Battle of O'paal (GCW)

O'paal was the Empire's military hub along the Tarkin Corridor, with Orbital Station Guardian its most prominent feature. Guardian, which was an Imperial military academy, naval port, Imperial Army barracks and headquarters for Naval High Command, was chosen as the first target in the New Republic's counterattack utilizing Rebellion-era tactics.

The Empire had removed a large portion of O'paal's defense fleet away from O'paal, with the Empire preparing for the final push at Coruscant and Cochran, thus leaving Guardian with a token defense force.

Danik Kreldin, an Imperial Advisor and former High Admiral, visited O'paal aboard the HIMS Dauntless carrying a very valuable prisoner, the Jedi apprentice Ai'kani, transferring her from Lord Korolov's flagship, the HIMS Inquisitor. The Dauntless would also resupply at Guardian before moving along to join up with the rest of the Imperial fleet in preparation for the invasion of Cochran.

Before the Dauntless departed, however, a Republic strike team, the Firecats, infiltrated the Guardian utilizing a stolen Lambda-class Shuttle and stolen Stormtrooper equipment under the guise of transferring a prisoner, the Kasa Horansi Snal'Fashtalli Teague-Ikihsa. Moving past security with falsifed documents, the sixteen Firecats commandos were led to the prison bay (their goal to rescue the twenty-three New Republic prisoners there) by the Empire's 501st Stormtrooper Legion's 501st Third Platoon, led by Captain Jarek Syris, and the Empire's 988th Special Operations Command, led by Danik Kreldin's agent and the Imperial Army sergeant major, Sandor Woden.

Upon arriving in the prison bay, the Republic commandos struck, fighting in the detentionary against the surprised Imperial troops. The commandos were surprised to see that the Jedi Ai'kani was also locked up, and upon rescuing her and the rest of the prisoners, began fighting their way out of the prison bay.

As the fight inside Guardian broke, Ghost Squadron, led by Captain Johmac Mabru, arrived on time with the Firecat's flagship, the Corellian Gunship NRS Forge of Hope, and began a bombing run on the Guardian. The Imperials were taken completely by surprised, unprepared for Rebellion-style tactics, and were slow to respond to the threat. Before long, the shields on the Guardian were down, and explosions began to erupt throughout the station.

The rebel commandos fought their way to the hangar bay, losing six soldiers in the process, and fought their way aboard the Marauder-class Corvette Animosity. Imperial troops tried hard, but were unsuccessful in halting the escape of the Animosity, or the Republic commandos.

Guardian was suffering heavy internal damage, but its commander, High Admiral Fenir Miks, was overly optimistic and did not order a retreat, as the Empire still had two Victory-class Star Destroyers to utilize. Danik Kreldin, however, saw past this and ordered the Dauntless to prepare to take off. Strenge Lehmann, captain of the Dauntless, followed his orders and recalled Captain Syris's platoon and Woden's team back to the Dauntless just as the Animosity blasted its way off of the station.

A few lucky X-wing torpedoes hit a fuel depot aboard Guardian and erupted a massive explosion, which set off a chain reaction. As the Dauntless undocked itself from the station after receiving as many survivors as possible, the station began ripping itself apart, and only a few moments later, erupted in a massive fireball.

The two Star Destroyers redirected their efforts to stopping as much debris as possible from falling onto O'paal and killing many innocent civilians, and the Republic commandos fled the system, completely victorious. The Dauntless survived the explosion, its shields protecting it from any serious damage, and the Imperials regrouped to lick their wounds.

The battle was a major victory for the waning New Republic. A large portion of the Empire's Naval High Command were obliterated, along with thousands of academy students and stockpiles of military supplies, plus the Empire's largest military port. The battle forced the delay of the Empire's next major offensive against the planet Cochran as the Empire was forced to regroup and sort out the disaster that had befallen them.