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, the Battle of Saleucami occurred between the two factions on and in orbit of the Outer Rim world 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 remainder of 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, as well as 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 engaged Grievous's forces with a fleet of Star Destroyers and nimble Consular-class frigates under the command of Admiral Wullf Yularen. Early in the battle, Kenobi's light cruiser was caught in a tractor beam from Grievous's Recusant-class light destroyer and was 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 occurrence, 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 evaded and fled from 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 previously 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 21 BBY during the Clone Wars, General Grievous, the Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, decided to target members of the High Council of the Jedi Order for capture. Grievous, who had a deep-seated 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, and Plo Koon and Master Luminara Unduli. The Council was joined by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and several other Jedi present in the Temple, 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 had been 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. This was exactly the outcome Grievous had desired, as he had hoped to use Koth as bait to lure in Skywalker and Kenobi, his two most hated Jedi foes.

Plan of attack
"General. I knew one day I'd catch up to you.''" "Kenobi, what a surprise. 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 Arquitens-class light cruiser. Their plan was for the fleet, under the command of Admiral Wullf Yularen aboard the Star Destroyer Resolute, to engage Grievous's forces over Saleucami while the General Kenobi and Clone Commander CC-2224, nicknamed "Cody," would intentionally allow for their Republic light cruiser to be boarded by Grievous and his battle droid forces. With the Confederate General distracted, Skywalker, Gallia, and Clone Captain CC-7567, nicknamed "Rex," would execute a hyperspace jump into the system in their Eta-class shuttle and infiltrate Grievous's 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 Separatist destroyer. Alongside his T-series tactical droid, TV-94, the General prepared to invade the planet, but before he could begin landing his troops on the surface, the Republic fleet arrived in the Saleucami system and advanced toward the Confederate warships. Grievous boasted to Master Koth, who was imprisoned in a containment field on the destroyer's bridge, that he had expected such an occurrence and was prepared for the Republic's imminent attempt to rescue the Jedi Master. Grievous then opened an open communication feed 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 undetected.''" "''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, harassing Grievous's capital ships as the larger Venator-class Star Destroyers fired on the Separatist forces from a distance. While Kenobi's 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 to jump to hyperspace with the intent of emerging a short distance from Grievous's warship. As the battle continued, Grievous, who held a personal grudge against Kenobi after repeated encounters with him, insisted upon boarding the Jedi Master's cruiser and killing him personally. When the Republic light cruiser was targeted with a tractor beam and was reeled toward Grievous's ship, Kenobi barred Cody from firing on the beam's source, as the Confederate 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 formidable 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 destroyer, 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 destroyer through a hole that Skywalker carved with his lightsaber 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, whom 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 destroyer 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 toward the cruiser's bridge, which had been cleared of personnel. There, he was surrounded by the MagnaGuards and Grievous, but managed to engage and destroy one of the droids. Before pressing his attack, Grievous informed Kenobi that he had anticipated the Republic's attack plan and was prepared for Skywalker's attempt to rescue Koth. Kenobi was then set upon by the other MagnaGuard, but continued his conversation with Grievous in spite of the distraction. 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 Confederate General's destroyer. Upon reaching the bridge, they were greeted by the imprisoned Master Koth, TV-94, 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 his wrist panel; however, before the droid could kill the Jedi Master, Skywalker used the Force to pull TV-94 to him and sever his arm. The droid commandos attacked the Jedi in response while the tactical droid tried to retrieve his severed arm. Although thwarted several times in the ensuing melee between the Jedi and the commandos, TV-94 eventually collected his arm and attempted to electrocute Master Koth to death, but was unable to do so due to the fact that the droid could not activate the electrocution control while using his intact arm to hold his 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. Prepare 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 demanded that Grievous surrender, but the cyborg 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 appraise 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 detach 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 opened fire on 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 made a break for the docking tube, but was followed into the tube by Kenobi, Cody, and several clones. The Separatist destroyer had meanwhile begun firing on the cruiser's engines, causing the vessel 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 via a grappling cable. Kenobi reluctantly agreed to put off his pursuit of Grievous in favor of escaping the destroyer, and contacted Skywalker to arrange an extraction from the ship. He, Gallia, and Cody met Skywalker in one of the destroyer's hangars and fled the vessel on the Eta-class 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 toward 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.

To eliminate the remaining Confederate naval forces, General Skywalker ordered the deployment of all starfighters in a concentrated effort to destroy Grievous's Recusant-class destroyer. The Republic's BTL-B Y-wings and V-19 Torrent fighters were engaged by waves of Vulture droids, Hyena-class bombers and tri-fighters while making their way towards the Confederate forces, but managed to destroy their attackers and disable the turbolaser turrets on the destroyer and its escorting frigates. After the Republic pilots managed to completely destroy one of the frigates, three more Munificent-class frigates emerged from hyperspace to support the crumbling Separatist forces. These vessels were supported by several more waves of Vulture droids, but Skywalker's fighters were able to destroy the droid combatants. Once the droid starfighters were neutralized, the Confederate frigates were almost immediately met by four newly-arrived Republic Venator-class Star Destroyers, marking the end of the orbital engagement. Skywalker recalled his fighters as his reinforcements mopped up the remaining Separatist vessels.

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 whom 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 and assessed their situation. Their pod's transmitter had been destroyed in the landing, and only one other escape pod was still functioning. Unable to contact the Separatist fleet in orbit for extraction, Grievous and his droids set off for the other functioning escape 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. When one of the B1 battle droids accompanying him explained that their power was running low, Grievous bisected it with one of his lightsabers in frustration.

The Republic forces reached the destroyed landing craft and searched its remains, determining that the vessel's crash had occurred 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 had 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.

Rex's squad arrived at the farm homestead and was greeted by Suu Lawquane, the Twi'lek wife of the farm's owner. Although she initially rejected the men's request for assistance, she eventually agreed to let them use the benches in her eopie barn as a bed on which they could tend to their Captain. Kix mended Rex as best he could with the use of a bacta patch to cover his wound; however, the Captain had serious nerve damage, leaving his left arm temporarily paralyzed. Upon revival, Rex insisted on continuing the search for Grievous, but Kix refused to allow his Captain to leave his makeshift sickbed. After a short argument and an interruption from Suu and her daughter, Shaeeah, Rex consented to stay in the barn while the remainder of his squad resumed the search under Jesse's command.

After leaving the farm, Jesse, Kix, and Hardcase were contacted by General Kenobi, who had discovered a second pod that he believed to have carried Grievous to Saleucami's surface. Kenobi surmised that the cyborg General was headed toward another escape pod and ordered Jesse to rendezvous with him at Grievous's location. Grievous, meanwhile, was nearing his destination, but was gradually losing battle droids as their power ran out and they shut down. After night had fallen on Saleucami, Rex was confronted by Suu's husband, who had returned from delivering his harvest. The man was Cut Lawquane, whom Rex soon realized was a clone trooper deserter from the Grand Army. Despite initial tension between the two, Lawquane accepted Rex into his home for dinner and spent time with the trooper discussing his reasons for deserting the army and attempting to convince Rex that the practices of the GAR were counteractive to the process of free will. Rex disagreed, but found a grudging respect for Lawquane through his devotion to his children, Shaeeah and Jek.

The hunt ends
"Are you alright, sir?''" "''No. We're right back where we started."

- General Kenobi and Commander Cody, following Grievous's escape

While Shaeeah and Jekk were playing in Lawquane's field, the two children stumbled upon an escape pod that had fallen from Grievous's ship in the aftermath of the battle in orbit. Not knowing what it was, the two of them entered the pod and inadvertently activated it and the full platoon of BX-series droid commandos it was carrying. The frightened children ran back to the homestead claiming that they were being chased by monsters from the "big egg" in the field. Lawquane investigated and found that the commandos&mdash;numbering twenty in all&mdash;were converging on the house. The former trooper told Suu to escort Jekk and Shaeeah to the upper level of their home and hide with them there. Suu complied and took the children to hide from the droids while Rex and Lawquane armed themselves in preparation for the droids' arrival. Although the Captain wanted to stay beside Lawquane, the farmer insisted that he could handle himself on the first floor, and that he needed Rex to station himself upstairs as the last line of defense for his family.

Rex agreed and left Lawquane on the lower floor. The droids began to come through the doors and windows, but were easily repelled by the farmer. Nevertheless, they eventually made their way into the cellar and surprised Lawquane by coming up through a hatchway in the floor. As Lawquane was overpowered by a commando and pinned beneath support beams that had fallen from the home's ceiling during the melee, several of the droids made their way upstairs, where they encountered Rex. The clone destroyed the droids but was ambushed and tackled by an oncoming commando. Rex fell through an opening in the second story floor as the home's integrity was weakened by blaster fire from Lawquane's battle on the first floor. The Captain landed beside Lawquane and was nearly killed by an attacking commando, but was instead saved by the farmer, who shot the droid in the head. With all the droids destroyed, the family was able to breath a sigh of relief.

Elsewhere on the planet, General Grievous arrived at the location of the final escape pod. While the B1 battle droids at the pod transmitted a distress signal to the fleet in orbit, Grievous prepared for battle against Kenobi and his forces, who were rapidly approaching his location. As the Republic forces came within range, the droids under the cyborg's command opened fire on Kenobi's AT-TE walkers. The walker ridden by the Jedi General was immediately destroyed by a missile, while the other was able to use its mass-driver cannon to thwart the following missile fire. Jesse, Kix, and Hardcase arrived at the battlefield and engaged the droids aboard their BARC speeders while a Confederate Sheathipede-class shuttle from the fleet arrived to ferry Grievous away from the battle zone.

Kenobi was alerted to the arrival of the shuttle and ordered his remaining AT-TE to shoot it down. Although the walker had some success in preventing the shuttle from landing, its cannon soon overheated, rendering it useless. The shuttle's droid pilots used the opportunity to make their approach toward Grievous's location, prompting Kenobi to enter the fray. The Jedi charged toward the cyborg, cutting down several of his droid defenders before leaping into battle against Grievous himself. The two dueled for a short time, but Grievous was able to escape Kenobi by throwing his cape in the Jedi's face and scaling the side of the downed escape pod. As Kenobi attempted to give chase, Grievous ordered that the shuttle abort its landing procedures and simply hover over the battlefield. The cyborg reached the top of the escape pod and fired a grappling hook built into his arm into the hull of the waiting shuttle. The shuttle sped away with Grievous dangling beneath it, deflecting blaster bolts from clone troopers below. When Commander Cody arrived at Kenobi's side to check on the General's status, the Jedi asked that the clone contact fleet in orbit and order that it attempt an interception of the ship. General Kenobi understood, however, that Grievous had once again escaped his grasp.

Aftermath
"Captain Rex, are you going to turn in my husband?''" "''Sorry, Suu, it's my duty&hellip;but in my condition, I probably won't remember any of this."

- Suu and Captain Rex

The following morning, the Republic forces remaining on Saleucami's surface regrouped and began boarding an Acclamator-class assault ship for transport off the world. At the Lawquane farm, Captain Rex was preparing to leave and rejoin his men. As he loaded an eopie loaned to him by the family, Suu questioned whether or not he planned to report her husband to Republic authorities for his desertion. Rex admitted that it was still his duty to do so, but likely would not "remember" the encounter due to his injuries. Rex was thanked for his discretion before being contacted by General Kenobi. The Jedi lamented that Rex had missed the fight against Grievous, but the Clone Captain reassured Kenobi that he had a worthy engagement of his own. The Captain then left the farm to rejoin the larger war and leave the Lawquane family in peace.

Despite Grievous's defeat there, Saleucami once again fell to the predations of the Confederacy during the Outer Rim Sieges in the later stages of the war.

Behind the scenes
The first battle of Saleucami was featured in the ninth and tenth episodes of the second season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. The episodes, respectively titled "Grievous Intrigue" and "The Deserter," were the only episodes of the season to feature General Grievous, despite his role as a major recurring character in the series' first season. The episodes and the battle also served as a means to introduce two pre-existing characters to the series&mdash;Jedi Masters Adi Gallia and Eeth Koth. Koth, who had been previously confirmed as having been killed during the First Battle of Geonosis, was retconned into surviving specifically so that he could appear in "Grievous Intrigue."

Besides the characters, the battle also introduced three new starship models to the series. The Separatist destroyer featured in "Grievous Intrigue" was inspired by the design of the Confederate Recusant-class destroyer, which was first seen in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The other two ships&mdash;the Republic light cruiser and the Jedi ambassadorial shuttle&mdash;were completely new to both The Clone Wars series and to Star Wars canon.

This battle is in fact the second portrayal of a conflict on the world. The first battle to be shown on Saleucami was seen in The Siege of Saleucami, a story arc of the Star Wars: Republic comic series, and was briefly viewed in Revenge of the Sith. That conflict, known as both the "Battle of Saleucami," and the "Siege of Saleucami," takes place in the last stages of the war, well after the battle seen in The Clone Wars. Due to the chronological placement of the pre-existing conflict, this article first adopted the "first battle of Saleucami" as a conjectural title for The Clone Wars battle, but now uses simply the "battle of Saleucami," since the event's official naming in Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures.

Notes and references
Erste Schlacht von Saleucami Primera Batalla de Saleucami Saleucamin ensimmäinen taistelu