Battle of Ashfall Pass

The Battle of Ashfall Pass also know as the Battle of Ashfall or Death Valley (to the Imperial forces) was fought over a three day period between the Sith Empire, the Galactic Republic and the Cult of Nexuth. The Cult of Nexuth led by Darth Nexuth attempted to unleash the power of the Dread Masters and Darth Nox established a Task Force involving elements of the Sith Preservation, the Imperial Navy and Army under command of Darth Thanuil, Moff Valion Pyron and Admiral Brenton Kilgrath, code-named Operation Veto. The Republic also seeking to stop the Cult of Nexuth sent their own assault force, intercepted the Imperials before they could finish deploying their troops, leading to a battle with high casualties on all sides and a hard won Imperial victory.

Prelude
In the months following the defeat of a resurgent Darth Revan at the hands of an alliance of Imperial and Republic forces in the year 3638 BBY, Darth Nexuth the then Master Preserver of the Sith Preservation had taken advantage of the lull in hostilities to search for the lost Dread Artifacts: the Crest of Raptus, the Blade of Bestia, the Dragon of Styrak, the Voice of Tyrans, the Hand of Brontes and the Seed of Calphayus. Nexuth had persuaded the Architects, who operated as a council to the Sith Preservation answering only to Nexuth himself, to seek the Dread Artifacts so they could better understand the power Dread Masters, but in reality he wanted not just to understand the power but wield it.

Within the year most of the artifacts had been recovered: the Voice of Tyrans was found in the ruins of the Dread Palace on Oricon and the Seed of Calphayus in the ice caverns on Hoth. It was after Darhnemisis returned from Belsavis with the Crest of Raptus that the other other Architects sensed a change in their leader, Nexuth mentioned rivaling the the Dark Council and Darth Marr, who had become the de-facto leader of the Empire since the disappearance of Emperor Vitiate. Rumors of Nexuth loosing his mind were rife within the Sith Preservation, he had been overheard apparently talking to himself it was later discovered he had been speaking with the spirits of the Dread Masters. His behavior became more erratic, with rapidly changing mood swings he would only calm when in the presence of the Dread Artifacts. When the Dragon of Styrak was recovered on Hutta, Nexuth held bread and games for a week. Then he grew impatience and agitated when Darth Arcurtad hadn't returned from Taris with the Blade of Bestia. He shut himself in his private chambers in the Preservation's temple on Yavin 4 for a month threatening to kill anyone did not come with news of Darth Arcurtad and the blade.

Two weeks into Nexuth second month of isolation, Arcurtad returned with the blade and a cybernetic right arm. Nexuth was pleased he only needed the Hand of Brontes, which had been tracked down to the Seat of the Empire. Arcurtad had returned from Taris conflicted because he had encountered is thought to be long dead wife, who now a Jedi Master. Arcurtad informed Nexuth that he wished to leave and help his estranged wife to find those who were really responsible for their son's murder. When Nexuth called Arcurtad wife a "Jedi whore", Arcurtad drew his lightsaber and was met with blast of lightning from Nexuth bringing him to his knees.

Arcurtad was next seen at the Sith Academy on Korribian, the Hand of Brontes was discovered to be in possession of Overseer Spaar. Arcurtad walked into the Spaar's office and demanded she hand over the artifact, when the overseer refused killed her and the five acolytes in room. He rammed Overseer Spaar's lightsaber down her throat before igniting it. Arcurtad killed sixteen people within the academy before he made his escape.

Nexuth now had all six Dread Artifacts summoned all the Architects to the temple on Yavin 4. The Architects no longer trusting Nexuth planned to stage a coup. Lead by Darth Thanuil, they brought five hundred men and planned to strike during the meeting in the throne room. During the meeting Nexuth struck; using the Dread Artifacts he had corrupted Arcurtad and the elite Preserver Guard and it was they who rushed into the throne room making short work of the troops the Architects had stationed outside. The ensuing skirmish was short but in the chaos that left the Architects Marhress dead and Plaugis badly wounded and the temple destroyed, Nexuth and Acrurtad escaped with the artifacts.

Location
Nothing was heard of Nexuth for months until he suddenly reappeared on Belsavis in the Ashfall Pass a fifteen mile long pass on the planet's northern hemisphere. The entrances to pass were narrow barely enough room for a hundred men to march shoulder-to-shoulder. The centre of the pass widened out and dipped into a bowl-like gully making it a perfect killing ground for anyone positioned on northern bank overlooking the river of lava eighty feet below the pass. The only access up the northern bank was by using the small pathways which were nearly impossible to fight on.

Battle
Nexuth had his followers erect a throne on the north side, where he placed the artifacts at his feet, Arcurtad and two hundred cultists formed a protective ring at the base of the throne and deployed a shield protecting the throne. The remaining cultist spread throughout the pass and waited.

Day 1
The Empire dispatched a task force of nearly six hundred thousand men within days of Nexuth resurfacing. The fleet left hyperspace above Belsavis and approached the pass unmolested. The first stage of the assault being a naval operation it was commanded by Admiral Kilgrath a man of more than thirty years military experience, who was stationed aboard the flagship [https://sith-preservation.fandom.com/wiki/Preservator ''Preservator. ]The Admiral, hoping for a swift victory ordered the dreadnoughts Leviathan and Ziost Shadow'' to commence an orbital bombardment of the cultists' defenses, but quickly realised it was futile against the shield. After quick deliberation between the commanders the began landing troops, however due to the rocky and uneven terrain the best landing zone was some ten miles to east of Ashfall pass, a fifty man strong reconnaissance force under the command of the young and newly promoted Lieutenant Stella Amstel was sent to scout the area. The recon force established a landing zone and called for the rest of the troops the begin landing.

Suddenly a large Republic fleet came out of hyperspace directly above the landing zone cutting off Lieutenant Amstel and her men and destroying a Gage-class transport ship. Admiral Kilgrath against the orders of the Sith ordered the 5 dreadnoughts and and 6 destroyers to cover the transports as the began heading towards the secondary landing zone eighteen miles west of the pass. Intense dogfights raged between Imperial and Republic fighters in the skies above the pass. Many aces were made and many aces were lost that day. Kilgrath ordered all of the Preservator's  forward guns to fire on a Republic Corvette. The Thranta-class Corvette's shields were no match for the eminence firepower of a Harrower-class Dreadnought.

The Republic cruiser Justice came under heavy fire from two Imperial destroyers Wrath and Defiance, knocking out many of its forward and starboard guns and destroying two of its starboard hangers. The Justice was able to fight off the destroyers with aid of a Corvette, which left the Defiance severely damaged forcing it to abandon the battle. As more Imperial troops landed on the ground more of ships were free to to engage the Republic fleet. The cruiser Formidable was crippled and then destroyed by repeated precision strikes from B-28 bombers.

On the ground the Imperial having secured the landing zone began their advance on Ashfall Pass. The Sith Lord Jemorri led the Imperial vanguard of five thousand men, their task was to establish a beach-head so the main force can launch an attack against the cultists and the Republic. Thanks to Admiral Kilgrath ordering the ships to protect the transports the majority of the Imperials had made it to the ground safely, compared to the Republic ground forces, who had been attacked continuously by imperial fighters and bombers, because their fleet chose to engage the imperial fleet directly. The route to the pass was narrow and treacherous occasionally a soldier was picked off by a cultist sniper which would force the entire column to halt whilst the sniper was flushed out.

The Republic's march was just as difficult they didn't just face the cultist's but Lieutenant Amstel's reconnaissance force, who had began harassing the Republic landing zone; targeting officers and NCOs. It was one of Amstel's men who mortally wounded General Chandler Flax, with a blaster bolt to the stomach. The General would die a week after the battle. In late afternoon it was the Republic who reached the pass first, quickly digging in for the night - the cultists seemed content to leave them be. The Imperial troops arrived shortly after and also began digging in. Jemorri ordered two men to watch over the cultists and another ten to scout out the Republic positions in preparation for a night attack, but the main imperial column was delayed while they attempted to establish communications and would therefore not arrive at the pass until dawn.

It was in those last moments of sunlight that several waves of Republic bomber struck the Preservator, its engine and shield generator were knocked out, leaving the dreadnought open for attack. Admiral Kilgrath gave the order to abandon ship, though very few chose to. He addressed the fleet asking that every man and woman did their duty to the Empire, then gave command of the fleet to Moff Pyron who had kept the Dommbringer in reserve. The Preservator still had all of its gun and they used all of them them to protect the escape pods. Knocking out a corvette and forcing the Justice to retreat before finally circuming to the damage. As the dreadnought was being surrounded a rescued was attempted by the destroyer Revenge which was Captained by Jerdnik Kilgrath but it failed. All those remaining aboard the Preservator were killed. The fires of burning ships lit up Ashfall pass, as the ground troops of both factions prepared for their turn.

Day 2
In the early hours of the second day the Republic launched a massive night attack led by two Jedi Knights, at least one hundred thousand men advanced across the the gully and quickly overrunning the first line of Imperial foxholes. The second line fell just quick. At the third line Jemorri rallied the Imperial troops. The Imperial vanguard was hopelessly outnumbered but they held. The Republic continued to launch attacks all through the night and each time they were pushed back. Jemorri was seen walking to every foxhole in-between attacks. The largest wave occurred two hours before dawn consisting of forty thousand men. The Republic troops hit hard inflicting many casualties but they failed to capture the Imperial positions. The two Jedi Knights leading the charge were both reportedly killed by Jemorri, who had received a blaster wound to the chest earlier on but refused to be taken from the field. The Republic launched several more attacks before dawn but none of that scale.

By the time the main column arrived the vanguard had been whittled down to its six hundred men alive with only two hundred of those were still able to fight and they were dangerously low on ammunition. Seventy five thousand Republic soldiers lay dead or dying in front of the foxholes.

Those in the Sith Preservation wanted to assault Nexuth's position, which had been heavily fortified with barricades ditches and mines but General Rex and Moff Pyron argued it would be better to engage the Republic first before the cultist, whilst other argued it would be better until they gained air superiority until they launched a ground attack, both fleets were now in holding patters neither engaging directly - the occasional fighter doing a strafing run on the encamped troops. Some time before midday The Republic opened fire with their artillery which ripped through the imperial lines. General Rex lost his right arm and leg during the first few salvos, he was quickly evacuated to the rear of the line. The Empire responded vengefully with their own artillery and bombers silencing all but a few of the Republic's guns. Both factions then began advancing into the gully where some of the fiercest fighting took place, there was little cover on the steep slopes. The Empire captured the base of the gully and then began to push up the far side but were pushed back by a swift and effective counterattack led by Jedi Master Aitallya and some fifty other Knights and some three hundred thousand republic troops. Half an hour later the Empire had once again captured the gully but once again the Republic forced them out no less than an hour later. This Yo-Yo effect continued until dusk with the Empire holding the western slope and the base off the gully and the Republic occupying the southern and eastern slopes. Roughly four hundred thousand men died in the gully.

Lieutenant Amstel and her remain men had dug in and held their position in the high rocks all through the night and all through the day and the Republic had them surrounded but they refused to surrender, for every one of her men killed they had killed ten Republic soldiers.

During the afternoon the Republic launched several small scale attacks against the cultists position but the were easily defeated getting bogged down in the ditches and slaughtered by mines. They lost twenty thousand men in those attacks at a loss of just six cultists. The Empire also began probing the Cult's defenses with similar results. The Cult of Nexuth used the narrow pathways of the up to northern to its advantage, the pathways were so tight that ten men could hold off ten thousand.

In late afternoon the Terminus-class destroyer Revenge advanced with the destroyers Wrath and Renegade in support without orders. The Revenge  was aptly named because its Captain was Jerdnik Kilgrath the son of the late Admiral Brenton Kilgrath and he planned on exacting his. As the Wrath and Renegade bombarded the Republic positions, Captain Kilgrath brought the Revenge alongside the corvette Defender was the Republic's flagship. The Captain personally led the boarding party, capturing not just the enemy vessel put taking two hundred and eleven prisoners including Commodore Cara Fadia. This humiliated the Republic, who launched an ill-conceived attack in response. An attack which lost the many thousands more men and the cruiser Redoutable and two more corvettes. The destroyer Imperial Justice crippled and later scuttled and a transport ship was also destroyed. By the end of the second day the Empire had gained air superiority and the Republic fleet had been weakened to such a state that it would take very little part in the rest of the battle.

Day 3
During the night twenty Havoc Squad commandos infiltrated the Imperial camp in a failed attempt to assassinate their leadership. Lieutenant Venatros upon entering the tent of Darth Thanuil was discovered and subsequently killed when the Sith unleashed a storm of lightning into his body.

At dawn a lone imperial bomber flew over the Republic line but it wasn't bombs it dropped but the severed heads of the commandos. This caused morale to drop in the Republic army, particularly as the Imperial Navy was now pressing their advantage. Though victory was not certain for the Empire, the Republic still outnumbered them nearly two-one.

Mid-morning the battle for the gully ignited again. Most of the men had expelled their ammunition and using rifles as clubs or resorting to fighting tooth and nail. Troops from both factions kept pouring into the gully forming a mass of bodies as the Republic and Imperial soldiers created two walls that pressed against each other, slowly filling the gully and forcing its way into the cultists line. Suddenly an Imperial trooper found themselves shoulder-to-shoulder with a Sith Lord. Both Sith and Jedi struggled just the same against soldiers whom the could kill any over day with a flick of their wrist.

The Jedi Master Aitallya, who coincidentally was the estranged wife of Darth Nexuth's right-hand-man Darth Arcurtad, was able to use the cross-guard of her lightsaber quite efficiently by punching the Imperial's in-front of her. That still didn't stop her from receiving a head wound from a rifle-club.

This was the first time during the battle the cultists began plating an active role. Darth Nexuth had nearly completed the ritual and Darth Arcurtad was marshaling the defence of Nexuth throne. It was then a small group of Sith led by Darhnemisis broke through the cultists line.

Arcurtad charged Darhnemisis the blades of their saberstaffs clashed and they began to duel behind the cultist line. Darhnemisis appeared the gain the upper-hand, forcing Arcurtad to retreat back up the steps towards Nexuth's throne he even managed to sever the hilt of Arcurtad's lightsaber. Arcurtad knocked Darhnemisis back quickly retrieving a fallen light-pike. This was when the duel turned against Darhnemisis, Arcurtad used the pike's length to prevent his opponent out of striking distance, making swift strikes that pushed Darhnemisis back. Arcurtad used the pike's blade to slice Darh's hamstring, forcing the Sith to his knees but he was able to knock Arcurtad back before the killing blow. Arcurtad advanced again as Darh stood on his weakened leg Darh attempted to block Arcurtad's swing but the blade severed his right arm, leaving him defenceless when Arcurtad rammed the pike clean through his stomach. The weapon had gone so deep that the actually shaft was inside his body, allowing Arcurtad to raise Darh above his head like a flag on pole but not before Darh had managed to stab him in the stomach with a vibroknife. Arcurtad stumbled back towards the throne bleeding leaving Darh to be dragged back towards the Imperial lines.

In the early evening thousands more lay dead or dying and thousands more were wounded. When one died another took their place. Soldiers were having to climb over the bodies of their comrades. That was when Nexuth finally stood, he had barely moved throughout the entire battle, he slowly walked down the steps and approached the battle lines. Lord Ventalius, the former apprentice of Darth Arcurtad charged Nexuth killing four cultists that tried to stop him. He threw one of his lightsabers at Nexuth, who caught the weapon with the force and raised Ventalius into the air. Then he spoke it was loud enough that everyone in the gully stopped fighting. He addressed the entire battlefield

"Fools! ''It was so easy to lure you here. You are so predictably stupid, even a child could have seen it. You are so determined to destroy one another you cannot see the trap we laid for you. We have become more powerful than any Sith or Jedi for we have no need for such trivial titles. We have transcended to a new plain of existence; beyond mortality, beyond the Empire and the Republic, beyond light and dark, beyond the force itself. We are fear. We are Pain. We are Death!" ''

Nexuth cast lightning from his finger tips, turning Lord Ventalius into a pile of charred bones, which became dust in the wind. He then began casting lightning into the gully and where once where soldier stood dust remained. The Leviathan attempted fire on Nexuth but he simple directed his lightning towards the dreadnought, practically slicing it in two before it exploded. He the directed the lightning at the Republic fleet destroying two corvettes. Panic rose between both factions but it was the Republic who broke first and Nexuth punished them. He treated the soldiers in the gully like grass and is lightning was a scythe. The air became think with what was essentially people.

Then Nexuth's rain of terror ended just as quickly as it had started. He began twitching violently and howling in pain as lightning ripped his body apart. There was a bright light and sudden implosion that left a gaping hole where the throne had been and Nexuth was gone. It seemed he had taken on the consciousness and power of all six Dread Masters and that was too much for a single body.

Because the Republic had retread from the field, the Sith Empire a claimed a Pyrrhic victory.