Mission to Halcyon Around a decade before the Clone Wars , a group of Judicials and Jedi were sent by the Galactic Republic on a mission to rescue a group of hostages being held by usurpers on the planet Halcyon . The usurpers disabled the Republic forces ' communications after they landed , resulting in one team of Judicials becoming lost for several days , but ultimately the Jedi were able to rescue all of the hostages and the lost squad was reunited with the Republic forces thanks to the Judicial cadet Wilhuff Tarkin . Prelude . A decade before the Clone Wars , a group of technologically savvy would - be usurpers on the planet Halcyon became discontent with the world ' s membership in the Galactic Republic . Wanting their world to be able to manage its own affairs , they kidnapped several members of Halcyon ' s planetary leadership and held them in a remote fortress where they prepared for assault . The Republic attempted to negotiate with the usurpers for their hostages , but all talks failed and the Galactic Senate eventually authorised members of the Jedi Order to travel to Halcyon in order to negotiate , using force if necessary . Eighty members of the Republic ' s Judicial Department were selected to accompany them , including raw trainees such as Wilhuff Tarkin . The mission . On the journey to Halcyon , the Republic forces traveled on board two cruiser s , where the Jedi spent their time practicing with their lightsaber s , which Tarkin keenly watched . Upon arriving on Halcyon the Judicial Forces were split into four teams by the Jedi , who selected one group to accompany them while the other three were positioned to prevent the usurpers escape through a set of low mountain s on the far side of their fortress . As soon as the Judicials deployed , the usurpers disabled Halcyon ' s global positioning satellite s and blocked all surface to air communications , cutting off the teams from contacting their cruisers , the Jedi or each other . The commander of the team including Tarkin , which was one of the groups positioned to prevent escape , chose to advance through bogs and forests toward the usurper ' s location using regional maps on his datapad after communications were disabled . For three days the team tried to make their way to the fortress , but hampered by poor weather conditions , mudslides and sudden tree falls , they ended up doubling back on themselves several times . On the fourth day rations ran out and the team ' s moral severely dropped , with teamwork being greatly reduced . While the team moved parallel to a wide , swift - flowing river for several hours , Tarkin studied the water flow and allowed the team to pass a shallow region they could have crossed . He then waited for the team to begin arguing how deep the river was before wading into the middle to show its depth . Following the display of intelligence the team ' s commander kept Tarkin by his side and eventually surrendered point to him , allowing the recruit to lead the lost Judicials . Now in charge , Tarkin used Halcyon ' s suns and moon s to navigate to a more open region of woodland , on the way educating his comrades in hunting and outdoor survival techniques . After three further days of traveling Tarkin estimated that they were five kilometer s out from their destination , and succeeded control back to the commander so he could lead the final leg of the mission . The team arrived shortly after the Jedi had finished rescuing the hostages , none of whom were killed . Their arrival astonished the Jedi , who had given up hope of seeing the Judicial team alive after search parties had been unable to find them . Aftermath . After the end of the mission , the cadets in Tarkin ' s team were at first unwilling to reveal what had happened while they were missing , but word of Tarkin ' s heroics and leadership eventually spread and he was given the credit he was due . After returning to the Judicial Academy , Tarkin found himself increasingly popular due to the incident , with a clique of other cadets forming around him . As Tarkin took part in more missions like the one on Halcyon he formed a reputation of being a strong leader , but eventually left the Judicial Department for galactic politics after a schism formed within the organisation concerning opinions of the Republic and its laws . Behind the scenes . The mission to Halcyon was first described in the novel " Tarkin " , which was written by James Luceno and released in 2014 .