Battle of the Ziggurat

The Battle of the Ziggurat was the first and only major clash between armed groups during the Invasion of Nar Shaddaa in 139 ABY.

Lead-up
Following the successful invasion of the Smuggler's Moon, General Grievous, the foremost general of Sith Lord Gav Daragon, attempted to find a way to breach the security around Ara Merquise's Fortress, but found a direct attack impossible; the ziggurat's shields continued to resist the heaviest bombardment from Imperial Star Destroyers in orbit. However, an alternative approach presented itself when Grievous's men captured a group of street children stealing from their stores. Rather than punish them, Grievous convinced the children that Sakaros, not Daragon, was the real enemy, and persuaded them to show his men a series of sewer and water tunnels deep under Nar Shaddaa's surface, long forgotten by the moon's inhabitants.

When Tak Sakaros arrived in Daragon's territory to duel his former friend, Grievous seized his chance. Informing the Imperial personnel that Daragon was dead, and he was assuming command, Grievous commandeered the orbiting Star Destroyers and had them all descend to the atmosphere to resume bombardment of the ziggurat. Simultaneously, a large force moved through the underground tunnels, bursting out around the ziggurat.

The Battle
With Tak and Alluria away, Reiko Kaytana, the mother of Tak's child and a former Imperial Knight, and Ventresca Tan, the Merquise Syndicate's Intelligence vigo, assumed command of the defense. With the shields raised, the ziggurat had a strong defensive position, but troops were deployed along its pyramidal rooflines to return fire. Meanwhile, a group of Jedi Knights who had been staying at the ziggurat led the counterattack on the ground, charging into battle.

Though they had a vast numerical advantage, the Imperials were badly compromised by the presence of the ziggurat's particle shield; those inside could not safely escape, and those outside could not penetrate without going back underground. Matters became worse when a backup force of Jedi appeared, accompanied by Jedi Masters Souv Tanake and Zev, as well as Alluria Quinn. To make matters even worse, the Jawa Dark Jedi Akkit, having just been rescued by Alluria after his starship crashed, returned the favor, commandeering an AT-PT and using its guns on the surprised Imperials. To top things off, Reiko's former apprentice, Kalron Randelle, was sniping the Imperials from surrounding buildings, picking off the unwary.

Casualties were extremely high by the time Tak and Gav mortally wounded each other. After dispatching his master, Grievous ordered a full retreat of all Imperial forces. Many fled to waiting troop transports, and the remainder were ruthlessly mopped up by Alluria and her elite shock troops.