Battle of Bothawui ( Second ; Great Galactic War ) The Battle of Bothawui was a major military engagement in 3671 BBY , during the Great Galactic War between the Galactic Republic and the resurgent Sith Empire . The battle was a turning point in the decade - old war , and a major boost to a crippled Republic on the verge of collapse . In that year , the Sith set their sights on the Mid Rim world of Bothawui after having successfully usurped control of much of the Outer Rim Territories . Bothawui , a Republic - aligned world , received the attention of the entire Republic Navy — attention that ultimately foiled the Empire ' s first attempt at seizing the planet . The Sith assault was a resounding failure , but the Imperials were only more motivated to seize the world in the aftermath of their defeat . As they prepared yet another invasion of Bothawui , a huge majority of the world ' s Republic defenders left the planet . The only remaining forces were a relatively small contingent of Jedi Knights and Republic soldier s placed under the command of Jedi Master Belth Allusis . A short time after the departure of the Republic Navy , a massive fleet of the Imperial Navy descended upon the planet , intending to bombard it from orbit . Due to a strong planetary shield erected by Republic engineers , the orbital strike failed , but did not dissuade the Sith . Under the command of the Imperial Grand Moff Zellos , the Sith ' s army landed on the planet and initiated a massive attack against the shield generator . Despite facing overwhelming odds , Master Allusis ' s small force of Republic defenders held their ground for days , killing numerous Imperial soldier s and embarrassing the Grand Moff . In response , Zellos continued to throw his forces into battle , but this tactic only created greater casualties for his army . By virtue of numbers alone , the Republic ' s defeat was inevitable , and the defenders ' numbers gradually dwindled to just a few dozen . In a bold last stand , Allusis and his surviving troops fought the Imperials at the base of the generator , killing scores of enemies before being slain themselves — an act that earned them galactic renown as the " Heroes of Bothawui " . Despite the annihilation of the defenders , the Empire found itself unable to destroy the shield and hold Bothawui , as its assault force had been largely decimated . As a result of the battle , the Empire halted its incursions into the Mid Rim for a time , and the Sith Emperor was forced to reexamine his strategy . Despite the loss of all the Republic forces on Bothawui , the story of Bothawui ' s defenders and their determined fight against the Empire inspired many across the Republic , giving birth to new tactics and a new resolve to continue waging the war . Prelude . Upon its return to known space in 3681 BBY , the Sith Empire launched a widely successful campaign for control of the Outer Rim Territories . For the first ten years of this Great Galactic War , constituent worlds of the Old Republic fell in quick succession , leading the Sith Emperor to believe that his invasion of the galaxy was unstoppable . After the Imperial victory in the struggle for the Seswenna sector , the Emperor had secured the Outer Rim and began plans to move towards the galactic core — the bastion of the Republic ' s gradually dwindling power . The first target of this refocused assault was the Mid Rim , specifically the Bothan sector . The Bothan sector , which was home to the planet Bothawui and the Bothan people , was a strategically important region ; therefore , Bothawui itself was the focus of the Empire ' s Mid Rim foray . Although the attack on the planet was intended to be a surprise ambush , information regarding the assault was leaked and eventually came to the attention of the Republic Navy Admiral Greik . Greik moved quickly to set up a trap for the Imperial strike force by amassing the entirety of the Republic naval fleet above the world . Despite the risky nature of the maneuver , it ultimately paid off ; the Imperials charged into Bothan Space , but quickly found themselves beset by all the vessels of the Republic Navy . The engagement ended in the complete destruction of the Imperial attack squadron . This first battle at Bothawui was also the first major victory for the Republic since the beginning of the war and provided a much - needed boost of morale for its defenders . In the aftermath of that first battle , glee spread through the Republic military and civilians rejoiced on the capital planet of Coruscant and other worlds while the Empire prepared itself for another assault . Although individuals within the Republic Navy , such as Jedi Knight Gnost - Dural , predicted that the Sith would plan such retribution , the Navy was forced to disperse once more and return to battlefronts across the galaxy . As a preventative measure , Republic engineers erected a mighty planetary shield on Bothawui ' s surface to protect the world from the threat of orbital bombardment . Despite this precaution , there were still those within the Jedi Order and Republic Military who believed that the world needed defenders on the surface . As such , Jedi Master Belth Allusis , a prominent member of the Jedi High Council , volunteered to stay on the planet and lead a small contingent of four thousand Republic soldier s , four Special Forces squads , and eighty - four Jedi Knights . Knowing they would face the full might of the Sith ' s vengeance , the Republic ' s forces dug into the forest surrounding Bothawui ' s planetary shield generator and prepared for the Empire ' s return . The battle . The Empire did indeed strike back at Bothawui . Approximately twenty - seven days after the first battle in the planet ' s orbit , Imperial battleships from across the galaxy converged on Bothan Space . Under the command of Grand Moff Zellos , this massive invasion fleet — consisting of " Harrower " - class dreadnoughts , " Fury " - class interceptors , assault craft , and Mark VI " Supremacy " - class starfighters — began to bombard the planet from orbit . Despite the strength of the attacking fleet , the planetary shield held , forcing the Imperials to begin a surface - based campaign to sieze or destroy the shield generator complex . Zellos landed an army fifty thousand strong , comprised of regular Imperial soldier s and members of the elite Imperial Guard , and prepared to march on the shield . Confident that the battle would be a swift victory for the Empire , the Grand Moff and his advisors sent their forces to destroy the generator in a direct frontal assault . Between the Imperials and the shield generator stood the Republic defenders . Master Allusis drew up a defense plan for the generator that outlined both the Imperial landing point and their projected path through the Bothawui forests towards the shield . The Jedi ' s army of four thousand and eighty - four took advantage of high - ground positions and blaster cannon turrets along the path to ambush and devastate the ranks of the Empire , while Allusis himself took to the battlefront multiple times . The Republic and Jedi forces recognized the severe disparity between their own numbers and those of the Empire , but fought on regardless . In the process , the Bothawui defenders developed new and unorthodox tactics that cut down hundreds of Imperials . These new stratagems resulted in a staggering casualty ratio : for every one Republic soldier that was gunned down , the Empire lost ten . In spite of these figures , Grand Moff Zellos continued to throw wave after wave of soldiers into the Bothawui forest , increasing the number of troops with each successive push . This decision resulted in even greater losses for the Empire , as the Imperial commanders had not anticipated the determination of Bothawui ' s defenders . Zellos was eventually forced to call in reinforcements , and although the Republic ' s soldiers and Jedi were outwitting and outmaneuvering the Sith in every engagement , their numbers ultimately began to dwindle . After days of battle , Master Allusis ' s perimeter was broken and his forces were slowly beaten back and whittled away . The majority of the Republic ' s forces were killed in those final hours , leaving only a few dozen soldiers and Jedi to maintain the defense . The survivors rallied to Allusis around the base of the generator for one final stand against the Empire ; however , before the Imperials launched their attack , Grand Moff Zellos surprised his opponents by offering to spare Allusis if his men would stand down . Under the guidance of the Force , Allusis and his troops rejected the offer and fought off hundreds of Imperials until their own deaths . Although Zellos succeeded in wiping out the Republic forces , his own army took many casualties . In fact , the number of survivors proved to be too few to seize the shield generator , let alone to maintain an occupation force on Bothawui . Zellos and his remaining troops were forced to retreat from the planet . The Battle of Bothawui was a draw . Aftermath . Despite the seemingly neutral outcome of the battle , the Republic ultimately benefited far more from the conflict than did the Empire . In the aftermath of the engagement , the late Master Belth Allusis and his forces were posthumously honored and gained galactic renown as the " Heroes of Bothawui " . Their story inspired Republic defenders fighting elsewhere to continue their struggle with renewed vigor and pride , while disillusioned and jaded Republic citizens were given a renewed sense of hope by their sacrifice . For at least the next four years , the war turned widely in favor of the Republic Military , which succeeded in capturing the Sith Dread Masters , defeating the Imperials at Rhen Var , liberating Alderaan , and scoring series of victories in the Minos Cluster quagmire . Republic military strategists used the new tactics developed by the defenders of Bothawui throughout the remainder of the war . These tactics put and end to the Sith Empire ' s coreward encroachment for a time and solidified the Battle of Bothawui ' s reputation as a turning point in the Great Galactic War . As the Imperials halted their incursion , the Emperor himself was driven to reexamine his own strategic planning . This ultimately resulted in the Empire ' s Ministry of Intelligence taking several years to form an alliance with the Mandalorian warrior clans . This alliance ultimately resulted in the Mandalorian Blockade of the Hydian Way in 3660 BBY — an act that ended the Republic ' s victory streak and crippled the economy and infrastructure of the once - great democracy . In the aftermath of the Treaty of Coruscant and the end of the war , the Kel Dor Jedi historian Gnost - Dural created a holorecord that documented the events surrounding the battle . The holorecord was entered into the Jedi Archives on Tython along with Dural ' s personal journal , which also contained an account of the battle . In the Cold War years that followed the Great Galactic War , Master Allusis was memorialized with a " Valor " - class cruiser that was named in his honor . Conversely , Moff Zellos returned to the Empire following his failure and was not heard from again . Although it was widely reported and believed that there were absolutely no survivors from the Republic defense force following the battle , at least one front - line technician , the Zabrak Lem Karner , made it off the planet and was able to continue serving the Republic Military well into the Cold War . Behind the scenes . The Battle of Bothawui first appeared in the of the " Galactic Timeline " , an in - universe historical account of events leading up to " " , the massively multiplayer online game by LucasArts and BioWare . The entry was released on October 23 of 2009 and is narrated by Jedi Master Gnost - Dural , whose voice is provided by actor Lance Henriksen . The battle was again covered in " The Journal of Master Gnost - Dural " , a reference book released in collector ' s editions of " Star Wars : The Old Republic " . The game and the journal were released on December 20 of 2011 . Included inside " The Journal of Master Gnost - Dural " is a pull - out page that details Master Allusis ' s defense strategy and the topography of the forested area surrounding the shield generator . Information from the pull - out is inconsistent with the information provided in the Timeline and the text of the journal itself , and as such , this article regards any conflicting information as inaccurate . The pull - out asserted that Master Allusis was in command of only twenty - three Jedi and 672 Republic infantry troops — numbers much lower than those provided in other sources . Furthermore , it indicates that four squads of the Republic Special Forces participated in the battle , despite the fact that the codex found within " Star Wars : The Old Republic " confirms that the Special Forces division of the Republic Military was not in existence until after the Battle of Alderaan , which takes place four years after the Bothawui conflicts . This article includes the special forces squads in its reporting , as it is known that at least one special operations division — Havoc Squad — existed within the Republic Army prior to the Treaty of Coruscant .