Bel Iblis then opted to attack straight through the Vong fleet, rather than deactivate and back into the orbital minefield.
While probably the correct course of action, it seriously disrupted the fleet's command structure, prompting large portions of Kre'fey's fleet group to defect over to him (halfway through the battle he noted he actually had more ships than when he started) and creating a major political crisis when Fey'lya relieved Sovv of command, only for Sovv's faction to rally around him in a show of solidarity. Probably his most prominent actions occurred at Coruscant, where he openly defied Sovv's orders not to fire on the kamikaze refugee ships. Thrawn expressed a certain amount of respect for his abilities (he recognized immediately when Bel Iblis took command at Coruscant and concluded continued fighting was pointless), and his failure to defend Coruscant a year later probably had more to do with the Imperial coalition bringing overwhelming force to bear than any tactical failings.ĭuring the Yuuzhan Vong War he was acknowledged as, alongside Wedge, one of their best commanders. Bel Iblis never reached the same level of command as Ackbar did, partly due to politics, but he was definitely a successful commander.