Attrition

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Attrition
Attrition.png
Author: HandofThrawn45
Length: 108k words
Source: fanfiction.net
Publication Date: June 2, 2018
Timeline Placement: 4 ABY to 37 ABY
Canon Tier: F


Attrition is a fan fiction novel by HandofThrawn45 (also known as Gregory O. Scott) which chronicles the slow attrition of the Imperial war machine and personnel through a series of episodes which span the timeline from the Battle of Endor to the eve of the Second Galactic Civil War. Told mainly from the perspectives of Gilad Pellaeon, Tycho Celchu, Turr Phennir, and Etahn A'baht, it features Molgarin Reige and Jadesei Kaeori (Syne) in major supporting roles.

Back Cover

Decades after becoming reluctant leader of the Empire in its war against the rising New Republic, Gilad Pellaeon becomes head of the Galactic Alliance navy and must teach former Imperials and rebels to fight together. However, a series of attacks on Imperial convoys threatens to restart the conflict, and Pellaeon must chose between loyalties: his Empire, or peace for the galaxy.

Synopsis

After Gilad Pellaeon orders the retreat at Endor, the Imperial fleet begins to fall apart. Some of the largest capital ships vanish into the Core, others are claimed by rogue warlords and successively destroyed in battles against the New Republic and among Imperial factions. In 37 ABY, it seems that the Guardian is the only one of the original Super Star Destroyers left, until a conspiracy among Imperials opposed to peace unearths the long-lost Vengeance in the Deep Core.

Plot summary

Part I: Guardian (37 ABY)

In the Corellian system, Gilad Pellaeon and Turr Phennir attend the funeral of Garm Bel Iblis aboard the Executor-class Star Destroyer Guardian. While Pellaeon reflects on his respect for Bel Iblis and many of the former Rebel and New Republic luminaries in attendance, Turr Phennir, the retired commander of the elite 181st Imperial Fighter Wing, bristles at the celebration of Bel Iblis' Rebel past. After speeches by Leia Organa Solo, Corellian Prime Minister Aidel Saxan, and Chief of State Cal Omas, Bel Iblis' coffin is sent on a course towards Corellia's sun. Pellaeon muses how many New Republic leaders seemed to have more peaceful deaths than Imperials (with Aren Dorja and Vilim Disra being notable exceptions), including his own son, Mynar Devis.

After the eulogies, Aidel Saxan is chatting with Tycho Celchu, Wedge Antilles, and Leia Organa Solo about their respective children or lack thereof, when Saxan's Defense Minister Thrackan Sal-Solo gives an unsanctioned impromptu speech portraying Bel Iblis as a paragon of Corellian independence and warlike spirit. Saxan is angry but doesn't interfere. Turr Phennir, speaking with Pellaeon, the Bothan admiral Nek Bwua'tu, and Mon Calamari Fleet Admiral Cha Niathal, comments on the distatefulness of Sal-Solo's speech. The group then moves on to discuss the upcoming joint fleet exercise involving the Galactic Alliance navy as well as various local defense fleets. Phennir leaves early, citing appointments in Imperial space. Pellaeon continues the conversation with the retired Bothan admiral Traest Kre'fey and retired Dornean general Etahn A'baht, and they toast to Bel Iblis' dream of a galaxy at peace.

Part II: Chimaera (4 ABY)

From the bridge of the Chimaera, Captain Gilad Pellaeon watches the Battle of Endor devolve into a fiasco when Grand Admiral Nial Declann sends a transmission from the second Death Star placing the fleet under the command of Pellaeon's immediate superior Admiral Strage and ordering a full retreat. Declann mentions that Grand Admirals Takel, Makati, and Teshik have started evacuations. When the Chimaera comes under attack, Strage temporarily hands command to Pellaeon while he tasks Lieutenant Molgarin Reige with setting up the transmission to the fleet.

Tycho Celchu, emerging from the Death Star, forms up with Red Squadron near the Mon Calamari cruiser Serenity, which is heading to engage the ISDs Chimaera and Adjudicator. They defend the Serenity from the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing under the command of General Baron Soontir Fel. Turr Phennir, flying with the 181st, pursues Celchu's A-wing, but breaks off on Fel's orders when the Death Star explodes.

Aboard the Dornean gunship Torktarak, the crew rejoices at the Death Star's explosion. Lieutenant Jadesei Kaeori receives a transmission from Admiral Nantz aboard the Home One, ordering the Torktarak and her sister ship, the Braha'tok, to pursue Grand Admiral Teshik's star destroyer Eleemosynary, which together with Makati's Steadfast escaped the Death Star at the last moment. Etahn A'baht, commanding the Torktarak, orders Kaeori to relay the order to Kiles L'toth aboard the Braha'tok.

Chimaera, still pursued by Serenity, is receiving a transmission from Teshik when a missile from Serenity slips through its shields and hits the bridge tower, immediately followed by an ion blast. When the power comes back on, Admiral Strage is dying, the artificial neural shunt in his brain having been overloaded by the ion blast. Prompted by Lieutenant Reige, Captain Pellaeon accepts the transmission from Teshik, who informs him that Takel and Makati are fleeing and places Pellaeon in command of the fleet, with the order to regroup at the nearest sector base. The Serenity vectors away to join the attack on Eleemosynary, giving the Chimaera a way out. While the Eleemosynary keeps much of the Rebel fleet occupied, the Imperial battlecruiser Ilthmar's Fist is the first Imperial battleship to escape into hyperspace, carrying the heavily injured Admiral Harrsk to safety. Multiple star destroyers follow. The last Imperial capital ships to flee are the ISDs Chimaera, Death's Head, and Relentless, which takes on the survivors of the 181st before departing. Eleemosynary fights on for four hours, but in the end Teshik is captured and his ship declared unsalvageable.

Two days later, the Chimaera arrives in the Annaj system. There, Pellaeon is surprised to see the Vengeance, Inquisitor Jerec's Super Star Destroyer, in orbit above Annaj. Vice Admiral Prittick is already aboard the Vengeance and requests Pellaeon's presence at the war council. In the Vengeance's hangar bay, Pellaeon meets fellow star destroyer captains Dorja and Brandei, Baron Fel, and eventually Admiral Harrsk, arriving from Ilthmar's Fist heavily injured and in a hoverchair. The Dark Jedi Sariss escorts them to the meeting room, where a furious Harrsk demands that the fleet, including Vengeance, immediately return to Endor under his command. Prompted by Fel, Prittick explains that Sate Pestage has declared himself Regent on Coruscant, but Jerec declares Pestage's authority meaningless. Instead of going back to Endor, Jerec declares, they should build a new, stronger Empire by finding the Valley of the Jedi. When Harrsk tries to leave, Jerec attempts to stop him, announcing that all of Harrsk's forces belong to him now. Harrsk in turn reveals he has been transmitting the audio feed from the war council to Ilthmar's Fist, and orders the Fist's captain to destroy Vengeance unless he reports back momentarily. Harrsk leaves, followed by two star destroyer captains. Baron Fel leaves too, explaining that he swore to protect Palpatine's Empire, not whichever one Jerec planned to create. Brandei, Dorja and Pellaeon follow him. En route back to Chimaera, Pellaeon learns from Lieutenant Reige that Ilthmar's Fist is heading for the Deep Core and Harrsk is inviting all ships to accompany him. Bewildered, Pellaeon instead decides to set a course for Coruscant, realizing that a return to Endor would be futile without either Vengeance or Ilthmar's Fist.

Three days after the Rebel victory at Endor, the damage the Dornean gunships Torktarak and Braha'tok suffered in their match with Eleemosynary has finally been repaired. Captains Etahn A'baht and Kiles L'toth attend a meeting with Admirals Ackbar and Nantz aboard Home One. A'baht announces their intention to return to independent Dornea rather than join the Alliance fleet in their push on the Core, but hints at the possibility of a closer relationship after Coruscant has been taken. As the Dornean forces were instrumental in capturing Teshik, A'baht and L'toth are shown an excerpt from his interrogation. In the recording, Teshik, who has been slated for execution, announces that the Alliance's battle has only just begun.

Part III: Megador (37 ABY)

A joint fleet exercise held by the Galactic Alliance navy and various local defense fleets is held in Axum system near the planet of Anaxes. Etahn A'baht observes the exercise from aboard the Charnak, a Dornean ship under the command of Kiles L'toth's son Been. Admiral Pellaeon commands the offensive side of the simulated engagement from the Vengeance-class Super Star Destroyer Megador, supported by elements of the Dornean, Bothan, and Corellian fleets, as well as the Star Destroyers Relentless and Vindicator, whose captains Vana Dorja and Sol Vernedet are both children of former Imperial commanders who served with Pellaeon. Admiral Niathal commands the defensive side from aboard Guardian, supported by Nek Bwua'tu's Nebula-class Star Destroyer Welmo Darb and elements of the Hapan Royal Navy.

Early on during maneuvers, an Imperial pilot TIE Interceptor collides with an A-wing piloted by a Bothan, destroying both craft and killing the pilots. Etahn A'baht remembers the casualties during a similar fleet exercise, Operation Hammerblow, in 16 ABY. As the opposing forces engage, Admiral Niathal decides to deviate from the original plan for the exercise and bring Guardian in for a direct assault on Megador, reasoning that in real battles the sides are not always split into fixed roles of attacker and defender. Admiral Pellaeon directs Megador's captain Vitor Reige, whom he suspects might be his son by Molgarin Reige, to order Relentless and Vindicator out of the battle, making it look as if they were damaged. This strategy was successfully used against him by A'baht at the Battle of Celanon. When Guardian engages Megador, outgunning her in the simulated exercise if not in reality because of Guardian's reduced weapons complement, Pellaeon brings Relentless and Vindicator back to attack Guardian's opposite flank, thus winning the exercise for the offensive side.

After the exercise, Niathal apologizes to Pellaeon for deviating from the plan, but Pellaeon commends her initiative. He also has Vitor Reige relay his personal thanks to Kiles L'toth and especially Etahn A'baht, as his former enemy's tactics gave him the inspiration he needed to win.

In the Antilles family home on Corellia, Tycho Celchu, Iella Wessiri Antilles, and Wedge Antilles are talking about Thrackan Sal-Solo's successful move to have an orbital defense platform named for Bel Iblis built, and about the career plans of Syal and Myri Antilles. On the request of her parents, Celchu then takes a walk with Syal, who reveals she wants to enlist in the Galactic Alliance Starfighter Corps under a false name, to avoid preferential treatment on account of her father. After dinner, where Myri makes an appearance and confirms that her skills come more after her mother, Wessiri Antilles asks Celchu to relay a tip from a CorSec friend to Galactic Alliance command: Thrackan Sal-Solo is looking for Imperial warships that went missing in the Deep Core some time ago, and has dispatched a secret mission to the Lyor system. Wanting to avoid another surprise like the one that led to their defeat at the Battle of Orinda, Celchu promises to look into it.

During the post-exercise debriefing aboard Megador, Pellaeon remembers the fathers and mothers of many of the younger officers surrounding him. Vana Dorja opines that the Empire's resources would be better spent practicing smaller police operations together with other Imperial forces instead of simulating massive fleet battles that she claims are unlikely to occur again. Sol Vernedet counters that the coalition with the Galactic Alliance is vital. After the debriefing, Pellaeon asks Vitor Reige about the Imperial pilot who died during the exercise, Weil Jerven, and explains he wants to add a note to the message informing Jerven's parents of his death.

On Bastion, Turr Phennir visits the memorial to the fallen pilots of the 181st. After musing on his dead fellow soldiers and the mysterious fate of Soontir Fel, Phennir goes for a drink at the Old Glory, where he encounters an old friend, Davit Belkaron. Glumly, they watch the news of Pellaeon's victory at the joint fleet exercise.

On Coruscant, Belindi Kalenda reports to Cal Omas, Cha Niathal, and Tycho Celchu that Galactic Alliance Intelligence found no ships in the Lyor system, but an abandoned Imperial facility that had been destroyed at some point within the past three years, as well as exhaust traces from a mid-sized Corellian freighter, later identified as the Wayward Arrow. Celchu suggests consulting on the matter with Pellaeon and his Intelligence chief, Molgarin Reige, but meets with resistance from the others.

When an merchant convoy from Imperial space is found destroyed in deep space near JanFathal, on the edge of the Imperial Remnant, Niathal and Kalenda travel to Anaxes to meet with Pellaeon aboard Megador. By the time they arrive, a second convoy inbound for Imperial space has been destroyed near Adumar. Molgarin Reige, transmitting from Bastion, convinces Pellaeon to bring Megador to Imperial space as a show of strength, and informs him that Captain Ardiff is patrolling the border with the Imperial Remnant's flagship Dominion on Moff Flennic's orders. Pellaeon informs Niathal of his decision to return to Imperial space and leave Sol Vernedet in command at Anaxes. Niathal offers to send parts of the Second Fleet to patrol the Alliance side of the border and promises to forward all pertinent future intelligence directly to Megador.

On Bastion, Turr Phennir meets with Assyra Cyrillian, the current commander of the 181st, who invites him to join her in a secret project coordinated by Moff Flennic with the purpose of striking back at the Galactic Alliance and toppling Admiral Pellaeon. After some hesitation, Phennir agrees.

On Coruscant, Tycho Celchu and his wife Winter decide to secretly share intelligence regarding Sal-Solo's scouting missions with Admiral Pellaeon. Over an encrypted holocall to Megador, Pellaeon agrees to look into the matter.

Part IV: Lusankya (12 ABY)

Rogue Squadron, commanded by Tycho Celchu, deploys from Lusankya above the planet Tyan to defend a trio of Skipray blastboats attempting to pinpoint the location of a World Devastator stationed on the planet. The Rogues fight their way through squadrons of TIE/d automated starfighters, losing one pilot in the process, until Lusankya is in position to bombard the Devastator. Deploying from Relentless, the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing attacks the Lusankya in turn, trying to overwhelm the bridge shields so the TIE/ds can crash into the bridge, a plan developed by Turr Phennir inspired by Arvel Crynyd's successful suicide run on Executor eight years prior. Mynar Devis, flying as Red Leader within the 181st, takes the shot that destroys Lusankya's bridge shield generator. On Lusankya's bridge, Wedge Antilles orders Ensign Cha Niathal to keep bombarding the Devastator. Moments after the bombardment takes out the Devastator's repulsorlifts, sending it falling towards the planet, a TIE/d crashes into Lusankya's bridge tower, but the bridge itself remains undamaged. Admiral Pellaeon arrives in the system aboard the Super Star Destroyer Reaper, ordering the 181st to attack Lusankya again and bringing Reaper in to engage, but Lusankya leaves the system before they are in range.

While Lusankya is being repaired in the Qiilura system, Wedge Antilles tells Tycho Celchu he is expecting reinforcements including Admiral Areta Bell aboard Endurance and a Dornean complement commanded by Etahn A'baht. With those forces, he plans to attack the mining planet Obredaan, where two more World Devastators are stationed, then trap Pellaeon and Reaper there using the interdictor Andromeda while moving on to attack Orinda.

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