Second Battle of Roche

The Second Battle of Roche was a battle that began as a Jedi Coalition raid, but quickly escalated into a massive battle with the arrivals of the fleets of both Admirals Natasi Daala and Cha Niathal.
==Prelude==
Jaina Solo and her parents were aboard a Hapan Battle Dragon, to report to Luke Skywalker that his son Ben had been captured. On approach, they had noticed many StealthXs, Owool Interceptors and blastboats with ex-Alliance pilots getting ready for a raid. After Leia informed Luke of Caedus' presence on Nickel One, Luke finally understood why all the arms convoys the Jedi had been targeting had been protected by the Fourth Fleet. Although he realized that Caedus would sense him coming, Luke couldn't change the plans for the upcoming raid, as the Sith Lord would realize Luke was using his own visions against him. Before going to Nickel One, Luke ordered the Owools to stand down, claiming that other escorts would be waiting for them.
==The battle==
After the Jedi strike force arrived they were attacked by Imperial Starhunters. Luke negotiated with Boba Fett to have his Mandalorian strike team act as their escorts, and the combined force proceeded to attack the Imperial Star Destroyer Harbinger as Jaina was launched to Nickel One's surface in a dropsuit. After an encounter with Starhunters attacking the Blastboat, Jaina descended to land on the surface as the Coalition strike force destroyed the Harbinger and attacked the command center where Caedus was located, as a means of attracting his attention. Concurrently, the Mandalorians sent two Tra'kads filled with supercommandos to the command bunker to wipe out the Moff Council. The Blastboat continued towards the command bunker, using the Bes'uliik escorts as protection against clustermines. Jaina now realized that Luke had used Mandalorians instead of the Owools as their escorts because he had most likely sensed that the escort squadron would take heavy losses. One Tra'kad and ten Bes'uliks remained as she started towards the command bunker.
===Assault on the Moffs===
The Jedi strike force shattered the bunker's observation dome while Jaina destroyed a flak gun and met up with Mirta Gev and her commandos, who were on their way to wipe out the Moffs. Jaina went with them as they had a security camera focused on Caedus in meditation, which suited her purposes. After a stop at the Verpine resistance network, and in spite of Jaina's warnings, the Mandalorians attacked the Moffs. Jaina moved to the vantage point of a projection booth, armed with a QuietSnipe rifle, as the commandos began their assault with a surprise attack on the Elite Guard protecting the Moffs. Jaina used the QuietSnipe to aid the commandos by periodically taking down both Moffs and stormtroopers with mag-pellets. The troopers that survived eventually shifted the momentum of the battle and killed three of the commandos. Jaina noticed some grenades thrown by Mirta change their direction in mid-air, and knew that her brother had arrived. Caedus began by raising Mirta into the air and slamming her headfirst into the floor, leaving her unconscious. Jaina couldn't get a shot on Caedus due to his Force-enhanced speed, and could only watch as he wiped out the rest of the Mandalorians, even using the rare shatterpoint ability to smash open Roegr's beskar armor. Finally, only Vatok Tawr remained, and after a short duel, he was impaled through his T-visor by Caedus. Jaina was then able to fire off three shots, managing to hit Caedus in the shoulder. After Jaina's emptying the QuietSnipe of pellets, Caedus twisted the rifle with the Force, rendering it useless, and lunged into the booth. They both ignited their lightsabers and engaged in a duel.
===Arrival of Niathal and Daala===
Meanwhile, outside the asteroid, Admiral Daala's Maw Irregular Fleet and Cha Niathal leading her Alliance-in-exile forces, arrived. They immediately attacked the Remnant fleet who, along with the Fourth fleet, still outnumbered the Coalition forces. Han Solo noticed a frigate that had been chasing them turn away towards Nickel One, moving to regroup with other Remnant forces so they could properly defend the system. Realizing that once the Fourth fleet joined with them it would be impossible to reach Jaina, Han contacted Jagged Fel and made a plan to extract Jaina from the command bunker. They started towards the asteroid's surface as they once again came under attack by the frigate.
===Jaina vs. Caedus===
As the two duellists exchanged kicks, it dawned on Caedus just how good his enemy was. As Caedus began to drive his foe back he was able to see their face clearly: it was that of Luke Skywalker. Caedus, deflecting a series of slashes, was perplexed as to how the man he had just sensed high above the planet in a blastboat with his parents could now be in front of him. The fight moved outside of the booth as Caedus had to call upon the Force to bolster the strength of his good arm, while the wounded one remained limp at his side. After trying and failing to hit the disguised Jaina with a dart launcher, she leapt toward Caedus, hoping to end the fight swiftly. But Caedus managed to throw Vatok's body into the air, the helmet splitting Jaina's forehead and sending her to the ground. Although for a moment it looked as if she were dead, Jaina promptly rose to her feet and grabbed her friend's beskad saber; after an exchange of blows she managed to cut off the arm of the Sith Lord. Caedus splashed the blood flowing from the gaping wound onto Jaina's face and neck. Although she was unaware at the time, Caedus had just marked her with a blood trail that would later lead him to the Jedi base. The duel ended as Caedus blasted his sister with Force lightning. Caedus once again saw Jaina's face, and not Luke's. He was shocked to see his sister, and demanded to know where Luke was hiding.
===Jedi withdrawal and the battle intensifies===
Stormtroopers then entered the chamber and Caedus ordered them not to fire at Jaina, but Luke Skywalker, who he saw in the corner. Jaina was surprised and puzzled, but used the time to escape with a Verpine technician, while Caedus was rushed to the infirmary. Jaina escaped with her parents and the rest of the Jedi to Shedu Maad.
The withdrawal of the Jedi did not end the battle, as the Hapan, Alliance-in-exile and Maw Irregular forces remained committed to the fight. The Fourth Fleet and two Remnant Fleets were trapped in-system when the Confederation forces arrived, the Bothan and Corellian fleets boosting the anti-Caedus forces to six fleets. After a week of conflict, Caedus' forces remained locked in combat, but the tide of the battle turned when Admiral Nek Bwua'tu defeated the Alliance-in-exile forces and trapped the Confederation fleets.
As a result of the Mandalorian attack, Caedus sent Admiral Atoko and the remains of the Fifth Fleet to bombard Mandalore, and the Imperials would develop a Nanovirus designed to kill Boba Fett and his entire family if they ever set foot on the planet again. Darth Caedus became more certain than ever that killing Luke Skywalker would end the war. To find him he followed the blood trail he'd left on Jaina with a handful of Remnant ships, the Megador and the Anakin Solo, while Bwua'tu defeated the Jedi Coalition fleets. Caedus's task force followed the Jedi into the Transitory Mists, which would lead to the Battle of Uroro Station.
==Appearances==
*Legacy of the Force: Invincible 
*Legacy of the Force: Invincible' abridged audiobook
*Fate of the Jedi: Ascension 
*Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse 
==Sources==
*The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia 
*The Essential Atlas
*The Essential Reader's Companion
==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of Roche
Category:Battles of the Second Galactic Civil War
Category:Duels