Battle of Utapau

"Now, let's get a move on. We've got a battle to win here."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi to CC-2224 "Cody"

The Battle of Utapau acted as one of the last decisive large-scale battles of the Confederacy of Independent Systems against the Galactic Republic in the Clone Wars and was fought between the Separatist Droid Army and Grand Army of the Republic. After intelligence reports suggested General Grievous had fled to Utapau following the Battle of Coruscant, Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and the 212th Attack Battalion were dispatched to deal with Grievous. After landing on Utapau alone ahead of the main clone force, Kenobi was directed by Tion Medon to the tenth level, where the general and other Separatist leaders were hiding. Kenobi, after waiting for the Separatist Councilors to leave, had the Republic forces move in and engaged Grievous in a fierce and lengthy duel, eventually shooting him to death. Not long after the general's death, Order 66 was issued to the clone troopers and Kenobi was forced to escape Utapau aboard Grievous' own starfighter.

Prelude
"There's no war here, unless you brought it with you."

- Tion Medon

After three years of fighting, the Galactic Republic began to gain an advantage over the Confederacy of Independent Systems, many of whose high ranking leaders were dead, with the most recent being founding Head of State Count Dooku. Republic Clone Intelligence soon managed to discover the location of General Grievous, who succeeded Dooku as Head of State and informed the Jedi Council, who asked Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi to lead the battle. After saying farewell to Anakin Skywalker, he organized a fleet of Venator-class Star Destroyers carrying an army of clone trooper, led by clone Commander Cody.

Kenobi arrived on Utapau in his Eta-2 Actis-class interceptor under pretense of refueling his ship. He was greeted by Tion Medon, the Port Administrator of Pau City, observed from a distance by one of Grievous' MagnaGuards. Medon revealed that the city was being used as a hiding place by Grievous and his army of Battle droids. Kenobi sent the droid R4-G9 fly back to the forces and inform the clones of the situation, but he stayed in Pau City to engage Grievous. Kenobi commandeered a varactyl beast named Boga as a mount, and rode in secret to infiltrate the hangar of the Lucrehulk core ship where he went to a platform overlooking the hangar where he witnessed a meeting of the Separatist Council. Grievous informed them that he expected an attack by the Republic was expected and was therefore moving them to the planet Mustafar where he claimed they be safe. Though Nute Gunray and the other Council members, without the assurances of victory from Dooku, began to doubt the abilities of their new leader to keep them safe for much longer and to lead but they never the less followed his orders, leaving just moments before Kenobi's arrival.

Engaging Grievous
"Back away! I will deal with this Jedi slime myself!"

- Grievous

After the Separatist Council departed Utapau, Kenobi revealed himself. Dropping from the catwalk above the hangar, who was immediately surrounded by battle droids and confronted by four of Grievous' IG-100 MagnaGuards. Kenobi defeated them quickly, using the force to dislodge a cargo module hanging from the ceiling and crush three of them, and casually decapitating the lone survivor. Grievous's droids were preparing to open fire on Kenobi, but he called them off. Deciding to challenge Kenobi himself, the cyborg split his arms along their lengths into four separate appendages. Drawing four lightsabers, he then spun them rapidly in a buzzsaw motion and advanced on Kenobi. However, Kenobi slowly retreating before the General before thrusting his lightsaber into the swirling energy blades, engaging Grievous in a spectacular, though brief, display of swordsmanship. However, he remained unable to penetrate Kenobi's defense, so he ramped up his attacks even further. Kenobi, his defense finally beginning to get overloaded, altered the angle of one of his parries. Kenobi's blade, instead of intercepting Grievous's blade, sliced the cyborg's left lower wrist. Staring in surprise at his smoking stump, Grievous lunged in another attack. After another brief bout of fencing, another of Grievous' lightsabers, still clutched in his metal hand, bounced on the deck.

Republic arrival
"Army or not, you must realize you are doomed!"

- Grievous

At that moment, Republic forces led by Commander Cody arrived, Grievous prepared to resume the duel, advancing on his opponent. However, Kenobi Force Pushed the general, sending him flying up and crashing against the ceiling. Dropping his two remaining lightsabers as he plummeted to the hangar floor, an unarmed Grievous chose to flee. Grievous crawled insectlike to his wheel bike and mounted it, speeding out of the hangar and dropping to the lower levels of the city, crushing everything in his path as he raced towards the docking platform where his private ship waited. Kenobi pursued on his varactyl, Boga, but lost his lightsaber after the jarring impact on the way down, the lightsaber eventually landing at the feet of Commander Cody who later informed the Jedi Council members about Kenobi's current pursuit and battle with Grievous, to which Mace Windu then had Anakin deliver the news to Chancellor Palpatine, although he and the other council members secretly voice their suspicions regarding Palpatine's intentions, with Plo Koon also mentioning the possibility that they'll have to remove Palpatine from office should he refuse to give up his emergency powers.

Kenobi pursued Grievous in a furious chase through the streets of Pau City as the battle raged around them. As Kenobi caught up to the General, Grievous thrust at Boga with an electrostaff he stashed in the wheelbike. Kenobi managed to grab hold of the shaft of the weapon and wrench it from the cyborg's hands. Kenobi then attempted to destroy the wheels on Grievous's vehicle with it before attacking the General himself with it. Grievous managed to regain hold of it, and pulled it back, and Kenobi along with it. As the two grappled for control of the wheel bike, Grievous pulled out a blaster and attempted to shoot Kenobi, though the Jedi evaded the shots. Unfortunately, Kenobi's movements off-balanced the wheelbike, causing it to flip as they arrived at Grievous' landing platform. While they were thrown off, the bike skidded off the platform and fell into the sink hole below.

The end of Grievous
The two opponents recovered quickly, Kenobi brandishing the electrostaff against the blaster-wielding Grievous. Disarming the General, Kenobi began unleashing a series of jabs against the cyborg's torso, knocking Grievous over. Grievous retaliated with a kick that threw Kenobi across the platform. As Kenobi regained his feet, Grievous closed the distance, engaging Kenobi in a melee. While Grievous' mechanical exoskeleton provided him with a clear advantage, Kenobi managed to pry apart the plates protecting Grievous's internal organs before being thrown to the ground. Kenobi counter-attacked by kicking Grievous's leg, but only injured himself against the hard durasteel.

Grievous grabbed Kenobi by the collar and threw him across the platform, with Kenobi barely managing to grab onto the edge. Grievous retrieved the electrostaff and advanced on Kenobi to deliver the killing blow. Desperately hanging from the edge, Kenobi used the Force to summon Grievous' blaster to his hand. Blasting through the gaps in the general's armorplast chestplates at the exposed organs, he ignited the tissue. Grievous's internal organs combusted violently, painfully killing the Separatist general. Grievous's death was later reported to the Jedi Council, with Mace Windu preparing to go to Palpatine's office to inform him of this development in the hopes that he lay down his emergency powers, until Anakin revealed Palpatine's stance as a Sith Lord.

Continued fighting and Order 66
"Commander Cody, the time has come. Execute Order 66.''" "''Yes, my Lord."

- Darth Sidious to CC-2224 ("Cody")

After the death of Grievous, the droid army continued to engage the clone troopers as General Kenobi was rejoining the battle, having his lightsaber returned to him by Commander Cody before charging up a cliff ledge. It was then that Cody received a message from Darth Sidious, instructing him to execute Order 66. Cody ordered an AT-TE walker to fire its main cannon at Obi-Wan, who was ascending the cliff heading up to the Separatist headquarters, who fell into the sinkhole below. Cody dispatched probe droids to the sinkhole floor find the Jedi's body and ascertain whether he was dead or alive. Kenobi then used stealth to make his way up to Pau City and to Grievous's starfighter and fled Utapau.

Behind the scenes
The Battle of Utapau first appeared in the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith