Blockade of Dathomir

During the Galactic Civil War, the Imperial Navy established a blockade of the planet Dathomir to prevent the powerful Witches of Dathomir to escape their planet.
==History==
Around the time of the Battle of Yavin, the Galactic Empire established a presence on the remote planet Dathomir. While Emperor Palpatine was aware of the presence of the Force-sensitive Witches of Dathomir, he allowed the construction of a prison on the planet. However, it was not long before the Nightsisters, a sect of evil Dathomiri Witches, corrupted the Imperial troops using the dark side of the Force and turned them against their officers.
As the Emperor realized that the Nightsisters and their leader Gethzerion were more powerful than what he expected, he ordered the Witches to be confined on their planet.The Dark Side Sourcebook Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, the Emperor tasked Captain Zsinj to prevent the Nightsisters to escape Dathomir using the Imperial starships parked at the prison. Zsinj therefore bombarded the Imperial prison from orbit, destroying every vesselsThe New Essential Guide to Characters and communication equipment present on the planet. All Imperial forces at the surface were abandoned, they eventually became the slaves for the Nightsisters. Zsinj established a blockade of the planet Dathomir and the Emperor ordered that at least two Star Destroyers guarded the planet at all times. Imperial ships were assigned to perform orbital scans periodically to ensure that the Nightsisters were still confined, with strict orders to never land on the planet. In addition, orbital nightcloaks were deployed in orbit. In the next years, the Dathomir system remained under the control of Zsinj as the latter was promoted Grand Moff of the Quelii Oversector.
Despite the Imperial blockade, the Dathomir system attracted a great deal of attention at the height of the Galactic Civil War, being the site of numerous skirmishes between Imperial and Rebel forces. During this period, Tyber Zann, the leader of the Zann Consortium, dispatched a defiler to disable an orbital sensor array in order to be able to access Dathomir. Along with his lieutenant Urai Fen, he landed on the planet where he recruited Silri and a group of Nightsisters to his service. By 1 ABY, the blockade had been quite loosened, being focused in one quadrant of Dathomir space. Intrepid spacers frequently managed to lure the Imperial Dathomir Station and get through the blockade to land at one of the two outposts present on Dathomir.
After the death of the Emperor at the Battle of Endor, Zsinj became a warlord and created its own empire from the Quelii Oversector. As Zsinj waged a war against the New Republic, the warlord was not eager to waste warships in guarding Dathomir anymore. However, when rich deposits of minerals were discovered on Dathomir's moon of Koratas, Zsinj ordered the construction of massive shipbuilding facilities in orbit of Dathomir: Rancor Base. Since a number of Star Destroyers were assigned to the defense of the shipyard, they were tasked to maintain the blockade of the planet as well.
A large Hapan fleet attacked Dathomir in 8 ABY, destroying Rancor Base, most of Zsinj's fleet and the orbital nightcloaks. Warlord Zsinj was killed during the battle when his flagship, the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Iron Fist, was destroyed. The blockade was broken as all remaining Imperial forces quickly fled the system and the united Witch clans requested membership into the New Republic.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
*Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed
*The Courtship of Princess Leia 
==Sources==
*Cracken's Threat Dossier
*The Dark Side Sourcebook
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*Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed: Prima Official Game Guide
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*Star Wars Galaxies: The Total Experience: Prima Official Game Guide
*Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Guide: Prima Official Game Guide
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*The Essential Reader's Companion
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==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of Dathomir
Category:Blockades
Category:Galactic Civil War campaigns
Category:Unidentified campaigns