Battle of Mindor

The Battle of Mindor was fought between the New Republic and the Legions of Shadow, as part of the warlord Cronal campaign for the control of the Inner Rim. Following the death of Emperor Palpatine, several of the surviving Emperor's Royal Guards joined forces with the former Imperial Intelligence operative Cronal—Lord Shadowspawn—in attacking the worlds of the Inner Rim. Using the planet Mindor as a base of operations, his shadow stormtroopers committed acts of terrorism and piracy, in addition to wholesale slaughter against worlds allied to the New Republic—the successor to the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

Shadowspawn also proclaimed himself as the new Galactic Emperor in a attempt to breed fears of an Imperial—and Sith—resurgence. In response to this threat, the New Republic dispatched Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker—now a general—to free the worlds of the Inner Rim that Cronal had conquered, resulting in a protracted and bloody string of battles that left thousands dead. Seeking to lure Skywalker into a trap, Shadowspawn devised a trap for the Jedi by entrenching his forces on Mindor.

Skywalker soon attacked the planet with the aid of the other Heroes of Yavin, and the pilots of Rogue Squadron. In the ensuing battle, Shadowspawn inflicted heavy casualties on the Republic and their Mandalorian allies at the expense of the lives of his own men. Having ambushed the Republic's Rapid Response Task Force above Mindor, his stormtroopers then engaged the Republic's ground forces. Rather than facing his foes by himself, he used meltmassif stones to control the minds of Pawns who assumed the role as decoys for the real Cronal.

The arduous battle finally ended when Fenn Shysa's Mandalorian Protectors helped turn the tide in favor of the New Republic. Shadowspawn's men fought to the death, resulting in the loss of all Imperial combatants. Shadowspawn had died in that battle, but somehow revived himself through means of the dark side of the Force and would go on to serve the resurrected Darth Sidious. Disgusted at what he perceived to be a tremendous waste, Skywalker resigned from the New Republic military as a result of the events on Mindor, and focused on his Jedi studies.

Text and facts from the “Battle of Mindor” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.