In the early stages of the Clone Wars, sometime between 22 BBY and 20 BBY, the planet Lola Sayu was captured by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The Confederacy also took control over the Citadel, a prison facility constructed by the Galactic Republic five-hundred years before the war's outbreak, and populated the prison with a unit of battle droids under the command of Phindian Separatist warden, Commander Osi Sobeck.
For centuries prior to the outbreak of the Clone Wars, fought between the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Republic maintained a form of governance over the Outer Rim world of Lola Sayu. In the Republic's governance, five-hundred years before the war's inception, the democratic government constructed the Citadel, a prison facility, on the planet's surface. However, sometime after the war's beginning, between 22 BBY and 20 BBY, which succeeded the formation of the Confederacy, Lola Sayu was placed deep within the confederate government's territory, which resulted in efforts to claim the planet early on in the conflict.
With the outbreak of the Clone Wars, which saw Lola Sayu located deep within the Confederacy of Independent Systems' territory, the planet was taken under the confederate government's control. Along with their efforts to take the world, the Confederacy also aimed to claim governance over the Citadel for their uses.
The Confederacy took control of the Citadel in their capture of Lola Sayu.
Following the capture of both the planet and the prison, the Citadel was updated by the Confederacy with modern security measures so that Republic assaults could be repelled, while also establishing a planetary blockade of one Providence-class Dreadnought accompanied by two Munificent-class star frigates in Lola Sayu's orbit. Upon acquisition of the Citadel, the confederate government came to realize the prison's value in holding and interrogating members of the Jedi Order, as well as other Republic captives. Furthermore, the government appointed the Phindian, Commander Osi Sobeck, as the prison's warden, who directed the facility with unending cruelty, and was supplemented by a unit of battle droids that the Confederacy occupied the Citadel with.
Sometime after its capture by the Confederacy, in 20 BBY, the planet served as the site of an engagement between both the Republic and Confederacy. When the Citadel had become the site of detainment for imprisoned allies, who had discovered vital information regarding the coordinates of the Nexus Route, a hyperspace route that extended through both government's territories and could further either's war efforts, the Republic dispatched a rescue team to retrieve their allies and return them to safety following a prolonged struggle on the world.
The capture of Lola Sayu was first mentioned, albeit indirectly, in "Counterattack," the nineteenth episode of the third season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, which aired on March 4, 2011.
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