Recapture of Tythe

The Third Battle of Tythe was a Clone Wars battle just prior to and during the Battle of Coruscant.

Prelude
In an attempt to throw Republic Intelligence off his trail, Darth Sidious instructed General Grievous to send a small flotilla of warships to crush a Republic garrison on Tythe and occupy the world. As the former headquarters of LiMerge Power, a company connected to a secret Sith meeting area discovered in The Works, Sidious knew that the Jedi would think that he was trying to erase the trail they had been following. As an added bonus, he had Count Dooku remain on Tythe as bait for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

In his role as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Sidious agreed that Dooku should be captured, and he convinced the Jedi to send Kenobi and Skywalker, along with a full Republic battle group to retake Tythe.

Ultimately, the entire engagement at Tythe was a diversion to draw Jedi away from the Core in advance of a massive Separatist invasion of Coruscant.

The battle
The Separatists had quickly placed mines at several hyperspace entry points, forcing the Republic ships to revert to realspace in a narrow window in front of the Confederacy fleet. Both sides quickly deployed their starfighters and then closed in on each other.

The Republic battle group moved first, breaking to port and delivering a long range broadside to the Separatist vessels, which responded with their own barrage. The opposing starfighter squadrons regrouped and attempted to reach the enemy capital ships before they could restore their shields.

All this maneuvering by the Republic was a diversion, allowing Red Squadron to reach the surface of Tythe in order to capture Dooku alive. As a backup plan, it was deemed that saturation bombardment and limited starfighter engagement would send Dooku fleeing deeper into the Outer Rim.

Anakin Skywalker led Red Squadron through the Separatist fleet, managing to destroy a Techno Union starship on the way. Once they reached the lower atmosphere, defending Hailfire droids, STAPs, and battle droids assailed the incoming starfighters, managing to destroy all but the interceptors flown by the two Jedi.

Kenobi and Skywalker piloted their starfighters through the roof of the largest containment dome at the LiMerge Power facility, and then set off on foot to confront Dooku. Inside the enormous ruined archive hall, they encountered a life-sized holoimage of the Count, but before they could locate him, hundreds of infantry droids surrounded them and opened fire.

Unable to reach Dooku, Anakin called upon the Force with such ferocity that it brought down the ceiling of the vast hall. The Sith Lord managed to escape to his solar sailer before the two Jedi could dig themselves out of the rubble, and ordered a Separatist retreat. Through the Force, however, Anakin realized that Tythe was a trap to lure Jedi away from Coruscant.

Aftermath


The Separatists left Tythe, with most ships jumping Rimward, while Dooku and another group headed for the planet Nelvaan in the Koobi system in an attempt to ward off Republic pursuit. The Count then set course for Coruscant to join General Grievous, who had just managed to abduct Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

Upon returning to the Integrity, Anakin received a tight-beam communication from Coruscant: a distress signal from Palpatine himself. This confirmed Anakin's suspicion that the galactic capital had been invaded, and he and Obi-Wan had their starfighters refueled and rearmed immediately. The two Jedi then set course for Coruscant and jumped to the Core ahead of their battle group.

Appearances

 * Labyrinth of Evil