The Battle of Hypori, also known as the Hypori campaign, was a battle of the Clone Wars that took place on the planet Hypori in 22 BBY. Notable as the first public appearance of General Grievous, Supreme Commander of the Separatist Droid Army, the battle was initially intended as a Republic raid on the Separatist foundries on Hypori, based on intelligence gathered by Jedi Master Daakman Barrek, who led the attack. However, the Separatist forces were waiting for the Republic assault, and it quickly turned into slaughter, with the Republic forces shot down.

As Grievous' ground forces advanced on the wreckage where the Jedi survivors were holed up, Grievous personally defeated Daakman Barrek as he called for help before calling off his forces. Grievous entered the wreckage himself and engaged the Jedi, killing Sha'a Gi and Tarr Seirr and besting Aayla Secura, K'Kruhk and Shaak Ti. As the General prepared to finish the last Jedi standing, Ki-Adi-Mundi, a squad of Advanced Recon Commandos sent by Obi-Wan Kenobi on Muunilinst burst in on the duel. Their superior firepower forced the lone cyborg to retreat, and all the Jedi survivors were extracted, save K'Kruhk, who was thought dead. Grievous was ultimately unconcerned by their escape, feeling that it was little more than prolonging the inevitable.

The battle[]

The Battle of Hypori was the result of intelligence gathered by Jedi Master Daakman Barrek and his Padawan, Sha'a Gi, which indicated the presence of a large droid factory on Hypori. A Jedi task force, consisting of Barrek and his Padawan, along with Ki-Adi-Mundi, Aayla Secura, Shaak Ti, K'Kruhk, and Tarr Seirr, was dispatched to the planet to destroy the factory, reinforced by an army of clone troopers. They were to be led by Barrek, due to his superior knowledge of industrial matters.^[6]

As the Republic ships emerged from hyperspace, orbital mines caused the majority of the transports to crash behind the Separatists' lines. The task force was quickly surrounded by the massive droid army that was stationed on the planet, and all the clone troopers present were quickly slaughtered. The seven remaining Jedi retreated to an area of the planet where a large number of the Acclamator-class assault ships had crash landed. As they were retreating, Master Barrek attempted to send out a distress call to any nearby Jedi. As Barrek was doing this, he was suddenly attacked by the Supreme Commander of the Separatist Droid Army, General Grievous. Barrek was able to make contact with General Obi-Wan Kenobi and Commander Anakin Skywalker on Muunilinst and requested an "immediate evac" from Hypori, telling Kenobi that they were being hunted before being slain by Grievous.^[6][2]

Jedi versus Grievous[]

The six remaining Jedi were left surrounded by the hordes of B2 super battle droids produced by the factory. Announced to by Grievous that they would receive a "warrior's death," the Jedi waited as Grievous approached. As Grievous drew near, his footsteps became consistently louder until Sha'a Gi was overwhelmed with fear and charged into the open. Grievous quickly crushed him with his metallic body before leaping back out of sight.^[2]

As the Jedi retreated into the wreckage, Grievous suddenly attacked, dropping from the wreckage above and brandishing two lightsabers. After a few moments of fencing, Grievous began to focus his efforts on Mundi. The Jedi Master promptly leaped onto a ledge above and launched a powerful Force push at Grievous. The cyborg quickly dodged, leaping onto one of the larger pieces of wreckage and using it as a springboard to launch himself back at the Jedi.^[2]

Landing in a crouch, Grievous was promptly engaged by K'Kruhk. Despite the Whiphid's tenacity, Grievous defeated him with a quick slash across the belly and a rapid overhand blow. Leaving K'Kruhk for dead, Grievous turned to the other Jedi. Defending himself against a telekinetic assault by Shaak Ti, Grievous grabbed Tarr Seirr with his clawed foot and crushed the young Cerean's head against the ground. As Aayla Secura charged, Grievous grabbed her with his other foot and performed a backflip, throwing her into the ceiling along with Seirr's corpse.^[2]

Left with only Ki-Adi-Mundi and Shaak Ti to battle, Grievous fended them off by spinning his hands, rotating his dual-lightsabers in a buzzsaw-like fashion. As the two were temporarily taken aback by this, Grievous used the distraction to kick Mundi into a nearby pillar before unleashing a frenzy of blows against Shaak Ti. As Mundi rushed to her aid, Grievous disarmed her and sent a massive finishing blow her way.^[2]

While Shaak Ti was able to protect herself from the slash with the Force, the kinetic energy it imparted was enough to throw her off her feet and hurl her into a wall of wreckage. As Grievous turned on Ki-Adi-Mundi, the Jedi attempted to retrieve his dropped lightsaber, but Grievous pounced on it, seizing it with one of his clawed feet. In response, Ki-Adi telekinetically summoned one of the blades hanging on Grievous' belt. Grievous, not being a Force-sensitive, and having all of his limbs occupied, was unable to prevent this. As Mundi lifted the weapon into a guard, the two, Jedi and cyborg, eyed each other.^[2]

Grievous broke the stare and leaped at Mundi.^[2]

ARC rescue team[]

While the Jedi had been engaging Grievous, a group of 10 Advanced Recon Commando lieutenants led by Captain Fordo had been rushing to Hypori via gunship. As the ship approached the battlefield and wreckage—flying so low that the ship clipped the heads off several battle droids—it dropped a series of command detonation explosives, which the droids ignored as they fired at the gunship. Blowing a hole in the side of the wreckage and swooping in, the gunship dropped off Fordo and his team before hovering up to a large hole in the wreckage to fend off the droid reinforcements.^[4]

Fordo and his team charged into the wreckage, coming upon the final bout between Grievous and Ki-Adi-Mundi. Just as he was about to finish the disarmed Mundi, Grievous noticed the ARCs, who promptly began firing. As Mundi reclaimed his discarded lightsaber, Grievous quickly retreated into the wreckage. Dodging fire, Grievous ran up the wall of the wreckage before leaping down at the ARCs.^[4]

Landing in their midst, Grievous viciously cut down four of the ARCs before Fordo called in for backup. Backup took the form of the gunship, which began firing on Grievous. Again retreating into the wreckage, Grievous dodged the blasterfire and missiles with a number of dazzling leaps and flips, cutting his way through the half-burned durasteel.^[4]

With Grievous thus occupied, the surviving ARCs and Jedi retreated, despite Mundi's objections. The ARC troopers, covering their withdrawal, activated the command detonation explosives that their gunship had dropped earlier, destroying many of the droids surrounding the crashed ship to clear an escape path.^[4]

Aftermath[]

Other than Ki-Adi-Mundi, the surviving Jedi included Shaak Ti and Aayla Secura. K'Kruhk was thought dead but had in fact gone into a deep healing trance, during which his heart-beat and breathing had decreased to barely noticeable levels.^[7]

While they retreated, Grievous quietly claimed his trophies from the slain and defeated Jedi, notably the lightsaber of the fallen K'Kruhk. As he watched their gunship vanish into the distance, Grievous mused that they were only prolonging the inevitable.^[4]

Grievous' actions that day led Master Plo Koon of the Jedi High Council to dub him as the Butcher of Hypori.^[8]

After the battle, Aayla Secura was assigned to the 327th Star Corps.^[9]

Jedi Knight Etain Tur-Mukan later thought that it was unfair that clones had been sent to rescue Jedi on Hypori, as Jedi were never sent to rescue clones.^[10]

Behind the scenes[]

Originally, the last chapter was going to involve Anakin and Obi-Wan having to fight a regenerated Durge. This was changed when George Lucas requested that they introduce General Grievous.^[11]

Appearances[]

• "The Eyes of Revolution" — Star Wars: Visionaries (Vision to Grievous)
• Star Wars: Clone Wars — "Chapter 20" (First appearance)
• Star Wars: Clone Wars — "Chapter 21"
• Star Wars: Battle for the Republic
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels (Indirect mention only)
• Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel (Mentioned only)
• Labyrinth of Evil (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith novelization (and unabridged audiobook) (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed graphic novel (In flashback(s))

Sources[]

Notes and references[]