The siege of the Creekpath Mining and Refining complex marked the second major engagement in the Batonn insurgency, itself a component of the broader Batonn sector insurgency. Following the events of the Battle of Scrim Island, the Batonn insurgents, under the leadership of Nevil Cygni (known as "Nightswan"), retreated to the Creekpath Mining and Refining complex situated near Paeragosto City. Admiral Thrawn's attempts at a peaceful resolution to the siege were rejected by Nightswan, who harbored distrust for the local Governor Restos and sought the Empire's downfall. Further complicating Thrawn's management of the siege was a clandestine operation by the Imperial Security Bureau, specifically Agent Gudry, tasked with emplacing explosives within the mine. The siege reached its conclusion when Lothalian Governor Arihnda Pryce, acting remotely, detonated the explosives and the deflector shield generator to cover up Gudry's murder. This explosion resulted in the destruction of the complex, the end of the Batonn sector insurgency, and the tragic loss of numerous civilian lives.
During the Imperial Era, Nevil Cygni, formerly a pirate and now known as "Nightswan", spearheaded an insurgency against the Galactic Empire. His primary adversary was the Chiss officer Admiral Thrawn, a rapidly ascending figure within the ranks of the Imperial Navy. Nightswan assumed leadership of the Batonn insurgents, a resistance group operating in the Batonn sector with the goal of opposing both the Galactic Empire and the corrupt Governor Restos. Nightswan orchestrated the Battle of Scrim Island in a bid to sabotage Thrawn's career. However, Thrawn strategically outmaneuvered the Batonn insurgents, neutralizing their ion cannons and turbolaser emplacements, which ultimately compelled them to surrender.
Despite the capitulation of the insurgents on Scrim Island, a significant portion of their forces managed to escape aboard eight freighters, carrying their weapons and equipment. Utilizing information provided by Captain Brento, Commander Eli Vanto successfully traced the freighters' trajectories to the Creekpath Mining and Refining complex, situated near Paeragosto City on Batonn's main continent. This mining complex housed approximately 30,000 civilians, including Governor Arihnda Pryce's parents, Talmoor and Elainye Pryce, who were employed at the mine. Nightswan opted to relocate his forces to Creekpath because the complex benefited from the protection of a DSS-02 regional shield. He speculated that the Empire would no longer consider his insurgents a significant threat after the recapture of Scrim Island. However, Thrawn recognized that the Batonn insurgents had merely gone into hiding and chose to maintain his 96th Task Force on Batonn.
Nightswan's forces were able to establish a base within the Creekpath mine due to Governor Restos's negligence in deploying troops to secure the mine's checkpoints. Restos instead diverted those soldiers for his personal security, providing the mine management with a second-hand DSS-02 regional shield. This allowed the insurgents to seize control of the shield generator and remove its operators. The Batonn insurgents then established a checkpoint at the perimeter of Creekpath's shield. Nightswan's forces possessed several police gunships and skim fighters. In response, the Empire deployed Imperial Navy Troopers and Batonn Defense Force personnel to establish a roadblock on the primary road connecting Paerogosto City to the Creekpath mining complex. Given that the Empire did not classify Batonn and Paerogosto City as active military zones, Admiral Thrawn faced restrictions on his authority over the military forces present.
Two additional factors complicated the Siege of the Creekpath complex. Firstly, Governor Arihnda Pryce was motivated by familial affection to rescue her parents from the Creekpath complex. Secondly, the Imperial Security Bureau sought to insert one of their agents, Gudry, into the mine to gather intelligence on the insurgents' defenses and equipment in preparation for a planned Imperial orbital bombardment. Agent Gudry also had a secret objective: to attach remotely detonated explosives to the insurgents' weaponry and deflector shield. Despite Pryce's civilian status, she successfully persuaded ISB Colonel Wullf Yularen that she could facilitate Gudry's entry into the mine and gather intelligence on the insurgents' defenses.
For this undertaking, Agent Gudry assumed the alias "Mattai Daw" and fabricated a cover story, claiming that he was entering the mine to locate his friend "Blazye Jono," who had become entangled in the "mine situation." To conceal her true identity, Pryce wore a long blonde wig and contact lenses. To avoid raising suspicion, Colonel Yularen, with Thrawn's authorization, arranged for Gudry and Pryce to travel from Dennogra aboard a regional planet hopper, landing at Paeragosto City. Their journey from Thrawn's Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera to Dennogra and back to Batonn spanned twelve hours.
Meanwhile, Thrawn issued orders for the repair of the three damaged Imperial light cruisers Flensor, Shyrack, and Tumnor, which had participated in the Battle of Scrim Island. These ships remained in orbit around Batonn, ostensibly in a vulnerable state. However, Thrawn had discreetly equipped the repair barges with a contingent of TIE fighters loaned by Admiral Durril. When Colonel Yularen inquired about Thrawn's unusual positioning of the light cruisers in a 100 km equilateral triangle above space, Commander Vanto instructed Yularen to trust Thrawn's strategic judgment.
Pryce and Gudry, in disguise, successfully navigated the insurgents' checkpoint and reunited with Talmoor and Elainye at their residence. Having located her parents, Pryce and "Mattai Daw" convinced Talmoor to guide them into the mine under the pretense of finding "Blayze Jonoo," a purported weapons expert within the mine. Talmoor revealed that the Batonn insurgents had taken refuge inside the mine. He expressed sympathy for the rebels, asserting that they were fighting for the rights of the people against a "repressive and dangerous government." While outwardly supporting Daw's plan to find his friend, Pryce secretly replaced her mother's comm with her own, intending to escape the mining complex with her parents before the Empire launched its attack.
In the meantime, Thrawn made contact with the insurgent leader, Nightswan, from orbit to arrange a face-to-face meeting. They agreed to convene at a field located two kilometers northeast of the Creekpath facility. Thrawn selected this location because it featured a ridge of low hills that obstructed casual observation while remaining easily accessible from the insurgent camp. Thrawn traveled to the site aboard a disguised freighter.
Talmoor successfully persuaded the second ring of insurgents guarding the mine to grant passage to him, Pryce, and Gudry. While Gudry accompanied Talmoor, Pryce concealed herself inside a speeder truck and used her mother's comm to contact her father. Posing as her mother, Pryce called Talmoor and claimed that Elainye was ill and needed him at home. Gudry reluctantly permitted Pryce to leave the mine with her father, allowing him to dedicate the next hour to completing his mission. Before departing, Gudry reported that Nightswan possessed police gunships and skim fighters. In return, Pryce alerted him to the presence of a speeder truck transporting Makrid String crates, a wire explosive.
Concurrently, Thrawn and Nightswan met at the designated field. Nightswan admitted to orchestrating the earlier insurgent encounters with Thrawn. Nightswan also disclosed that the Empire was diverting substantial quantities of doonium, iridium, and other metals for a clandestine project, which was later identified as the Death Star. While Nightswan had initially envisioned uniting all insurgent and rebel factions under a single banner, he abandoned the idea due to the pervasive paranoia, distrust, and infighting among the various rebel cells.
Seeking a peaceful resolution to the siege, Thrawn elucidated his motivations for joining the Empire. He explained that his people, the Chiss Ascendancy, had dispatched him to forge an alliance with the Empire due to the presence of enigmatic "evil things" in the Unknown Regions. While Thrawn acknowledged the Empire's corruption and tyranny, he considered it preferable to the threats lurking in the Unknown Regions and the potential chaos of the galaxy.
While Nightswan believed that the rebellion would usher in justice, mercy, and freedom, Thrawn argued that the Empire's collapse would lead to chaos and lawlessness reminiscent of the Clone Wars. Despite serving Emperor Palpatine, Thrawn recognized the Emperor's flaws and hoped to leverage his authority to influence the selection of a more deserving successor upon the Emperor's death. Thrawn then extended an invitation to Nightswan to join the Chiss Ascendancy if he would abandon his people and insurrection. Despite Thrawn's assurances that he would ensure the safe return of Nightswan's followers to their homes and jobs without reprisal, Nightswan remained skeptical that Governor Restos and Thrawn's superiors would honor the agreement.
Although he failed to break the siege, Nightswan secured a promise from Thrawn to protect the civilians of Creekpath. Thrawn concurred and offered clemency in exchange for their surrender. After their meeting concluded, Thrawn was retrieved in an airspeeder by Colonel Yularen, who expressed his displeasure that Thrawn had engaged in conversation with the enemy. While the two were close friends, Yularen cautioned that others might interpret Thrawn's meeting with Nightswan as a sign of treason. Thrawn reassured Yularen that the light cruisers were in capable hands. In return, Yularen informed him that Gudry had successfully attached explosives to the shield generator and the explosives cache at Creekpath base.
Upon returning to the Pryce residence, Arihnda informed her parents that they needed to distance themselves from Gudry. Unaware of Thrawn's plans, Pryce claimed that Thrawn's task force was preparing to bomb Creekpath and that they needed to evacuate. Before they could depart, Pryce was confronted by Gudry, who had discovered her deception. He reprimanded her for abandoning their search and revealed that his mission was a "search and destroy mission." By this point, Gudry had attached four triggers to an explosives cache and the shield generator. He intended to use his comm to remotely detonate the explosives. Pryce insisted on taking her parents with her, but Gudry argued that they would only attract unwanted attention.
Before Gudry could shoot them, Pryce hurled a stack of datacards at him. Pryce engaged him in hand-to-hand combat and broke his elbow. She then managed to seize his blaster and shot him in the chest three times. While her parents retrieved their medpac and suitcase, Pryce seized the opportunity to search Gudry's clothing for the trigger. Meanwhile, Yularen attempted to contact Pryce and Gudry but was unable to reach them. Nevertheless, he refused to detonate the explosives until there was clear evidence that they had been captured or killed. Commander Faro had also deployed the Chimaera's TIE fighters on patrol duty around Batonn.
Based on Gudry's intelligence regarding the Batonn insurgents' possession of gunships and skim fighters, Thrawn planned to use the Chimaera to bombard the insurgent ships once Creekpath's shield had been deactivated. While preparing for a ground assault, Thrawn persuaded Yularen to lend him a special-duty squad to rescue Pryce and Agent Gudry, remaining unaware of the events that had transpired on the ground. Thrawn also ordered the ground commanders on the west and north to harass the Creekpath insurgents. However, he stipulated that they were not to enter the complex until the shield was down or he issued new orders.
Shortly thereafter, the Chimaera's bridge crew reported that three attack squadrons, comprising thirty ships, had emerged from hyperspace to attack Thrawn's task force. Thrawn had, in fact, presented the damaged light cruisers and the Chimaera as bait to entice the Batonn insurgents into launching their attack. While Vanto was alarmed, Thrawn remained composed and instructed Senior Lieutenant Lomar to order the light cruisers to detach from the barges. The barges then deployed three squadrons of TIE fighters which engaged the insurgent ships. With the insurgents now at a disadvantage, Thrawn unleashed the Chimaera's turbolasers on the insurgent fleet.
As the Pryce family made their way towards the insurgents' outer picket line, Imperial forces initiated an assault on the north and west sides of the complex. While Talmoor dealt with a sentry, Pryce detonated a bulldozer-type machine using a comm-triggered blasting cap. She was cornered by another guard but managed to shoot him while the bulldozer exploded. When her parents noticed the fallen insurgent, she claimed that he had been struck by shrapnel. At Arihnda's urging, she and her parents reached the Imperial picket lines, where they were greeted by two Imperial Navy troopers. They informed her that Colonel Yularen had dispatched a rescue team to her parents' home. The troopers escorted the Pryces to their commanding officer, Major Talmege. In an attempt to prevent the special squad from discovering Gudry's corpse, Pryce used Gudry's comm to detonate the second remote, triggering Nightswan's cache of explosives.
The resulting explosion obliterated the entire Creekpath complex within the confines of the deflector shield. Upon learning of the bombing, the surviving insurgent ships in space abandoned their attack and fled into space. Thrawn permitted their escape to demoralize the remaining rebels. The entirety of the Batonn insurgent movement, including Nightswan, perished in the bombing, along with countless civilians. Imperial forces located Nightswan's body in one of the outer areas, where the damage was less extensive. Consequently, the insurgents in the Batonn sector were eliminated.
The detonation of the explosives cache at the Creekpath mining complex concluded the siege in the Empire's favor. While many believed that the insurgents had detonated the explosives themselves, Arihnda knew that she was responsible for the bombing. When Elainye criticized the Empire for the bombing, Pryce placed the blame on the rebels. Pryce then arranged for her parents to be transported to Lothal aboard the transport Duggenhei, where she made arrangements to accommodate them in one of the guest suites at the governor's mansion. Admiral Thrawn directed Colonel Yularen and the ground commanders to initiate a search and rescue operation for any survivors. He also summoned Pryce and Yularen for an audience aboard the Chimaera.
Colonel Yularen expressed his outrage at the high casualty rate and the deaths of civilians. Pryce asserted that Gudry had been captured by the insurgents and had detonated the explosives to avoid capture. However, Yularen voiced skepticism that Gudry would have detonated the explosives prematurely but acknowledged that there was insufficient evidence to challenge Pryce's account. Yularen also held Pryce responsible for the deaths of the troopers that he had sent to rescue her. Despite the high civilian death toll, the Emperor was pleased with Thrawn's pacification of the Batonn insurgency. While Thrawn shared Yularen's aversion to collateral damage, he accepted credit for the victory at Batonn at the urging of Pryce, who became his informal political advisor. In private, Thrawn and Vanto confided in each other that Pryce had somehow been involved in the explosion.
Following the siege, Thrawn met with his benefactor, Emperor Palpatine, who promoted him to the rank of Grand Admiral and granted him command of the Seventh Fleet. At the request of Governor Pryce, Thrawn was dispatched by Governor Wilhuff Tarkin to address the rebel insurgency in the Lothal sector. While ISB Agent Alexsandr Kallus expressed concerns about the high civilian death rate at Batonn, Pryce responded that the casualties were within "acceptable margins" since the rebel presence in the Batonn sector had been eradicated. With Thrawn introduced, he launched his effort to wipe out yet another rebel cell.
The Siege of the Creekpath Mining and Refining complex was first indirectly referenced in Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow. The siege was later detailed in Timothy Zahn's 2017 novel Thrawn.