Evacuation of Rychel

The evacuation of Rychel was a military offensive against the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong species undertaken by a joint New Republic and Jedi Order task force. Occurring in the first year of the galaxy-spanning Yuuzhan Vong invasion, the battle originally began as an evacuation effort of the planet Rychel under the leadership of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, whose Knights were called upon by the New Republic to help minimize the civilian casualties Rychel was suffering while the planet was under siege by the Yuuzhan Vong. Skywalker oversaw the exodus of as many of Rychel's citizens as possible, while a detachment of the New Republic Navy, commanded by Pau'an Jedi Master Lar Le'Ung and Padawan Finn Galfridian, engaged the Yuuzhan Vong warriors in battle.

Complementing the onslaught of their Chazrach slave warriors were two Yuuzhan Vong monstrosities called Tu-Scart and Sgauru, which were capable of projecting fear toward the Rychel populace as well as the New Republic rescue force. Many of their company fell victim to the combined ferocity of the Chazrach and siege beasts, and when Master Le'Ung attempted to rally his soldiers against the enemy, he was killed by the Yuuzhan Vong Commander Tsalok—who then fed him to Tu-Scart. Galfridian briefly assumed the Pau'an's role as commander until Master Skywalker gave the signal to retreat after the evacuation ships had been filled to capacity.

The young Padawan also noticed a family of survivors, but before he could help them to safety he was confronted by Tsalok. The duel which then ensued was brief as the building in which they fought was leveled by one of the warbeasts, rendering Tsalok helpless and pinned beneath the rubble. Galfridian emerged unscathed and, in a show of mercy, spared the life of the Yuuzhan Vong commander despite his festering hatred for a member of the species who had committed the same atrocities on his own homeworld of Artorias. As he joined Master Skywalker on the last of the evacuation ships to depart from Rychel, Finn Galfridian learned that while many beings had been liberated, the Republic was unable to save them all, and many more were left to suffer in the clutches of the merciless Yuuzhan Vong.

Text and facts from the “Evacuation of Rychel” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.