon,Nar Shaddaa.^[12]

Behind the scenes[]

The Battle of Serroco was first mentioned inStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, avideo game released in2004. The event was mentioned as part of the background of the game's main character, Meetra Surik^[12]—it would not actually appear untilKnights of the Old Republic 15, acomic written byJohn Jackson Miller and released in2007. The actual destruction of the planet takes place inDays of Fear—^[3]the conclusion of the space battle takes place in a later issue,Knights of the Old Republic 17.^[7]

Appearances[]

Explore all of Wookieepedia'simages for this article subject. Knights of the Old Republic 14(Vision toZayne Carrick) Knights of the Old Republic 15(First appearance) "The Taris Holofeed: Siege Edition" — Knights of the Old Republic 15(First identified as Serroco tragedy) Knights of the Old Republic 16(Mentioned only) "The Admiral's List: Remember Serroco! Edition" — Knights of the Old Republic 16(Mentioned only) Knights of the Old Republic 17 Knights of the Old Republic 18(Mentioned only) "The Taris Holofeed: Invasion Edition" — Knights of the Old Republic 18(Mentioned only) Knights of the Old Republic 19(Mentioned only) Knights of the Old Republic 20(Indirect mention only) "The Adjudicator Special Report: Tools of the Trade" — Knights of the Old Republic 20(Mentioned only) Knights of the Old Republic 21(Indirect mention only) "Interference" onHyperspace(backup link) (original site is defunct)(Mentioned only) Knights of the Old Republic 22(Mentioned only) "The Admiral's List: Karath Home Safely" — Knights of the Old Republic 22(Mentioned only)(First identified as devastation of Serroco) "Galactic Republic Defense Ministry Daily Brief #KD0092" — Knights of the Old Republic 24(Mentioned only) Knights of the Old Republic 32(Mentioned only) Knights of the Old Republic 47(In flashback(s)) Knights of the Old Republic 49(Indirect mention only) Knights of the Old Republic: War 1(Indirect mention only) Knights of the Old Republic: War 3(Mentioned only) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords(First mentioned) Star Wars: The Old Republic(Mentioned only) Knight Errant(Indirect mention only)

Sources[]

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Handbook(First identified as Battle of Serroco)
• Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. III ("Serroco")
• The Essential Atlas
• The Essential Guide to Warfare

Notes and references[]