Operation: Knightfall

"Do what must be done, Lord Vader. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy." -Darth Sidious

    Operation Knightfall was one of the first actions of the great Jedi purge. It occurred in 19 BBY. In just minutes, the majority of the Jedi Order was gone.

Prelude

     Before the battle, Anakin Skywalker betrayed Mace Windu and turned to the dark side of the force, under the guidance of Darth Sidious. He was of course deemed darth Vader by Palpatine.

Shortly after, Vader was assigned a detachment of 501st clone troopers, who had been transferred to coruscant by Several Venator-Class Star destroyers, which stayed over the city throughout the operation. Their task: March into the Jedi Temple and kill all of the Jedi.

The Attack

       When they reached the Gates of the temple, Vader questioned Jedi Gate Master Jurokk about the whereabouts of Shaak Ti, the Commander of the temple. Vader killed the Gate master after learning that she was inside, meditating. He and the clones then marched into the Jedi Temple. Vader told the Jedi that their plot to overthrow the chancellor had failed, to their confusion. Vader then killed them, and advanced through the corridors of the temple, eliminating any Jedi he encountered. He also destroyed the Marksman-H combat remotes that were guarding the temple.

       The clones then pushed forward to capture to communication center. They first contacted Vader, who was engaging two Jedi. They formed a force barrier around each other, which prevented Vader from killing them. However, he was able to hold them off long enough that the clones could arrive and execute them.

         Vader then told his troops to destroy their ships, to ensure no Jedi escaped. He took a group of clones to the Library and told Jocasta Nu to grant him access to the communications center. Instead, Nu ignited her lightsaber, telling Vader that only a Jedi could access it. Vader quickly used the force to kill her with her own lightsaber.

           Next, the clones defended the Jedi holobooks until a complete download of their contents could be completed, and they were successful. The clones also stole a holocron from the temple, and transported it away from the battle via LAAT Gunship.

            After several counter attacks by the remaining Jedi, Vader eventually made his way to the communication center and altered a beacon, telling all Jedi that the war was over, and to return to the Temple. He told nearby clone assassins to guard the beacon with their lives, as he needed to deal with Cin Drallig, who was giving the clones trouble. Before tracking him down, he encountered Serra keto, Drallig's former apprentice. After a duel, Vader ended it by toppling a pillar on top of the Jedi, killing her.

             Eventually he found Drallig. After a lengthy duel Vader came out victorious. The clones also killed most of the padawans that Cin Drallig was protecting. Next, Vader discovered a formidable opponent: Shaak Ti.

Vader and Shaak Ti engaged in a duel, with Ti even managing to defeat Vader, from a certain point of view. She disoriented him and managed to escape, leading a group of Jedi out of the Temple.

             When Vader recovered, Ti was gone, along with her Jedi Knights and Padawans. However, the remaining Jedi had made a last offensive attack, led by three masters. They charged at the 501st, and despite their motivation, were eventually defeated.

            With the battle near an end, Vader searched the Jedi High Council for survivors. He found an entire clan of younglings. The lead youngling, Sors Bandeam, asked Vader what they were going to do, as he had not realized Anakin had turned to the dark side of the force. We all know what happened next.

Senator Bail Organa arrived at the scene to investigate the fire. After being turned away by clones guarding the hanger, he witnessed the murder of Zett Jukkasa, and fled the scene. The clones began to fire on Organa, but were ordered to stand down by Clone Sergeant Fox, as there had been enough killing that night.

With the battle all but over, Darth Sidious arrived at the temple to investigate. He congratulated Vader on his progress, and ordered him to Mustafar, and his pending duel with Obi Wan Kenobi. However, that is a story for another time.

Aftermath

As the Jedi Temple burned to the ground, the citizens of Coruscant watched in shock, the senate initiated martial law, and closed skylanes surrounding the temple. The Temple was virtually isolated, with emergency response teams forbidden from extinguishing the fires, and ships could not approach the temple. Once the Empire was formed, they gradually willed the public to almost be afraid of Jedi, using propaganda and other ways to ensure that Citizens would report any Jedi they found.

Other Information

Contrary to Palpatine's belief, Vader had realized that Palpatine was manipulating him all along. A small part of him regretted what he had done. His plan was to kill all the Jedi, as Palpatine instructed. However, once the empire was formed Vader planned to overthrow his master, and finally instill peace in the Galaxy. However, once he began slaying the Jedi, his intentions were no longer clear. He was consumed by the darkness and for the first time, recognized the power the Dark Side held. He knew how powerful Palpatine was, and decided that he would stay at his masters side, for the time being.

Jakasta Nu sensed something sinister that day, and sent her Padawan, Sho Koon, into the depths of the Jedi Temple. When the attacks began Koon sensed her masters death, and that Skywalker was responsible. Eventually, she escaped through the temples underground systems. Kazdan Peratus also escaped, along with Jax Paven.

As always, Thank you for reading!!!

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