Evacuation of Rychel

In the year 25 ABY, the galaxy was unexpectedly invaded by the Yuuzhan Vong, an extra-galactic species seeking to expand their empire through the conquest and genocide of all who opposed them. During the initial stages of the Yuuzhan Vong war, numerous worlds were destroyed, and others had their inhabitants enslaved. Among the planets that suffered massacres and devastation was the defenseless Artorias. However, the timely intervention of a small New Republic task force, led by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, achieved a limited success by evacuating some of the planet's citizens.

Shortly after the Yuuzhan Vong seized Artorias, Commander Tsalok of the invasion fleet led his forces in a rapid attack on the planet Rychel. In response, the New Republic again sought the assistance of Master Skywalker and the Jedi Order to oversee the evacuation of Rychel's inhabitants while minimizing civilian casualties caused by the Yuuzhan Vong. He was accompanied by Pau'an Jedi Master Lar Le'Ung, and Prince Finn Galfridian, whom Skywalker had rescued from enslavement on Artorias and taken as a Padawan due to the young boy's developing Force-sensitivity.

Skywalker, Le'Ung, and Galfridian arrived in Rychel's orbit aboard one of the Bulwark-class battle cruisers that formed part of the New Republic Naval fleet dispatched to confront the Yuuzhan Vong. Master Le'Ung briefed his fellow Jedi and the Republic troopers on the situation on Rychel's surface. The invaders' ground forces consisted of coufee-armed Chazrach slave warriors, as well as two enormous siege beasts that were destroying everything in their path. The Republic's primary objective was to save the lives of Rychel's citizens. To achieve this, Master Skywalker devised a plan to gather as many noncombatants as possible and direct them to the evacuation ships for departure from the planet. Master Le'Ung and Padawan Galfridian were then tasked with leading a group of Republic troopers to engage the Yuuzhan Vong forces, diverting the enemy's attention from Skywalker's rescue mission.

Bulwark battle cruisers transported the Republic and Jedi teams to Rychel's surface, where they saw the two siege creatures, Tu-Scart and Sgauru, herding the natives in preparation for slaughter. Master Skywalker immediately jumped from his vessel and descended upon the gathering Chazrach, scattering nearly all of them with a powerful blast of Force energy. While Skywalker assisted the prisoners and guided them toward the Bulwark battle cruisers, Le'Ung and Galfridian joined the Republic troopers, who quickly opened fire on the disoriented Chazrach. Simultaneously, air support was deployed in the form of T-65XJ X-wing starfighter squadrons, which launched an assault on the siege beast Tu-Scart. However, the creature proved to be more than a match for them, downing several fighters without sustaining significant damage from their initial attack. One ship crashed dangerously close to Master Le'Ung and his forces, resulting in the deaths of innocents, Chazrach, and Republic troopers.

Many Republic troopers began to panic and retreat when they realized that their weapons had little effect on the beast. It was then that Le'Ung and Galfridian discovered that Tu-Scart was projecting fear towards its enemies. With his lightsaber activated, the Pau'an began to rally his troops, reminding them of their mission: to distract the enemy long enough for the evacuation ships to collect as many of Rychel's people as possible. To the Jedi's disadvantage, the Yuuzhan Vong had no presence in the Force. This inability to sense his enemy led to Le'Ung's downfall, as Tsalok surprised him and impaled him with his amphistaff. Tsalok ensured the Pau'an's death by throwing Le'Ung's body into Tu-Scart's mouth, which renewed the paranoia that had previously affected the Republic Forces. Padawan Galfridian's resolve was also tested, but he retrieved the fallen Master's lightsaber and attempted to encourage the troopers to continue their advance against the siege creatures. The beasts were held back long enough for Master Skywalker to gather the last of the civilians and load them onto the evacuation ships.

Luke Skywalker gave the order to retreat, and Republic troops began to withdraw. However, they were briefly delayed by Tsalok, who broke through their lines in pursuit of the two Jedi. Several Chazrach encountered a cornered family and prepared to kill them, but as Galfridian eliminated them and prepared to lead the hostages to safety, he was confronted by the Yuuzhan Vong commander. The two engaged in a brief duel before one of the Yuuzhan Vong warbeasts, Sgauru, destroyed the building where they were fighting. Galfridian managed to save himself and the evacuees, but Tsalok was not so fortunate. Trapped under a fallen pillar, he was defenseless and at the mercy of the Jedi. Galfridian chose not to kill his enemy, instead freeing the commander, who—expecting to die by the Jedi's blade—could not understand the compassion shown by his Human opponent. Galfridian then hurried to the last of the Bulwark cruisers and boarded, handing over Le'Ung's lightsaber to Master Skywalker just as the ship departed Rychel.

Although the New Republic had rescued a significant number of Rychel's inhabitants, not everyone was saved, and many remained in the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong and their Chazrach minions. Furthermore, the Republic's failure to rescue everyone was a major source of frustration for Galfridian, whose own homeworld had recently suffered a similar fate. When he demanded that they return for the captives, Master Skywalker reminded Galfridian of the New Republic's weakness in the face of the widespread threat posed by the Yuuzhan Vong. He also had to accept the loss of Lar Le'Ung, a peaceful Jedi who had died protecting those who could not protect themselves.

Commander Tsalok was humiliated by the young Jedi who refused to grant him what he considered an honorable death in combat, and he could not understand the principle Galfridian had demonstrated. He immediately killed several of his newly acquired slaves—elderly men who were too weak to serve the Yuuzhan Vong in his eyes—with his amphistaff, directly defying the mercy shown to him by Finn Galfridian. Despite the Republic's limited success in their extraction mission, Tsalok had otherwise been victorious. Like the planet Artorias, Rychel had been successfully conquered and left under the control of the Yuuzhan Vong by the New Republic.

The Rychel evacuation first appeared in the third installment of author Tom Taylor's Star Wars: Invasion story arc, titled Refugees. Although the planet Rychel was first mentioned in the previous issue, its first appearance in the comic series was in part three of Invasion: Refugees. This also marked the first comic appearance of the Chazrach, Commander Tsalok, and both Tu-Scart and Sgauru, although the latter two had been featured in two previous books covering the Yuuzhan Vong war within the New Jedi Order series of novels: The New Jedi Order: Balance Point and The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force.