The Exploits of Ban-Anad D'ealari and Squad Dorn (The short version)

(The Adventures of)
Ban-Anad D’ealari and Squad Dorn,

A synopsis.
Ban-Anad D’ealari’s birthplace is as much unknown as his actual age. The earliest account of him is his volunteering into the Republic Army in Year 27 BTC (3,682 BBY) in the Corellian capital, Coronet City. Since Ban-Anad was reluctant to give an alternate for his planet of origin and species, the recruitment office was led to the assumption that he was in fact Corellian. That assumption has been put to the test however by one of his squad mates overhearing Ban-Anad whispering to himself ‘So long...’ during their landing on Alderaan where they were to bolster the planet’s defences. Official records also hold Ban-Anad to have been 31 standard years at the time of recruitment.

Ban-Anad’s training lasted little over two months before the need for fresh reinforcements pushed him and his Battalion, The 401st, straight to the front line. Much of his exploits at that time have gone unrecorded due to him being just an ordinary soldier. One event however stands out- During the Republic’s defence of the Sluis sector, having just made the rank of Sergeant, he led a crucial mission on Dagobah’s surface to destroy a Sith listening post placed in preparation for an invasion. His mission was delayed by the planet’s own wildlife, unfortunately. The delay cost most of his squad mates’ lives, leaving only Ban-Anad and the demolitions expert alive and able to finish the assignment. The demo-expert’s debriefing after the successful mission stated only that his Sergeant ‘showed uncanny heroism and valiant courage, tearing up the listening post with his bare hands’ since they had lost most of their explosives. D’ealari himself is reluctant to diverge into what happened on Dagobah, only saying ‘I did what I had to.’ Unfortunately, the success on Dagobah was not sufficient to push the Sith back and they soon claimed most of the Sluis sector.

Similar acts of leadership and courage following the Dagobah mission made him stand out, earning him a Medal of Valour and, during General Garza’s making of the RSF, he was drafted for Platoon Leader of Platoon 13 in 22 BTC (3,678 BBY). During their training on Kashyyyk, platoon recruits stated, when asked about Ban-Anad’s methods, that he was ‘harsh but just’, ‘unyielding’ and ‘without any sense of humour whatsoever’. Having his own unorthodox method of training, best described as ‘drop your platoon in the thick of it and let nature take its course’, Platoon Sergeant D’ealari soon established himself as something between ruthless and crazy, but he was respected by his recruits as they knew it was the only way to learn to survive on harsh environments. A lesson D’ealari himself apparently learnt on Dagobah. However ruthless, he never let a recruit get mortally wounded showing excessive care for their wellbeing both during drills and training missions, and during R&R- always standing by them. This trait of his secured him a near father-daughter relationship with one Karaxt Brinn, a Kiffar reconnaissance specialist in his Platoon.

After Platoon 13’s training was done, he personally headed Squad Dorn- comprised of Karaxt, one Oeber ‘Jax’ Skintt, Zindo Friz and Twi’lek twins Zott and Mott Breneeta, demoting himself to a Squad Sergeant specifically for the purpose.

Soon after Squad Dorn’s making, they were sent to Geonosis with the 315th Battalion, part of the 5th Army Corps, in order to stop Imperial forces from seizing Geonosian manufacturing plants and, if possible, strike an alliance with the Geonosians.

In 18 BTC (3,671 BBY) the Battalion was sent to Eriadu and Sullust in answer to Imperial territorial acquisition in the Sesswenna sector. There the squad saw its hardest year, fighting tooth and nail for every square foot, never letting up. Unfortunately, the 5th Army Corps was heavily outnumbered and outgunned, leading to a near botched retreat resulting in half the transports carrying the majority of the troops and refugees being torn apart by Sith bombers and turbolaser fire.

What was left of the 5th Army doubled up to Coruscant for a fast refit and repairs before, in 16 BTC (3,669 BBY) they jumped back into the fray- this time on Ilum, assisting the Jedi in defending their only resource of lightsaber crystals. The Imperial Armada sent to Ilum was determined to succeed however, fighting to the end under the command of a ruthless Chiss Moff called Kunran.

The campaign on Ilum was the first time Squad Dorn met with Jedi duo Taddar Virmis and Ramir Ankoolas leading to a disagreement right off the bat between Taddar and Ban-Anad, now a vindicated Sergeant, trusted by his army superiors. The matter was whether to bomb an Imperial holdout to the ground, the holdout being a crystal cave. The cave was also the Sith’s major headquarters on Ilum. Naturally this proved to be a point of tension between Army and Jedi. Ban-Anad saved both parties from further arguing by pulling a renegade mission. Testimonies from the squad members assure they all participated equally and voluntarily. Ban-Anad’s testimony before the Court Marshall however states that it was a solo mission and all charges should be pressed against him and that his squad’s reputation should remain unscathed. Regardless the blame, Squad Dorn left the Republic HQ in the cover of night, reached the Imperial holdout through almost 5 kilometres of ‘no-man’s land’ riddled with mines and patrols (both Imperial and Republic), somehow managed to enter the cavern without springing any alarms and placed enough explosives to level the whole hill under which the cavern rested. With this single act they ended the Imperial campaign for Ilum. They weren’t praised however, instead stripped of all their honours, court marshalled and sent to an army prison where they were to spend the next five years.

In 13 BTC (3,666 BBY) the squad was released on parole by order of Grand Master Taddar Virmis who reinstated them with all their past honours and folded them into the 2nd Army Corps which was in dire need of reinforcements. The squad was to serve as Virmis’ personal escort and ‘A-team’ for missions requiring a bit more force.

In the following year, their service with Virmis and his Apprentice Ramir Ankoolas took them on an investigative mission on Avirandel, a barren planet in the Alderaan system. Intelligence reports from passing ships stated there was a faint signature resembling an Imperial data transferring link. Squad Dorn was to be sent to investigate but on their way to Alderaan with the rest of the 2nd Army, which was to continue toward Taris where it was believed the Empire would strike next. Strangely, the signature vanished some time before the 2nd Army Fleet arrived in the system. Believing that it had only been a smuggler hideout using stolen tech and now deserted, Army Command cancelled the mission. Taddar Virmis however remained suspicious and left a battalion, the 85th, in which Squad Dorn had been folded, on Alderaan ‘for Rest and Recuperation’ but intended to bolster planetary defences.

What followed surpassed even Taddar Virmis’ suspicions- shortly after, in 12 BTC (3,665 BBY) the Empire staged a massive invasion of Alderaan, one that would be burnt deep into the civilization’s psyche. The 85th and the rest of Alderaan’s planetary defences took fast to the mountains and forests where they proceeded in waging a guerrilla war against the invading forces. Though the 85th was near decimated in a forest near Aldera, Ban-Anad’s squad managed to defeat nearly a full battalion of Sith troopers, making it safe to the ruins of the once great capital. Several days of street fighting followed, in which Squad Dorn assisted refugees and survivors alongside what was left of the Republic garrison stationed on the planet.

None too soon, the full might of the Republic arrived and rescued the besieged planet and her inhabitants. In a massive space battle and a following reclaiming of the planet, the Imperial fleet was pushed back and Alderaan liberated. For their outstanding courage and show of duty, the remnants of the Alderaan garrison were awarded a Mark of Dedication and a Medal of Valour was given to each soldier. It had not been a victory however, as Ban-Anad later stated. In his views, the Empire had achieved its goal on Alderaan- to show that even the most pristine form of the Republic ideal can become as dark and vilified as the Empire.

Unfortunately, trouble didn’t end there for Alderaan. Much of the planet’s cities lay in ruins. The population decimated, the government destroyed, once peaceful Alderaan cried for vengeance. The least supporter of the war now wanted every last Imperial burnt like the trees of the forest of Aldera. Naturally- a civil war followed and the Alderaan Garrison, now bolstered by a constant military force and a major fleet, turned into military police, desperately trying to keep the peace on what was considered the most peaceful world in the galaxy.

The dust finally setting on Alderaan in Year 10 BTC (3,663 BBY) and the 85th, now with fresh recruits, was folded back into the 2nd Army where they were treated as heroes. This didn’t last long however, as 2nd Army was on its route to stop what was to become the Mandalorian Blockade.

In 10 BTC, the 85th was sent to secure Taris, where the Republic intended to place a large garrison in prevention of a blockade that was already started. Later, succeeding in securing Taris, the 85th was sent to Dathomir and in 8 BTC (3,661 BBY) returned from there to defend the Hydian Way from above Taris and its immediate sector. The Republic failed in its initial attempt, the blockade being broken later with the aid of a smuggler initiative.

Going on the offensive, the 2nd Army was sent to the Thanium Sector, literally bringing the fight to the Empire’s front door. There, on Felucia, the 85th, 74th and 101st Battalions of the 2nd Army waged a gruesome four-year long battle. Fighting both the planet’s own hidden threats and the Empire, it’s said those three battalions endured more than the whole Republic Grand Army combined. Ban-Anad, Taddar Virmis, Ramir Ankoolas and squad Dorn saw the worst of it, leading covert guerrilla missions with other RSF squads, deep within the front line.

Returning to Taris from Felucia, the beaten-up 85th, now one of the last standing battalions of the 2nd Army, stayed there for nearly six rotations of its nearest moon- mostly trying to swallow what had happened during the last four years.

The war wasn’t over however, and the Republic was in dire need of resources. Even though the blockade on the Hydian Way had been lifted, the Empire controlled most of the space from Korriban to Dathomir. With both the Prima and Hydian Trade Routes cut off around Sullustan Space- the Republic was desperate for a respite. Therefore the Ministry of Defence deemed it necessary to retake Sullust as part of a later campaign aimed at retaking the whole of the lower part of the Hydian Way. Much of the Republic High Command saw the plan for the failure it later proved to be, yet the Minister of War (who some were speculating had connections with the Empire) was relentless and the (remnants of) 2nd and the 3rd Armies were sent to Sullust.

The Jedi Council, strongly opposing this effort, saw a different way of securing, hopefully, new resource opportunities for the Republic. Taking the smuggler initiative during the Mandalorian Blockade to heart, the Council sent Jedi Masters Taddar Virmis and Ramir Ankoolas, along with Squad Dorn, left two men short, to try and negotiate a deal with the Hutt Cartel- a move never before attempted by neither the Republic, nor the Jedi Council.





========================

This is what I have penned down for now...
This is basically a short (really, really short) version of "Sleigh of Hand: The Exploits of Ban-Anad D'ealari" and it will cover his story until three years after the Treaty...
Remember- many (all) of the years and some of the battles are total fanon. As the Great War isn't completely dated, I thought it wouldn't be a problem to make my own version. I've kept known conflicts' dates the same, building around them.

Remember, this is a work in progress.

Inspiration... Bachelor's first challenge...

Updated. Still around as much to go...

Making this into a SW:TOR RP Wiki page...

You can find what's done here: Free cookies!