- "The Federation will be dead!, the war is over, you have lost and when I destroy Earth, the Der'kal Empire will rule the galaxy.
Amazing, every word of what you just said was wrong, this will not be the end of the Federation or Earth, the war is not over and the Federation will not surrender to the Der'kal." - — Kylo Ren and MACO Colonel Thomas Morgan
The Battle of Crait, also known as the siege of Crait, was a major battle fought in 2387 during the Federation-Der'kal War between the United Federation of Planets and the Der'kal Empire.
Prelude[]
- "Get all our forces down to that Federation base. Let's finish this."
- — Kylo Ren, to General Hux
Following the Federation's victory in destroying Starkiller Base, the Federation abandoned their base on D'Qar after the Der'kal Empire invaded the Ileenium system. While the Federation was searching the galaxy for a new base of operations, General Armitage Hux tracked the Federation fleet through warp and gave chase. Vice Admiral Thomas Chavdri eventually sacrificed himself and the Raddus to allow the remaining Federation forces to escape to the planet Crait in the Crait system.
The battle[]
Arrival at the Der'kal base[]
- "They're coming, shut the door."
- — Typhuss James Kira
The remaining Federation forces landed and reactivated the old Der'kal base. Natalie Teeger and Caitlin Pike later crash-landed at the base in a Xi-class light shuttle after escaping the damaged Der'kal flagship Supremacy. They were initially being shot at by the Federation forces in the confusion, but were unharmed. Captain Kira called upon their allies across the Beta Quadrant for reinforcements as the group prepared the base's defenses, including several phaser emplacements, photon torpedo turrets, F-302 fighter-interceptors and one Danube-class runabout. Meanwhile the Der'kal Empire—deployed their own forces, landing eleven AT-M6s, two AT-ATs, one Upsilon-class command shuttle, several TIE fighters, and a superlaser siege cannon towed by a pair of AT-HHs to break through the base's massive steel doors. The walkers were deployed in a attack strategy formation and the forces mobilized.
The battle begins[]
- "All right, listen up. I don't like our odds, but...just keep it tight and don't get drawn in too close until they roll that cannon out front."
- — Commander Poe Dameron to Reb Squadron
The Federation launched all of their remaining forces, firing phaser emplacements and dispatching thirteen of the F-302s to knock out the superlaser, led by Captain Poe Dameron. The Der'kal Empire walkers and TIE fighters returned fire and the battle began. The Federation suffered heavy losses from the combined ground and air assaults. The Millennium Falcon, piloted by Chewbacca and Rey and the Delta Flyer II, piloted by Tom Paris and Harry Kim, arrived unexpectedly and attacked the TIE fighters, drawing them away from the battlefield and ultimately destroying all of them.
Losing hope[]
- "We fought until the end but the galaxy has lost all its hope. The spark is out."
- — Captain Kira losing hope
As the battering ram prepared to open fire, Dameron ordered all fighters to fall back as it would be a suicide run. Pike however, disobeyed and piloted her fighter directly towards the barrel of the cannon. Unwilling to let Pike die, Typhuss engaged a tractor beam on her F-302, saving Pike's life. With the Federation's effort nearly silenced, the Der'kal Empire's cannon opened fire at the base, punching easily through the main doors. Supreme Leader Vur'naa then ordered General Hux to advance and to give no quarter to his enemies or take any prisoners. As snowtroopers began approaching the breach, the Federation realized that all of the messages sent to their allies had been received, but none had responded. Greatly saddened, Kira gave up all hope and said the spark was out. In a last-ditch effort, the Federation began preparing for a final stand.
MACO squad's intervention and escape[]
As the Federation contemplated their next move, a MACO squad unexpectedly appeared to the group and resolved to go out to face the Der'kal Empire on their own as a distraction. As the MACO squad emerged from the base, Kylo ordered all of the walkers to open fire on the MACO squad in a futile attempt to destroy them. However, the MACOs miraculously emerged unscathed because they used a shield generator to protect themselves from the weapons fire, and Kylo felt the need to go down to the surface and face the MACO squad himself, despite Hux's advice to the contrary. In a brief confrontation, the MACOs attacked Kylo, but Kylo was able to kill all of the MACOs.
Meanwhile, Dameron and Typhuss noticed that the vulptices, creatures which resided in the caves, had gone, leaving through a natural exit. Following a remaining vulptex, Dameron led the surviving Federation forces in search of the exit. With the time bought by the MACO squad's distraction, the Federation found the end of the base's cave system, but saw that a rockslide had blocked the exit to the outside. From the other side of the blockage, Chakotay used a type 2 phaser to destroy the rocks while Rey used her powers to help and cleared a path for the surviving Federation forces to escape to the Falcon, Delta Flyer II and the USS Dauntless, living to fight another day, heading back to Voyager and the Intrepid.
Aftermath[]
- "How will the Federation survive the war?."
"We have everything we need, hope." - — Tom Paris and Typhuss James Kira
The Battle of Crait was a victory for the Der'kal Empire; the surviving Federation forces were reduced to barely over a dozen personnel aboard two starships. However, the Der'kal Empire failed in its main objective of completely destroying the Federation, as some of its members—including Captain Kira—escaped the battle to continue their struggle. Tom Paris was worried that the Federation would not survive the war, but Typhuss reassured him, saying they had everything they needed to survive and win the war, hope.