The clash at Inyusu Tor, alternatively referred to as the Battle of Sullust or the Sullust insurrection, unfolded during the Galactic Civil War. It pitted the Alliance to Restore the Republic's 61st Mobile Infantry, more famously known as Twilight Company, against the forces of the Galactic Empire on the volcanic world of Sullust. The Inyusu Tor mineral processing facility on the planet was the focal point of Operation Ringbreaker in 3 ABY. This operation aimed to draw Galactic Empire troops away from the Kuat Drive Yards by targeting Imperial sites along the Rimma Trade Route, thus weakening its defenses for a planned assault.
Traveling aboard the CR90 corvette named Thunderstrike and the Braha'tok-class gunship called Apailana's Promise, Twilight Company appeared near Sullust, approximately half a million kilometers away. They rapidly deployed the company to the surface via dropships. Twilight Company launched an attack on the entrance to the Inyusu Tor complex, then commandeered vehicles to tunnel into the structure, overwhelming the security squads.
After securing the facility, Twilight Company's engineers prepared it to be flooded with [magma](/article/magma]. However, when the Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise returned to extract the troops, they were ambushed by the Empire's Vixus Squadron, which resulted in the destruction of the Thunderstrike. With the Apailana's Promise fleeing Sullust, Twilight Company was compelled to establish a defensive position at the Inyusu Tor facility and undertake a rescue operation for survivors from the Thunderstrike wreckage.
Hazram Namir, the presumed captain of the company, spearheaded a mission to Pinyumb, the capital city of Sullust, to locate the local rebel group known as the Sullustan resistance. During this search, Namir and his team were attacked by [stormtroopers](/article/stormtrooper] within the city. Separated from his remaining soldiers, Namir was rescued by Nien Nunb, a Sullustan resistance fighter, who guided the captain back to the rest of his cell.
Recognizing the Sullustan resistance's lack of resources to effectively aid Twilight Company, Namir formulated a new strategy. His company would defend the Inyusu Tor facility, while the resistance and the local protest union would work to liberate Pinyumb. The captain returned to the processing facility and readied Twilight Company for the inevitable assault by the Empire's forces on Sullust.
The attack commenced with the arrival of the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Herald in orbit around the planet. Twilight Company established three rudimentary defensive lines and repelled the Imperial ground forces. Although the Herald managed to obliterate several outer defenses, the Apailana's Promise and its two T-65B X-wing starfighters reappeared and engaged the Star Destroyer, diverting its attention.
Using excavating machinery, some members of the company created channels for lava to flow, which stranded the attacking ground troops and flowed down to Pinyumb's Imperial security posts. Towards the end of the battle, Everi Chalis, the former Imperial governor, attempted to flee Sullust aboard a stolen shuttle, but was intercepted by the Herald, which captured her with a tractor beam.
After leaving her shuttle on the Herald, Chalis met her Imperial captors, Prelate Verge and Captain Tabor Seitaron, before detonating twenty ion bombs that she had brought on the shuttle. This triggered a power surge in the Star Destroyer. Verge and Chalis then engaged in a struggle before Seitaron intervened with his blaster, killing Verge. The captain then ordered the Herald to retreat from Sullust to prevent it from crashing, allowing Chalis to escape.
Following the Battle of Hoth shortly in 3 ABY, the Rebel Alliance's 61st Mobile Infantry, known more commonly as Twilight Company, began Operation Ringbreaker. Conceived by Everi Chalis, the former Imperial governor who had become a rebel asset, the operation aimed to force the Empire to redeploy troops from the shipyards at the planet of Kuat by attacking Imperial installations along the Rimma Trade Route. This would, in turn, increase the company's chances of success in a planned attack on the shipyards. Despite heavy losses in each battle, Twilight Company emerged victorious on each world, with only the planets of Sullust and Malastare remaining before Kuat.
Meanwhile, Prelate [Verge](/article/verge] and Captain [Tabor Seitaron](/article/tabor_seitaron], determined to bring Chalis to justice for her defection to the Alliance, were attempting to anticipate Twilight Company's next move. Operating from the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer, the pair narrowed down the potential targets to a few worlds, including Sullust, and prepared each for a possible attack. Verge deployed multiple TIE/IN interceptor squadrons near these worlds, including Vixus Squadron near Sullust.
Twilight Company emerged from hyperspace aboard their starships, the CR90 corvette Thunderstrike and its escort, the Braha'tok-class gunship Apailana's Promise, just half a million kilometers from the planet. This was done to rapidly deploy dropships to attack the Inyusu Tor mineral processing facility before the Imperial orbital defenses could effectively respond. The assault on the facility began with an attack on the Inyusu Tor mountain. News of Twilight Company's arrival on Sullust reached the Herald, prompting Verge and Seitaron to contact Vixus Squadron and order them to Sullust.
Due to Twilight Company's limited equipment, they were unable to directly breach the facility. Therefore, Hazram Namir, the acting captain of the company, dispatched a team of scouts, engineers, and sentries to assault the main entrance. Imperial Navy Troopers and stormtroopers positioned themselves along the walls of the main entrance. Additionally, Imperial airspeeders were deployed from the garrison near Sullust's capital city of Pinyumb, but they couldn't use their sweep bombs for fear of damaging the facility. Namir used a PLX-1 portable missile launcher to shoot down one of the airspeeders. In the second phase of the attack, rebel squads used hijacked mining vehicles to tunnel into the mine. Ultimately, the facility's security squads were overwhelmed by the rebels both inside and outside.
Twilight Company achieved victory, suffering only four deaths and sixteen injuries. Meanwhile, Vixus Squadron traveled to Sullust and concealed themselves behind the planet's moon, preparing to ambush the Thunderstrike upon the corvette's return. After the Sullustan workers evacuated the Inyusu Tor facility, the company prepared for their extraction, rigging the facility to flood with magma and seizing any valuable supplies. Stormtroopers patrolled the mountain throughout the night.
When the Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise returned the following day to pick up Twilight Company, local Imperial TIE/ln space superiority starfighters attacked the vessels. Commander Tohna, the Thunderstrike's captain, directed the corvette to fly low, with the Promise and its two X-wing starfighters providing flank cover. As numerous TIEs were destroyed, Vixus Squadron emerged from behind Sullust's moon once Twilight Company's vessels reached the planet's atmosphere. Upon receiving reports of the ambush, Namir ordered the Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise to retreat. However, the Thunderstrike had sustained significant damage and crashed onto Sullust's surface. The Promise, meanwhile, chose to retreat with the X-wings, stranding Twilight Company on the planet.
Namir dispatched half a dozen search and rescue teams to the wreckage of the Thunderstrike, with scouts reporting that Imperial airspeeders were en route to the site. Survivors and casualties were accounted for, and bacta and other medical supplies were salvaged. Eventually, bombers arrived and began attacking the area. Imperial ground troops arrived, and their scouting parties began to open fire. Namir created more openings in the Thunderstrike's wreckage. Twilight Company worked through the night to fortify the Inyusu facility. The engineers, led by the new chief of engineering Vifra, reversed the magma flooding plan within the facility. Namir and the head engineer discussed using the magma extractors to prevent Imperial forces from tunneling through the mountain as Twilight Company had done.
Meanwhile, the Empire bombed the outskirts of the mountain to confine the company to the Inyusu Tor facility. Namir held meetings to plan the defense of the facility, summarizing the situation and capabilities of Twilight Company. Chalis, having studied records from the facility administrator, suggested to Namir that they contact the Sullustan resistance, a rebel cell operating in Pinyumb, Sullust's capital city located at the base of Inyusu Tor, for any possible assistance. After considering this proposal, Namir agreed and instructed Chalis to select a squad.
Namir, Chalis, the soldier Twitch, and her two remaining soldiers prepared to travel to Pinyumb in a vehicle from the Inyusu Tor facility. Roach joined them shortly before their departure, and they disembarked at the base of the mountain. The group of six then changed into civilian clothing, concealed weapons, and sneaked past Imperial patrols to reach the capital city, which had been under lockdown since Twilight Company's arrival on Sullust. After navigating the alleys of Pinyumb, the group arrived at an old Sullustan resistance safehouse mentioned in the files of the company's former captain, Micha Evon.
During their search, Twitch's soldiers went to the nearby spaceport, but were soon confronted by a squad of stormtroopers who chased them away. Twitch left to find her squad, and Namir was captured by the stormtrooper SP-475. The Sullustan resistance leader Nien Nunb then arrived and rescued Namir from SP-475 and her squad. Numb took him to help feed hiding Sullustans, and they soon arrived at the Sullustan resistance safe house where the other resistance members were located.
Namir realized that the group of four freedom fighters would be of little help but devised a plan: the Sixty-First would face the inevitable Imperial attack on Inyusu Tor, while the Sullustan resistance and willing members of the Cobalt Laborers' Reformation Front would seize Pinyumb. Namir returned to Inyusu Tor and discovered that Chalis wanted the Sixty-First to evacuate and continue Operation Ringbreaker, and had already started her plan. Namir insisted on his plan, and the Besalisk Gadren captured Chalis, foiling her plan. Namir then prepared the Sixty-First for the coming attack.
On the Third Day of the Siege, the Imperial counterattack began. Stormtroopers and Navy Troopers ascended the mountain as air speeders fired at Twilight scouts. The rebel defense consisted of three lines. The outer line held only a few dozen troopers hidden behind boulders and other cover. They couldn't hold out for long, but they could ambush Imperial troops and catch them off guard. The middle line was a trench occupied by a third of the company. It was close enough to the facility that the Empire wouldn't bomb it. The trench also contained an assortment of blaster cannons, mortars, and other light artillery. The final defense line mirrored what the Empire had in the initial assault.
It had worked well for the Imperials and would work well for the Rebels. A horde of white-armored stormtroopers mixed with lightly armored navy troopers and a few AT-ST walkers. The first move of the battle was a dozen air speeders releasing bombs on the outer facility. The outer squads were well concealed and took no damage. When the Imperial infantry charged and was in close range, the outer squads opened fire. Each rebel shot felled a soldier, but they were soon overwhelmed.
They started to retreat in twos or threes. Once the Empire reached the outer line, leftover Ion mines detonated. About 50 meters from the trench, the Empire paused to allow scout walkers to pass through. Only one was downed by artillery and another by an ion mine before they reached the trench. They cut through the rebel squads, and Namir ordered the inner artillery to fire. Entire squads were annihilated either by Twilight Company's artillery or its walkers. The rest of the walkers were destroyed or retreated. Namir went down to the front lines and talked with Von Geiz. The airspeeders stopped firing as a Star Destroyer entered the atmosphere.
The Herald began to bombard the outer defensive positions, killing many Twilight snipers and scouts. Its cannon volleys closed in on the facility but were halted by the return of the Apailana's Promise, which kept it distracted. As the defensive lines were pushed back, Twilight Company's chief of engineering, Vifra, and her team used machines donated by the Sullustan resistance to excavate ports for the facility's lava to flow towards the ground forces. The lava trapped the Imperial forces and killed many that couldn't advance fast enough on the facility.
During the battle, Chalis fled to the nearby city of Pinyumb, killed an Imperial officer, and attempted to escape the planet in a shuttle. Chalis' codes had been marked by the bridge crew, and her ship was tractor beamed in. After being taken prisoner, Chalis revealed the shuttle had been rigged with ion charges and activated them, causing a major power loss to the Star Destroyer. Unable to power its weapons and maintain altitude, the ship began to drop towards the surface and was forced to leave the system. Even without the Star Destroyer's help, the Imperial ground forces remained strong and stormed the facility. The fire fights led to the deaths of many on both sides, including the Twilight soldier Roach. However, the Imperial numbers rapidly deteriorated, and they were ultimately defeated. At some point, the rebel Caluan Ematt made his way to Sullust to assist the resistance. He found upon his arrival that Twilight Company had already had the battle at under control.
Pinyumb was seized by the combined forces of the Sullustan resistance and the Cobalt Laborers, and in the following days, more uprisings erupted across Sullust, delaying the inevitable Imperial counterattack. An interim government was established in Pinyumb, and heavy losses sustained by Twilight Company ultimately led to the cancellation of Operation Ringbreaker, allowing the company to serve as a temporary police force for the Sullustan people.
The victory on Sullust ultimately played a crucial role in the outcome of the Galactic Civil War, as the planet was eventually used as the staging ground for the Alliance Fleet before the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY. After the Alliance's victory at this battle, it transitioned into the New Republic. During the campaign in the Cerberon system, around 5 ABY, Sergeant Zab, a veteran of the Siege of Inyusu Tor, recalled the loss of the Thunderstrike there in a conversation with some other soldiers and the New Republic pilots Nath Tensent and Wyl Lark.
After the battle and following its transformation into the New Republic, it returned to liberate Sullust completely. Sometime later, the Empire returned to the planet and reactivated an abandoned weapons factory, in an effort to covertly resupply their dwindling forces. The installation was destroyed by Lando Calrissian and Shriv Suurgav, shortly before the Battle of Jakku.
The Siege of Inyusu Tor was first depicted in the 2015 novel Battlefront: Twilight Company, penned by Alexander Freed.
It's worth noting that in the main image featured in this article, Sullust is incorrectly spelled as "Sollust."
The reference book Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy uses images from the unrelated Battle for Sullust to illustrate the Siege of Inyusu Tor. The book also erroneously states that Nien Nunb only joined the Alliance after the battle, when he was already serving within its ranks at that time. The 2024 reference book Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy's entry for Nien Nunb refers to the "insurrection on Sullust" that he participated in as occurring between the events of Star Wars (2020) 36 and Operation: Yellow Moon, thereby helping to date the siege, but incorrectly states that it resulted in the complete liberation of the planet.