Second battle of Christophsis

At least two years after the Battle of Christophsis, a second battle took place on the planet Christophsis during the Clone Wars. After deducing that the Jedi Master Quinlan Vos had fallen to the dark side of the Force, the Jedi Council sent him on a mission to kill the Separatist leader Count Dooku in order to test his loyalty. From Vos' lover Asajj Ventress, the Jedi learned that Dooku's dreadnought would be visiting Christophsis. Together, Vos and Ventress traveled to Dooku's flagship where Vos managed to engage in a lightsaber duel. Unknown to Vos, the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker tailed along.
When Vos failed to kill Dooku and instead demanded that the Sith Lord lead him to his master Darth Sidious, the Jedi were presented with irrefutable evidence of Vos' collusion with the Separatists. Kenobi and Skywalker arrested Vos and Dooku but the duo managed to escape following a confrontation aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer Vigilance. Together with Ventress, Vos and Dooku attempted to flee aboard Dooku's dreadnought but were shot down.
After crash-landing their starship, the Banshee, on Christophsis, the trio trudged to a local Separatist base there were Dooku contacted Darth Sidious to secure passage offworld. Kenobi and Skywalker subsequently launched an attack on the fortress. Ventress was seemingly killed during a duel between Vos and Dooku. Following a climatic confrontation, Vos managed to reject the dark side by refusing to kill Dooku. Vos was taken into Republic custody and subsequently pardoned. Meanwhile, Dooku escaped offworld with the help of Darth Sidious and General Grievous.
==Prelude==
Following Count Dooku's massacre of civilians on Mahranee, the Jedi High Council sent Master Quinlan Vos on a mission to assassinate the Separatist leader. For this mission, Vos partnered up with the Nightsister Asajj Ventress, who instructed him in the ways of the dark side of the Force. Ventress was Dooku's former Sith apprentice and wanted revenge against the Sith Lord for abandoning her. Over the course of their partnership, Vos and Ventress would fall in love. After a brief stint working together as bounty hunters, the two Force-users attempted to assassinate Dooku on Raxus Secundus. However, Vos was captured and Ventress was forced to flee into hiding.
In Dooku's captivity on Serenno, Vos was tortured and brutalized by the Sith Lord. After holding out, Vos embraced the dark side after learning that Ventress had murdered his former Master Tholme. Burning with hatred, Vos spurned Ventress' attempts to rescue him during a dangerous mission to Serenno. For the next several months, Vos took his place as Dooku's new Sith apprentice and assumed the persona of "Admiral Enigma". As "Admiral Enigma", Vos inflicted several defeats on the Galactic Republic. After realizing that the Jedi would eventually discover his identity, Vos arranged to be rescued by the Jedi and Ventress. While his Jedi colleagues were convinced that Vos was still loyal to the light side, Ventress sensed that he had embraced the dark side.
Back in the Jedi Order, Quinlan Vos used his position to play a double game with both the Republic and the Confederacy. He leaked intelligence about two military operations to Count Dooku. In secret, Vos wanted to curry favor with Dooku in order to force the Sith Lord to reveal his master, the elusive Darth Sidious. However, these two suspicious incidents led the Jedi Order to rightfully suspect that they had a traitor within their ranks. After Master Yoda deduced that Vos had indeed embraced the dark side, the Jedi Council sent him on a mission to assassinate Dooku during the final months of the war.
Viewing the mission as a second chance to destroy Dooku and Sidious at the same time, Vos accepted the mission and informed his lover Asajj. While Ventress was initially upset about Vos taking on another mission, she relented in return for being allowed to accompany Vos on his mission. Agreeing to help Vos complete the mission, Ventress revealed to the Jedi Council that Dooku would be visiting the planet Christophsis in his Providence-class Dreadnought. The Confederacy was hoping to avenge its earlier loss on Christophsis in 22 BBY.Star Wars: Galactic Atlas Earlier, the Jedi Council had pardoned Ventress of her crimes in return for helping to rescue Vos. While some members of the Jedi Council still distrusted Ventress, Vos vouched for her and the two Force-users were able to proceed with their mission.
==The battle==
===A test of loyalty===
Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress traveled to Christophsis on Ventress' starship the Banshee. Upon reaching Dooku's dreadnought, Ventress opened the ship's doors so that Vos could leap into the dreadnought's hangar. Meanwhile, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi used a captured Separatist shuttle and two reprogrammed battle droids to infiltrate Dooku's flagship with the intention of keeping an eye on Vos. While their reprogrammed battle droids distracted the droids in the hangar bay, the two Jedi took the opportunity to head to the observation room, where Dooku was reported to be heading. As expected, Dooku headed there where he was greeted by Vos, who had been captured by several battle droids.
While hiding behind a desk, Kenobi and Skywalker watched as Vos parried with Dooku in a lightsaber duel. Despite gaining the upper hand, Vos failed to deliver the final blow and instead grabbed the Sith Lord by his hair and slammed his head against the floor. Vos then demanded that Dooku reveal the identity of the elusive Darth Sidious. When Dooku refused to cooperate and instead suggested that Vos join forces with him to defeat Sidious, Vos refused to become his apprentice and instead Force choked Dooku. In the end, Dooku agreed to lead Vos to Darth Sidious; confirming the Jedi Council's fears that Vos was in collusion with Dooku.
Having sufficient evidence to prosecute Vos, Kenobi and Skywalker sprang up from their hiding place and promptly disarmed Dooku and Vos. Despite Vos' protestations, Kenobi responded that he had already been given more than one chance. After escaping aboard their stolen Separatist shuttle, the two Jedi returned to the Venator-class Star Destroyer Vigilance. On the way, they informed Clone Commander Cody and the Jedi Knights Akar-Deshu ("Desh") and Kav Bayons about Vos' treason and Dooku's capture. The Jedi and clones made preparations to detain the two Force-users and to execute their prisoners if the Jedi Council gave such orders.
===Escape from the Vigilance===
Upon landing in the Vigilance hangar bay, Quinlan Vos and Dooku were surrounded by twenty-four armed Clone troopers, who had been handpicked by Commander Cody for this sensitive task. They were escorted by Desh and Bayons; the former of whom was deeply hurt by Vos' betrayal since they had previously been friends. While Kenobi and Skywalker went to confer with the Jedi Council about the recent developments, they assigned Desh, Bayons, and the clones to secure the prisoners. As their clone and Jedi escorts were leading them to the ship's brig, Vos tricked Desh into approaching him. After verbally attacking the Jedi, Vos levitated Desh's lightsaber and used it to free Dooku from his bonds. The count emulated his ally and then grabbed Bayons's lightsaber.
After Dooku killed a Clone trooper with his lightsaber and hurled Cody against the corridor and bulkhead, he freed Vos from his restraints and then struck Bayons and four more Clone troopers with Force lightning. Following a brief lightsaber duel, Vos managed to overpower his former friend Desh and Bayons by using Desh' poisonous stinger to kill Bayons. To save his former friend the horror of dying an agonizing death, Vos killed him with his lightsaber. Meanwhile, Dooku managed to kill the remaining Clone troopers with the exception of Commander Cody, who sustained a broken leg during the skirmish.
Having overpowered their captors, Vos contacted Ventress and told her to park the Banshee beside the Vigilance frontal hangar doors. Ventress reluctantly helped to evacuate Vos and Dooku. Following a tense reunion between Ventress and Dooku, the trio agreed to head to the Separatist dreadnought above Christophsis. However, the Vigilance under Skywalker's orders opened fire on the Banshee, damaging the ship and causing it to crash onto Christophsis below. The three travelers managed to survive their rough landing and trudged their way across the planet's crystalline surface to a Separatist base. Dooku sustained a broken arm and lost a considerable amount of blood as a result of the crash.
Shortly later, Kenobi and Skywalker landed their Jedi shuttle at the crash site. After they and their Clone escorts Threepwood, Tracker, and Boil inspected the wreckage, they were able to deduce that the fugitives had survived and that one of them was wounded. Kenobi then secretly contacted Ventress via hologram and informed her that Vos had turned to the dark side and partnered with Count Dooku. He told her to convince Vos to surrender or they would be forced to execute him. Ventress informed Vos who told her that they were close to the end of completing his secret mission to destroy the Sith. Meanwhile, Kenobi and Skywalker received orders from Windu to execute all the fugitives.
===Assaulting the Separatist base===
Vos, Ventress, and Dooku eventually arrived at the Separatist base, a large crystal that had been hollowed up into a tower and base. Upon arriving, they were greeted by hundreds of battle droids who led the three fugitives into the base. Upon reaching the command center, Dooku was informed that Darth Sidious had been trying to contact him. Dooku ordered them to leave the room while he conferred with his Sith master but Vos and Ventress insisted on staying. The duo witnessed a hologram of the enigmatic Sith Lord, who wore dark robes to hide his identity.
When Darth Sidious inquired about Vos, Dooku claimed that he was his assassin. With Dooku's presence on Christophsis exposed to the Republic, the Sith apprentice pleaded for his master to send a ship. Sidious replied "perhaps" before disappearing. Before Vos could argue with Dooku about calling him an "assassin", Republic forces under Kenobi and Skywalker began bombarding the crystal tower; forcing Vos, Ventress, and Dooku to flee to safety. The two Jedi Generals had deployed their shuttle and several ARC-170 starfighters to bombard the Separatist base. Skywalker was about to order that walkers be deployed when Kenobi managed to convince him to order a halt to the bombardment so that they could enter the Separatist base and find the fugitives.
Ventress, Vos, and Dooku survived the bombardment but were wounded by falling debris from the crystal structure. Ventress herself sustained a broken arm. Together, the three Force-users made their way to a large crystal boulder, a camouflaged outlying building. This crystal structure was an inner sanctum within the crystal Separatist base. Despite their injuries, Vos followed Dooku in the hope of reaching Sidious' ship and killing the two Sith Lords once and for all. Meanwhile, Separatist battle droids engaged the advancing Clone troops and Jedi. While making his way inside the structure, Dooku was knocked unconscious by a blast which also opened his old crash injury.
While Ventress wanted to let Dooku die, Vos insisted on saving him and went outside to help the battle droids fight off the advancing Republic forces. When Dooku stirred, he taunted Ventress by claiming that Vos had more potential to be a Sith Lord than her, whom he derided as a "grunt." Ventress responded that Vos had "bigger plans" for Dooku which neither she nor Dooku were aware of. Meanwhile, on the Republic lines, Kenobi and Skywalker identified the Separatist inner crystal sanctum. Kenobi convinced Skywalker to order a ceasefire to the assault so that the two Jedi could sneak into the fortress through the back in order to trap the fugitives.
Back in the Separatist crystal sanctum, Ventress confronted Vos about his decision to join Dooku and the dark side. Vos responded that he did it for the two of them and insisted that he knew what he was doing. Having experienced the dark side, Ventress warned her lover that it was a fraught and unhappy path. At that moment, she was filled with the power of the Living Force. Before Vos could respond, Dooku suddenly attacked him with a wave of Force lightning that Ventress blocked with her body. Though Vos managed to stop Dooku, Ventress seemed to be fatally wounded. Dooku then attempted to goad Vos into killing him. But realizing that this led to the dark side, Vos refused and reaffirmed his Jedi identity. While Dooku fled and was rescued by General Grievous, Vos comforted his apparently dying lover.
==Aftermath==
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker came across a distraught Vos cradling the body of Ventress. Together, the three Jedi fought their way out of the Separatist base but were eluded by Count Dooku, who escaped with the help of reinforcements sent by Sidious. Due to his earlier actions, Vos was detained in the Vigilance brig during the journey back to Coruscant. Out of respect for Ventress's actions in helping the Jedi, her body was kept in stasis aboard the ship. Back at the Jedi Council, Vos confessed that he had fallen to the dark side and joined Dooku in an attempt to destroy the two Sith Lords. He took responsibility for his actions under Dooku's campaign, for sabotaging the Republic operations at the asteroid base and the Vanqor listening post, and for killing Bayons, Desh, and the Clone troopers aboard the Vigilance.
Vos also told the Jedi Council of how Ventress had brought him back to the light side. During the hearing, Kenobi spoke in favor of both Vos and Ventress. Firstly, Kenobi argued that the Council's decision to use Vos to assassinate Dooku had driven him to the dark side. He highlighted Ventress's actions to help the Jedi against the Separatist and backed-up Vos' account that she had brought him back to the light. As a result, the Council decided to pardon Vos for his crimes and to give him another chance to serve the Order. Following the proceedings, Vos and Kenobi visited Dathomir where they laid Ventress' body to rest. However, Ventress's story had not yet reached its end: despite her apparent death, she had survived.
==Behind the scenes==
There were originally plans to have Asajj Ventress' death in the second battle of Christophsis retconned in the Star Wars Resistance episode "The Relic Raiders," which had Ventress resurface during the Post-New Republic Era and engaging Supreme Leader Kylo Ren in a duel in an early version of the story. However, Dave Filoni ultimately changed his mind over including Ventress to avoid her taking the focus away from the main characters and replaced her with Mika Grey.
==Appearances==
*Dark Disciple 
==Sources==
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*Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy 
*Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
*Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith 
*Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
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==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of Christophsis
Category:Battles of the Clone Wars
Category:Duels