Ackbar VS Palleon?

I've heard this mentioned a lot but what is it? Where was it originally created?

 

I believe it was first mentioned in the Essential Chronology as a way to fill in the gaps between The Crystal Star and The Black Fleet Crisis (almost 3 years go by in-universe between those novels!). So far their conflicts have only been referenced in reference material, not in actual novel form. One can hope that there will be a novel detailing those skirmishes one day.......

 

Mister Fry had been dropping hints that at least part of their campaigns would be included in the next Essential Guide.

 

I still fondly remember the original Essential Chronology. If I remember right the Ackbar vs. Pellaeon battle sorta fills the gap between the end of Darksaber with Pellaeon left in charge of what was left of the Empire's still somewhat formidable fleet and Specter of the Past where the war is basically over. Pellaeon basically makes one last big push to regain territory, based from the Super Star Destroyer Reaper, and suceeds somewhat for a time. Then Ackbar counterattacks, the Lusankya is supposed to have a battle with the Reaper at one point I think, and Pellaeon manages to hang onto eight sectors, but loses the Reaper in the process (I think) and that is basically the last big campaign of the Galactic Civil War. I think that was the was the basic gist of it. It sounds very epic certainly, and is frequently mentioned in many people's wish list. The recent Essential Atlas added quite a few more details, and hopefully the upcoming Essential Guide to Warfate will go into even more detail, as the author has already hinted at. The only downside is that that guide is still a while off.

 

They should go back and start making more novels out of the NEC. We've had the Battle of Mindor, so Ackbar vs Pellaeon needs to happen too.

 

And the novel would already have a title, too! "Ackbar versus Pellaeon." And the cover art would show each of them commanding their own starships.

This sort of novel writes itself. Get to it, LFL!

 

Well, I have been begging for this sotry for the better part of a decade on on these boards, to no avail.

The idea of seeing Admiral Ackbar leading the entire Third and Fifth Fleets from the bridge of the SSG Guardian does have a certain appeal to me. Gravlex Med, Champala, Anx Minor and a host of other awesomely epic battles that reduced Pellaeon's holdings to barely eight sectors.

--Adm. Nick

 

This is just another story that has been neglected to Stackpole.

 

It was my deepest hope that the new Wraith novel would be this, a la Solo Command. Alas...

 

Ackbar v. Rogriss is another great example of a story that NEEDS to be told. In fact, that post-Zsinj campaign is a fun one as it ends with the New Republic capturing Kuat.

--Adm. Nick

 

I was waiting for this.

 

Between the EC and the NEC (and elaborated upon in the NEGTC and the EA), Pellaeon has had several campaigns established in the background. To clarify, post-Darksaber, Pellaeon launched an offensive with the SSD Reaper, taking Orinda and several other systems. Wedge Antilles and the Lusankya pushed him back from the other systems to Orinda, but Pellaeon beat Wedge at Orinda and he was able to keep the system.

Then, after Adumar joined the New Republic, Pellaeon attacked it, but when the NR attacked the Antemeridian sector, he had to abandon Adumar and fight off the New Republic. He stopped the thrust into his territory, but lost the Reaper. We don't know who he faced in this campaign. It's the least talked-about and least-demanded of the campaigns here. Which doesn't reflect lack of interest as much as lack of awareness, and the lack of an established "vs." hook because we don't know the other commander.

Around 13-17 ABY, we get "Ackbar vs. Pellaeon Round 1" at the Battle of Gravlex Med, in which Pellaeon stole the Chimaera back from the NR and Ackbar headed over with his own fleet to stop him from getting away, but Pellaeon got away.

Finally, in 17 ABY, the Moffs forced Pellaeon to coordinate an attack with Daala, who was leading the Deep Core Imperial remnants, in a last-ditch offensive. Garm Bel Iblis stomped Daala, as you might expect. Pellaeon got a rematch against Ackbar, a big campaign this time in which Ackbar brought Guardian and the Third and Fifth Fleets and beat Pellaeon decisively at the Battle of Anx Minor, taking away a big chunk of territory, leaving the Remnant the sorry state it is as of HOT.

So there are two "Ackbar vs. Pellaeon" incidents, and two other Pellaeon campaigns (one of which could be against Ackbar, though I'd rather see Bel Iblis established as the commander) established by Essential Guides. They all often get sort of sloppily grouped together as "Ackbar vs. Pellaeon" or "Ackbar vs. Pellaeon and Orinda" whenever people clamor to see depicted the major, very significant fleet battles established during the late New Republic era by reference material.

As Jello points out, though, there is a large selection of other major fleet campaigns from earlier in the war as well, such as the three-way battle between Ackbar, Teren Rogriss, and Teradoc for Zsinj's territory; Ackbar vs. Grand Admiral Syn at Kashyyyk; and the New Republic campaign into the Core in general. Shouting about those is mainly the preoccupation of Nick and me.

 

We need to get louder so the folks at LFL hear us, Hav.

RE: Core Campaigns, I agree with both you & Jello that there is a whole host of major worlds that were presumably taken by New Republic forces in battles that were most likely pretty intense. Given the Empire's preoccupation with turning every major Core world into a fortress system, one imagines that there were alot of intense battles.

I really want to see the rest of the Bormea Sector campaign. Let's not forget that the Empire held on to worlds like Chandrilia until 7 ABY, despite the fact that the New Republic held Coruscant and Brentaal. I am also very eager to see the campaign that liberated Duro from Imperial occupation. People tend to forget that the Duros were a key player in the Alliance. Jessnar SoBilles and his Duro Resistance was one of the earliest factions to sign the Corellian Treaty.

In terms of Ackbar specific battles, I would love to see more detail on the Kashyyyk campaign. He takes out Grand Admiral Syn and his fleet, which is no small task. Plus the battle ultimately leads to the liberation of the Wookiees.

--Adm. Nick

 

In the big picture, I'd argue that TEA is the closest we have to definitive at the moment, and obviously that doesn't go into a great deal of depth. In terms of the actual fall of the Core, we've only actually seen the conquest of three Core planets, IIRC: Brentaal IV in one comic arc, Borleias in one book, and Coruscant's gimmicky fall in one book and a pair of videogames. Each of which is a good story, but not really a good picture of the fleet action and hard-fought fortress world assaults that had to have made up the full nature of the Core campaign.

 

We also saw Ralltiir, the first Core World to fall to the New Republic, in a vignette in Heroes & Rogues.

 

It is ever explained why a world that is, by all accounts, a lush jungle paradise went almost entirely unsettled if it was so close to Coruscant?