Battle of Praesitlyn The Battle of Praesitlyn was fought between Confederacy of Independent Systems and Galactic Republic forces over Praesitlyn and the Intergalactic Communications Center in c . 22 BBY during the Clone Wars . Its CIS codename was Operation Case White . The battle . Operation Case White . Despite possessing the state - of - the - art communications complex known as the Intergalactic Communications Center , Praesitlyn had few defenses . Having recently taken the planet from the Confederacy of Independent Systems , the Republic had stationed a garrison of fifty thousand troops to defend the communications node . In response , Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress ordered Muun Admiral Pors Tonith of the InterGalactic Banking Clan to initiate Operation Case White , the codename for the plan to retake Praesitlyn . From the bridge of his flagship " Corpulentus " , Tonith commanded a fleet of 200 ships to Praesitlyn and sent another flotilla of 75 capital ships and 51 support ships to blockade Sluis Van . With the Republic forces on Praesitlyn cut off from reinforcements , Pors Tonith ' s fleet attacked the planet , landing a force of fifty thousand battle droids to lure the garrison , under the command of General Khamar , into an engagement . This proved to be a trap , and Tonith landed a droid army one million strong behind Khamar ' s forces and completely destroyed them . Two soldiers , recon scout Odie Subu and pilot Erk H ' Arman managed to escape the droids and flee into the desert . Without its garrison , the communications center easily fell to the Separatists , and Admiral Tonith set up his headquarters inside the base . Operation Case White was a success . A system - wide jamming field transmitted from a modified Droid Control Ship prevented the Republic garrison from sending out a distress call , and the rest of the galaxy remained unaware of what had transpired . However , Captain Zozridor Slayke , leader of the Loyalist volunteer army Freedom ' s Sons , learned of the Praesitlyn conquest and alerted Republic High Command on Coruscant . The arrogant captain was not patient enough to wait for Republic reinforcements and made the brash decision of attacking the Separatists with his private militia . Slayke managed to land his forces , but was overwhelmed by the superior droid army and forced to retreat into a fortified redoubt near the Intergalactic Communications Center and await the Republic reinforcements . On Coruscant , Jedi Master Nejaa Halcyon and Padawan Anakin Skywalker were assigned a naval battle group with a contingent of 20 , 000 clone troopers and tasked with the recapture of Praesitlyn . Republic Cavalry . Back on Praesitlyn , Pors Tonith launched an all - out assault on the Freedom ' s Sons redoubt , managing to completely decimate Slayke ' s air support and artillery . But before he could completely destroy the bunker , the Republic task force arrived in system and moved to break the Separatists ' orbital blockade . General Halcyon commanded the battle from the " Centax " - class frigate " Ranger " and Skywalker oversaw the landing force from the CR90 corvette " Neelian " . The " Ranger " quickly dispatched of the jamming ship with a volley of high - yield MG1 - A proton torpedo es , but the Confederate Navy counterattacked . The heavy cruiser " By ' ynium " was the first ship destroyed by Separatist fire , and soon droid skirmishers boarded Halcyon ' s flagship , forcing the crew to scuttle the ship . The Republic ships were eventually able to drive away the Separatist warships , taking control of the skies above Praesitlyn . The military transports of the Grand Army of the Republic landed in four waves : combat engineers , infantry , then Skywalker ' s and Halcyon ' s clone troopers . Admiral Tonith was forced to withdraw his droids from the attack on the Freedom ' s Sons base and rearrange them into a defensive arrangement around the mesa the Intergalactic Communications Center was situated upon . He then contacted Ventress and lobbied her for reinforcements . The Jedi used Zozridor Slayke ' s command center as their base of operations and the captain agreed to place his surviving forces under Republic command . While planning their next move , they received a message from Pors Tonith : the survivors of the original garrison were being held hostage in the communications center and would be executed unless the Republic ceased its attack . Halcyon , Skywalker , and Slayke eventually decided to carry out a feint at the center of the droid formations , while their main force would attack from the Separatists ' right flank . Unfortunately , their clone scouts were unable to relay vital intelligence – that the droid army ' s right flank was heavily reinforced – back to HQ before the attack began . Skywalker acted as field commander for the operation , and led the clone army from a transport vehicle . The attack ended in disaster for the Republic forces , as they were unable to breach the Separatists ' multiple defensive lines and took heavy losses , forcing Skywalker to order a tactical retreat . The Separatists also tapped into the Republic battlenet and ordered their artillery to fire upon several clone battalions trying to take a droid fortification . General Halcyon then called off the attack . Endgame . With the failure of their frontal assault , the Loyalist forces were forced to rethink their strategy . Anakin Skywalker suggested that he lead a commando unit into the Intergalactic Communications Center and attempt to liberate the hostages and capture the Separatists ' command bunker . General Halcyon and captain Slayke agreed and Skywalker began his rescue operation . A contingent of a few ARC troopers and a couple of squads clone commandos accompanied Anakin in two transports to the communications base , and easily secured a landing zone . Once inside the base , Skywalker and his unit easily fought through the security droids and managed to liberate the prisoners , but Reija Momen , chief administrator of the base , was killed by a battle droid . Enraged by the murder of another innocent , Anakin let his hate reign free and set off on a rampage against the surviving droids . The freed hostages and the commando team returned to the transports , but they were attacked by droids and were forced to leave without Skywalker . The young Jedi continued to pave a path of destruction toward Pors Tonith ' s headquarters , and he was able to cut through the bunker ' s doors with his lightsaber . Inside , Skywalker forced the Separatist admiral to surrender , but hesitated to execute him when he heard the voice of Qui - Gon Jinn telling him to yield . With the droids deactivated , it appeared that the Battle of Praesitlyn was nearing its end . Unfortunately for the Republic , Pors Tonith ' s long - awaited reinforcements arrived in system just seconds after the admiral transmitted his surrender . A large Separatist fleet used a cloaking device to sneak up on the Republic blockade and spring a surprise attack . Halcyon and Skywalker boarded their Jedi starfighters and joined the space battle . During the battle , Skywalker miraculously managed to destroy the Separatist flagship ' s bridge by making a suicidal attack run in his customized starfighter , the " Azure Angel II " . To Halcyon , it appeared that the Chosen One had perished in the subsequent explosion . Through superior tactics , the Republic fleet was able force the Separatist armada to withdraw . The Battle of Praesitlyn was finally won . Aftermath . Nejaa Halcyon returned to the surface and was congratulated by Zozridor Slayke . Incredibly , Anakin Skywalker soon reappeared , having been able to avoid the Separatist flagship ' s destruction by making a hyperspace microjump using the Force . Afterwards , Odie Subu and Erk H ' Arman asked Anakin to preside over their marriage ceremony . After the Praesitlyn battle , Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Yoda decided that for Anakin ' s actions in the Republic ' s victory , he would be promoted to a full - fledged Jedi Knight when he returned to Coruscant ; Skywalker ' s master Obi - Wan Kenobi had also said that he would speak in favor of his apprentice ' s knighthood when he returned . Before they could return to Coruscant however , Skywalker and Kenobi were both diverted to Arkania and then Vjun . Two percent of the clone casualties came from dehydration . The Republic army consumed 2000 metric tons of supplies per day of operation . Resupply could only occur at a rate of 1000 tons per day , and with a high number of transport casualties . In truth , Darth Sidious had engineered the battle , desiring to draw Anakin further into the thrall of the dark side .