Battle of Kashyyyk ( 19 BBY ) The Battle of Kashyyyk , also known as the subjugation of Kashyyyk , was the first Imperial invasion of the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk in the year 19 BBY as part of the Empire ' s Enslavement of Kashyyyk campaign . It occurred after the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader tracked a group of surviving Jedi to the planet . It was during this crisis that Vader made a deal with Moff Tarkin to capture Wookiees as slave labor to help build the Death Star . The battle itself was also seen as an early , but by no means the last , demonstration to the galaxy of how the Galactic Empire would respond to internal dissent . Prelude . Following the devastation of Order 66 , Jedi Padawan and survivor Olee Starstone began looking for any Jedi survivors . One destination she investigated was Kashyyyk , where Masters Yoda , Luminara Unduli , and Quinlan Vos had been stationed when Order 66 was carried out . She arrived on the planet along with several other Jedi survivors — Siadem Forte , Deran Nalual , Klossi Anno , Iwo Kulka , Jambe Lu , and Nam Poorf , as well as the slicer Filli Bitters . After meeting with Tarfful and Chewbacca , the Jedi learned of Yoda ' s survival . The Wookiees offered the band of Jedi safe harbor on Kashyyyk , but the meeting was interrupted by the arrival of a CR25 troop carrier at Kachirho . Not long after the Jedi ’ s arrival , the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader had arrived in the Kashyyyk system , along with the " Imperator " - class Star Destroyer " Exactor " , where it joined Wilhuff Tarkin and the " Executrix " . The two plotted their attack on Kashyyyk — Vader interested in hunting down and destroying the fugitive Jedi , Tarkin interested in enslaving the Wookiees for use in the construction of the first Death Star . At around this time , the night before the main Imperial attack , Tarkin dispatched a platoon of stormtroopers under Captain Janzor to act as a distraction . Although all but three would be killed , due to a combination of a crash , unforeseen hostile fauna , and underestimating the Wookiees , they managed to distract the Wookiee forces long enough for the main Imperial thrust to conquer an entire continent . Although the fleet commanders were eager to bombard the planet , Vader overruled them , ordering a direct assault on several cities including Kachirho , Rwookrrorro , Kepitenochan , Okikuti , and Chenachochan . The battle . At Kachirho , the landed Imperial troops ordered the Wookiees to hand over the fugitive Jedi , but the enraged Wookiees attacked the troops , and Starstone and her Jedi soon joined the battle . As more Imperial forces landed , the Wookiee warriors and the Jedi covered the evacuation of Kachirho , as countless Wookiees fled the Imperial troopers , fleeing from enslavement . Imperial landers and gunships were engaged by Oevvaor jet catamarans , retrofitted with rocket launchers and other high - end military hardware , salvaged by the Wookiees from the remains of the earlier Battle of Kashyyyk . Realizing that the Empire was attacking indiscriminately , many traders and merchants onworld began to evacuate Wookiee families while others used their craft ' s concealed weapons to engage various imperial transports . By this time , all of the troopers of the first wave were dead . A local hour after the attack had started , Lord Vader flew a " Theta " - class T - 2c shuttle down to Kachirho , in an attempt to hunt the Jedi down . He was accompanied by Commander Appo and a squad of troops , but met heavy anti - air fire on his way down . Around the planet , the Imperial incursions were being repulsed by fierce Wookiee warriors , and an alarming number of Imperial troops were being lost in the assaults . Following Appo ' s advice , Vader acceded the fleet commanders the permission to begin orbital bombardment , warning them to save Kachirho for last . Landing on a platform high up in Kachirho , Vader and his cadre of stormtroopers disembarked and began fighting their way through the Wookiee warriors . Confronting the Jedi . In order to prevent further Wookiee casualties , the Jedi revealed themselves . Olee Starstone had since broken off from Roan Shryne , who had since joined his mother ' s " Drunk Dancer " , now leading a group of surviving Jedi they had located . Vader ordered the stormtroopers to stay on the Wookiees , leaving the Jedi to him . Siadem Forte and Iwo Kulka quickly attacked Vader , attempting to unbalance him by using radically different lightsaber forms . However , Vader easily held them off , utilizing a combination of precision bladework and swift power attacks to put an end to their fancy twirling , putting his superior height and strength to good use to disrupt their momentum and sending them reeling . Vader decapitated the two Jedi , and quickly disabled Jambe Lu , Nam Poorf and Klossi Anno . Olee Starstone was suddenly alone against the Sith Lord . Starstone attempted to bring down Vader with a sudden offensive flurry , but realized that Vader was only allowing her to vent . Breaking off to reassess her strategy , she unwittingly allowed Vader to seize the offense . However , before he could finish Starstone , Vader ' s Stormtroopers were suddenly gunned down by a smuggler vessel that just appeared . Roan Shryne leaped off the Drunk Dancer , summoning Siadem Forte ' s lightsaber to his hand and beheading Appo . Confronting Vader , Shryne provided Starstone and the other surviving Jedi with a chance to escape . Shryne vs . Vader . As the two fought , Shryne managed to hold his own against Vader ' s relentless assault , actually scoring several hits . However , their battle was interrupted by the Imperial orbital bombardment . As Shryne and Vader fought , the main battle began to drift east of the city , moving closer to the lake , as Imperial gunships and artillery drove the Wookiees down out of the city and towards the ground . Heading to the main Kachirho landing platform , Archyr and Starstone loaded their drop ship and transport with escaping Wookiees , including Chewbacca . Abruptly , the Imperial gunships began to break off from Kachirho , as the orbiting Star Destroyers began their orbital bombardment . Shryne and Vader ’ s duel was interrupted by the strike , and the two moved inside one of the great wroshyr trees . Though they both survived , Vader ' s shuttle was destroyed by the flak . As they resumed their combat , Shryne deduced the weakness of Vader ' s suit to be the chest - mounted control - panel . His attempts to attack the panel forced Vader to adopt a defensive fighting method that left his limbs open , ultimately prompting him to resort to a telekinetic assault . Tearing apart the wooden ramps and platforms within Kachirho , Vader flung the debris at the hapless Jedi , battering him and knocking him off the platform on which they fought . Fallen to a floor below , Shryne lay critically injured . Assured that Shryne was going to die anyway , Vader chose not to strike down the Jedi , instead revealing his true identity to the man — Anakin Skywalker , who was later redeemed by his son Luke Skywalker during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY . As Shryne died , " Victory " - class Star Destroyers began to descend into atmosphere , completing the conquest of Kashyyyk . Approximately two hundred thousand Wookiees , including Tarfful , were captured and moved to containment camps on the Wawaatt Archipelago . Daring escape . Meanwhile , escaping Kashyyyk , Starstone and the surviving Jedi rendezvoused with the " Drunk Dancer " in orbit , where they learned that a Detainer CC - 2200 interdictor cruiser was stationed over Kachirho , preventing any ships from escaping into hyperspace from that city . Undaunted , Starstone and Bitters hatched a plan to destroy it in order to escape . With the help of Chewbacca , Archyr , Cudgel , and the rescued Wookiees , the pair managed to reactivate a damaged " Recusant " - class light destroyer , a Separatist ship left over from the earlier battle weeks ago . They tasked the droid - controlled destroyer to ram the Interdictor , destroying the ship and giving the transports trapped in orbit about Kashyyyk a chance to escape . Enraged at this , Lord Vader ordered a full orbital bombardment of the planet . Aftermath . Tarkin would later relate to Palpatine that the planet suffered much more damage than one would have expected , especially given the resources under Vader ’ s command . Nonetheless , Kashyyyk had been claimed by the Empire , and Tarkin — perhaps aided by Trandoshan slavers which descended onto the world in masses following the battle — had gained a valuable new source of slave labor for the Death Star project . Vader ' s involvement in the Empire ' s victory was eventually stated in a Holonet news report , a report that was broadcast as far as Tatooine . It was thanks to this report that Obi - Wan Kenobi learned that Vader , real name Anakin Skywalker , had in fact survived their duel on Mustafar , instead of having died as he earlier believed . Following the battle , half of the Delegation of 2000 removed their signatures from the Petition of 2000 , afraid to continue challenging Palpatine . Despite the Empire ' s victory , the Wookiees continued to resist the Empire and give shelter to Jedi . About a year later , fugitive Jedi Kento Marek hid on Kashyyyk . When the Empire discovered Marek ' s whereabouts , a second invasion was launched .