Battle of Saleucami/Legends

"It's time somebody finally put an end to that monster."

- Anakin Skywalker, on General Grievous

During the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a battle occured between the two factions on and in orbit of the Outer Rim world of Saleucami. The conflict was the result of the capture and torture of Jedi High Council member Eeth Koth at the hands of the Confederate Supreme Commander, General Grievous. With the Jedi Master as his captive, Grievous sent a transmission to the Council on Coruscant in which he brutally tortured Koth to express his hatred for the Jedi Order. Unbeknownst to the cyborg general, Koth used discreet hand signals to inform the Council of his location. Using the information provided by Koth, Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Adi Gallia and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker organized an assault force to engage the Confederacy at Saleucami, rescue Koth, and capture General Grievous.

Kenobi was the first of the Jedi to arrive at Saleucami and engage Grievous's forces with a fleet of Star Destoyers and nimble Consular-class frigates under the command of Admiral Wullf Yularen. During the battle, Kenobi's light cruiser was caught in a tractor beam from Grievous's Recusant-class destroyer and boarded by battle droid forces and the cyborg general himself. While Grievous was dueling Kenobi aboard the cruiser, Skywalker and Gallia entered the battle and infiltrated the general's destroyer to rescue Eeth Koth. Despite Grievous's preparations for such an occurance, the two Jedi were successful in freeing the captive Master and getting him off the ship. Meanwhile, Grievous, understanding that Kenobi had the upper hand in their duel, retreated to his destroyer and led his battle droids onto a landing craft bound for Saleucami's surface. During the descent, the craft collided with debris from the battle, forcing Grievous to flee the doomed vessel in an escape pod.

While Skywalker continued the battle in orbit, Kenobi led a force of clone troopers to the planet's surface to hunt down Grievous. The cyborg general fled the Republic forces, hoping to reach an escape pod with a functioning transmitter in order to call for an evacuation transport. During the search for Grievous, Clone Captain CC-7567 was seriously injured, necessitating aid from local farmer Cut Lawquane, a clone who had deserted the Grand Army of the Republic. During the Captain's stay at Lawquane's farm, droid commandos that had escaped the doomed landing craft attacked the farm homestead and were repelled by CC-7567 and the former trooper. Meanwhile, Kenobi caught up with and engaged Grievous, who fled the battle once a Sheathipede-class shuttle arrived to ferry him away.

The general's threat
"But death will not come so easily for Master Koth. I will make him suffer endlessly because I know that is more painful for you all!"

- General Grievous Around 22 BBY during the Clone Wars, the Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, General Grievous, decided to target members of the High Council of the Jedi Order for capture. Grievous, who had a deep-seeded hatred of the Jedi, chose Master Eeth Koth to be the victim of his aggression. Deep in the Outer Rim Territories, Grievous led a fleet of Confederate warships into battle against Koth and his Republic forces. After boarding the Jedi Master's Star Destroyer, Grievous engaged Koth in a pitched lightsaber duel that ended when the general's IG-100 MagnaGuards repeatedly electrocuted the Jedi. With Koth defeated, Grievous took him hostage aboard his Recusant-class light destroyer and subjected him to excruciating torture. The cyborg general displayed Koth in a video transmission sent to the Jedi Council on Coruscant, in which Grievous expressed his loathing for the Order and explained his plans give the hostage Jedi Master a prolonged and painful death.

In the communication center of the Jedi Temple, Council members Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Adi Gallia viewed the transmission alongside the holographic forms of Council members Kit Fisto, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Luminara Unduli, and Plo Koon. The Council was joined by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and several others, who watched as Grievous gloated over his capture of Koth before having the Jedi Master electrocuted once more. When the transmission ended, the Jedi Council members and Skywalker discussed the need to eliminate Grievous despite their inability to locate him. Plo Koon's clone commander, CC-3636, had also been watching the transmission and noticed that the otherwise inert Master Koth was using discreet hand signals before the transmission ended. High Jedi General Kenobi was able to interpret that Koth was signaling that Grievous was bound for the Saleucami system. Kenobi, Skywalker, and Gallia volunteered to use this information to ambush the general and rescue Koth.

Plan of attack
"General. I knew one day I'd catch up to you.''" "Kenobi, what a suprise. I assume you're here to bring me to justice?" "''You know me too well."

- Kenobi and Grievous, before the opening shots of the battle

The three Jedi organized a fleet consisting of three Venator-class Star Destroyers, three Consular-class frigates, one Acclamator I-class assault ship, and one Republic light cruiser. Their plan was for the fleet, under the command of Admiral Wullf Yularen aboard the Resolute, to engage Grievous's forces over Saleucami while the Republic light cruiser carrying General Kenobi and Clone Commander CC-2224, nicknamed "Cody," would be intentionally boarded by Grievous and his battle droid forces. With the Confederate general distracted, Skywalker, Gallia, and Clone Captain CC-7567, nicknamed "Rex," would hyperspace jump into the system in their Jedi ambassadorial shuttle and infiltrate Grievous's Recusant-class destroyer to find and rescue Master Koth while Kenobi trapped the cyborg general on his cruiser to be taken into custody.

Meanwhile, Grievous arrived at Saleucami with a fleet of three Munificent-class star frigates and his own Recusant destroyer. Alongside his T-series tactical droid, TV-94, the general prepared to invade the planet, but before he could begin landing, the Republic fleet arrived in the Saleucami system and advanced towards the Confederate warships. Grievous boasted to Master Koth, who was imprisoned in a containment field on the destroyer's bridge, that he had expected just such an occurance and was prepared for the Republic's attempts at rescuing the Jedi Master. Grievous then opened a communication with General Kenobi, and after the two engaged in a short repartee the cyborg cut the transmission and ordered his vessels to open fire on the Republic fleet.

Conflict in orbit
"Admiral Yularen, keep Grievous's fleet occupied so Anakin's arrival is undeteceted.''" "''Yes, general. Commence attack; all ships, fire at will."

- General Kenobi and Admiral Yularen

As the Confederate ships began to fire on the Republic cruisers and frigates, Kenobi ordered Admiral Yularen to engage Grievous's fleet to provide cover for Skywalker and Gallia's arrival. Yularen complied, issuing a fire at will command to the Star Destroyers and frigates, which promptly entered the fray. The swift and nimble Consular-class frigates charged past the Confederate lines, harrassing Grievous's capital ships as the larger Venator-class destroyers fired on the Separatist forces from a distance. While Kenobi and Cody's light cruiser approached Grievous's destroyer, the clone commander relayed the exact coordinates of the cyborg general's vessel to Skywalker, Gallia, and Rex, who were waiting with a clone infiltration team outside the combat zone. Receiving the coordinates, Skywalker took their shuttle into hyperspace with the intent of emerging a short disance from Grievous's warship. As the battle continued, Grievous, who held a personal grudge against Kenobi after repeated encounters, insisted upon boarding the Jedi Master's cruiser and killing him personally. When the Republic light cruiser was targeted with a tractor beam and reeled towards Grievous's ship, Kenobi barred Cody from firing on the beam's source, as the general's assault on the ship was essential to their plans of capturing him.

Meanwhile, Skywalker's shuttle emerged from hyperspace just behind Republic lines. Using his formidible skill as a pilot, Skywalker maneuvered the ship across the battlefield and through the hollow hull plates of Grievous's destroyer. Upon reaching the slim aft section of the destoyer, Skywalker landed his shuttle on the larger ship's underbelly, having successfully avoided detection by the Confederate forces. He, Gallia, and Rex led their squad of troopers onto the Recusant-destroyer through a hole Skywalker carved in the ship's superstructure. Rex and the troopers were ordered to guard the exit to their shuttle while the two Jedi left to rescue Koth, who Gallia had determined was being held on the ship's bridge. Grievous had just left the bridge to lead the boarding of Kenobi's cruiser via an armored docking tube that had extended from the Recusant to connect the two ships.

Aboard the cruiser, Kenobi, Cody, and their contingent of clone troopers prepared for Grievous's attack. The cyborg general cut an entryway onto the Republic vessel with his lightsabers and dispatched four BX-series droid commandos into the cruiser in an initial wave. While one of the droids was destroyed immediately, the remaining three succeeded in killing most of the vessel's defenders, leaving Kenobi alone to face Grievous and two of his IG-100 MagnaGuards. The Jedi Master retreated from the boarding party's entry point towards the cruiser's bridge, which had been cleared of personnel. On the bridge, he was surrounded by the the MagnaGuards and the Grievous, but managed to engage and destroy one of the droids. Before pressing his attack, Grievous informed Kenobi that he had anticipated the Republic attack plan and was prepared for Skywalker's attempts at rescuing Koth. Kenobi was then set upon by the other MagnaGuard, but continued his conversation with Grievous regardless. The two argued over the cyborg's role in the war and the reasoning behind his actions before the Jedi destroyed the MagnaGuard and appropriated its electrostaff. Grievous himself then engaged Kenobi in a lightsaber duel.

Skywalker and Gallia had meanwhile been cutting through patrols of B1 and B2 battle droids in their race to the bridge of the general's destroyer. Upon reaching the bridge, they were met by the imprisoned Master Koth, TV-49, and a squad of droid commandos who had been left there in anticipation of the Jedi's rescue mission. TV-94 remotely electrocuted Koth several times through the use of a control on its wrist panel; however, before the droid could kill the Jedi Master, Skywalker used the Force to pull TV-94 to him and sever its arm. The droid commandos attacked the Jedi in response while the tactical droid tried to retrieve its severed arm. Although thwarted several times in the ensuing melee between the Jedi and the commandos, TV-94 eventually collected its arm and attempted to kill Master Koth, but was unable to due to the fact that the droid could not activate the electrocution control while using its intact arm to hold its severed one. Skywalker and Gallia defeated the last of the commandos before destroying TV-94 and releasing Koth. The three Jedi then made their way back to their shuttle.

Complications
"Open fire on the Republic ship! Target their engines.''" "But sir, the ships are still attached." "''It doesn't matter. Preapare all troops for a landing on Saleucami."

- Grievous and an OOM command droid

On Kenobi's light cruiser, the Jedi General succeeded in gaining the upper hand over Grievous by using the Force to throw the severed segments of the destroyed MagnaGuards at the cyborg. The impact slammed Grievous into the forward viewports of the bridge before he fell into the pilot's chair. Kenobi ordered that Grievous surrender, but he instead lunged at the Jedi, forcing him to the ground before escaping the bridge and sealing the hatchway behind him. As Kenobi cut through the hatch with his lightsaber, he contacted Skywalker to apraise him of the situation. Skywalker decided to escort the wounded Master Koth back to the shuttle while Gallia would attempt to intercept Grievous before he escaped Kenobi's cruiser. Meanwhile, the bridge crew of the cruiser returned to their command consoles on orders from Kenobi to detatch from the Confederate destroyer before Grievous jumped ship. Kenobi, who had escaped the bridge, raced to catch up with the cyborg general while Commander Cody assessed the damage to his unit taken during Grievous's boarding. The clone commander and his men were directly in the way of Grievous's escape route and engaged the general upon visual contact with him. Grievous raced past the clones and contacted the bridge of his destroyer, ordering it to fire on the cruiser's engines and begin preparations for a landing on Saleucami.

Before Grievous could reach the docking tube and escape back to his destroyer, one of Cody's men fired their blaster rifle's cable at the general and electrocuted him, giving the clones an opportunity to reel the cyborg in and pile on top of him. Grievous threw the troopers off of him and make a break for the docking tube, but was followed into the tube by Kenobi, Cody, and several clones. The Recusant-class destroyer had meanwhile begun firing on the cruiser's engines, causing the light cruiser to jostle and heave uncontrollably. The tremors shifted the docking tube into a steep angle, throwing Grievous, Kenobi, and the clones to the floor. The cyborg escaped the tube after a short duel with Kenobi and attempted insure the Jedi's death by sealing him within the damaged docking tube. Grievous was stopped by Gallia, who engaged him in duel. During their melee, the heavily damaged Republic cruiser dipped far below the Confederate destroyer, causing the docking tube to rupture and expose those within to the vacuum of space.

While Grievous escaped the distracted Jedi, Gallia pulled Kenobi and Cody into the safety of the destroyer. Kenobi reluctantly agreed to put off the pursuit of Grievous in favor of escaping the destroyer and contacted Skywalker for extraction. He, Gallia, and Cody met Skywalker in one of the destroyer's hangars and fled the vessel on the Jedi shuttle. As the damage to Kenobi's cruiser caused it to explode, Grievous boarded a C-9979 landing craft bound for Saleucami's surface. Debris from the destroyed cruiser collided with the craft during its descent, throwing it into an uncontrolled free-fall towards Saleucami. Grievous and the droids aboard the landing craft scuttled the doomed vessel, fleeing on numerous escape pods that scattered across a large region of Saleucami. The Jedi returned to the Republic fleet to prepare for the next phase of the battle, with Kenobi leading the hunt for Grievous on the surface while Skywalker commanded the battle in space.

Hunt on the surface
"Can you pinpoint the landing zone for the other pod?''" "I could put us within two to three klicks of it, sir." "''Alert the men. We've picked up the scent."

- General Kenobi and Commander Cody, during the search for Grievous's escape pod

Kenobi arrived on Saleucami's surface in an Acclamator-class assault ship carrying a contingent of clones and All Terrain Tactical Enforcers assigned to search the planet and capture Grievous. Accompanying Kenobi were Commander Cody and Captain Rex, the latter of which was leading a squad of troopers on BARC speeders. While Kenobi's forces headed for the downed Confederate landing craft, Grievous and the droids he had escaped with regrouped assessed their situation. Their pod's transmitter was destroyed in the landing, and only one other escape pod was still functioning. Unable to contact the fleet in orbit for extraction, Grievous and his droids set off for the other functioning escae pod. During the trek to the pod, the cyborg used one of Saleucami's Reeks as a mount and several Eopies to carry supplies, but refused to allow the droids under his command to ride any of the creatures or stop to recharge their power cells.

The Republic forces reached the destroyed landing craft and searched the remains, determining that the vessel's crash had occured only a short time before. Kenobi ordered Rex to take troopers Jesse, Hardcase, and Kix to scout the Saleucami wetlands on their BARC speeders while he and Cody continued to lead the AT-TEs in their search through the dry territories. After departing for their scouting mission, Rex's team was targeted by a pair of droid commandos. Using a sniper rifle, one of the commandos shot Captain Rex in the chest, knocking him off his speeder. While Jesse and Hardcase pursued and destroyed the droids, Kix, the squad's medic, protected the wounded captain. After a cursory examination, Kix decided that he would need to remove Rex's armor to see the full extent of the damage, but the squad agreed to search for cover from possible enemy reinforcements first. Realizing they were on farm land, the clones set off in search of the farm's homestead. Meanwhile, General Kenobi, Commander Cody, and trooper Crys performed a robolobotomy on an inert battle droid found near the downed landing craft. The droid's memory logs indicated that the escape pod it had been aboard crashed because of a near-collision with another pod during its descent. Using this information, Cody was able to determine the approximate location of the other pod.

Notes and references
Erste Schlacht von Saleucami Primera Batalla de Saleucami