Battle of Christophsis/Legends

The Battle of Christophsis took place in Crystal City on the planet Christophsis in the first year of the Clone Wars. Seeking to force another world to join its cause, the Confederacy of Independent Systems's Droid Army, led by General Whorm Loathsom, invaded and seized Christophsis. Responding to a plea for help from the world's inhabitants, the Galactic Republic and the Jedi High Council dispatched Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in command of a clone trooper contingent from the Grand Army of the Republic to liberate Christophsis. After penetrating the Separatists' space defenses and landing on Christophsis, the Republic forces attempted to ambush the Confederate battle droid army from two towers in one of Crystal City's plazas. Acting on information from one of its spies, Clone Sergeant Slick, the Separatists foiled the Republic's plan. The Jedi and clones managed to escape the failed attack and retreated back to their base.

Alerted to the possibility of a traitor amongst their men, Skywalker and Kenobi went to search for more information behind enemy lines while Clone Commander CC-2224 and Clone Captain CC-7567&mdash;nicknamed "Cody" and "Rex," respectively&mdash;stayed at the base to root out the turncoat. Upon arriving at the Confederacy base, Skywalker and Kenobi confronted Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress and discovered the presence of an invasion force in far greater strength than they had originally believed. Back at the Republic base, Slick was revealed to be the spy and sabotaged the Republic's weapons depot, destroying most of the Republic's supplies, before being apprehended by Rex and Cody. The main body of Confederate troops soon launched an assault on the Republic forces, but after several days, the Separatists were forced to retreat. Loathsom executed another attack, but after discovering that the Republic's heavy cannons were preventing his forces from advancing, he and his second wave of droids pulled back and set up a deflector shield to negate the Republic's artillery use.

Admiral Wullf Yularen and the Republic fleet were driven away from Christophsis by the Separatist blockade over the planet, but Skywalker's newly assigned Jedi Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, was able to land on the world. The Confederate battle droids mounted yet another assault, this time advancing behind their shield, which effectively countered the Republic's artillery. While Kenobi, Captain Rex, and troops from the Grand Army's 501st Legion defended the heavy cannons, Skywalker and Tano proceeded to sabotage the Confederacy's shield generator. After Kenobi pretended to surrender to Loathsom to gain time for his comrades to complete their mandate, Skywalker and Tano were able to eliminate the shield. Admiral Yularen, meanwhile, was able to break through the Separatist blockade and drive the enemy armada away from Christophsis. While the Republic's renewed artillery usage proved instrumental in securing a victory over the Separatists in Crystal City, Kenobi captured Loathsom and took him into custody. The Republic emerged victorious and landed further reinforcements to secure the victory.

Prelude
"You be listening to the voice of the Confederacy o' Independent Systems. Yer planet, it belongs to us now."

- Confederate General Whorm Loathsom, to the inhabitants of Christophsis

In 22 BBY during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Confederacy invaded the planet of Christophsis, seeking to force another world to join their cause. The planet's native Christophsians attempted to defend themselves, but they were unable to hold out against the Confederate forces, and were overwhelmed. Confederate General Whorm Loathsom, via a massive holotransmission, stated to the inhabitants of the planet that they were under Confederate rule, and that their planetary leadership had abandoned them.

The inhabitants appealed to the Jedi High Council for help, and the Council dispatched High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker to aid the planet. Skywalker and Kenobi were accompanied by a contingent of clone troopers from the Grand Army of the Republic. However, among the Republic troops was Clone Sergeant Slick who, unknown to his comrades, had developed a grudge against the Jedi, believing that in fighting in the Republic Army, he and his fellow clone brothers were acting as the Jedi's slaves. Infuriated with the corruption, Slick began to pass inside information to Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress, who had arrived on the planet, and he was given payment for his assistance.

Arrival and ambush
After the Jedi, piloting their Aethersprite-class starfighters, won a "rare Republic victory" over the Separatist forces in the space above Christophsis, the Republic forces established a base and sent a squad of several clone troopers&mdash;under the command of Sergeant Slick&mdash;to perform a reconnaissance of the planet in order to locate a strategical ambush point from which to attack the Separatist Droid Army. Slick and his men located a strategic site: the adjacent North and South towers in Crystal City, overlooking a major plaza. As they returned to the base, the clones came across a squad of B1 battle droids attempting to clear one of the main boulevards of Christophsians. When the droids discovered a crippled man and discussed killing him, the clones intervened and eliminated the droids. However, once the clones had returned to the base, Slick secretly sent the Republic's plan to Ventress, and with the information, she and Loathsom developed a plan to ambush the Republic forces and stay a step ahead of their enemies.

Kenobi, Clone Commander CC-2224, and Slick stationed their men in the South tower, while Skywalker and Clone Captain CC-7567 were based in the parallel North tower. Kenobi's men set up several repeating blaster cannons, ready to ambush the Confederate B1 battle droids and Armored Assault Tanks as they passed through the plaza below. Unexpectedly to the Republic, the droid force split into two. In the South tower, a turbolift door opened, and B1 battle droids flooded the room, making it apparent to Kenobi that their ambush point had been compromised. Watching from the North tower, Skywalker contacted clone pilot Hawk and ordered an evacuation of the South tower. Skywalker's men fired the grappling hooks of their blaster rifles to the adjacent South tower, sliding across the divide to assist Kenobi. The droid forces watching from the plaza opened fire, killing one of the clone troopers, but Skywalker and his men arrived to help Kenobi.

The Republic forces proceeded to the roof of the tower for the evacuation. The Jedi and clones were pursued to the roof by the Separatists droids, under command of T-series tactical droid TJ-55. Hawk's LAAT/i gunship arrived and hovered near the roof, and the Republic forces began to board. In a last act before retreating, trooper Gus attacked TJ-55 and ripped its head off, taking the severed head onto the gunship. CC-2224 and CC-7567&mdash;nicknamed "Cody" and "Rex," respectively&mdash;brought the droid's cranial unit back to the Republic base. However, during a robolobotomy, the tactical droid only confirmed that the Confederacy had been aware of the Republic's plan, and the droid stopped processing before it could reveal more. When the clones reported their findings to the Jedi, Skywalker suggested that the Republic had been left vulnerable to a breach in security systems. Kenobi, however, suspected that there was a spy among the Republic forces, and that action behind enemy lines was necessary to uncover information. Before the Jedi left, Kenobi ordered Cody and Rex to keep the mission confidential and remain behind to find and apprehend the traitor.

Cody was alarmed to find an activated comlink on a nearby table soon thereafter; someone had been listening to the entire conversation. Rex noticed Slick in the hallway, but the sergeant was too far away to be recognized. Once Rex called out, Slick immediately fled. Cody and Rex ran after him but lost his trail during their pursuit. Because of the arrangement of the base's halls through which the two clones had chased the eavesdropper, they deduced that he had definitely gone into the mess hall. Entering the mess hall, Cody and Rex discovered that the only people there were their clone brothers. Both returned to the base's communications center to continue investigations in the systems. Through astromech droid R2-D2, a number of external communications were discovered, taking place every few days in an irregular pattern. The wavelength was tracked to a terminal in Slick's barracks, and Cody and Rex decided to individually interrogate Slick's men.

Dual duels
Under the cover of night, Skywalker and Kenobi approached the Confederacy base on BARC speeders. The two Jedi noticed an increasing number of battle droids observing them; because the droids were not trying to stop them, Kenobi and Skywalker deduced that they were heading into a trap. Upon arrival at the base, Skywalker and Kenobi were greeted by the hooded figure of Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress, and they each ignited their lightsabers on sight of each other. Ventress climbed nimbly to the top of the base's stairs, and Skywalker was the first to attack, slashing at Ventress, who drove him down to the foot of the stairs. Kenobi joined the duel and attacked Ventress as well. Ventress fought both Skywalker and Kenobi simultaneously and used the Force to throw a piece of crystal rubble at them, which Kenobi sliced in half.

Skywalker and Kenobi drove Ventress back up the stairs and followed her into another room. Ventress summoned books off their shelves and hurtled them at her pursuers; Kenobi stopped them with the Force, and Skywalker's added assistance caused the books to fly back at Ventress. As Ventress assumed a submissive position, sitting cross-legged on the floor, the Jedi approached her to capture her. However, Ventress suddenly opened a large hole in the floor with her dual lightsabers, and Skywalker and Kenobi dropped down into the room below. Ventress mocked the two before fleeing, and the two Jedi jumped back up into the room above and followed Ventress as she broke a window and hurtled out of it. Ventress jumped off the side of the building, and as the Jedi got closer, they discovered the full scale of the Confederate invasion forces: numerous C-9979 landing craft were landing, bringing more and more battle droids, and many were already marching in formation on the ground far below.

From atop the head of a tri-droid clinging onto the side of the building, Ventress taunted the Jedi, stating that the Confederacy was preparing to assume control of the planet. Despite the appearance of the invasion forces, Skywalker and Kenobi continued the duel. Jumping onto the legs of the tri-droid, the Jedi severed two of the droid's legs, breaking its hold on the side of the building. Ventress jumped off the droid's head and engaged Skywalker in brief combat upon one of the droid's remaining legs. Skywalker Force-pushed Ventress away before he stole an STAP from a B1 battle droid and escaped alongside Kenobi. Ventress landed on the ground, just as the tri-droid crashed to the ground behind her, and she relayed orders through a tactical droid to Loathsom, ordering the general to march on the city. Ventress departed in her ship to execute the next part of her Sith Master's plan, which involved turning Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure against the Jedi Order.

Meanwhile, Cody and Rex proceeded to Slick's barracks, and Slick stated he wanted to talk to his men before they were interrogated, believing that the prospect of a traitor would undermine their morale. Despite the protest from Slick, Cody and Rex began to interrogate his squad. When trooper Chopper revealed that he had been making a necklace of droid fingers, an act forbidden by war protocols, Slick put Chopper's credibility in question, seeking to ensure that he himself was not framed. Slick told Chopper that a proper investigation would commence once the Jedi returned, but Chopper lashed out at his sergeant, claiming that he had seen Slick entering the command center rather than the barracks. Slick denied the claim, but his mention of the Jedi's absence revealed himself to be the traitor, as he would not have known the Jedi were gone unless he had been eavesdropping on the meeting through the open comlink that Cody had discovered.

When Cody questioned Slick, the traitor struck out at Cody and Chopper and bolted for the exit. Cody and Rex tracked Slick to the base's gunship landing pad, but instead of finding the traitor, they discovered a primed thermal detonator. The two clones took cover shortly before numerous explosives went off that completely destroyed the landing pad, the AT-TE walkers, and the weapon supply depot. Slick ran into the command center and hid in the vents above the room, and Cody and Rex gave pursuit. The two engaged in a ploy to bait Slick out of the vents. Cody left his blaster on the table, while Rex appeared to leave for the south exit. Slick stole Cody's blaster and held Cody at gunpoint, but Slick was unaware that Cody had removed the ammunition from his gun. Rex returned, and Slick was surrounded. Slick stole Rex's blaster, and Cody lost his own blaster while disarming the traitor. As Slick headed for the exit, Cody knocked him down, and the two engaged in close combat before Rex pulled the traitor off Cody. However, the clone traitor head-butted Rex, employing the "groin popper" maneuver to dislocate the captain's leg. As Slick revealed the intentions behind his treason, he was knocked out by Cody, and Slick was locked in handcuffs. Once the Jedi returned, they were accosted by Slick, but the traitorous clone was turned in and taken to lock-up.

Confederacy counterattack
Although the Republic forces were only able to salvage the AV-7 Antivehicle Cannons from the destroyed weapons depot, they regrouped and prepared for an attack. Kenobi and Skywalker defeated the first wave of battle droids under Loathsom's command, and after several days, the Confederacy was forced to retreat. However, once the Republic Venator-class Star Destroyer Hunter&mdash;under command of Admiral Wullf Yularen&mdash;had been dispatched for supplies and reinforcements, Loathsom launched another attack. B1 and B2 battle droids and several tri-droids advanced in the front lines, while Armored Assault Tanks followed close behind. While Kenobi led clone troopers in a charge against the battle droids in the main street, Skywalker, Captain Rex, and a clone platoon proceeded through a route parallel to the main street, making their way behind the droid lines. Rex, Clone Sergeant Coric, and the rest of the men accompanied Skywalker to an energy sphere tower.

Leaving the majority of the troops at the tower to ambush the street-level droids, Rex took a small group of clones to accompany Skywalker to the roof and surprised the Separatists' three advancing tri-droids from above. The clones used JT-12 jetpacks to safely descend to the ground below while the Jedi General landed on one of the droids himself. The group's combined efforts brought the three droids down, defeating them, and the clones proceeded to attack the still-advancing droid lines from behind. Loathsom once again pulled back, and it was during the following lull in fighting that a shuttle arrived from the galactic capital of Coruscant and landed in City Plaza. However, in place of the Republic's expected reinforcements was young Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano, who had been recently apprenticed by Jedi Grand Master Yoda to Skywalker, much to his surprise and alarm. At some point during the fighting, the Separatists captured 25 technicians and other civilians, whom they planned to ship offworld. The Republic soon learned of the Separatists' plans and, with the Jedi occupied elsewhere, hastily arranged a rescue mission to save as many prisoners as possible before their transport arrived. A detachment of four 327th Star Corps troopers and other clones under the command of a clone commander infiltrated the Separatist prisoner compound from the outskirts. The clones battled their way through B2 super battle droids, OOM security battle droids, rocket battle droids, and other droid troops led by a B2 super battle droid commander to rescue the three groups of prisoners.

Back in City Plaza, from the shuttle that had delivered Tano, the Jedi contacted Yoda through the Jedi cruiser Resolute and requested reinforcements. Skywalker and Kenobi discovered that the Jedi Council had been unaware that the Republic forces had engaged the Confederacy; the Council had also been unaware that all of the Republic supply ships dispatched to the planet had been shot down. However, the Resolute was being damaged under increasing fire from several Confederate Munificent-class frigates, and communications were soon cut, as the Resolute was forced to retreat to avoid further damage. Loathsom launched yet another attack, advancing his forces in two groups from the south and the east. Kenobi then led Alpha Squad to disrupt the advancement of the south force, while Bravo Squad was assigned to block the Separatists from the east. Kenobi and a rookie trooper charged the droids from two separate walkways and ultimately reached a tall Christophsian building. The trooper used a thermal detonator to topple the building, making it fall and block the way for the Separatist troops. Bravo Squad, however, did not succeed in its mission, and the east Confederate force advanced behind an expanding deflector shield, negating the Republic's use of long-ranged artillery.

The Confederate droids and Armored Assault Tanks were followed by NR-N99 Persuader-class droid enforcer. Kenobi and Rex marshaled a defense of the base, while Skywalker and Tano devised a plan to infiltrate the Confederacy-held ground and destroy the shield generator with multiple explosive charges. Skywalker and Tano hid under a large box, and once the shield and the advance droid forces passed by, the pair made their way to the generator. However, Skywalker and Tano ran into a droideka, and after defeating it, they arrived at the generator. Kenobi and Rex, meanwhile, attempted to use the base's heavy cannons in defense but only verified that the weaponry was indeed useless against the droids' deflector shield. Using an unencrypted comlink channel to make the Republic's retreat appear more convincing, Rex ordered the clone forces to fall back before switching back to a secure channel. General Loathsom ordered his forces to target the heavy cannons, and Rex learned of the Separatists' new targets by eavesdropping on their voice traffic.

As soon as the deflector shield had passed over them, Kenobi led a charge on the battle droids, and Rex and his men lured the Separatists into the buildings. With his forces overwhelmed by the Separatists, Rex was forced to order his men to retreat. At the command center, Rex met with Kenobi, who ordered the clone captain to marshal his troops in a defense of the heavy cannons while he himself himself delayed the droids. Rex reluctantly agreed and retreated as Kenobi battled the droids alone. However, the Jedi Master was soon surrounded by a squad of B2 super battle droids and DSD1 dwarf spider droids. Despite Skywalker's warning, Tano accidentally alerted pre-planted retail droids to their presence. Tano placed the charges around the generator, and Skywalker engaged the droids but soon became overwhelmed. Tano noticed a wall behind Skywalker with a hole in the middle and brought it down with the Force, destroying the droids around her master without hurting him. Despite the fact that Tano had saved his life, Skywalker was infuriated with her recklessness, believing he could have been killed.

In order to gain time for Skywalker and Tano to eliminate the shield, Kenobi pretended to surrender to Loathsom. Kenobi was brought to a crystal table, and over a cup of tea, Kenobi patiently discussed the "terms of his surrender" with Loathsom, to the general's increasing impatience. Rex discovered that Kenobi had been captured, but he and his men continued to protect the cannons from their cover behind some fallen rubble. Kenobi stated to Loathsom that if his troops were taken prisoner, they would require the proper food and supplies. Loathsom suspected he was stalling, and the general ordered two super battle droids to seize Kenobi. Loathsom demanded that Kenobi immediately call off his troops; if he refused, he would be eradicated. At that moment, Skywalker and Tano destroyed the shield generator. Kenobi, seeing the shield vanish, grabbed Loathsom around the neck. As the battle droids took aim, Loathsom ordered his troops not to attack, and the general surrendered to Kenobi. The clone artillery proceeded to annihilate the droid forces, and Loathsom was taken into Republic custody. In the meantime, Admiral Yularen and Master Yoda returned to Christophsis with the Spirit of the Republic and several other Venator-class Star Destroyers, as well as several Acclamator I-class assault ships as reinforcements, and was able to break through the Confederate blockade, forcing the enemy armada to retreat.

Aftermath
After the Republic Star Destroyers had landed, several clone trooper units were dispatched for further reinforcements on Christophsis. An LAAT/i gunship was sent to retrieve Skywalker and Tano to bring them back to City Plaza, and the two met with Masters Yoda and Kenobi. Yoda informed Kenobi and Skywalker that crime lord Jabba the Hutt's son, Rotta, had been kidnapped by a group of renegades. Skywalker and Tano's mission would be to rescue the Huttlet, while Kenobi would enter negotiations with Jabba on his home planet of Tatooine. If Skywalker and Tano were successful, the Republic and the Jedi would gain Jabba's favor, and the crime lord would allow the Republic's clone army access to hyperspace lanes through Hutt-controlled space. Based on intelligence reports, Skywalker and Tano ventured to the planet Teth to rescue Rotta.

The costly Republic victory on Christophsis reduced several key cities to rubble and left many in the galaxy secretly cheering the damage that had been done to one of the richest and most arrogant worlds in the Outer Rim. A holorecording was taken of the Battle of Christophsis. After being edited on the planet Alderaan to focus on the Jedi's victory, it was broadcast by HoloNet News to the Republic to further promote the valiant efforts of the Jedi.

Behind the scenes
The Battle of Christophsis appeared in the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars film, as well as its novelization. As the film led into the 2008 television series of the same name, the battle was the first to be featured in the series. The battle featured both the introduction of the planet Christophsis and Skywalker's new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, and also allowed Skywalker to assuage his hard-set beliefs against training an apprentice. The preliminary stages of the battle and the duel between Skywalker, Kenobi and Ventress appeared in the series' first season episode "The Hidden Enemy," which served as a prequel to the film. Sergeant Slick's and his men's reconnaissance of the planet appeared in the web comic Shadowed, which led into "The Hidden Enemy." In addition, the battle appeared in The Clone Wars young reader books The New Padawan and Meet Ahsoka Tano. It was later featured in the Nintendo DS version of the 2009 Republic Heroes video game, as well as in the 25 to Rescue scenario for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game written by Sterling Hershey and published on Wizards.com. A canonical result of the scenario was not specified.

The battle was originally to appear in a "flashback" episode in the first season of the television series, entitled "The New Padawan." However, after producer George Lucas decided to merge several episodes together for a theatrical release of The Clone Wars, the episode appeared in the film with several other episodes from the first season.

There were a few discrepancies between the novelization of The Clone Wars film and the movie itself. A notable example was that the novel stated that after the battle, Yoda gave Skywalker, Tano, and Kenobi their assignments to aid in the rescue of Rotta the Huttlet while aboard a Jedi cruiser. The film features this scene on the surface of Christophsis. This article follows the latter's interpretation of events. However, there is another discrepancy between the film novelization and The Clone Wars: Wild Space&mdash;the Resolute was stated to be present for the Battle of Christophsis in the film's novelization, whereas Wild Space stated that it began its service in the Republic Navy after Christophsis. Until a cohesive timeline is established by Lucasfilm Ltd., this article assumes that the Resolute was present.

One of the two missions depicting the Battle of Christophsis in the Nintendo DS version of Republic Heroes greatly contradicts The Clone Wars film and television series. The mission features Senator Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker arriving at Crystal City to investigate droid activity in the sector recently lost by the Republic. Skywalker and Amidala travel through the city until they face a force field blocking their way. Master Yoda then assists them by deactivating the field, and the two continue their way, eventually confronting Count Dooku inside a Christophsian building. After a duel with Skywalker&mdash;whom Amidala assists with her blaster&mdash;Dooku retreats.

During the duel with Dooku, however, Skywalker informs the unaware Count that the Confederate General Grievous plans to obtain a superweapon from beneath an ocean of lava on the planet Mustafar. Skywalker finds out about Grievous's plans only during the Mission to Skytop Station, which takes place after the Battle of Christophsis has been already won by the Republic. Because of such a confusing storyline that would take too much speculation to implement into the pre-existing story, this article assumes that the video game's mission is non-canon.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
 * The Clone Wars: Shadowed
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars novelization
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars junior novelization
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The New Padawan
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Operation: Huttlet
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars film
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Meet Ahsoka Tano
 * The Clone Wars: Wild Space
 * The Clone Wars: Cold Snap
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth