Battle of Kiros/Legends

"It's all this...destruction, master. The Togruta are my people. To watch their way of life, all they built over generations laid to waste in one day isn't easy."

- Ahsoka Tano

A battle took place around 22 BBY on the Togrutan colony planet of Kiros during the Clone Wars between the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Republic. When the Republic received word that Kiros&mdash;which had remained neutral throughout the course of the war&mdash;was being invaded by Confederate forces, it sent help to the Togrutas. However, before the Republic troops arrived, the Confederacy had already occupied Kiros' capital and secretly transferred the entire population of Kiros to the Zygerria system, where they were to be sold as slaves. The Republic forces&mdash;led by High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker&mdash;fought through the capital, only to discover that the whole planet's population had disappeared.

Moreover, the Separatist commander, Xerius Ugg, revealed that he had planted thermal bombs throughout the capital and demanded the Republic troops to surrender or he would detonate them. Hoping to buy some time for Skywalker to find the explosives, Kenobi engaged Ugg in a duel. After Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano had successfully disarmed the bombs, Ugg still refused to surrender, and Kenobi was forced to kill him. Looking for some information regarding the missing population of Kiros, the Jedi analyzed Ugg's transmitter records, which indicated that the commander had been talking to someone in the Zygerria system. With Kiros liberated, the Jedi set off to gain more intelligence from Zygerrian slavers.

Prelude
During the Clone Wars, the Togrutan colony world of Kiros preferred to stay neutral and avoid allying itself with either the Confederacy of Independent Systems or the Galactic Republic. The Togrutas hoped that this way they would preserve their peaceful way of life. The peace, however, was shattered when the Confederacy launched an invasion against Kiros. After the Togrutan leader, Governor Roshti had contacted Jedi Master Yoda and informed him about the Separatists' plans, Yoda promised to send help and asked Roshti not to trust the Confederate leader, Count Dooku, who was personally leading the invasion. The Confederate troops arrived first and Dooku assured Roshti that this was not an invasion, but rather a peaceful occupation for the protection of the people of Kiros. Dooku then told Roshti that the Separatists had learned that the Republic was planning to establish a stronghold on Kiros in order to attack nearby colonies, and proceeded to offer a sanctuary for Roshti's people for the rest of the conflict, to which Roshti had no other choice but to agree. However, instead of a sanctuary, the Togrutas were secretly transferred to the Zygerria system, where they were to be sold as slaves on an auction held by the Zygerrian queen, Miraj Scintel. Kiros itself was occupied by the Separatist Droid Army, and the four-handed Besalisk Commander Xerius Ugg was placed in charge of the droids.

The battle
Nineteen planet rotations later, the Republic forces finally arrived, led by High General Obi-Wan Kenobi, General Anakin Skywalker, Captain CC-7567&mdash;nicknamed "Rex"&mdash;and Skywalker's Padawan, Commander Ahsoka Tano. While Republic V-19 Torrent starfighters engaged Confederate Vulture droid starfighters above the planet, the Jedi and Rex led the ground assault on the capital. Riding BARC speeders, they managed to destroy many B1 battle droids and B2 super battle droids before they were confronted by several Armored Assault Tanks. Rex, however, was able to destroy them with a well-placed shot from a rocket launcher. The city's north quadrant was quickly secured, and the Jedi reached the Separatist headquarters as Commander CC-2224 and Ghost Company approached from the south with minimal resistance. Kenobi then took notice that throughout the whole battle, none of the Kiros inhabitants had been seen, and shared his thoughts with Skywalker and Tano.

As Kenobi started to contemplate the problem, he received word that the Separatist headquarters had been surrounded and that the holed-up enemy commander had requested to talk with "the Negotiator", a nickname Kenobi had earned for his diplomatic skills. Kenobi agreed and went to the Separatist headquarters alone, although he left his comlink activated so that Skywalker could hear the entire conversation. When Kenobi entered the main room of Ugg's headquarters, he saw the commander talking to someone via a holoprojector and assuring the man on the hologram that he would soon win the battle. When Kenobi asked Ugg as to how would he plan to do it, the Besalisk finally noticed the Jedi, switched off his holoprojector and revealed that he had planted thermal bombs throughout the city; Ugg was intent on activating them if the Republic refused to surrender.

Having heard Ugg's plans through Kenobi's comlink, Skywalker and Tano immediately assigned Skywalker's astromech droid, R2-D2, to locate the bombs with his scanners. Meanwhile, Kenobi tried to gain time by negotiating with Ugg. He told the Separatist commander that he could not surrender until he was sure that the Togrutas were in safety, and to this end, he offered Ugg to settle their dispute with a duel. Should Kenobi win, Ugg would take him to the Togrutas. However, if Ugg emerged as the winner, Kenobi would order his troops to surrender. Ugg agreed, but only on the condition to fight the traditional way without any weapons. While they fought, Skywalker and Tano proceeded to defuse the bombs with the help of Rex, who provided covering fire from the roofs. As Skywalker and Rex protected her from enemy fire, Tano used her lightsaber to sever the connection between each bomb and its detonator.

At one point during Kenobi's and Ugg's fight, a battle droid tried to warn his commander about Skywalker's and Tano's actions via the commander's holoprojector. Kenobi, however, crushed the projector with the Force before the droid could finish, thus buying more time for Skywalker. Soon, however, another droid came in and interrupted the fight, telling Ugg that the Jedi were disarming the bombs. Having heard that, Ugg rushed to trigger the bombs, hoping that at least one of them would explode. However, the only bomb that did explode was the one planted in Ugg's own ship. Kenobi offered Ugg one last chance to surrender, but the Separatist commander refused and attacked him. Kenobi then grabbed Ugg and threw him out of the window. Ugg fell from a great height of his headquarters and received heavy injuries upon hitting the ground, but remained alive for some time. Kenobi tried to ask him about the Togrutas once again, but the Besalisk refused to tell anything before dying.

Aftermath
With the Separatist commander dead and all droid forces destroyed, Kiros was liberated. However, the Republic still did not know what had happened to the population of Kiros, and the planetary bio-scan initiated by Admiral Wullf Yularen only revealed that the Togrutas were not on the planet. Kenobi then analyzed records copied from Ugg's transmitter and noticed that the late commander had frequently made contact with someone in the Zygerrian system, well known for its reputation as a system of slave traders. Using this clue, the Jedi decided to infiltrate the system, proceeding to the remains of the Shi'kar homeworld in order to gain more intelligence from the Zygerrian slavers who passed through that sector. Meanwhile, in order to worsen the reputation of the Jedi Order, the Separatists spread propaganda that the entire population of Kiros had been killed by the Republic during their assault.

Behind the scenes
The battle of Kiros was depicted in the comic Star Wars The Clone Wars 1: Slaves of the Republic - Chapter 1: The Mystery of Kiros, written by Henry Gilroy and illustrated by Scott Hepburn. It was mentioned several times in the subsequent issues of the Slaves of the Republic story arc of The Clone Wars comic series.

Appearances

 * Star Wars The Clone Wars 1: Slaves of the Republic - Chapter 1: The Mystery of Kiros
 * Star Wars The Clone Wars 2: Slaves of the Republic - Chapter 2: Slave Traders of Zygerria
 * Star Wars The Clone Wars 4: Slaves of the Republic - Chapter 4: Auction of a Million Souls
 * Star Wars The Clone Wars 6: Slaves of the Republic - Chapter 6: Escape from Kadavo

Notes and references
Schlacht von Kiros