Operation: Knightfall

"I want you to go to the Jedi Temple. We will catch them off balance. Do what must be done, Lord Vader. Do not hesitate, show no mercy."

- Darth Sidious

Operation: Knightfall, also known as the Raid on the Jedi Temple, the Assault of the Jedi Temple, the Attack on the Jedi Temple, the Siege of the Jedi Temple, the Fall of the Jedi Temple, or the Jedi Temple Massacre was one of the first conflicts of the Great Jedi Purge, where the newly anointed Darth Vader and the clone troopers of the 501st Legion stormed the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, initiating a massacre under the authority of Order 66.

Background
After Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker helped Darth Sidious to eliminate Mace Windu, he pledged himself to Sidious's teachings and was given the name Darth Vader. Palpatine declared the Jedi Order as a threat to the soon-to-be Galactic Empire. Darth Vader was assigned the daunting task of rampaging through the halls of the Jedi Temple and stopping this growing "threat": an operation known as Knightfall among the 501st. The troopers of the 501st Legion were transferred to Coruscant from war theaters like Felucia, Mygeeto, Utapau, Kashyyyk, and other planets to serve Lord Vader during the mission.

Penetrating the Temple
"You have done well, my new apprentice. Your skills are unmatched by any Sith before you. Now, Lord Vader, go and bring peace to the Empire."

- Emperor Palpatine to Darth Vader

Marching to the gates of the Temple with a legion of elite clones, Darth Vader was confronted by Gate Master Jurokk, who asked Vader about Master Windu's safety. Vader asked him where Shaak Ti was, as she was the Temple commander. He replied that she was in the Temple meditating. Noticing the mass of troopers just outside the gate, he once again asked Vader if something was wrong. Vader responded by igniting his lightsaber through Jurokk's head.

As the troopers dispersed throughout the Temple's vaulted halls, Vader began to eliminate the most powerful Jedi within. He took a small group of clones to capture the Jedi Communication Center via the Jedi Archives. Upon entering the Temple's Library with the clones, he ordered Jocasta Nu to grant access to the communication room. Sensing something suspicious, she ignited her blue lightsaber, but Vader used the Force to impale her with his lightsaber.

Operation: Knightfall
"What I remember about the rise of the Empire is&hellip; is how quiet it was. During the waning hours of the Clone Wars, the 501st Legion was discreetly transferred back to Coruscant. It was a silent trip. We all knew what was about to happen, what we were about to do. Did we have any doubts? Any private traitorous thoughts? Perhaps, but no one said a word. Not on the flight back to Coruscant, not when Order 66 came down, and not when we marched into the Jedi Temple. Not a word."

- Extract from the Journal of the 501st

Duels erupted in the library. The Jedi attempted to destroy the holobooks in the library to prevent the 501st troopers from learning any confidential Jedi information. However, the troopers managed to preserve a few bookcases from destruction long enough for a scan to take place. In the ensuing carnage, a Jedi activated a ray shield system and hid in a shield protected room. Vader disabled the shield system and killed the Jedi; proceeding into one of the surrounding halls. While Vader was at the library, some clones took over a Council Chamber as an outpost, destroyed a turret gun nearby, and from there, moved on with the rest of the troopers. As Vader moved into a hall, Jedi snipers ambushed the clone attackers. Vader, at a clone's advice, took down a hulking statue, crushing many of the Jedi. Using a piece to break down the door into a study hall, they proceeded in killing many students, snipers, and Jedi brutes. After battling his way across an outdoor cat walk, the raid continued into the hangar bay, where Vader shot down fleeing Jedi Interceptors with an anti-aircraft gun erected by the clones.

When Darth Vader reached the top of the High Council quarter, he moved to the Communication Center and activated a beacon telling all Jedi to return to the Jedi Temple; the war was over. A clone private then informed him that a Jedi, Cin Drallig, managed to penetrate upper-level defenses. Vader told him that he would deal with Drallig, ordering the nearby clone assassins to guard the beacon with their lives.



Before tracking down Drallig, Vader took the ancient elevator in the High Council Tower and entered the High Council Chamber and slaughtered a group of younglings when they mistook him for the Jedi Knight he had once been. Vader then made his way through the First Knowledge quarter, to one of the many briefing rooms, Drallig's former apprentice, Serra Keto, confronted Vader and engaged him in a duel. Jumping on a balcony that looked over a training veranda in the Tower of First Knowledge, Darth Vader cut down a pillar, and used it to crush her. Drallig, sensing her death, hoped to avenge her in a duel.

As Jedi Masters realized that the Temple was lost, they began to send Knights and Padawans out through the Temple Precinct. Vader made his way to the base of the Temple where he found Drallig guarding a group of fleeing younglings in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. After murdering two of Drallig's trainees, Bene and Whie Malreaux, the Sith slashed Drallig in the shoulder, leaving him dying. The squad of clones accompanying Vader than blasted at the other Padawans Drallig was protecting, killing most of them.

As the clones continued the attack, Darth Vader discovered Shaak Ti within her chambers. After dueling and disorienting the Sith Lord, she managed to lead a band of Padawans and their Masters out of the Temple. Outside in the Temple Precinct, Venator-class Star Destroyers bombarded the area with turbolaser fire. Many of the fleeing Jedi perished amongst the rubble and fallen statues, though Shaak Ti managed to secure a small number of her charges passage through the Undercity. Along with Master Ti, Council Member Even Piell managed to flee into the depths of Coruscant. Leader of the Special Operations Brigade, Arligan Zey had gone to the Temple upon hearing of General Grievous' death, only to be caught in the battle within the halls of his sanctuary. He managed to flee the Temple and make it back to his offices in Arca Barracks, where he was executed by his aide, ARC Maze. Jedi Jax Pavan, Gray Paladin Laranth Tarak, Kazdan Paratus, the Last Curator of Records, and a group of younglings were among the other survivors of the catastrophe.

The raid continues
"I saw thousands of troops attack the Jedi Temple. That's why I went looking for Yoda."

- Bail Organa



Meanwhile, the 501st Legion secured all four Council chambers and engaged the Temple Security Force in the main hall. Darth Vader then returned from his duel with Cin Drallig, and collected several holocrons containing Jedi and Sith information. Cleaning up most of the remaining Temple Security guards and Jedi Knights, within the hour, Vader and the 501st were able to completely occupy the Temple.

However, three Jedi Masters, who had taken something of a military command over the remaining Jedi, led the last of the Jedi Knights into the main hall in an attempt to repel the 501st one last time. The Jedi came out in a sudden, tremendous charge, many holding two lightsabers, those of their fallen companions. This form of lightsaber combat increased the amount of clone casualties. Still, even with the Jedi forces utilizing a different form of lightsaber combat, the Jedi were outnumbered and overpowered by Lord Vader, and their three leaders were killed.

As the Temple burned, Bail Organa landed on the landing platform of one of the Council Tower hangars to investigate the fire. After being turned away by the clones guarding the hangar, the retreating Senator witnessed the brutal execution of Zett Jukassa; after which Organa narrowly escaped with his life.



Public and non-clone military response
As the fires burned through the night, the citizens of Galactic City could only watch in shock, as the symbol of the Jedi was engulfed in flame. Skylanes were shut down around the Temple Precinct, with all traffic being directed away from the district. As the order circulated to non-clone military forces, such as CSF officers, shock and awe was felt by those who had known Jedi over their careers on Coruscant. Their standing order to help Jedi in any way possible, an objective the organization had held since its organization, was rescinded, and they were ordered to alert the 501st upon observing a Jedi. Coruscant Rescue Ops were forbade from snuffing out the fires from the Temple, and any ship attempting to approach the Temple was assumed to be doing so with treasonous intent. Names of fleeing Jedi were sent out on all military channels; Tru Veld was just one of several major threats perceived during the fight at the Temple.

Checkpoints were set up on large bridges, that crossed the chasms of the city, leading to major spaceports. Clones and CSF officers patrolled nearby areas attempting to root out the fleeing Jedi. A group of Padawans were discovered fleeing the Temple via the Shinarcan Bridge Extension; upon discovery they attempted to fight their way free, hoping to make it to Chancellor Palpatine Spaceport in order to get off world. Jedi Etain Tur-Mukan happened to be passing through at the same moment and, in a shocking move, sacrificed her life in order to protect one of the attacking clones. The Jedi who slew Tur-Mukan leapt off the bridge, fleeing into the city below. Several of the other Jedi died, though some did escape.

Aftermath
As the clones secured the Temple, they began to collect the bodies of fallen clones and Jedi. Checking off their dead against barracks rosters, and the fallen Jedi against Archive records, they began to burn the bodies on the steps of the public entrance of the Temple.

Squads of troops were charged with walking the halls of the ruined cloisters in search of any survivors. Clones were stationed at every hangar in the Precinct and the Ziggurat, in hopes of catching returning Jedi or those hoping to flee aboard inbound delivery or service craft that had not been notified of the Temple's destruction. The lightsabers of fallen Jedi were collected and placed in the sub-basements of the Temple, a trap set to lure in surviving Jedi.

The Jedi mission
"Have we had any contact from the Temple?" "Received a coded retreat message, we have." "It requests all Jedi to return to the Temple. It says the war is over." "Well, then we must go back. If there are any stragglers, they will fall into the trap and be killed."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Bail Organa

Bail Organa intercepted a transmission while housing two survivors of Order 66. The message told all Jedi that the war was over, and they were allowed to return to the Jedi Temple. Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the survivors, knew it was a trap, and lft for Temple to modify and reactivate the trasmission to inform the Jedi to stay away.



Upon arrival, they ambushed a squad of clone troopers of the 501st Legion on sentry duty.Fortunantly an emergency session of congress was held, reducing security. More clones ambushed Kenobi, and a squad of elite clone assassins attacked Yoda. They both managed to defeat their attackers. A clone heavy trooper crept up behind Kenobi, ready to kill him, but Yoda appeared out of nowhere and lifted him off the ground with the Force. In a panic, the trooper fired his rockets up at the roof, which came crashing down. The two Jedi moved the debris using the Force, and headed to the beacon room. There, Kenobi was forced to eliminate the clone assassins that guarded it. Yoda also noticed that the younglings were killed by lightsabers, not blasters.

"I've recalibrated the code warning all surviving Jedi to stay away." "For the clones, to discover the recalibration, a long time, it will take. And to change it back, longer, still."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda

After reprogramming the beacon to order all Jedi to flee, Obi-Wan decided he needed to see who was behind the attack. He felt he needed to know who had slain the younglings. He could only watch in horror as he viewed a hologram of Anakin, slaughtering his fellow Jedi without mercy or hesitation. Overwhelmed with emotion, Obi-Wan could not watch anymore and pleaded with Yoda to let him kill the Emperor. He could not bring himself to kill Anakin, who was like a brother to him. Yoda told Obi-Wan that he was not experienced enough to face Palpatine. He also explained that Anakin was gone and Darth Vader had risen in his place. Knowing this to be true, Obi-Wan knew what he had to do - kill Darth Vader.

Yoda headed to the Senate to face Palpatine, while Obi-Wan went to Mustafar to face Darth Vader in an attempt to bring the Sith threat to an end.

Legacy
The Temple remained standing as a burnt out husk, a stark reminder of the fall of the Order. Palpatine allowed the most elite Coruscanti to tour the abandoned halls of the once sacred place for a hefty fee.

Several decades later, in 40 ABY, the Sith Jacen Solo flow-walked back to the time of the Raid on the Jedi Temple to understand his grandfather's (Anakin Skywalker) motives for his actions, in order to ensure that his own reasons for joining the Sith were not selfish. It is possible he was seen by a clone trooper. Jacen was horrified by Vader's actions after seeing his massacre of the younglings, and determined that he had a much better reason for turning to the dark side.

Known Jedi casualties


As the Temple became secured, the clones began to count the dead. Piling Jedi bodies and checking them off from the Archives rosters, the clones burned the majority of the bodies on the steps of the public entrance. Among the dead were Senior General Cin Drallig, killed by Lord Vader himself, along with Drallig's apprentices Commander Bene , Commander Whie Malreaux and General Serra Keto. Vader also personally executed Jedi librarian Jocasta Nu, Senior General Gatemaster Jurokk , and Younglings Sors Bandeam, Shia Letap, Jeswi Ele and rest of the clan. Commander Zett Jukassa and General Olana Chion were both killed by clone troopers. Jedi Master Ali-Alann was also killed.

On top of these notable casualties, the entire security force of Jedi Brutes and Jedi snipers were killed, as well as most (if not all) of the Temple Security Force and Temple Caretakers.

Appearances

 * Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novel
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith video game
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith junior novel
 * Republic Commando: Order 66
 * Republic Commando: Order 66
 * Tag & Bink: Revenge of the Clone Menace
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars Dark Times 7: Parallels, Part 2
 * Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
 * The Last of the Jedi: The Desperate Mission
 * The Last of the Jedi: Death on Naboo
 * Star Wars Rebellion: The Ahakista Gambit
 * The Courtship of Princess Leia
 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
 * Bloodlines
 * Inferno

Notes and references
es:Operación: Caída del Caballero