Battle of Lola Sayu/Legends

This battle took place around 21 BBY during the Clone Wars on the volcanic world of Lola Sayu. Jedi Master Even Piell was abducted by Confederate forces while returning from an assignment in the Outer Rim Territories. He and his captain, Wilhuff Tarkin, carried vital coordinates for a set of hyperspace lanes collectively known as the Nexus Route, which connected the heart of Republic and Confederate space. Therefore, the Galactic Republic sought to free the Lannik warrior, who was incarcerated in the Citadel, a prison on the sulfurous planet Lola Sayu, specifically engineered to hold Jedi. Despite having to rely on old data from the archives, the strike team sent for the rescue&mdash;Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, the astromech droid R2-D2, reprogrammed battle droids and clone troopers&mdash;devised a plan to infiltrate the facility in a captured Separatist shuttle, freezing themselves into carbonite to evade scanners. This tricked the fleet guarding Lola Sayu into giving them permission to proceed.

Landing on a pad near the Citadel, the group&mdash;supplemented by Ahsoka Tano, who had stowed aboard without permission&mdash;proceeded to free-climb a cliff protected by electro-mines. However, their attempt to sneak in undetected failed when a clone trooper was killed by a mine, alerting the facility to their presence. The prison's commandant, Osi Sobeck, activated turrets and electric walls to stop the intruders, but the rescue team succeeded in saving Piell from torture and free his fleet officers as well.

After warding off droid commandos, the group split up, with Kenobi and some troopers creating a diversion while Skywalker and the rest of the team proceeded towards the landing pad, where a shuttle was to pick them up. Kenobi's troops were saved from capture by R2-D2 and his battle droids, but the craft sent for the rescue was destroyed by a cannon, forcing the group to hide in the caverns beneath the Citadel and call for support. Several of Piell's officers were killed by pursuing battle droids while trekking across the landscape, but R2's droid team held off the chasers long enough to allow the rest of the group to escape. However, a trio of anoobas released by Osi Sobeck tracked them down, with one of them killing Piell before being impaled by Ahsoka Tano. Following the Jedi Master's brief funeral, the team went on towards the extraction point, where they were confronted by Sobeck himself, who tried to kill Wilhuff Tarkin but was thrown into the lava before a space gunship dispatched by Admiral Coburn's rescue fleet evacuated the group.

Prelude
"As you are aware, the Citadel is their most isolated and impenetrable detention facility. No one has ever escaped." "There's a first time for everything."

- Plo Koon and Anakin Skywalker

Around 21 BBY, Jedi Master Even Piell had been captured by the Confederacy of Independent Systems while en route to Coruscant, as Piell had information on the Nexus Routes, vital hyperspace coordinates valuable to both the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy. Piell was then taken to a supposedly impenetrable Separatist prison known as the Citadel.

The mission
As a result, an elite team of clones led by Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker prepared for a rescue mission to the Citadel, a Confederate detention facility on the sulfuric world of Lola Sayu where Piell was being held. With the help of reprogrammed battle droids, the Jedi were able to avoid life-form scanners around the planet by encasing themselves in carbonite. The droids then landed the shuttle in a hidden cavern below the Citadel. However, Ahsoka Tano had sneaked along, despite being told to stay at the Temple by her master. In spite of the unplanned addition, the team continued on.

Outside the entrance to the Citadel, strong winds and electro-mines set on the cliff walls prevented the use of jetpacks or grappling cables, forcing the team to free-climb. The rescuers almost made it to the top after narrowly avoiding detection by a droideka and two super battle droids, when a clone trooper lost balance and detonated a mine, alerting the Citadel warden, Osi Sobeck to the team's presence. Sobeck tried hindering the team's progress by activating turrets and using electrified walls, which killed another trooper, but they were successful in rescuing Master Piell.

On their way to find Piell's naval officers and their captain, Wilhuff Tarkin, they were confronted by Sobeck's special unit of BX-series commando droids. Although the commando droids had the advantage at first, the rescue team was able to destroy the droids and successfully rescued the fleet officers after destroying a few more commando droids.

Phase two of the plan
"It was an honor to serve under you, sir."

- A droid from R2's squadron before they sacrifice themselves in order to let the rescue team escape

The Jedi then split up into two groups. Skywalker, Tano, Fives, Echo and Rex went with Captain Tarkin and two rescued clones, while Commander Cody, Kenobi, Even Piell, and six other clones went to create a diversion. Unfortunately for the team, they didn't know that R2 had arrived and was already inside the Citadel, so Kenobi and his group were captured after falling into a trap. Osi Sobeck, the Citadel's warden, brought all the prisoners to him, and executed one of the clones, before ordering two battle droids to lock them up in the detention level. However, R2-D2 and OOM-10 rescued them from the battle droids before they got there, as Skywalker and his group went to get R2-D2 and the shuttle. The astromech and his squad of battle droids then attempted to smuggle the team onto the shuttle, but tactical droid K2-B4 alerted the whole prison to OOM-10's reprogramming and ordered no one on board the shuttle. A firefight then ensued and Skywalker and his group arrived. Heavy weapons fire destroyed the shuttle, and killed ARC trooper Echo, leaving fellow ARC trooper Fives to grieve the loss of his brother.

With the shuttle destroyed, the group called for support from Coruscant and while waiting, hid in the caverns under the Citadel. They contacted the Jedi Council and they were told that a rescue fleet had already been dispatched to help them, but they had to go a rendezvous point so the rescue fleet could pick them up. The team then headed for the evac point. However, a trio of commando droids spotted them and opened fire, but a thermal detonator thrown by Fives destroyed them. The group continued on, but a large squad comprised of crab droids and commando droids intercepted them. R2 ordered his droids to hold them off as long as they can to ensure the escape of the others. However, the droids were quickly destroyed, and a clone and a naval officer were killed before the team reached safety.

A dark turn
Meanwhile, Osi Sobeck was contacted by Confederate Head of State Count Dooku who was displeased by the turn of events. Afraid of aggravating the Count any further, Sobeck unleashed a pack of anoobas to track down the Jedi. The anoobas, backed up by Sobeck's droids, were successful in finding the team and forcing them to split up once more. One of the anoobas managed to wound Piell mortally before being thrown into the lava by Ahsoka. Piell died, but not before giving the information to Ahsoka, who brought Piell's body to the rest of the group. The Jedi Master was given a brief funeral session before the team proceeded towards the rendezvous point.

The rescue fleet
"There have not been battles like these since the days of the Old Republic." "Indeed. Good hunt."

- Saesee Tiin and Plo Koon during the space battle

The rescue fleet, led by Plo Koon and three other Jedi, Saesee Tiin, Kit Fisto and Adi Gallia, arrived near Lola Sayu, and a battle commenced. While the clone pilots fought the droid fighters in space, Plo Koon, in his LAAT/i gunship traveled down to the planet's surface, accompanied by the three Jedi Masters in their starfighters. Meanwhile, the stranded team was confronted by Osi Sobeck, who was seething with anger at his inability to get the information on the Nexus Route. About to kill Tarkin, Ahsoka stabbed Sobeck through the chest, killing him instantly. Soon, a whole battalion of crab droids arrived. But, before they could overrun the team, Plo Koon and the Jedi arrived and rescued the stranded team without additional casualties. After the rescue, Plo Koon contacted his admiral, Coburn and told him to prepare their ships to jump to hyperspace. The team managed to make it to the ship and successfully jumped into hyperspace back to Coruscant.

Aftermath
"Unfortunately war tends to distort our point of view. If we sacrifice our code, even for victory, we may lose that which is most important: our honor."

- Obi-wan Kenobi, after the Citadel Mission Upon arriving back at the Temple, they honored Piell's sacrifice and then decided to debrief the Nexus Route information. However, Tarkin was told to give the information to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine only, while Ahsoka was told by Piell to give the information to the Jedi Council only, forcing Yoda to confer with Palpatine.

Notes and references
Schlacht von Lola Sayu