Galactic City spaceport hostage siege

The Galactic City Spaceport Hostage Siege took place in the year 22 BBY, four months after the Battle of Geonosis, when terrorists took control of the Galactic City Spaceport on Coruscant.
==Background==
Fed up with the Republic's continuing presence on Haruun Kal and its interference in the planet's affairs, Korunnai terrorists under the leadership of Nuriin-Ar seized control of the Galactic City Spaceport and took six hostages, including Mon Calamari Senator Meena Tills, her aide Vun Merett Jai, and a number of civilians. Holed up in a customs clearance corridor in the spaceport's terminal building, the terrorists threatened to detonate explosives—a threat given credence by witnesses who'd seen the men all carrying backpacks—should their demands not be met: the Republic had to immediately remove itself from Haruun Kal affairs. When contacted, the Haruun Kal government denied all knowledge of Nuriin-Ar although the Korunnai ambassador claimed to "fully understand the group's frustrations" and publicly urged the Republic to cease it's interference in the matters of Haruun Kal.
==The Standoff==
The Coruscant Security Force had cordoned off the area around the spaceport, erecting security barriers under the direction of CSF Lieutenant Dovel, who'd been named Incident commander. In addition, Senate Guards under Commander Jaller Obrim were stationed on scene due to the involvement of Senator Tills. Despite the combined forces of the CSF and the Senate Guard, the Grand Army of the Republic's Special Operations Brigade was contacted and the clone commandos of Omega Squad dispatched to aid in the effort.
Upon arriving at the scene via a CSF VAAT/e assault ship, Omega conferred with Commander Obrim and Lieutenant Dovel. Despite the Senate Security Committee's desire for the incident to be over quickly as a deterring show of force—to demonstrate that terrorist acts would gain their perpetrators nothing, especially when attempting to hold Republic senators for ransom—Dovel disagreed and refused to endanger the lives of the other five civilians to effect a fast rescue for the senator. While the men of Omega Squad were prepared to begin setting up for an assault on the spaceport to free the hostages, Dovel informed them that a Jedi was being sent to negotiate with the terrorists. It wasn't long before a Twi'lek Jedi Master by the name of Kaim arrived, but he did not do so alone. With him was the Senate Head of Public Affairs, Mar Rugeyan, along with Null ARC Captain N-11—"Ordo", and former Cuy'val Dar commando training sergeant, now special security advisor to the Grand Army, Kal Skirata. As Omega Squad reunited with the man who'd trained them back on Kamino, Master Kaim decided to enter the terminal alone and unarmed to directly negotiate with the terrorists. Atin gave the Jedi Master a strip-cam to be placed somewhere inside so that the squad and the CSF officers would be able to get a better look at what was happening inside the terminal, or an audio feed at the very least, should the negotiations and the chance for a peaceful resolution fail and direct action need to be taken.
Kaim attempted to convince the Korunnai to release their captives, asserting that mercy would buy them more sympathy for their cause than brutality. When it was clear that the terrorists were unwilling to give up, and the packs of explosives strapped to each hostage seen by all, Kaim suggested that they release the captive elderly couple from Garqi, Joz and Cira Larutur, in exchange for him taking their place as their prisoner. Unfortunately, Kaim was exposed when one of the men spotted the strip-cam, and the Jedi Master was killed. Further, when his body was thrown out of the terminal, the CSF officers who approached found it booby-trapped, rigged with explosives. Before they could detonate, Fi, threw himself on the body to shield the unprotected cops. Though the bomb did explode, Fi's heavy Katarn-class commando armor spared his life and his body from any serious injury beyond a likely bruise. As a result, Captain Ordo used an electromagnetic pulse to disable the media holocams in the area in a move known as "droiding", effectively shutting down the terrorists' ability to see outside via the viewscreens within the terminal.
As Omega Squad set up charges around the doors for what then seemed an inevitable assault on the spaceport terminal, Skirata turned to ensuring the understandably shaken Fi was all right. As he sat and talked with the man, he overheard Mar Rugeyan refer to the clone commando pejoratively as a "grunt". Angered by the insult, Skirata made a point of forcefully reminding the Head of Public Affairs not to do so again and insisted he leave the scene and allow the clones to carry on doing their job. When the terrorist made demands for food and buckets for refresher facilities, Skirata volunteered to take the items in, himself. With a hearing enhancer in one ear to transmit audio back—knowing that the terrorists would think it too obvious to be any real concern—Skirata was soon willingly taken hostage as well. Once inside, he engaged in apparently harmless conversation with the other hostages, which unknown to their captors were actually coded messages relaying the position of the hostages and the name of the previously unknown sixth hostage: N'zaet Nir of Maryo.
==Assault==
With the terrorists identified and a relative position known for the hostages, it was time to act. With a three-count from commando Darman, CSF shut down the lights inside the terminal, Omega Squad blew the doors in with entry charges, lobbing in flash-bang grenades to stun the terrorists, while Ordo came through the ceiling. The resulting assault took approximately twenty seconds by Fi's count.
During the chaotic firefight, Fi nearly shot and killed Skirata when Kal threw himself in front of one of the hostages who'd been forced to change clothes with one of the terrorists. After all four terrorists had been shot and killed, Skirata kept them calm and still until they could be checked out by an explosives officer who determined that the packs were fake, filled not with bombs but used comlink parts. Once it was determined that they were in no further danger, the hostages were escorted out of the spaceport terminal.
==Aftermath==
With the deaths of the terrorists and the release of the hostages, Skirata, Omega Squad, and Jaller Obrim would piece together the terrorists' true objective based on the identity of the sixth hostage, N'zaet Nir. Nir was a member of the Corporate Sector Authority's Executive Directorship Board, the group responsible for managing the companies that comprised the CSA. Wanting the Republic forces to believe Senator Tills was the highest priority, they planned for Nir to be "accidentally" killed in the attack so that the political fallout might sway the currently neutral Corporate Sector and all its immense wealth to side with the Separatists.
The incident would also forge a mutual respect between the Republic commandos and the men of CSF due to the action Fi took to smother the bomb-laden body of Master Kaim, saving the lives of several officers. Following the incident, Fi became something of a hero to Coruscant's police force and Obrim would personally count the man, his brothers in Omega Squad, and Skirata among his close friends in the years to come. Omega returned to Arca Company Barracks afterward, and would be redeployed on another mission at 0600 hours the following morning.
==Appearances==
* 
*Republic Commando: Triple Zero 
*Republic Commando: True Colors 
==Sources==
*Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force
==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of Coruscant
Category:Events during the Clone Wars