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The Clone Wars (22 BBY–19 BBY), also known as the Clone War and the Great Clone War, was the name given to the major galactic conflict fought between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The war was named after the clone troopers utilized by the Republic against the battle droid forces of the CIS. These armies were two of the largest ever pitted against each other in galactic history, and the fighting between them rapidly spread to countless inhabited worlds. Both sides scored significant victories over the other, and at different times during the war either seemed likely to triumph. The death of Count Dooku and Grievous, coupled with the issue of Order 66 and the deactivation of the droid army brought an end to the fighting. At the time, it was the largest galactic conflict to date.
Unbeknownst to most of those involved, the conflict was started, maintained and eventually ended by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, whose ultimate goal was the transformation of the Republic into the Galactic Empire with him as Emperor as well as the eradication of the Jedi Order. The conflict would lead to the Order of the Sith Lords controlling the dominant galactic government.
Although the Clone Wars officially began in 22 BBY at the Battle of Geonosis, their origins could be found ten years prior, during the blockade of Naboo by the Trade Federation in response to Outer Rim trade route taxation. The aftermath saw the election of Naboo Senator Palpatine to the office of Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. He promised to bring an end to the corruption that had so often plagued the Galactic Senate. The first few years of his tenure saw very little to fulfill that promise, however. The demilitarization of the Trade Federation was viewed by many as little more than a slap on the wrist, and Nute Gunray, Viceroy of the Trade Federation, managed to avoid any serious charges against him due to his role in the Naboo conflict despite opposition from Padmé Amidala.[1]
During this time, Palpatine, in his alter ego Darth Sidious, had contacted the experienced Jedi Master Count Dooku. Having lost his apprentice Darth Maul during the Naboo conflict, Palpatine was in need of a new apprentice and Dooku, whose own faith in the Republic had been shattered following the Battle of Galidraan, seemed the perfect one to mold. Having killed his old friend Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas to seal his fate and become Darth Tyranus, Dooku was then ordered to eliminate any reference to Kamino from the Jedi Archives, preventing the Jedi from discovering the clone army secretly being grown for them until they were ready to learn about it. After being deemed worthy, Jango Fett was commissioned by Dooku to be the template for this army.[2]
While the future Grand Army of the Republic was being prepared on Kamino, however, other forces of clone warriors were already active in the galaxy. Cloners and their products were no secret to Jedi like Obi-Wan Kenobi and fringers like former gunrunner Dexter Jettster, and around the time that Outbound Flight was destroyed in 27 BBY, the Galactic Republic's military forces were engaged in combat with clone warriors, rendered dangerously unstable and prone to clone madness by being very rapidly grown to maturity. Veterans of these campaigns, such as the future Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, would later consider these campaigns as the start of the Clone Wars, but to most people, they were probably only a symptom of the unrest in the Republic at the time.
In 24 BBY, Palpatine's eight year term as Supreme Chancellor was coming to an end. At roughly the same time, Dooku emerged on Raxus Prime, declaring his intentions to form the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a group of disenfranchised organizations and governments whose goal was to secede from the Republic. Fearing what would happen if this breakaway faction was allowed to do so, Palpatine was allowed to stay in office longer than the Galactic Constitution permitted.
Over the next two years, many systems left the Republic to join the Confederacy, Ando, Geonosis, Tynna, Sy Myrth and Yag'Dhul among them. They would be joined by the Elrood, Danjar, Tantra and Sluis sectors, bringing most of the Rimward leg of the Rimma Trade Route under the control of the Confederacy. These sectors would be followed by the Abrion sector which provided the Confederacy with some 200 agricultural worlds and the Lahara sector which brought over Agamar, Oorn Tchis and the Mirgoshir hyperspace crossroads. However, though Ando joined the Confederacy, the Andoan Free Colonies remained loyal to the Republic.
Later, they would be joined by the corporate entities of the galaxy: the Baktoid Armor Workshop, the Commerce Guild, the Corporate Alliance, the Techno Union, the InterGalactic Banking Clan and the Trade Federation. Coruscant also found itself the target of many terrorist attacks, including an attack on Naboo Senator Amidala upon her return to vote on the Military Creation Act, which would give the Chancellor the right to create an army to defend the Republic against the Separatist threat.
After a second attack on Amidala's life, the Jedi Council selected Obi-Wan Kenobi to investigate who was behind the attempted assassinations on the Senator, while Anakin Skywalker escorted Senator Amidala back to Naboo. Kenobi's search took him to Kamino, where he discovered the clone army, by this time numbering two hundred thousand units with a million already in production. He also met Jango Fett, who attempted to escape to Geonosis, but was followed by Kenobi. Kenobi managed to send a message to the Jedi Council, but was captured. On Tatooine, Skywalker was ordered by Mace Windu to stay where he was and protect Amidala. Amidala, however, decided to travel to Geonosis to rescue Kenobi. Skywalker and Amidala were then captured as well and they, along with Kenobi, were sentenced to be executed.[3]
With the knowledge of the Separatist Army, the Senate, at behest of Representative Jar Jar Binks, himself manipulated by Vice Chair Mas Amedda, gave Chancellor Palpatine emergency dictatorial powers. The Chancellor legalized the creation of the clone army to serve in the Grand Army of the Republic.[3]
Count Dooku, prevented from openly taking his own apprentice by the Rule of Two, nonetheless sought out several Force-sensitives to act as Dark Acolytes. These individuals included Asajj Ventress, Sev'rance Tann, Sora Bulq, Tol Skorr, Kadrian Sey, Artel Darc, Karoc, Vinoc, Saato, Trenox, and even Jedi Master Quinlan Vos for a time. All of them, with the exception of Ventress and Vos, were killed during the course of the war.
In addition to this group of Dark Jedi, he recruited the Chistori warrior Cydon Prax and the Gen'Dai bounty hunter Durge. Durge gladly joined the Confederacy, if for no other reason than to eliminate the Republic's army of clone troopers bred from the DNA of Mandalorian Jango Fett, as Durge hated Mandalorians.
The most important and the most famous ally recruited to the Confederate cause was the Kaleesh warrior Qymaen jai Sheelal, whose body was horribly maimed in a shuttle crash arranged, though not known to Sheelal, by Dooku himself. His broken body was taken to Geonosis where he was offered a new life and the help of the InterGalactic Banking Clan for his people by the InterGalactic Banking Clan Chairman San Hill. All the Kaleesh had to do in exchange was lead the Confederacy Droid Army against the Republic who had wronged his people.[4]
Sheelal took the opportunity afforded to him, merged with his new droid body and he became the feared General Grievous, Supreme Commander of the Droid Army.
The Battle of Geonosis was the first battle of the Clone Wars. The battle occurred after Separatist forces captured Obi-Wan Kenobi on Geonosis and charged him with spying for the Republic. Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala attempted to rescue Kenobi, but were also captured and sentenced to death. A Jedi strike team led by Mace Windu stormed the Petranaki arena, where the prisoners were to be killed. The ensuing battle resulted in the deaths of many Jedi and the bounty hunter and template of the clone army, bounty hunter Jango Fett.[3]
The Jedi managed to hold their own for some time but were being beaten back by the outnumbering droid forces. As they prepared to fight to the end, the clone army, under Yoda's command, dropped from the sky in Republic gunships. Managing to rescue the Jedi from the arena, the clones engaged the droid army on the fields of Geonosis, in order to prevent their escape.[3]
However, the battle on the surface was not the only conflict. In the space battle, the clone pilots, led by Adi Gallia, took out valuable Trade Federation battleships,[5] and in the subterranean battle, fought between clone commandos—most notably the commandos of Delta Squad—and Separatist forces, saw victory for the Republic by eliminating foundries and Geonosian leaders, such as Sun Fac.[6]
Count Dooku, seeing the battle lost, took the plans for the Separatists' Ultimate Weapon and fled to a secret hangar. Intercepted by Kenobi and Skywalker, he managed to best them both, even severing Skywalker's right arm at the elbow. However, he was unable to defeat Yoda as easily, and was forced to resort to trickery in order to escape.[3]
Traveling to Coruscant, Dooku met with Darth Sidious at The Works. It seemed clear to the two Sith Lords that, while the Battle of Geonosis was a defeat, it was but the first move in a much larger game.[3]
Although the Battle of Geonosis was a victory for the Republic, the prospect of a war between the Republic and the Confederacy was now inevitable. Millions of clone trooper units departed from Coruscant on missions to find and defeat the Confederacy. The clones were led in these missions by the Jedi Knights, the first time that the Jedi Order had taken up arms en masse since the Seventh Battle of Ruusan a thousand years prior.
Following the battle, Jedi Knights Sora Bulq and Tholme were sent to Dooku's hidden base on Bakura to confront him. Unfortunately for them, Dooku captured and seduced Sora Bulq to the dark side of the Force, though Tholme managed to escape. Seven days after the Battle of Geonosis, Mace Windu sent two Jedi spies, Aayla Secura and Ylenic It'kla, on a mission to Corellia to find the Techno Union scientist Ratri Tane, who possessed very valuable information. Unexpected help came from the Corellian Jedi Master Nejaa Halcyon, having just returned from a failed mission to halt the Freedom's Sons' attempts in the Sluis sector.
This was followed by a Separatist/Trandoshan invasion of the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. There, the Trandoshans rounded up countless Wookiee captives and imprisoned them in concentration camps. Though the Republic managed to drive the Trandoshans off, war would continue to take place on Kashyyyk.
Later, the Chiss Separatist Commander, Sev'rance Tann, led an assault on Tatooine where her agents learned of a new Republic weapon known as the Decimator being built on Eredenn Prime. On Eredenn Prime, she captured several Decimators and then captured Alaris Prime, a Wookiee colony world which had just recovered from the Dark Reaper crisis. Tann then made a strike on Sarapin which generated enough geothermal energy to supply a significant amount of the power for the Core Worlds. This created massive blackouts that affected countless Core Worlds including Coruscant. Jedi General Echuu Shen-Jon then led a counter-campaign against Tann and slew her on Krant with his lightsaber after calling on the dark side.[7]
Separatist forces commenced a massive attack on the seemingly unimportant Republic outpost of Rhen Var. Anakin and Obi-Wan managed to successfully evacuate most Republic presence there, but the Separatists took the planet regardless.
Shortly afterward, the Republic sent Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to Raxus Prime where they discovered Separatist forces on the planet. Millennia earlier, in 3,996 BBY during the Great Sith War, the Dark Reaper was unleashed upon the Jedi. However, the superweapon was disabled by Ulic Qel-Droma and would remain on the planet for millennia until Count Dooku and his Chistori mercenary Cydon Prax discovered an important component of the Reaper called the Force Harvester and unleashed a wave of energy killed roughly half of the thriving forest on Kashyyyk moon, along with its indigenous population.
The Sith Lord then took off and found the pieces of the Dark Reaper. The exact locations are not mentioned, but Mace Windu mentioned that it was separated into the furthest reaches of the galaxy. Dooku went to Thule and activated it in an ancient Sith city on the planet. Meanwhile on Rhen Var, Skywalker went to the grave of Ulic Qel-Droma for information on how to withstand the effects of the Dark Reaper. Shortly after the revival of the Dark Reaper, Skywalker led an attack on the city, destroying the weapon, disobeying an order from Obi-Wan Kenobi to await Republic backup forces. Despite Anakin's almost single-handed defeat of the Reaper weapon, his feats in these battles served to fuel his ego and create an even greater personal rift between himself and his master. However, the Confederacy managed to conquer Bespin and Ossus with the Republic preoccupied at the Battle of Thule.[8]
This was followed by another Separatist assault on Kamino where Separatist forces under the Corporate Alliance Magister Passel Argente and the Mon Calamari Merai assaulted Kamino in an attempt to destroy the Republic's cloning facilities. However, the Jedi learned of their plans and sent a defense fleet of Jedi starfighters to defend Kamino. Although the Jedi pilots battled bravely above, they could not stop the droid forces from landing in Tipoca City. The arrival of the newly-activated ARC troopers and Jet Commandos served to turn the tide, and Merai was forced to launch a desperate strike at the supposed location of the city's shield generator.
However, the Jedi proved too wily for the Mon Calamari tactician; the data gathered by the Corporate Alliance was false, and Merai's efforts were in vain. In a last-ditch attack, Merai flew into the Jedi hyperspace rings, destroying his flagship the Shark in the process, and giving his battleships time to retreat. Though apparently a victory for the Republic, the battle was actually engineered by Darth Sidious and his apprentice Darth Tyranus to root out and destroy the traitors in the Confederacy. Following that, more clone troopers from Kamino were deployed, thus allowing the war to continue. The Republic also began research into other methods of cloning such as Spaarti cylinders and conscription was introduced throughout the Republic.[9]
Despite losing the Dark Reaper, the Confederacy still continued research on developing weapons. On the Techno Union world of Queyta, researcher Jenna Zan Arbor had developed a bioweapon known as the swamp gas which appeared as a green mist and caused blisters and eventually death in many humanoid races. The Separatist Commander Asajj Ventress decided to test the virus on the Gungan colony of Ohma-D'un, a moon of Naboo. This killed all the Gungans on the moon. In response, four Jedi Knights including Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Master Glaive and Zule Xiss were sent to investigate what had happened. To stay unnoticed, the team flew to the moon in a single LAAT/i gunship. The Jedi were soon attacked by super battle droids fitted with swamp gas sprayers along with Asajj Ventress and the bounty hunter Durge. Their escort clone troopers, along with Glaive, were slain though Skywalker, Kenobi and the[ARC trooper Alpha-17 succeeded in defeating the Separatist duo and their forces for the time being. They then destroyed the capsules of the virus that were being loaded onto ships destined for Naboo and rescued the spice miners that were to be implicated in the disaster.Zule Xiss lost her arm to Asajj Ventress during the fight but survived to fight again thanks to Obi-Wan's intervention. Naboo was saved, but Ventress and Durge managed to escape.[10]
This victory was later followed by the Battle of Pengalan IV which saw a full platoon of clone troopers sent to Pengalan IV to destroy a diamond boron missiles facility in the city of Tur Lorkin. These missiles were outfitted with a shell too tough to be destroyed by a starfighter's laser cannons and when they exploded their massive blast radius could take out several small ships. The Republic had to destroy the factory or their fighter squadrons would be slaughtered. To the relief of every GAR fighter pilot they pulled it off.[11] Later, a mission to Qiilura saw Omega Squad being deployed to capture a Separatist research facility on the planet where an anti-clone virus was being manufactured.
Later, Mace Windu was sent to Ruul to investigate reports of defecting Jedi. Ruul was the private estate of Sora Bulq, who called a meeting of the Jedi dissidents refusing to fight in the so-called Clone Wars. Secretly, he hired the dark assassin Asajj Ventress to kill the Jedi, but Mace Windu was able to uncover Bulq's treachery and drove the assassin away.
On Coruscant, a group of Korunnai terrorists took Senator Meena Tills hostage as part of an attempt to turn the Corporate Sector against the Republic. However, their efforts were thwarted by Omega Squad. This was followed by the Mission to Queyta, a Jedi mission to obtain an antidote for the chemical weapon known as swamp gas, used to wipe out the Gungan colony on Ohma-D'un. Though the mission was successful, the Republic had not seen the last of the deadly swamp gas. Unknown to the Jedi, a second laboratory had been established on the far side of Queyta, the Separatists had loaded its creations aboard the Lucrehulk-class Core Ship Gahenna. This vessel would roam the galaxy for the next two years, modifying the swamp gas to become the TriHexalophine1138 toxin that devastated Honoghr .
Palpatine dispatched Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to lead an assault on the planet Muunilinst. The planet was the headquarters of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, a heavy monetary and battle droid contributor to the Separatist cause. During the battle, the Republic unleashed a fleet of Acclamator-class assault ships on the Separatist defenses. Kenobi led the ground assault while Skywalker led the space battle.[12]
On Muunilinst, Kenobi's army quickly took the advantage. The Muunilinst 10 under the command of Captain Alpha-77 were on a mission in the city of Harnaidan, though their gunship was shot down behind enemy lines. The ARC Troopers, however, completed their mission, to destroy a massive defensive artillery emplacement at the heart of Muunilinst.[13] SPHA-T artillery decimated huge sections of the city and Separatist forces. In reply to this, the Separatist bounty hunter Durge led an squadron of IG lancer combat droids against Kenobi's ground forces.[14] The strike force cut swaths through the columns of SPHA-Ts and their trooper protection. In response, Kenobi led a force of clone lancer troopers on 105-K lancer bikes and defeated Durge's force, with Kenobi even defeating Durge in single combat.[15] He then met up with the Muunilinst 10 at the InterGalactic Banking Clan's Command Center, and took the Banking Clan leader San Hill into custody. It was then that, Durge, who had survived the first duel, appeared and charged into the command center, where he was met with a volley of fire from the troopers. He was badly damaged, but survived thanks to his unique Gen'Dai abilities and attacked Kenobi. Many clones were killed, but Durge was eventually defeated by Kenobi with aide from Captain Alpha-77. The surrender of the Banking Clan leadership spelled victory for the Republic. However, due to his regenerative abilities, Durge was able to survive.[16]
Meanwhile in space, Anakin Skywalker was leading the Republic forces to victory. During the space battle he used an unorthodox move: ordering the clone fighters to shoot their missiles in a direction that looked clear of enemy units, across the bow of an Acclamator-class assault ship. As Anakin flew up past the Republic battleship, many droid starfighters followed him. The missiles just missed Anakin, but destroyed numerous fighters. He then flew past a CIS cruiser, while the remaining missiles, still tracking his position, were led into the hangar. The ship was destroyed.[17]
Later in the battle, a mysterious starfighter dropped out of hyperspace, destroying many clone-piloted starfighters. Skywalker immediately engaged the unknown ship in a space duel. The heated, twisting dogfight raged from orbit, down to the surface and then back into space again. When the pilot, a mysterious Force-sensitive protégé of Dooku later revealed to be the infamous Asajj Ventress, jumped into hyperspace, the impetuous young Jedi followed, disobeying a direct order from Kenobi.[18] He pursued her to the jungle moon of Yavin 4 where they engaged in a lightsaber duel through the jungles and finally led to the top of a Massassi temple. In the end, Ventress was defeated, though not killed. Despite this, the Republic had won another major victory against the Confederacy.[19][20][21]
Meanwhile, on the ocean planet Dac, the Mon Calamari Knights under the Jedi Master Kit Fisto defeated the CIS-backed Quarren Isolation League. After the battle, Kit Fisto discovered the League was allied with the Moappa, whom Kit discovered were also sentient. Kit informed the Mon Calamari that they needed to make peace with and respect the sapience of the Moappa. Despite this, many members of the predominantly Quarren Free Dac movement fled Mon Calamari, settling on the CIS worlds of Pammant and Minntooine, where the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps created shipyards. Using designs based on Mon Calamari Shipyards blueprints stolen by the CIS as a basis, these yards created Recusant-class light destroyers at Minntooine and Providence-class carrier/destroyers at the Pammant Docks for the Confederate Navy.[22]
The Confederacy was using the planet Dantooine as a staging point to launch a counterattack against the Republic blockade around Muunilinst. However, Jedi Master Mace Windu learned of the Confederate presence on Dantooine and left with a force of clone troopers to halt the progress of the Separatists. War erupted on Dantooine as clones and droids clashed in a vast, open plain. With Master Windu at their side, the clones quickly gained the upper hand, despite being outnumbered nearly four to one by Confederate B2 super battle droids.[23]
However, the battle was suddenly turned upside down with the arrival of a large siege weapon—the seismic tank. This tank used its seismic driver—once used in peace-time for mining operations—to cut a swath through the clone trooper ranks, either crushing them outright or sending soldiers flying from the shockwave. In the confusion, Windu lost his lightsaber, and was forced to fight a number of droids unarmed. Retrieving his lightsaber amid another seismic shockwave, Windu flew toward the seismic tank. Windu cut his way in, disabled the seismic driver, destroyed the tank's droid crew, and knocked out the controls. Flying clear, Windu watched on as the seismic tank smashed into the ground and exploded. The battle was won for the Republic.[24]
Meanwhile, CIS mine-laying Chameleon droids entered the lightsaber crystal temple on Ilum. At the time of the attack, Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and her newly knighted former Padawan Barriss Offee were in the temple, the latter making her lightsaber. They defended the temple valiantly, but the Temple eventually succumbed to heavy damage.[25]
The two Jedi were trapped by a cave-in until Master Yoda, who was traveling with Senator Padmé Amidala realized what had happened and persuaded Captain Gregar Typho to rescue them. The Jedi master left the Naboo Yacht alone to rescue the Jedi.[26] Senator Amidala became worried about him and set out with R2-D2 and C-3PO by her side. Artoo's scanners picked up three objects moving in, which attacked them. The trio dove for cover from the ambush. Unfortunately, the chameleon droids had their own cloaking devices which allowed them to stay hidden. To foil them, Padmé threw out her coat as a decoy. As the droids opened fire, the senator pin-pointed the source of fire. She quickly shot down the final two droids.[27]
Yoda returned from the Temple with Luminara and Barris. Yoda wondered who could have given the location of the temple. Artoo plugged into a destroyed chameleon droid and uncovered a recording from Count Dooku.[27]
It was during the Battle of Hypori that one of the greatest threats the Republic would face during this time made his dramatic debut. General Grievous led a massive droid army on Hypori in the downing of several Republic ships, the obliteration of an entire Republic army, and the deaths of several Jedi, including Tarr Seirr, Daakman Barrek and Sha'a Gi.[28] Only the timely intervention of ARC Captain Alpha-77 and a squad of ARC Troopers sent from General Kenobi on Muunilinst prevented the remaining Jedi from being killed as well.[29] Only Shaak Ti, Ki-Adi Mundi, Aayla Secura, and K'Kruhk, along with the ARC squad, survived the battle.[29]
Asajj Ventress soon resurfaced on Christophsis, where she led the Separatists' efforts to claim the planet. The vengeful assassin had managed to persuade a clone sergeant in the army of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to secretly join the Confederacy and through him gained invaluable information on the battle plans of the two Jedi. Using this data, Ventress had a force of battle droids launch a surprise attack on Kenobi, who survived only because of the timely intervention of his former apprentice.[30]
It became clear to the Jedi that there was a traitor among their men, and as such, they planned to infiltrate the Separatist headquarters on Christophsis to find information that could lead them to the spy. The headquarters proved unguarded, causing the pair to expect a trap; indeed, their instincts proved correct when they were confronted by Ventress herself. A vicious duel ensued, and Ventress proved capable of holding her own against her bitter enemies, stalling them as she had planned so that her clone informant, Slick, could destroy the Republic's weapons depot. The Jedi were forced to retreat from the Dark Jedi, who ordered General Whorm Loathsom to advance on the greatly depleted Republic clone army.
Generals Kenobi and Skywalker forced their clones to steadily advance on the incoming Separatists' forces, gaining the Republic an early respite. It didn't last long, though, as the droid army under General Loathsom soon returned for more bloodshed. A shuttle soon came with an important delivery; thinking it was reinforcements, the Jedi went to investigate—only to find a young Padawan named Ahsoka Tano, who insisted that she had been sent by Master Yoda to serve as Skywalker's Padawan. The battle soon commenced yet again, with the Separatist forces advancing behind an expanding shield that artillery couldn't penetrate. Tasked with taking down the deflector shield, Skywalker and Tano succeeded in penetrating the enemy lines, using all their stealth, cunning and ability to improvise, while Kenobi stalled for time by holding a fake surrender negotiation meeting with Loathsom.[31]
Soon after the final victory for the Republic on Christophsis, Master Yoda arrived with the urgent message that a mysterious group of renegades had kidnapped Jabba the Hutt's son, Rotta, and that it was the responsibility of Skywalker, Tano, CC-7567 and the clones to rescue him and bring him back to his father safely. Kenobi flew to Tatooine to assure Jabba that Rotta would be returned safely and to secure a promise from the Hutt's that the Republic could use their trading routes for safe passage within the Outer Rim; the Separatist's controlling most of the hyperlanes outside of the Hutt's control.[31]
Skywalker and Tano had their first post-Christophsis mission together on the jungle planet of Teth with the intent of rescuing Jabba's son. Skywalker, Tano and CC-7567 stormed the monastery atop a pillar there and found Rotta. The crisis proved to be a decoy: Count Dooku had staged the kidnapping himself in order to blacklist the Jedi among the Hutts. First, he had the Jedi retrieve the young Hutt to secure fake evidence. Then, Asajj Ventress, as the overseer of the operation, was charged with either retrieving or killing the child, ensuring that the Hutt clans would ally with the Confederacy.[31]
While quarreling about proper procedure, yet slowly gaining respect for one another, Skywalker and Tano managed to escape the trap along with R2-D2, and hijacked a derelict transport, which they used to travel to Tatooine. Kenobi arrived to relieve CC-7567 and his forces and engaged Ventress in combat. Kenobi eventually managed to disarm her of one of her lightsabers, and she was forced to flee.[31]
In the meantime, Senator Amidala learned of Anakin's mission. Worried about him, she decided to contact Jabba's uncle, Ziro the Hutt, who lived in a shady part of Coruscant. The Hutt refused to cooperate: Ziro was conspiring with Dooku to engineer the downfall of his nephew to seize the power over the Hutt clans for himself. When Amidala learnt of this plot, she was captured, though she ultimately freed herself and with the help of C-3PO, Ziro was arrested.[31]
Upon their arrival on Tatooine, Skywalker and Tano were attacked by MagnaGuards and shot down. Faced with a long way across desert sands and relentless opponents, Skywalker devised a ruse; when Count Dooku cornered Skywalker, the pack he was carrying was revealed to contain merely rocks, rather than Rotta. Tano and R2-D2 traveled with Rotta to Jabba's palace unmolested, but just as they neared it, Tano was ambushed by three MagnaGuards, whom she narrowly defeated. But as Skywalker and Tano entered the palace one after another, they were threatened with execution by Jabba's men even though Rotta was safely returned. Padmé Amidala called in time to convince Jabba of his uncle's duplicity, and Skywalker and Tano were retrieved by Kenobi, Yoda, CC-2224 and the clones. In the meantime, Amidala negotiated an alliance between the Republic and the Hutt's; securing the Republic forces safe travel through the Hutt's secret hyperlanes.[31]
Jedi Master Yoda was sent to Rugosa to convince King Katuunko to allow the Republic to build a base in Toydarian territory. In orbit of the moon, his ship was ambushed by two Banking Clan frigates, forcing him to take an escape pod and allow his ship to retreat. Three clones, including Clone Lieutenant CC-4477, accompanied him to the surface. However, when he arrived, he found Asajj Ventress already there. She suggested a bet: if Yoda could escape her best troops, then Toydaria would aid the Republic. If he failed and the droids prevailed, Toydaria would join the Separatists.[32]
Yoda and the three clone troopers with him used guerrilla tactics to defeat the troops against great odds. During that time, Yoda mentored the clones in the areas of self-identity and bravery. Yoda's defeat of the droids convinced Katuunko to have Toydaria join the Republic. The Jedi Grand Master arrived in time to save Katuunko from Ventress's attempt to assassinate him, but was forced to watch Ventress escape.[32]
Later, Jedi Master Plo Koon located a Separatist secret weapon and moved his fleet to engage it. He contacted Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, telling them that he had found the weapon in the Abregado system before his communications were cut off by General Grievous. Then the secret weapon, a massive ion cannon emplaced within the superstructure of the immense Separatist flagship Malevolence, fired, knocking out power on all three Star Destroyers, leaving them to be destroyed by Grievous's cannons.[33]
Plo Koon and a few clone troopers managed to escape via escape pods, just before their ship was destroyed. Aboard the Confederate flagship, Dooku ordered Grievous to deploy Pod Hunters to find and kill any survivors in the escape pods. Meanwhile, Skywalker and Tano spoke with the Jedi Council who ordered them both not to go out to the Abregado system to look for survivors, despite Tano's vehement opposition. Skywalker chastised Tano for her outburst as they took off in the Twilight. However, Skywalker revealed to Tano that he never intended to obey the Council; he agreed with her opinion but told her that if she was going to disobey the Council, she needed to do it carefully.[33]
Koon and his remaining men fought off the pod hunters dispatched to kill survivors. Tano and Skywalker arrived and rescued him and his men, despite growing holographic pleas from both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine himself for Skywalker to give up the search and rejoin his fleet. The group aboard the Twilight prepared to leave the system and after a tense encounter with Grievous's flagship, they escaped. Once they reached Skywalker's fleet, they contacted the Jedi Council, informing them of the mystery weapon and its capabilities. Skywalker asked Tano to come with him, saying taking the blame was necessary but he was willing to put some on her.[33]
After several other attacks conducted by the Malevolence, including one on a medical convoy in the Ryndellia system, Anakin Skywalker decided it was time to strike back. His plan was to use the new Y-wing bombers to destroy the Separatist flagship's bridge, killing General Grievous and destroying the ship. However, both Plo Koon and Tano thought that his plan was too aggressive. The Republic attack occurred as Grievous attacked a space-based medical center.[34]
Though they suffered losses (which Anakin especially lamented), the Y-wings were able to disable the Malevolence. As Republic guns blasted away at the seemingly impenetrable hull, Padmé Amidala's ship jumped out of hyperspace and was captured by a tractor beam; she had been set-up by Darth Sidious and forced into the middle of the vicious battle. Skywalker boarded the ship with Kenobi and R2-D2 to save Amidala and to sabotage the ship's systems.[34]
Amidala managed to avoid Grievous and met up with Skywalker, Kenobi, and R2-D2. Evading Grievous and the droids, the group set out to disable the ship's hyperdrive for good before it was repaired. During this time, Kenobi encountered and briefly dueled Grievous. The group escaped and the Malevolence then tried to make a hyperspace jump but careened into a planetary body, due to Amidala and Skywalker's meddling with the navigation systems. However, Grievous once again escaped.[35]
On a remote Rishi moon, a BX-series droid commando unit attacked and infiltrated a Republic listening post.[36] The commando droids reported their success to General Grievous. Grievous contacted Asajj Ventress on Kamino, where she made secret preparations for a Separatist invasion of the clone army's homeworld.[36]
Commander Cody and Captain Rex united with the clone survivors Fives, Echo and Hevy upon landing, and together they drove off the commandos and a droid landing force. After Hevy sacrified himself, the base was destroyed and the Republic was alerted to the presence of Grievous in the system. The Republic fleet jumped into the system and Grievous was forced to retreat.[36]
Using a plan devised by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Skywalker's fleet engaged Grievous in the Bothawui system. After fooling Grievous into engaging his fleet, Captain CC-7567's forces ambushed the General from behind. As Skywalker pursued the fleeing General in their respective starfighters, he became separated from R2-D2 and lost consciousness. Because R2-D2 never had his memory erased he was a liability if captured. R2-D2 was captured by a junker who deceived Skywalker and Tano into believing the droid was not aboard his ship. R2-D2 was taken to Grievous at a Confederate listening post to be gutted for secrets, but managed to transmit his coordinates to Skywalker.[37]
During the rescue operation, Tano encountered and dueled General Grievous for a short time. One 'Republic' droid accompanying them, R3-S6, was actually a spy for the Separatists, and tried to sabotage their mission. However, R2-D2 was ultimately rescued and the Confederate listening post was destroyed.[38]
Later, Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo went to Rodia in an attempt to persuade Senator Onaconda Farr, a close family friend of hers, to keep his allegiance to the Republic. Upon arrival, she learnt that Farr had already pledged allegiance to the Separatists because of their supply offerings to the impoverished planet. Already, there were battle droids in his city. Amidala was promptly arrested and jailed but managed to escape. Nute Gunray arrived and used the threat of no supplies as leverage to have Amidala's execution ordered.[39]
Fortunately, her droid C-3PO managed to send out a message before being captured. However, Amidala was cornered and just about to be executed when Jar Jar Binks arrived and rescued her. Farr arrested Gunray, revealing the entire operation had been a ruse designed to capture him, and the Republic moved in vowing supplies and support for Rodia.[39]
Viceroy Gunray was transferred to the Tranquility under Jedi Master Luminara Unduli where he was to be carefully taken to Coruscant to face war crimes. Ahsoka Tano and a number of Senate Commandoes under Captain Argyus had also been transferred to ensure the Viceroy's safe arrival. Though Ahsoka didn't believe that all the extra security was necessary, Luminara maintained that the Neimoidian was more dangerous than he was worth.[40]
Elsewhere, Sidious reminded Dooku that Gunray was essential to their war efforts. Dooku suggested sending Asajj Ventress to reclaim the Viceroy, despite her previous failures, recognizing her talents.[40]
Back on the Tranquility, Unduli and Tano interrogated their prisoner. When they seemed to have little success and the Viceroy supplied evasive answers, Tano threatened him only to be chastised by Unduli. Unfortunately, a swarm of droid fighters escorting three Separatist boarding ships attacked the Tranquility before the interrogation could resume. Super battle droids lead by Ventress infiltrated the cruiser, while Unduli went to deal with the droids, leaving Tano to guard Gunray. Ventress planted a number of thermal charges on the cruiser's generators before going to the brig. She dueled Tano for a short while before ironically locking her in Gunray's cell. Luckily, Unduli's timely arrival prevented Ventress from rescuing Gunray. Unfortunately, she detonated the charges, rocking the ship before fleeing down the elevator shaft. Unduli went after Ventress, confident that she could defeat the assassin, leaving Tano alone again. Argyus advised Tano to do what she thought was right.[40]
In the generator room where the duel had proceeded, Ventress outclassed Unduli, pinning her down with pipes. Tano made a timely entry, saving the Jedi Master; only for Ventress to escape again. Back in the brig, Argyus betrayed his fellow commandoes, revealing that he was bribed by Dooku. Commander CC-1004 managed to overpower him only to be knocked out by Gunray. They made their escape on the docked Republic ship in the lower hangar, joined by Ventress, who used an escape pod. Argyus gloated that he would take most of the glory, but Ventress stabbed him in the back.[40]
Later, Tano and Unduli reported to Yoda and Skywalker about the loss. Luckily, as the stolen ship belonged to the Republic, it could be tracked. Tano left to join Skywalker with Kit Fisto's fleet, but not before receiving an apology from Unduli for not listening to her.[40]
Once alerted of Gunray's escape, Jedi Master Kit Fisto and his former apprentice Nahdar Vebb followed the tracking beacon of his stolen ship to Vassek, but soon found that he was not there. They attempted to sneak up on him, but all they found was a gloating hologram. It turned out to be a trap for them and a test for Grievous, who had received a holo message from Count Dooku, telling him that Darth Sidious wanted more results—dead Jedi.[41]
Upon his arrival to his lair, Grievous was confronted by Fisto and Vebb, along with their squad of clones. A lightsaber duel broke out and Grievous ended up having his legs chopped off just above the knees. However, Grievous escaped to his control room where he underwent repairs from his medic droid. Grievous then ordered his MagnaGuards to blow up the clones' transport, which killed at least two clones. They attempted to destroy Fisto's starfighter and his droid, R6-H5, also, but R6-H5 managed to pilot the fighter away from danger. Meanwhile Fisto, Vebb and the remainder of their clone squad followed Grievous, finding many booby traps along the way. A trapdoor fell from beneath them, and one of the clones was killed in the lava pit below. Fisto and Vebb Force jumped above the pit, and Clone Commander Fil used a cable to cling to the side of the pit and climb up. After this debacle they met Grievous's pet roggwart, Gor. After a short battle, Gor was eventually killed by Fisto. Unfortunately, Fil was killed which enraged Vebb. While Grievous was watching this all play out, he was contacted by Count Dooku. This time the message confirmed to Grievous that this was a test for him. He decided to play along, and he and five of his guards went hunting.[41]
When the two parties met up, Vebb skillfully defeated all five of Grievous's guards. During the fight, Fisto was locked into the control room, unable to help Vebb. Vebb proceeded to attack Grievous, but was shortly shot and killed by Grievous. Fisto called for R6-H5 to meet him at the south landing platform. After a brief but intense battle with Grievous, Fisto escaped and returned to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where he told Yoda and Mace Windu about the confrontation. He told them that Vebb's heart was in the right place, but he tried to match Grievous's power with his own.[41]
Dooku proved pleased with Grievous's achievements; though he noted that the cyborg general's failure to kill Master Fisto was evidence enough that he had much to improve upon.[41]
Sometime after the debacle on Vassek, Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker spearheaded an attempt to capture the head of the Confederacy; Count Dooku himself. While the Jedi's attempts to capture the Count aboard his flagship proved unsuccessful, Ahsoka Tano successfully commanded a Republic force against it, forcing Dooku to crash land on Vanqor during his escape from the doomed vessel. Whilst Kenobi and Skywalker searched for the Count in a cave nearby to the wreckage of his personal craft, Dooku used the Force to cause a roof collapse; trapping the Jedi and securing his escape.[42]
After making contact with a nearby group of pirates, Dooku secured himself a route offworld; only to find himself captured by the wily gang of pirates who hoped to trade him for a hefty ransom from the Republic. After being rescued by Tano, Kenobi and Skywalker were sent to the pirates stronghold to ensure they had indeed captured Dooku, and after he received confirmation from him, Chancellor Palpatine had Representative Binks and Senator Kharrus lead a diplomatic mission to trade a ransom for the Count.[42]
The pirates proved treacherous, however, and captured Kenobi and Skywalker hoping to gain an additional ransom for them. Fortunately, Representative Binks was able to rescue them; though the mission did come at the cost of Senator Kharrus' life, and Dooku managed to yet again evade the clutches of the Republic.[43]
At some point in the war, Jedi Master Aayla Secura and Commander CC-5052 captured an important Separatist tactical droid on a planet. Secura and Bly were later ambushed over the planet Quell.[44]
As her ships were assaulted by Rocket droids, Jedi Skywalker and his apprentice Ahsoka Tano, arrived and helped Bly and Aayla evacuate the decimated Republic Cruiser.[44] Before the Jedi could dock aboard the Resolute to give a wounded Skywalker medical attention, fire from droid fighters knocked out one of the pilots, accidentally activating the hyperdrive. Admiral Wullf Yularen managed to maneuver the Resolute out of the way, preventing the ship from being taken into hyperspace with the frigate.[44]
After a treacherous trip through hyperspace, the Jedi and the few clones in their company crash landed on the planet Maridun. Secura and Tano soon found a village of Lurmen who had settled on the planet, far away from the war. The village elder, Tee Watt Kaa refused to aid them, fearing that destruction would break the peace they already had. However, at Tano's request, he did give them medical supplies and had his son, Wag Too to help deliver them. But he requested that only one Jedi was to take the supplies and that CC-5052 should follow.[44]
A Separatist force arrived, and the Jedi and clones retreated in order to protect the village. When they discovered that the Separatist forces were there to test a new weapon that only destroyed organic matter, they rushed to save the village. In the battle that insured the Jedi defeated the battle droids that attacked, though Skywalker proved to be the one who destroyed the prototype weapon.[45]
A short time later, Kenobi and Skywalker were called to Orto Plutonia to ascertain why the Republic had lost contact with a clone outpost there. The Jedi and clones were accompanied by Chairman Chi Cho of Pantora and Senator Riyo Chuchi, who had been recalled to the Pantoran system by Cho so that he could use her Senatorial authority to command the Jedi. Orto Plutonia was technically under the control of the Pantoran Assembly, and as such, Cho felt that he should be directly involved in the Jedi's investigation.[46]
With clone Captain CC-7567, General Kenobi found the Republic base to be devoid of life, all clones stationed there having been killed. Similarly, they found a nearby Separatist base to be likewise affected and found clues of a third party being involved in the demise of both forces. Skywalker and Kenobi then followed clues to a nearby canyon, where they spotted light reflections. Shortly afterward they met primitive, but sentient, inhabitants; the Talz. Despite the language barrier, Kenobi and Skywalker managed to make it clear that their mission was one of peace, and they arranged a diplomatic meeting between the Pantorans and the Talz.[46]
When they delivered the news, Chairman Chi Cho arrogantly refused to believe that the Talz could be considered a sentient race and called them trespassers and animals, stating that Pantora hadn't evidence of life on the planet in all their history. Riyo Chuchi tried to mediate, feeling that it was for the Senate to decide the matter, but to no avail.[46]
Upon arrival at the meeting place, the Talz leader, Thi-Sen, politely asked that the Republic leave them in peace and withdraw their presence from Orto Plutonia. However, Chi Cho still refused to accept the Talz as sentients and arrogantly declared Plutonia as sovereign Pantoran property, deliberately provoking a war. In order to gain sanctity for his actions, he declared this to be an internal affair of Pantora; so as to remove the Jedi from the equation. Skywalker and Kenobi appealed to Riyo Chuchi, to find a way to resolve the political matter diplomatically. In response she contacted the Speaker of the Pantoran Assembly, who granted her the authority to negotiate peace and declared the Chairman out of order.[46]
However, this solution came too late: while returning to their base, Chi Cho and his escort were ambushed by a Talz war party, forcing them to fight back, and Chairman Cho was felled by a spear in his back. Skywalker, Kenobi and Senator Chuchi arrived in time to save Cho, CC-7567 and the remaining escort from being overrun, but even with his last breath, Cho insisted on killing the Talz for the 'good' of his people as his final command. Chuchi politely declined, informing him of the Assembly's decision. Dumbfounded that he was overruled and that his people preferred peace to war, Cho expired. Senator Chuchi pursued a peaceful approach and managed to cease hostilities, conceding sovereignty of Plutonia to the Talz. As she and the Jedi boarded a gunship offworld, Kenobi stated that to maintain peace, she should make it last.[46]
The Jedi Council later sent Kenobi, Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano to Naboo in response to intelligence that suggested that a Separatist bio-lab had been set up on the planet. When contact with Senator Amidala and Representative Jar Jar Binks, who had begun the search for the lab, was lost, Skywalker sent Tano along with the Gungan native Peppi Bow to locate them. Meanwhile, Skywalker and Kenobi learnt from information discovered by Gregar Typho that Separatist scientist Nuvo Vindi was using the lab to perfect the deadly Blue Shadow Virus so as to release it into key Republic star systems.[47]
While Tano and Bow searched the swamp where Binks and Amidala disappeared, they accidentally found a spy camera. While hiding from the spy camera, Tano contacted Skywalker and Kenobi who told her to detonate a bomb in the south bunker to create a distraction. After this, Kenobi entered the lab and aided Tano, before beginning a search for Vindi's virus bombs. Though Vindi attempted to release the virus, the Jedi were ultimately able to apprehend him and rescue Amidala and Binks.[47]
When Kenobi and Skywalker prepared to transfer Vindi for trial, Tano, Amidala and several clones went about further securing the lab, only to discover that a vial of the virus was missing. Though they were able to sound the alarm, it was not in time, and Vindi's still at large personal assistant droid was able to detonate a bomb releasing the virus throughout the lab. The Jedi were then forced to make their way to the planet of Iego to search for the antidote to the virus, so as to save Amidala and Tano.[48]
Whilst on Iego, the Jedi were able to free the people there from an insidious Separatist weapon designed to prevent the inhabitants from leaving the planet. Fortunately, they were also able to locate the antidote and arrived in time to save Tano and Amidala.[48]
After Techno Union Foreman and Separatist Council member Wat Tambor seized control of Ryloth and its inhabitants, the Jedi Council devised a plan for Kenobi and Mace Windu to lead a ground assault to invade and liberate the planet. Skywalker and Tano were dispatched to destroy the Separatist blockade surrounding the planet and clear the way for the invasion forces, but their first attack failed horribly. During the attack, the Republic lost a cruiser and an entire squadron of fighters, and as a result Tano was shaken from losing so many men on her first solo command mission. Kenobi acknowledged Tano's need for support and time to get over this ordeal, but told Skywalker that he would need her to succeed. Even with only half his forces remaining, Skywalker was given only one planetary rotation to destroy the blockade. He piloted the Defender into the lead control ship, forcing its commander, Captain Mar Tuuk, to flee, leaving only droids in charge of the blockade. Fortunately, with the support of a recovered Admiral Yularen, Ahsoka was able to lead a successful attack on the blockade. As such, the way was made clear for a ground assault upon the oppressed planet.[49]
When Kenobi entered the system, he took Ghost Company in a detachment of gunships down to the surface while the transports prepared to land. However, proton cannons harassed the transports, preventing them from landing. Windu contacted Kenobi, tasking him with destroying the guns. After landing, the group clashed with droids in a bunker and then entered the city of Nabat. Kenobi sent CC-2224, Wooley, Waxer and Boil to scout ahead. The group split up, and CC-2224 and Wooley discovered that the Twi'leks were being held hostage, while Waxer and Boil stumbled across the young Twi'lek girl Numa and went with her to her home. Soon after, gutkurrs released by tactical droid commander TX-20 attacked the two clones and Numa, and they escaped via an underground passage. Meanwhile, the creatures attacked the rest of Ghost Company, but Kenobi was able to lure them and trap them. Waxer and Boil then emerged out of the passage with Numa, and Kenobi learned that she could lead them to the prisoners. While CC-2224 and his men created a diversion, Kenobi went with Waxer and Boil, and they were able to free the prisoners and destroy the proton cannons. However, TX-20 cornered Kenobi and Numa with his tank, but the intervention of the now-freed Twi'leks saved them. The transports were able to land, and the Republic forces headed to the capital city of Lessu to retake it and free the planet.[50]
Mace Windu took a detachment of AT-TEs to the capital, and they forged ahead along a cliffside path, although they encountered several AATs along the way. After conferencing with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Admiral Yularen, Senator Orn Free Taa and Grand Master Yoda, Windu took the ARF troopers Stak and Razor to find Cham Syndulla, a rebel fighter in command of the Twi'lek resistance. Wat Tambor refused Dooku's order to leave Lessu and escape, but his tactical droid TA-175 intended to follow orders. As Windu tried to convince Syndulla to help the Republic free their home, Tambor deployed a squadron of Hyena-class bombers to attack the nearby villages. After Commander CC-6454 reported this, Syndulla agreed to talk with Senator Taa. After Windu helped the two to reach an agreement, he managed to get across Lessu's plasma bridge via a few treasure-hauling MTTs. Stak and Razor activated the bridge, which the droids had deactivated upon discovering them, and while Syndulla crossed the bridge with their forces, Windu went to capture Tambor. Tambor prepared to escape on his shuttle, but an impatient TA-175 had already escaped and left Tambor stranded. After Tambor was cornered, the bombers approached the city on orders from Count Dooku, but the timely intervention of Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano in their fighters saved them.[51]
The bounty hunter Cad Bane assembled a group of the galaxy's best bounty hunters to raid the Senate and free Ziro the Hutt. Bane and his group arrived the Senate Building on Coruscant, and took out several Senate Commandos before entering. After killing another group of the guards with a thermal detonator, Bane left Robonino to turn of the power and proceeded into the atrium with the rest of his group. Upon arriving, the bounty hunters surrounded several Senators there discussing the Enhanced Privacy Invasion Bill, among them Bail Organa and Padmé Amidala. Bane contacted Chancellor Palpatine and ordered him to release the Hutt. Upon Palpatine's refusal, Robonino shut off the power, trapping the Chancellor and Senator Orn Free Taa in the office.[52]
As Bane and his team collected the Senators' communication devices, Bane came across Amidala. She unintentionally alerted him to the presence of Skywalker, and Bane ordered Shahan Alama and an assassin droid after the Jedi Knight. An unarmed Skywalker was forced to destroy the droid in close combat, and Alama returned to the atrium, revealing from his inspection of the droid's remains that the Jedi was unarmed. Alama, Aurra Sing and Robonino were able to capture the Jedi. Bane ordered the Chancellor to make a pardon disc and give it to Senator Taa, who would take it to the prison and free Ziro the Hutt. Taa obeyed, and was escorted by 3D in Bane's airspeeder. Ziro was released, and Taa remained at the prison with clone troopers of the Coruscant Guard while 3D took Ziro back to rendezvous at the Senate. Before leaving, Bane and his team set up "parting gifts" around the Senators, in the form of laser-activated bombs that would explode upon the slightest touch.[52]
Outside on the landing platform, Bane and his team were met with the arrival of several LAAT/i gunships carrying clone troopers of the Coruscant Guard, who surrounded the bounty hunters. Palpatine contacted Bane and ordered him to surrender; Bane revealed the trapped Senators, and Palpatine reluctantly allowed Bane to leave. Taking pity on the "horrors" Ziro had gone through during prison, Bane remotely activated the bombs. However, a revived Skywalker was able to save the Senators by cutting a hole in the floor, escaping the atrium into the room below seconds before the explosives went off.[52]
Over the Outer Rim planet of Florrum, Alama came across a Confederate Munificent-class frigate. The frigate's Neimoidian captain recognized Alama's vessel as the same model of starship that was used by a gang of pirates led by the pirate Hondo Ohnaka based on Florrum. Upon accessing the sector's threat files, the Neimoidian captain confirmed that the Confederate Head of State Count Dooku had been captured by the pirates. Deducing that Alama was a member of the pirate gang, and seeking payback for the pirates' crimes against the Confederacy, the captain ordered an OOM command battle droid lieutenant to target the Weequay ship. As his craft was attacked, Alama headed to the surface of Florrum. Meanwhile, a Republic task force comprising a single Acclamator I-class assault shipunder the command of Jedi General Aayla Secura, was scouting the area. Clone Commander CC-5052 reported Alama's unallied vessel to Secura, who ordered the commander to take a single LAAT/i gunship and gather more information through a reconnaissance of the planet. CC-5052 assembled a squad of clone troopers for his gunship and was accompanied by several other gunships. Upon detecting the Republic gunship, the Confederate captain ordered his forces to attack the enemy craft, and Vulture droids, Hyena-class bombers, and B1 battle droids on Single Trooper Aerial Platforms were dispatched to confront the Republic gunship. The gunship engaged the enemy forces, and CC-5052 and his crew were able to defeat the Confederate battle droids. After then engaging and shooting down Alama's craft, the Republic gunship returned to Secura's Acclamator-class transport.
Later Robonino set up an underwater droid generator to power his modified battle droids, and wildlife in the area soon began to suffer from the generator's output. Fearing that the Confederacy of Independent Systems had returned to Rodia, the planet's Galactic Senate representative, Onaconda Farr, requested a Jedi to to investigate the disturbances on the planet. High Jedi General Kit Fisto arrived with a squad of clone troopers, and after being directed toward the abandoned station by Farr, Fisto entered the water with several troopers to find what was disrupting the planet's wildlife, while his clone SCUBA commander remained on the surface to search the outpost.Entering the abandoned station, the clone commander ordered his forces to spread out, warning his troops to be careful of battle droids that could be hiding in the station. A pair of B1 battle droids noticed the intruders, and the clones were ambushed by B1 andB2 battle droids, as well as BX-series droid commandos and droidekas, all hot-wired by Robonino from the remains of the droid deployment previously sent to Rodia by the Confederacy. In the water, Fisto and his clone SCUBA troopers found the droid generator, which promptly targeted two of the troopers with its laser cannons and killed them. Fisto soon caught sight of a fleeing Robonino, and while opening fire with his blaster on the Jedi Master, the bounty hunter launched several thermal detonators toward the Jedi. Fisto was able to redirect the explosives into the droid generator with the Force, destroying the device and disabling the battle droids, but his actions cost him the apprehension of Robonino.
Approaching the asteroids of the Thicket in a Venator-class Star Destroyer, Skywalker and Kenobi launched a shuttle-mounted probe droid to survey the area ahead. Learning from Hood that several automated drones sent into the Thicket earlier had stopped transmitting, Kenobi ordered Clone Commander CC-2224, nicknamed "Cody," to dispatch manned vessels to monitor the recon droid at a closer range. A pair of V-19 Torrent starfighters trailed the droid, but the automated scout unexpectedly crashed into clone pilot Torrent Four, eliminating both the pilot and the probe. Enemy Vulture droids advanced toward the Republic's fighters and engaged them in combat. Another pilot was lured into the remnants of the Separatist LaserWeb Station and was killed when he flew into a laser. HELIOS-3D sent more Vulture droid starfighters alongside B2 super battle droids, Hyena-class bombers, and Porax-38 starfighters to fight the Republic detachment, but a single V-19 Torrent fighter was able to maneuver through the Thicket's asteroids toward the droid force. Engaging the enemy fighters, asteroid-based artillery, and several active "laser rocks," the pilot defeated HELIOS-3D's forces.
The Confederate General Grievous led the Separatist Droid Army to attack Felucia, and High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, and Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano were dispatched with a clone trooper detachment of the Grand Army of the Republic to defend the world on the Republic's behalf. The Jedi and their forces soon began to be overwhelmed by the Separatist battle droids, however, and Republic reinforcements were sent to extract the troops from the planet. While Republic Star Destroyers engaged the Separatist blockade surrounding Felucia, Jedi Master Plo Koon led several LAAT/i gunships and their starfighter escorts to rescue the Jedi and clone troopers on the surface.
After Skywalker, Kenobi, and their troops abandoned their AT-TE walkers to escape on the gunships, Kenobi contacted Tano, who had led a squad on a jungle patrol and had separately engaged the droid army. Though Tano initially refused to retreat, the gunships landed between her forces and the droids, forcing the Padawan and her squad to abandon their fight and escape. Just as the gunships retreated, the AT-TE walkers and the Juggernaut tank that Tano had left behind were blasted apart by a large group of battle droid reinforcements. The Republic retreated, leaving the Confederacy victorious on Felucia.
Cato Parasitti assumed the identity of a Jedi Master Ord Enisence to sneak into the Jedi Archives and provide Bane and Todo 360 with inside information. Meanwhile, the two infiltrated the temple and, following the ventilation system, gained access to the holocron storage room. Parasitti knocked the librarian Jocasta Nu unconscious and assume her identity, but it was by the Padawan Ahsoka Tano. After a brief duel, Tano managed to capture Parasitti. Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker followed Bane and the techno-service droid, but were fooled by Bane, who ordered Todo 360 to split and to head for the communications center, leading the Jedi away from the true target. The bounty hunter successfully managed to steal the holocron he was looking for and escaped the Jedi Temple, while detonating a bomb hidden inside Todo 360 served as a distraction maneuver.
Following the success of Cad Bane's assignment to rescue Ziro the Hutt from Republic imprisonment, Darth Sidious began to rely on Bane for his own personal use. One of these missions was to infiltrate the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and extract a Jedi holocron from the library. Bane hired Clawdite bounty hunter Cato Parasitti to assist him, Parasitti being a valuable asset to the mission with her natural Clawdite shapeshifting abilities.In order to complete the holocron, the Kyber memory crystal held by Bolla Ropal would have to be retrieved as well, and following the heist at the Temple, a Trade Federation fleet was sent to escort Bane to Devaron, where the Jedi Master was assisting the Devaronian ministers in making the land more fertile. Since Bane had abandoned Parasitti at the Temple, he brought his occasional partner Aurra Sing along to assist him, placing her in command of Nashtah Team. The Separatist fleet under the command of Cad Bane had taken the Republic forces stationed on the planet off guard. While Aurra Sing had the opportunity to apprehend Ropal upon landing, Bane ordered her to hold back, as he wanted to capture him himself. In the ensuing crossfire, Nashtah Team destroyed a gunship that was carrying Padawan Tyzen Xebec, who had narrowly escaped death by the explosion. During Bane's heist in the Temple, the captured Cato Parassiti revealed to the Jedi that Bane's next target would be Ropal on Devaron, so a rescue team led by Anakin Skywalker and Wulf Yularen was sent to retrieve Ropal.However, by the time the rescue team had gotten to Devaron, Bane was already fleeing the battle with Ropal in his Munificent-class frigate. The team was prepared to deploy onto the planet, and therefor didn't bring the necessary boarding craft to conduct a boarding operation. As the Republic fleet opened fire on Bane's frigate, Bane was forced to speed up the interrogation process to get Ropal to activate the holocron. Ropal refused, and was accidentally tortured to death.
At General Skywalker's advice, the ship's payload of walkers were used as makeshift boarding craft, as they were pressurized and had magnetized feet, after bringing down Bane's escort and destroying the ship's hyperdrive. While Admiral Wulff Yularen was hesitant, Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex liked his idea. Walkers 773 and ATAT300 were activated, manned by Carnivore Battalion and Execute Battalion, respectively, as well as an unidentified third walker. The three walkers were dropped onto the hull of the Separatist frigate, which threw the droids heavily off guard, as they have never seen this tactic before. The Jedi crossed the ships hull and used the astromech droid R2-D2 to open an airlock to gain access to the frigate.
Viceroy Nute Gunray was angered at Bane's disregard for his fleet, which Gunray donated to him at the request of Darth Sidious. Bane assured Gunray he would be compensated for it, most likely by Sidious if Bane succeeded his mission of stealing the kyber crystal. Gunray asked Bane to transmit the information on the holocron to him, but Bane would need a Jedi to open it, and Bane pointed out to Gunray there were two about to board the ship, one more than necessary. Bane ordered for the ship's memory banks to be wiped and its self destruct sequence to be activated, as well as the ship's functions to be transferred to his wrist-com, before fleeing the bridge in a chute, just before the Jedi and clones stormed the bridge and destroyed its crew.After clearing the main bridge, the Jedi found a hologram recording of Bane's conversation with Gunray, which confirmed that he was in possession of the kyber crystal. To prevent Bane from escaping the ship, Rex and his squad destroyed the ship's supply of escape pods. Yularen witnessed an explosion in the ship's aft section, but Anakin still pressed on to find Ropal.
The Jedi and clones searched the ship for Ropal, and Ahsoka found his body in a prison cell. Anakin ordered a few clones to bring Ropal's body to the Resolute. They had no other options than to find Bane and retrieve the crystal. Bane had deactivated the ship's lights using his wrist-com, and so the clones were forced to use night vision.
Bane was spotted, and the Jedi pursued. He led them to the ship's gunnery deck, where he reactivated the lights to reveal an army of droids awaiting. The droids opened fire, and in the midst of the firefight, Bane used his wrist-com to deactivate the ship's artificial gravity wells, turning the ship into a zero gravity environment. The clones were trained for this type of situation, and were equipped with magnetic boots, as were the droids. To make matters worse, the gunnery deck was full of ammunition canisters, which meant stray fire could cause the entire gunnery deck to explode.
Bane and Skywalker fought. Skywalker kicked Bane in the face, which caused him to float away in a spinning motion, causing the holocron to fall out of Bane's duster. Just as Anakin was about to grab it, R2-D2 reactivated the gravity, sending him, Bane, and the holocron falling to the floor. As Skywalker was dazed, Bane snatched the holocron and fled. Anakin pursued, but Bane distracted him by causing a clone attached to the ceiling with his magnetized boots to fall. While Anakin was distracted saving the clone, Ahsoka gave chase. Bane used his wrist-com to close the blast door, separating Ahsoka from her master. When Anakin attempted to cut through the door, a droid accidentally shot an ammo canister, causing the ceiling to collapse, trapping Anakin in the rubble.
As Bane reached a dead end in the hallway, he took a shot at Ahsoka, which she easily deflected back to his left arm. Bane managed to disarm Ahsoka, but she still managed to flip the bounty hunter onto the floor. She thought she had beaten him, but the bounty hunter grabbed her ankle and delivered a massive stun charge through her body, incapacitating her. Anakin sensed this, and in his rage broke through the rubble that surrounded him. When he received the order from Admiral Yularen to abandon the mission because the ship was about to explode, he in turn ordered Yularen to move the Resolute a safe distance from the ship and moved on to save his Padawan.
Ahsoka was placed in self tightening stun cuffs. Bane took her Padawan braid as a trophy for his success over the girl, and placed her in between an airlock and a force field. With the press of a button on his wrist, the airlock can open, sucking Ahsoka out into the vacuum of space. He further lured Skywalker to them by applying a stun charge to Ahsoka, and Anakin arrived after cutting down three battle droids. If Anakin refused to activate the holocron, Bane promised he would kill Ahsoka. Left with no other options that were in his favor, Anakin put his lightsaber down and agreed to activate the holocron.
Around the same time Rex and his squad found a shuttle in the hangar bay that could be used as their escape from the ship. In the firefight destroying the remaining droids, a fuel leak leading to a group of ammo canisters was lit, and Yularen detected that the ship's main reactor was going to collapse any minute. Rex ordered soldiers Denal and Koho to break off from the main squad and find Anakin.
With Bane momentarily distracted by the holocron, Anakin used this opportunity to retrieve both his and Ahsoka's lightsabers and cut down the battle droids flanking Bane. Bane deactivated the airlock, and Anakin quickly tossed a chunk of a battle droid at the force field controls, deactivating them. The entire airlock vestibule was compromised, and Bane escaped using his rocket boots, before the emergency blast door sealed itself shut. Anakin managed to close the airlock and cut Ahsoka out of her stun cuffs. While Anakin wanted to pursue, Ahsoka urged him to have patience, and he agreed.
Bane reported to Gunray that he was successful in activating the holocron, and assured the Viceroy that he had his own means of escape. He was then confronted by troopers Denal and Koho in the hallway leading to the hangar bay, and appeared to be killed in the struggle. Denal regrouped with Rex at the shuttle, delivering the news that he failed to retrieve the holocron. Just as the shuttle carrying the survivors fled, the fuel leak exploded, and, combined with the explosion in the main reactor, compromised the entire frigate. Even though the holocron was failed to be recovered, it was considered to be vaporized in the explosion of the frigate Though Cad Bane appeared to be dead, Anakin still felt his presence.
Using the Xanadu Blood the heavily-modified and well-equipped Porax-38 starfighter. that had been gifted to him by Sidious, Bane traveled to the water world of Glee Anselm, where he successfully captured the young Nautolan Zinn Toa.
Bane traveled to Rodia, where the bounty hunter, wearing a Jedi robe, spoke with the Rodian Mahtee Dunn[53], mother of the Force-sensitive Wee Dunn, in her home in the city Kay-Tap square. Bane deceived Dunn, stating that Jedi impostors had been roaming the galaxy and stealing Force-sensitive children. Bane claimed that in order to keep her son safe, she would need to give her child up for the Jedi training that the fellow Rodian Jedi Bolla Ropal had promised her. When she refused, the Duros used a hypnogazer a device used to temporarily alter an individual's memory, to force her into complying with his demands.
Leaving one of his twin blasters behind and preparing to depart with Wee Dunn, Bane witnessed Jedi Master Kenobi—who had been dispatched to prevent the kidnapping—enter the room. After Bane left the room, Kenobi was confronted by a confused Mahtee, who was pointing Bane's blaster at Kenobi. Kenobi made it clear that Bane was no Jedi, as Jedi don't carry blasters: the Jedi weapon of choice is usually a lightsaber. When Kenobi spotted Bane outside, Bane activated his boots, which were modified to hold rocket propulsors, and soared to the landing platform where the Xanadu Blood was parked. Kenobi pursued the bounty hunter, but arrived too late to prevent him from escaping with the Rodian infant.
Landing near the city of Jan-gwa city, Bane left his personal starfighter the Xanadu Bloodand headed toward the above ground Gungan city. On his list, the bounty hunter was after a female infant Gungan named Roo-Roo Page, who was with her mother. After Bane entered the city, he soon arrived to his destination, and spotted the Gungan mother leaving a infant cradle. As the mother left the room, the bounty hunter approached it, and noticed a sheet covering something small underneath. Upon lifting the sheet a toy tooka doll was exposed with Page not found in the cradle. Behind Bane, Tano emerged from behind a blast door. Knowing that the Togruta Padawan hid the child from him, the Duros bounty hunter engaged her in a duel. Using his whipcord launcher, that was activated through his wrist gaunlet, Bane grabbed the Padawan's lightsaber from her grasp. Retrieving one of his LL-30 blaster pistols, the bounty hunter began to shoot at Tano, although the unarmed Tano dodged Bane's blaster fire, and hid behind some furniture. However, as she attempted to retrieve her fallen lightsaber, Bane evacuated the room using his jetpack-equipped boots. Before Bane could escape the city, Skywalker appeared on top of a roof, and grabbed onto Bane's boots. With the extra weight, Bane's boosters were disabled, and as the two tumbled onto a roof below, the hunter's hat was knocked off. The pair struggled before landing on the ground, and the outmatched Bane looked up to see Tano's ignited lightsaber pointing at his face.
After emerging in the asteroid–strewn system and docking to the outpost, the Jedi left Cody with the ship and followed Bane into his base of operations. Though neither Jedi sensed the kidnapped infants, Bane told them that the children were "safe" and instead focused on the holocron. The Duros led them to the station's control room and pointed them to the holocron on a table across the room. Although Bane volunteered to get the holocron for them, Windu refused to let the bounty hunter perform another trick. However, Windu unintentionally activated the station's intruder alert system. With alarms blaring and a laser system targeting the Jedi, Bane sneaked away from the distracted Kenobi and Windu, while the two occupied. Kenobi pursued the bounty hunter, but the Duros escaped through a concealed hatch. Breaking out of his binders, Bane fled Black Stall Station in an escape pod. Meanwhile, Kenobi managed to retrieve the holocron and both Jedi Master managed to make their way back to the shuttle and depart just before the station exploded as a result of a self-destruct.
As soon as the Twilight landed on Mustafar, one of the nanny droids watching over the missing children, RO-Z67, reported to Darth Sidious that a ship had landed, and it wasn't Bane. Sidious quickly ordered for the gravity supports to be deactivated and for the children to be evacuated to his secondary facility. Hearing the wails of Wee Dunn, Ahsoka guided Anakin to the children's chamber using the Force. RO-Z67 deactivated the gravity supports as Darth Sidious commanded, and retrieved the children from their cradles. The droids deactivated the lights as the Jedi cut their way into the room using their lightsabers. While Ahsoka thought the worst when they found two empty cradles, Anakin still sensed their presence, and the two nanny droids emerged from the shadows, using the children as human shields. The facility was beginning to collapse, and Ahsoka managed to secure Toa, slicing the droid's arms off, while Anakin retrieved Dunn from RO-Z67 after the droid was forced to let go of the child to cling for its life. With the children safely rescued, the Jedi retreated to the Twilight just as the facility was completely destroyed.
Anakin and Ahsoka brought the children back to the Jedi Temple. Since the Jedi Council wasn't sure of the extent of what the children were subjected to on Mustafar, the Council decided to not return the children to their parents and instead raise them in the Temple, at least for the time being.
As Senator Lott Dod of the Trade Federation and Senator Rush Clovis of the Banking Clan delegation prepared to meet on the former's homeworld, Cato Neimoidia, for discussion on their investments in the foundry, the Jedi High Council—which suspected Clovis of involvement in a Separatist conspiracy—recruited Senator Padmé Amidala spy on the Banking Clan Senator. Amidala, who had previously had a personal relationship with Clovis, agreed to the mission and, accompanied by her secret husband, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, went with the Banking Clan Senator by his invitation to Cato Neimoidia.
As soon as they arrive on Cato Neimoidia, they are greeted by Neimoidian Senator Lott Dod. Padmé is shown to her quarters while Dod and Clovis discuss "business", which involves discussing over the amount of credits needed to build the new droid foundry, with Poggle the Lesser; Clovis refuses to lend any more credits to them. Padmé attempts to spy on them while on a "walk" but they shut down the holographic blueprints. As Clovis leads Padmé away, Dod and Poggle realize that she is Clovis' weakness and plan on poisoning her to force him to cooperate.
While Anakin and Artoo wait outside for Padmé's signal, she gets into an elegant dress for dinner with the other Senators. Dod tricks her into sharing his drink after smearing the rim with poison. Once dinner is finished, Clovis takes Padmé on a tour of the palace, both unaware of the symptoms of the poison, including thirst and head throbbing. While Clovis went to fetch a drink, Padmé attempts to access the palace's files, but is barred by the computer's demand for a passcode. She soon figures out that it is her name, which shows her the diagram from Dooku's new droid foundry. She then signals Anakin, who snuck into her quarters. She soon as she took the disc plans, she hides it from Clovis. But when he asks to hold her hand, she spontaneously embraces him to hide the disc. She then notices Anakin in the shadows, his face bursting with anger and jealousy, but she calms him down by showing the disc. She discreetly gives it to him. But as he slips away, Padmé passes out.
He reports this to Dod, but is informed that Padmé is a spy. He refuses to believe it but is convinced when he finds the disc missing. He angrily confronts her for betraying him. Anakin then enters, demanding that he step away from her. Clovis then realizes that he loves Padmé enough to save her, so he offers to get the antidote in exchange for the disc. However, as they carry Padmé back to the ship, they run into Dod and his aides. Clovis attempts to bluff his way out of this, but Dod refuses to let them leave, so he pulls out a blaster. Dod is forced to give the antidote, as the three run away. However, Anakin purposely leaves Clovis on the planet, who is forced to "talk" with Dod, as he injects Padmé with the antidote.
Returning to the galactic capital of Coruscant, Skywalker and Amidala reported their findings to the Jedi Council. Clone Captain CC-7567, nicknamed "Rex," was dispatched with a contingent of the Grand Army of the Republic's 501st Legion to perform a reconnaissance of Geonosis. Upon arrival in orbit of the world, Captain Rex and his men were unable to establish contact with the clone troopers on the planet's surface but discovered the droid foundries being constructed in the planet's northern and southern hemispheres. Rex transmitted his planetary scans to the Jedi Temple with the advisement that a full-scale invasion would be required to retake Geonosis. Receiving the report, the Jedi Council decided to send High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Generals Ki-Adi-Mundi and Luminara Unduli to lead the Grand Army's attack on the droid foundries. Generals Plo Koon and Skywalker and the latter's Padawan, Commander Ahsoka Tano, were meanwhile assigned to reinforce the planet Dorin, which had been attacked by a Separatist fleet led by Confederate General Grievous in an effort to keep the Jedi's attention away from Geonosis.
Mundi, Kenobi, and Unduli departed Coruscant alongside Admiral Wullf Yularen with a massive invasion fleet comprised of Venator-class Star Destroyers and Acclamator I-class assault ships. After the invasion force had arrived in Geonosian space and entered the planet's orbit, Skywalker and Tano—having who had met with success in their intervention at Dorin, joined Mundi and Kenobi on the bridge of a Star Destroyer at the head of the fleet. With their ships in position, the four Jedi opened a communication to the Outer Rim Command and conferred with Jedi Generals Unduli, Yoda, and Mace Windu, and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Based on intelligence they had received, Mundi and Kenobi concluded that Poggle the Lesser was holed up within his primary droid factory, which was protected by a massive ray shield.
With their primary target being the shield generator, the Jedi planned to execute a three-pronged attack on the Geonosian defenses. Mundi and Clone Commander Jet would lead the northern advance, while Kenobi and Clone Commander CC-2224, nicknamed "Cody," commenced the central push. Skywalker, Tano, and Captain Rex, meanwhile, would execute the southern assault with their forces. The troops would rendezvous at a point a short distance away from the shield and converge on the generator to eliminate the threat and establish a defensive perimeter to their staging area. Although Tano noted that the defenses were heavily fortified, particularly a large wall armored with artillery emplacements, Skywalker believed that their approach would not lead them to the barricade. With their planning complete, the Jedi split up to mobilize forces for the coming battle.
The Republic's capital ships descended upon Geonosis and began disgorging BTL-B Y-wing starfighters, LAAT/i gunships, and LAAT carriers ferrying All Terrain Tactical Enforcers to the surface in heavy numbers. Kenobi's assault force was the first to take flight with Kenobi leading the way in his gunship, Bad Kitty. Kenobi and his gunships were attacked heavily by Geonosian proton and LR1K gun emplacements below as well as Nantex-class territorial defense starfighters from above. The Y-wing starfighters provided covering fire, initiating an attack run on the Separatist gunners. With Kenobi's operation underway, Skywalker's detachment—including Captain Rex and Commander Tano—departed shortly afterward, followed by General Mundi's and Commander Jet's forces. The gunship carrying Skywalker, Tano, and Rex was one of the first to be shot down, but the Jedi's team managed to break free from the wreckage and used the fallen craft as cover from the nearby Geonosian gunners and blaster cannons. Meanwhile, Mundi ordered Commander Cody to release the AT-TE walkers shortly before the Jedi Master's gunship, Separatist Nightmare, fell from heavy fire as well.
Cody landed with his troops and AT-TEs to be greeted by incoming Geonosian fighters. Although the clone commander told Kenobi not to land because of the Separatists' imposing danger, the Jedi Master was forced to land anyway when Bad Kitty was shot down by the Geonosians. The gunship hit the surface and skidded across the ground before coming to a stop, leaving only Kenobi and trooper Trapper to survive the crash. An injured Mundi and Commander Jet pulled themselves out of the remains of their gunship, which was just one of many to have been shot down in the area. Jet reported that only Kenobi's forces had made it to the landing zone, while Skywalker's AT-TE walkers had been decimated in his ongoing firefight with the Geonosians. Skywalker would continue to press on to the rendezvous point to meet with Kenobi. Mundi ordered the injured men among his forces to be loaded onto the AT-TE walkers with the objective of pressing on through a nearby bridge to meet up with the rest of the troops. Meanwhile, Captain Rex reported to Skywalker that Kenobi would be unable to give support, as the Jedi Master himself had been shot down. Left on their own, Skywalker and Tano provided cover for Rex and the rest of their troops to rush the Separatist blaster cannons.
In the meantime, Cody organized his LAAT/i gunships and AT-TE walkers in a circular defensive formation. In the midst of exchanging heavy fire with the attacking sonic blaster–wielding Geonosians and their Armored Assault Tanks, Cody ordered troopers Waxer and Boil to search Kenobi's gunship—which had been located five kilometers away —Rain Efor survivors. The two Advanced Recon Force trooper scouts raced across the battlefield and were able to find and rescue Kenobi and Trapper from the gunship's wreckage. As Waxer and Boil helped the injured pair back to the established base, Cody had his men provide the group covering fire from the advancing Separatist tanks and Geonosian-mounted Flitknot speeders. Upon his arrival, Kenobi was treated by a medic and updated on the situation by Cody. Surrounded by the Geonosians, Kenobi noted that they simply had to hold out until Generals Skywalker and Mundi arrived. Mundi was in the process of cutting through a massive caltrop field so that his AT-TE walkers could move through the obstacles. Commander Jet conferred with Admiral Yularen via comlink and requested air support, but the starfighter forces were engaged in the planetary invasion elsewhere. Yularen was only able to offer his vantage point as a resource to locate Skywalker, whom he found to be pressing toward the eastern barrier—the site of the Geonosians' armored barricade
Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and their men arrived at the massive gun emplacement fortress and were forced to take cover from the assailing B1 battle droids and B2 super battle droids high above. With the large amounts of laser barrages from above, Skywalker and Tano each took a backpack filled with thermal detonators and ran toward the adjacent cliff, used grappling hooks to scale the face in order to set their charges to topple the wall. Captain Rex joined the two Jedi on the top of the barrier, helping them to defeat a pair droidekas that were soon deployed from hatches. After Skywalker and Tano had tossed their primed detonator–full backpacks into the hatches, they and Rex jumped off the wall shortly before it exploded. The Jedi used the Force to slow their fall and hold back the rubble. With the wall destroyed, Skywalker, Tano, and their forces pressed toward Kenobi's position. Meanwhile, Mundi split up his own troops, sending his AT-TE walkers to take a longer route to the rendezvous point while he himself went with a squad to examine a shortcut through a cave. There, the Jedi Master and his men were besieged by several groups of Geonosian warriors.
Although his men sustained heavy losses from the Geonosians, Mundi was able to cut through the grotto. At the other side of the cave, the Jedi Master had his flamethrower-wielding clone troopers fire their weapons at the Geonosians, killing most of them and unblocking the path out of the cave. Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and their detachment arrived to find the smoldering Geonosians falling out of the clifftop cave. Joining forces with Mundi, Skywalker contacted Admiral Yularen to request air support.Having reallocated resources since Commander Jet's previous request Yularen dispatched a free Y-wing squadron to the rendezvous point, where Kenobi and Cody were suffering numerous casualties at the hands of the Geonosians initiating flying attacks from the sky and attack runs on the ground.[54] As the Jedi Master prepared to take up arms alongside his men in what he believed would be a final stand against the Geonosians the Y-wing bombers arrived, dropping their munitions on the advancing Separatist tanks. With the rest of his troops pressing on, Kenobi was greeted by the arrival of Skywalker, Tano, Mundi, and the rest of the forces.
The Jedi and their clone officers convened on the task still at hand: the destruction of the shield generator. Skywalker would lead a small squad into the shield and jam the Geonosians' scanners, rendering them unable to target the incoming AT-TE walkers. Once the walkers had taken out the shield, Mundi would then bring the rest of the troops in with the gunships. After all of the Republic forces were in position, Skywalker and Tano initiated their attack and charged through the shield with their men. Exchanging fire with the Geonosians, the Jedi and troopers took cover and threw EMP grenades at the proton and LR1K cannons, temporarily disabling the Separatist guns. Unopposed by heavy fire, the AT-TE walkers marched through the shield and blasted the artillery stations and shield generator. As the shield was deactivated, Mundi and his gunships landed with additional reinforcements. All of the Geonosians in the area were forced to surrender, and the injured Generals Kenobi and Mundi were taken away in the gunships with Skywalker's expectations to see both of them back in action by the time the main droid foundry had been destroyed.
Skywalker's forces combined with Mundi's remaining troops and formed a staging area a short way from the only bridge that crossed the deep canyon isolating Poggle the Lesser's near-completed primary foundry. Anticipating stiff resistance from the factory's Geonosian defenders, Republic commanders dispatched General Luminara Unduli and her Padawan, Barriss Offee, with reinforcements. Leading the way in their gunship Dooku Boot the two Jedi arrived with more troops and gunships and met with Skywalker and Tano to discuss the impending attack on the droid foundry. Although Skywalker had been preparing for a direct assault on the factory via the bridge, Unduli offered an alternative to minimize their casualties. The catacombs under the facility provided a means to infiltrate the building and plant explosives at the main reactor, effectively destroying the foundry from the inside. As Unduli had already had her Padawan memorize all 200 of the labyrinth's junctions, the mission to sneak into and destroy the droid factory fell to Tano and Offee. Unduli and Skywalker, meanwhile, would launch a forward assault on the facility's main entrance to provide the Padawans with a distraction.
The four Jedi set their plan into motion, synchronizing chronometers in order to monitor the Padawans' progress. While Tano and Offee began to descend the chasm to reach the entry point to the catacombs at the bottom of the canyon, Skywalker, Unduli, and Captain Rex mobilized their men and marched their troops and AT-TE walkers toward the bridge parade-style. Despite the Republic's risky lack of cover, the Jedi intended to make their attack tempting. Poggle the Lesser and his tactical droid TX-21 rose to the bait and deployed a large force of B1 and B2 battle droids to defend the factory. As the two Jedi Generals led their men to charge the droids, they found themselves confronted by groups of flying Geonosians launching surprise attacks from several spires behind them. In the canyon, Tano and Offee made it to the other side of the trough, where the latter cut a hole in the canyon wall and opened the entrance to the catacombs. The two Padawans made their way through the dense labyrinth and through a room of sleeping Geonosian warriors, remaining unaware that they were being followed by a Geonosian that they had accidentally awoken.
Back on the surface, Skywalker and Unduli continued to cut through the opposing battle droids, and a clone used a Z-6 rotary blaster cannon to take out the attacking sonic blaster–wielding Geonosians. With the appearance of several droideka squads, Rex sent a trooper forward with a rocket launcher, who quickly destroyed the Separatist droids. The Geonosians' advance forces were further depleted by heavy fire from the Republic's AT-TE walkers. In response, Poggle the Lesser authorized TX-21 to send out twenty units of their newly-developed super tanks. The massive vehicles were deployed from the foundry, and despite their attempt to halt the tanks' advance with AV-7 Antivehicle Cannons, the Jedi and troopers were unable to stop the ray shielded tanks' approach. Inside the droid factory, Tano and Offee arrived at the control room and planted their thermal detonator charges at the main generator. Learning of the two Jedi's presence from the Geonosian spy, Poggle the Lesser and TX-21 personally took a squad of Geonosian warriors and a super tank to greet the intruders. After activating their explosives, the Padawans' escape was cut short by the arrival of Poggle and his defense forces.
Outside the foundry, Skywalker and Unduli learned from their chronometers that Tano and Offee had placed and activated the bombs. Immediately thereafter, the Separatist tanks released a barrage of fire that wiped out the Republic's artillery line and AT-TE walkers, causing heavy casualties all the while. While the super tank kept Tano and Offee occupied, the Geonosians collected the primed explosives. Poggle the Lesser entrusted his troops to halt the Jedi's plan while he himself departed. Tano threw an explosive charge at the tank that destroyed TX-21 but barely put a scratch in the massive vehicle. Although Tano attempted to retrieve the bombs from the Geonosians, jumping and hanging onto the flying warriors, she was knocked against the reactor and temporarily rendered unconscious. Forced to defend the fallen Padawan from the super tank's laser fire, Offee was unable to prevent the Geonosians from escaping into a hatch with the bombs. In the meantime, Skywalker and Unduli ordered their men to fall back in order to lure the tanks onto the bridge, which the two Jedi Generals intended to destroy and eliminate the tanks in the only way they saw possible. The clones' retreat baited the tanks onto the pass, and the Jedi Generals swung under the bridge and across its underbelly, planting explosives along its length.
Reaching the other side, Skywalker and Unduli detonated the charges, collapsing the bridge and sending the tanks tumbling into the abyss. Even with the arrival of evacuation ships, Skywalker refused to leave without his Padawan, who was unresponsive to his transmissions. The two Jedi Generals' refusal to retreat forced them to face the lines of B1 battle droids deployed from the foundry. Inside the control room, Offee commandeered the super tank and disabled its droid operators. A revived Tano joined Offee inside the vehicle, where the pair contemplated their dilemma: without the bombs, they would be unable to destroy the foundry. However, the Padawans chose to employ the alternative of using the tank to fire at the generator, despite knowing that they would be unable to escape the explosion. Once the Padawans had relayed their decision to their Masters, who were battling the droids outside, Tano and Offee opened fire on the reactor, causing a massive chain of explosions to bring the foundry down.
Unable to help their Padawans, Skywalker and Unduli took cover as their droid adversaries were crushed by debris and watched in shock as their Padawans' sacrifice blasted the droid foundry to pieces. Once the dust had settled and the smoke cleared, Skywalker desperately tried to contact Tano with his comlink to no avail. The determined Jedi General ordered the Republic's LAAT carriers to begin lifting the debris to search for the Padawans. Trapped with Offee in the tank deep below the surface with a limited air supply, Tano used a power cell to boost her communicator's reception and signal Skywalker to their position. Receiving the pulse on his Padawan's comlink channel, Skywalker led Unduli and the clones to site of the trapped pair. With time running out, the two Jedi Generals chose not to wait for the Republic's heavy machinery to move the debris and instead used the Force to levitate it themselves. Tano and Offee emerged from the wreckage, coughing and grimly but alive, and were reunited with their Masters.
Ahsoka and Bariss left the battlefield to recuperate, while Luminara set out on a speeder to find Poggle the Lesser. She and her clone companion Buzz followed Poggle's trail, as they braved through a sandstorm. They tracked Poggle to the Progate Temple. Luminara then holographically called Obi-Wan, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Anakin in one of the Republic Acclamator ships, reporting that she had found what seemed to be a munitions container. She was advised by Obi-Wan via hologram to wait for support, but moments later Buzz's scream was heard and contact was lost. Anakin eagerly wanted to go help, but the other Masters advised to wait until the storm was over.
After the storm, Anakin and Obi-Wan brought a squad to the temple. Cody found Buzz's body and Obi-Wan found Luminara's lightsaber. They then saw a statue of what seemed to be a Geonosian queen's head above the archway of a dark tunnel. They went through the archway, entering a strange maze. Shortly after, Luminara contacted Obi-Wan, telling them not to enter the temple, before she was subdued. Then, Obi-Wan and Anakin were attacked by undead Geonosians, who were able to move even if shot or hacked; there was also something worm-like moving through their face openings. Obi-Wan, Anakin and the squad managed to save themselves by going down a tunnel. Obi-Wan remembered rumors of a hive mind able to control Geonosians, even after they are dead. Because they were too deep underground to contact Mundi, Obi-Wan sent two clones to head back to the surface and call for help. Unfortunately, they were killed by the zombies before they could do so. Obi-Wan thus suggested that the rest of them should stick together.
They eventually found Luminara, held in energy bonds before the Geonosian Queen. Anakin prepared to charge in, but Obi-Wan had a different strategy. He told Cody to have his men surround the place, before blinding the zombies and burying them. The Jedi approached the queen, her thralls letting them pass. Obi-Wan diplomatically told her to surrender, but the queen refused, intending on controlling the Jedi with her brain worms. Anakin activated his lightsaber, but Obi-Wan gestured for him to stay put. One of the zombies approached Luminara with a worm, but before it could snake its way up her nose, Obi-Wan gave the signal, and Cody and his men surprise the Geonosians. They saved Luminara and took Poggle prisoner. Luminara asked why they had come despite her telling them not to. Obi-Wan said he followed Anakin's example for once, and disobeyed orders.
Obi-Wan intended to study the worm that was going to be used on Luminara, but Anakin squished it with his boot, saying they should get out. They attempted to escape the collapsing temple, with the zombies after them. As they made their way up the hole that led to the surface, a few zombies follow. Then, a rush of dust pushed them up. They escaped before the entire temple caves in, probably burying the queen.
Tano and Barriss were assigned to lead a Supply ship to the Ord Cestus medical station. While Ahsoka could not sleep she decided to go and eat with Offee. While they were eating, two clones named Edge and Ox attacked them, because they were under control of brain worms. The Padawans took out their lightsabers and defeated them. Then Trap and another clone came to Ahsoka and Barriss asking them what was going on. The troopers said that they will keep an eye on Edge and Ox. After knowing whats going on Ahsoka and Barriss spilt up, Ahsoka went to talk to Her Master and Fisto. Barriss walked into a trap and got infected. After finding Ahsoka the two Padawans dueled and Barriss started to gain control back and told Ahsoka to kill her. Tano refused and only killed the worm that was coming out of Offee's mouth. Fisto, Skywalker and reinforcements quickly arrived and told Ahsoka she had managed to stop the infection.
When the Republic received intelligence that a Separatist stronghold on Brentaal IV would be lying dormant for a few weeks, Jedi Master Plo Koon led an assault on the planet, overseeing a task force of three Jedi and a strong compliment of clone troops and support vehicles. The world was a vital link in the Perlemian Trade Route, and taking it would be a boon to the war effort. The Jedi would soon realize their error, however—the stronghold was indeed operational and under the direction of local warlord Shogar Tok, whose personal band of mercenaries was in the process of taking control of the planet in the name of the Confederacy. Regardless, the Republic won.[55]
Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker also assisted in the destruction of a droid factory at Nivek before going on to retake Terra Sool. Simultaneously, Republic forces led by Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Saesee Tiin liberated Iktotch at the Battle of Iktotch.[56]
On Nadiem, General Grievous attempted to invade a major city, but was forced to retreat after Jedi Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee herded his droid army into a canyon and set off explosive charges that crushed the droids under the crumbled canyon walls.[57]
The Haruun Kal Crisis began six months after the battle of Geonosis with the dispatching of Senior Jedi Councilman Mace Windu to his home planet of Haruun Kal. A holovid recovered by the Republic had shown Master Depa Billaba, who had been dispatched by the Council to train the Korunnai natives against the Separatist-backed Balawai settlers, in a state of what appeared to be bloodthirsty insanity. Billaba had been sent to the planet because although its location was of strategic importance for trade, the Republic was not yet ready to commit to a full offensive against the world. After surviving an assassination attempt orchestrated by a treasonous Republic agent and journeying upcountry to confront Billaba, Mace led the Korunnai troops, in concert with clone reinforcements under the command of CRC-09/571 from the Republic transport Halleck, against the Balawai militia.
He moved against the capital city of Pelek Baw and using an ingenious strategy that combined sneaking in transports down the path of a waterfall, eventually managed to corner Balawai militia Colonel Lorz Geptun. Despite a last-minute betrayal by a number of elite Korunnai soldiers led by the dark Korunnai Kar Vastor, Windu forced Geptun to surrender the system and shut down attacking droids. This victory came at a heavy cost, however, as Billaba fell into a possibly self-induced coma at the end of the battle from which it was believed she never recovered.[58]
At the time of the Haruun Kal Crisis, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker were sent to Null after they received information from Lorian Nod about a meeting arranged by Dooku with the rulers of Vicondor, Delaluna, Bezim, and Junction 5. Unfortunately, there was an assassination attempt on Samish Kash, ruler of Delaluna. Kenobi and Skywalker took off after the assassin on speeder bikes but were unable to stop it. Soon, after Dooku arrived they discovered that it was he who hired the assassin, a man named Robior Web.[59]
During the meeting the rulers chose to support the Republic. Dooku was furious, and trapped the delegates by making the roof cave in on top of them. However, all survived with the help of the Jedi, save for Nod, who was killed by Dooku. Dooku then escaped.[59]
When a Separatist fleet blockaded Balamak, an important agricultural world, Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Nanda-Ree Janoo led a Republic strike force of starfighters, while Anakin Skywalker engaged a Trade Federation Droid Control Ship carrying a HoloNet jamming device that had blacked out sector communications since the arrival of the fleet. The jamming vessel was destroyed and the Separatist fleet was routed in the battle.
On Devaron, a Jedi task force consisting of Kit Fisto, Aayla Secura, the An'ya Kuro, Tholme and T'ra Saa arrived to halt a smuggling operation that Aurra Sing and Senator Vien'sai'Malloc had started. Sing was captured and imprisoned at the Oovo IV asteroid prison, though she would manage to escape.
On Antar 4, Antarian Separatists backed by Count Dooku overthrew the Jedi-allied Antarian Rangers that enforced law on the moon, while Quinlan Vos succeeded in infiltrating Dooku's cadre of Dark Jedi.
A series of events at this time caused significant changes in the wartime politics and led to an increase in security and propaganda on both sides of the conflict.
On Bassadro, Jedi Knight Empatojayos Brand led his forces to the dormant volcanic ranges that were providing cover to Separatist droids. Brand ordered concussive missile strikes against the rock formations, creating a storm of shrapnel that sliced through the mining village of Agao-Nir, destroying many droids and several hundred innocent miners. The public outcry from this incident impacted both sides—the Confederacy, in response, founded the Hyper-Communications Cartel to broadcast anti-Republic propaganda, while the Republic formed the fanatic pro-Human COMPOR and SAGroup and instituted deportation of 'enemy' species from Coruscant.
During an assault on Coruscant, Count Dooku infiltrated the capital world with a small force of Cortosis battle droids and attempted to destroy the Jedi Archives in the Jedi Temple but was driven off by Anakin Skywalker. This battle, coupled with the blackout on Sarapin, made many of Coruscant's citizens feel unsafe and security increased even further. Huge stretches of the cityscape were transformed into military staging areas and clone troopers were on patrol everywhere. Jedi Generals Etain Tur-Mukan and Bardan Jusik led Omega Squad, Delta Squad, and a unit of Null ARC troopers in a purge of a Separatist terrorist group along the skylanes and underworld of the ecumenopolis.
On Cartao, Palpatine discovered the existence of Spaarti cloning cylinders. A battle with Separatist forces ensued, and most of the cloning cylinders were destroyed. Those that remained were sent in secret by Palpatine to Wayland and Byss.
Meanwhile, the Jedi discovered a new type of Force-sensitive droid on Ord Cestus—the JK-thirteens. In response, Kit Fisto and Obi-Wan Kenobi were dispatched to the planet to ensure good relations with the Republic, to make sure these "Jedi-killer" droids were not being sold to the CIS. Diplomacy failed, but the ruling Five Families were killed in a bombardment targeted by A-98.[60]
Later, during a mission to the Chaykin Cluster, Delta Squad liberated the Acclamator assault ship Prosecutor from Trandoshan mercenaries aligned with the CIS.[6]
The Battle of Jabiim would prove disastrous for the Republic despite the defeat of Confederacy leader Alto Stratus. The Republic encountered generally poor conditions- the ground was muddy and the clone troops could not count on air support due to electrically charged atmospheric disturbances. Instead, they relied on a strong mechanized ground assault, led by the newly produced AT-AT walkers. The Jabiim Separatists, however, having lived amidst the rain and mud, were much better suited for combat. In the second week of the battle, they routed the Republic's Shelter Base, moving the captured commanders Obi-Wan Kenobi and Alpha-17 to Rattatak. Although Anakin Skywalker led a force of Padawans in a counterattack that resulted in the death of Stratus, the Republic would ultimately be forced to cede the planet to the Confederacy.[61]
Following increased threats to Coruscant in the wake of the battle, a special batch of Clone troopers known as the Clone shock troopers were raised and trained on Coruscant itself, rather than Kamino, where they became a familiar sight, operating as martial police. Preying on citizen's fear, Palpatine founded the War Council Advisory Panel and the Homeworld Security Command.
Shortly after the Battle of Jabiim, Jedi Knights A'Sharad Hett, Bhat Jul, and Anakin Skywalker were sent to Aargonar to repel a Separatist presence. The battle was a disaster, and Jul and many clone troopers were slaughtered. Ki-Adi Mundi gave the order to retreat, while Bultar Swan was tasked with destroying the Republic camp to keep supplies from falling into the hands of the enemy. Meanwhile, Anakin and Hett, who had gone into a cave to hide, found a disabled gunship and used it to lure a Gouka dragon into the Separatist forces, giving the Republic time to retreat. The Jedi then returned to New Holstice.
On Parcellus Minor, the Separatists routed Republic defenses at the cost of igniting the flammable native plants through a wave of orbital bombardment and starting a fire that spread to much of the surface, wiping out or injuring most of both the ground forces on both sides.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the ARC trooper Alpha-17 were interrogated and tortured by Asajj Ventress on Rattatak, though they managed to resist. In response, she fed Kenobi muscle maggots that ate away his strength and also placed him in a Sith torture mask to stifle his Force presence. He overcame it, however, and though it took nearly a month, Kenobi managed to slowly bend the water pipes in his cell and free himself, Alpha, and the other prisoners. They repelled a final confrontation by Ventress and escaped. Obi-Wan alerted Anakin Skywalker to his survival through a Force message, which the latter received while battling pirates in Ki-Adi-Mundi's task force. Obi-Wan and Alpha meanwhile had arrived on nearby Riflor where they fought through Ventress' pursuers before being reinforced by Ki-Adi-Mundi and Anakin.
Anakin led a strike team to liberate the planet Virujansi, and, after having done so, the grateful natives dubbed him their "warrior of the infinite". However, the Republic suffered another loss when Togoria seceded.
Worse was to come for the Republic when Grievous launched Operation Durge's Lance which saw the Confederacy conquer Duro. Separatist warships destroyed the defending Republic fleet and captured one of the planet's orbital cities in less than a week. This was followed by a wave of orbital bombardment and the landing of a massive droid army on a conquered Duro. Following the battle, the Senate Bureau of Intelligence investigated causes of the defeat. Grievous led his triumphant troops across the Corellian trade spine becoming victor again and again. The droid General became a symbol of fear in the eyes of the Republic. A month later, in a report issued by Agent Inglemenn Barezz, it was revealed that the three Venator-class Star Destroyers that were to have been assigned to protect Duro had been reassigned to "shakedown cruises" by the Senate Action Subcommittee for Corellian Trade Spine Defense.
It was also revealed that, in reality, the Committee's chairman, Rodian Senator Onaconda Farr, had reassigned the ships to Iseno after being bribed with contracts for rebuilding on Ando by the Isenese senator, Ronet Coorr. After the release of the report, both Coor and Farr resigned from the Senate. A public backlash against both the Senate and Rodians in general was provoked, with calls for giving the Supreme Chancellor full power to conduct the war and for giving Humans command of fleets stationed around rival planets. A full investigation of Senate Action Subcommittees was launched with the goal of restructuring, and possibly even eliminating them. It is possible that this political restructuring also could have been one of the events that led to the Sector Governance Decree.
The ancient shipyards at Foerost in the Deep Core had been churning out warships for millennia. Toward the last centuries of the Republic, the Techno Union purchased the Foerost shipyards. With the advent of the Clone Wars, Foerost was blockaded by the Republic Navy in the hopes that the starved shipyards would wither and decay. But the Republic was unaware that for two years after the Battle of Geonosis, the besieged Techno Union engineers had been designing the Bulwark Mark I-class Battlecruiser—a 1,000 meter long warship equipped with powerful weapons and enough armor for ramming smaller vessels. Under the command of the Sullustan Dua Ningo, the Bulwark Fleet smashed through the Republic blockade at Foerost and proceeded to terrorize Republic worlds within Sector Zero.
In response to the Bulwark Fleet, the Republic launched its Victory I-class Star Destroyers six months early. The product of the Victor Initiative Project between Kuat Drive Yards and Rendili StarDrive, the Victory-class warships formed the Victory Fleet and were divided into two task forces led by Captain Terrinald Screed and Jan Dodonna. They saw action against the Bulwark Fleet at Ixtlar, Alsakan and Basilisk. At the Battle of Anaxes, Ningo was killed and his fleet defeated. Screed and Dodonna would return to Coruscant as heroes for the Republic.
By this time, many on both sides of the conflict had died and many more were injured. In response, the Republic began deploying MedStar Frigates which escorted Republic fleets into combat and carried mobile field hospitals known as Republic Mobile Surgical Units or RMSUs ("Rimsoos") on Drongar, a primordial planet of tropical climates and monsoons, with the most advanced plant life being varieties of fungi.
One such growth was bota, an "adaptogenic" which worked as an antibiotic, a painkiller, or even an intoxicant, depending upon the species. Having realized its importance, and that bota deteriorated quickly after picking, both sides maintained harvesting operations on Drongar and battles were fought over the bota fields. It was here that Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee arrived to practice her skills as a Jedi healer, and discovered that bota enhanced her Force powers.
Offee's co-workers at Rimsoo Seven were, among others, the protocol droid I-5YQ, a young surgeon named Jos Vondar, and a Sullustan HoloNet reporter named Den Dhur. She discovered that Admiral Tarnese Bleyd, commander of the local MedStar, was profiting from a bota smuggling ring. Though he was stopped, the Republic operations on Drongar continued to be harassed by the Confederacy, which continually attacked their bota fields until the intervention of a Venator-class Star Destroyer ended the hostilities. Later, Offee returned to Coruscant and was promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight.
Included among the many tragedies of year three was the devastation of the planet Honoghr. A Republic force under Aayla Secura's command engaged the Separatist Core Ship Gahenna in orbit of the planet, forcing it to crash land on the surface. Unfortunately, the ship still carried the deadly toxin Trihexalophine1138, which spread across the entire planet and dramatically damaged its ecosystem, leaving little plant life except for plains of kholm grass.
It was also here that Aayla Secura and Commander CC-5052 attempted to recapture the Scientific Instrument Package aboard the Gahenna which had been captured by the native Noghri and kept in an ancient Rakatan temple. Meanwhile, the traitor Quinlan Vos attempted to retrieve the SIP for Dooku. However, Quinlan failed when Aayla made him realize that his obsession with hunting the second Sith might not be worth the choices he had made earlier. Doubting himself ever since he had joined Dooku, he left Honoghr empty handed though it was changed forever.
Having conquered Duro, Grievous continued his rampage throughout the galaxy. He was responsible for an hour-long orbital bombardment by the Separatist starfleet under his flagship the Invisible Hand which melted the crust of Humbarine, an ancient city world and Core Founder. He would also be responsible for releasing the Loedorvian Brain Plague into the Weemell Sector, killing most of the Sector's Human inhabitants. He personally attacked Alderaan. He also supervised attacks on 26 strategic Loyalist worlds. On Vantos and Nadiem, many civilians and soldiers were murdered. He also collected the lightsabers of fallen Jedi as trophies of war. Due to these acts of wanton destruction, Grievous soon became an avatar of terror in the eyes of the citizens of the Republic.
This prompted many Jedi to call for the death of General Grievous. However, Master Yoda opposed such extreme measures, fearing that the actions of the Jedi assassins would lead to their fall to the dark side. Despite this, some risked excommunication to carry out what they saw as justice. This included Padawan Flynn Kybo, Coway Jedi Master B'dard Tone and a few others. This group of Jedi tracked the infamous cyborg general in the Ison Corridor. On the Ugnaught homeworld Gentes, Grievous's forces had conquered the planet and enslaved its inhabitants. Strip-mining also took place on the planet. He also captured a group of Padawans on Gentes and intended to make them into cyborgs though his attempts were foiled by Kybo and Tone.[62]
During the conflict, the Republic had caused grief for many inhabitants of the galaxy on several occasions, including the devastation of Orleon by stone mites. Prior to this, the CIS scientist had created stone mites—bioengineered insects that could devour buildings—with the help of Arkanian geneticists. These insects had ruined countless worlds since their introduction. On one occasion during a trip to Coruscant's busy Westport, the freighter Spinner, which had been affected by stone mites, crash-landed on Kishi.
The stone mites then ravaged Kishi until Jedi Healers proficient in the art of Morichro destroyed them. Armand Isard, director of the Senate Bureau of Intelligence denounced the incident as a Separatist act of terror and his agents traced the Spinner to a small Mid Rim world Orleon. Believing the planet had bioweapons facilities, he unleashed Republic-altered stone mites on the planet. However, he was wrong, since Orleon had no bioweapons facilities and the stonemites destroyed much of the planet. Nothing could be done and the planet's 800 million inhabitants were forced to flee.
Recently, Praesitlyn had been conquered by the Republic. Despite possessing an advanced communications system that linked data feeds throughout the galactic quadrant, the planet had few defenses. Fearing that it would be attacked by the Confederacy, the Republic tried to get a fleet from nearby Sluis Van which possessed shipyards.
However, Asajj soon discovered their plans and dispatched a fleet under the Banking Clan Admiral Pors Tonith. Having blockaded Sluis Van, Tonith's fleet went to Praesitlyn and conquered it with a massive invasion army. Their efforts were sped up thanks to a system-wide jamming field unleashed by Tonith's fleet. This prevented communication with the rest of the galaxy.
Captain Zozridor Slayke of Freedom's Sons attempted to stop the Separatists, though his forces were nearly defeated. Luckily, Republic reinforcements under Nejaa Halycon and Anakin Skywalker arrived just in time. This resulted in the Battle of Praesitlyn. During the battle, the Republic and the Sons and Daughters of Freedom were pitted against over one million battle droids and a large space fleet. The battle had the distinction of being the final trial for Skywalker before becoming a Jedi Knight.[63]
Later on Susevfi, Nejaa Halycon died during a battle against the Anzati Dark Jedi Nikkos Tyris. However, the Anzati also died during the duel, thus turning his followers, the Jensaarai, against the Jedi. The Jensaarai would remain isolated from the rest of the galaxy until discovered many years later by Corran Horn, grandson of Nejaa Halycon.
The Core World of Rendili, a major starship producer, voluntarily defected to the CIS. Its defense fleet was composed of the then state-of-the-art Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruisers. However, the fleet commander had not yet decided which side he was on. In response, a Republic fleet under Jedi Masters Saesee Tiin and Plo Koon arrived with orders to destroy the Dreadnaught cruisers if they refused to join the Republic.
However, during the negotiations, Plo Koon and Captain Jan Dodonna became the prisoners of a group of pro-Separatist officers in the Dreadnaught fleet led by Lieutenant Yago. Yago hoped to break the Republic blockade with these hostages. However, Saesee Tiin refused to back down. Soon, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Quinlan Vos arrived, having just escaped from Asajj Ventress. Since Quinlan Vos had failed to obtain the SIP from Honoghr, Count Dooku wanted him dead and his role as a double agent was over.
Both Jedi rescued the hostages from the Dreadnaught cruisers before engaging Separatist fighters. Meanwhile, Anakin sabotaged the Dreadnaughts to prevent their escape into hyperspace. During the battle, Yago was slain by Jace Dallin. With the end of the battle, the captured Dreadnaughts were modified into prisoner transports and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine made a new law that nationalized all similar, planetary-level defense fleets. Meanwhile, Quinlan Vos appeared before the Jedi Council and admitted he had joined the Dark Side during his time with Dooku and presented himself for sentencing. However, the Council agreed to allow him to rejoin the Order after he had endured a period of meditation and repentance. However, he was still secretly serving Count Dooku.
Meanwhile, a vengeful Asajj Ventress slipped into the galactic capital Coruscant and tried to kill Anakin Skywalker in retaliation for Kenobi escaping her at Rattatak. During that battle, which took place on an industrial catwalk high above the skyscrapers of Coruscant, she scarred Skywalker's face with her lightsaber. However, Skywalker won the fight and then used the Force to hold her high above the surrounding metropolis and then throw her down, presumably killing her. However, Ventress survived and managed to escape Coruscant.
By this time in the war, it appeared that the Republic had momentum on its side, although the Confederacy was doing well in its own right. It had recaptured key worlds in the Core and the Colonies including Duro, Commenor and Balmorra, driving the Confederate Navy to the Mid Rim and Outer Rim. Thus began the Outer Rim Sieges, which marked the final phase of the conflict.
The Confederacy reinforced its Rim territories including its vast holdings on either side of the Slice. Emboldened, the Republic deployed nearly every fleet element and troop transport to the Rim in an attempt to crush the Separatist fortresses. Grueling engagements began on Ord Radama, Ossus, Ryloth, and elsewhere in an effort to force the Confederacy to surrender.
On Bomis Korri IV, Corporate Alliance Koorivar General Oro Dassyne commanded a Separatist fortress-city. Anticipating a massive Jedi force would storm his fortress, he had constructed a gigantic network of defensive guns that covered the side of the city facing the open plains, and he reinforced his position with a powerful energy shield.[64]
Dassyne was disappointed when he learned that instead of the huge army he had envisioned two Jedi had infiltrated his fortress and deactivated the ray shields. These Jedi were the legendary Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, who then attacked with an army small and fast enough to avoid fire from the massive defense batteries of Dassyne's fortress. With the shield down, the base was decimated by orbital strikes and starfighter bombardment. During the ensuing firefight, Dassyne was killed.[64] Around the same time, Jedi Master Nem Bees led Deviss and the K Company to depose an illegal government on Orto.
On Bal'demnic, the Confederacy of Independent Systems discovered traces of cortosis in the sea cliffs and attempted to enslave the Kon'me and mine the cliffs for the lightsaber resistant substance. The Kon'me rebelled and started the Battle of Bal'demnic. Soon enough, a clone regiment led by Sha Koon and Halagad Ventor landed on the planet but were attacked by the natives, and soon the CIS and Republic were expulsed from the system.[65]
On Saleucami, the fallen Jedi Sora Bulq established a Separatist base. He hired elite Anzati assassins to train the Confederacy's own clone army, which was grown from the genetic material of Nikto Morgukai warriors. In response, Quinlan Vos and Oppo Rancisis led a huge Republic force that consisted of A'Sharad Hett, K'Kruhk, Sian Jeisel, Aayla Secura, and others, to lay siege to Saleucami, thus beginning the Siege of Saleucami.
Oppo Rancisis was later killed by Sora Bulq. Quinlan Vos worked together with Jedi Master Tholme to kill Sora Bulq and Tol Skorr. Quinlan Vos, A'Sharad Hett, Aayla Secura, K'Kruhk, Tholme, and Jeisel all survived that mission. Stass Allie was later assigned to go back there when the planet was taken over by the Separatists yet again.
Many of the Confederacy's top commanders were killed or captured during the course of the Outer Rim Sieges, such as the bounty hunter Durge, who met his end thanks to Anakin Skywalker during the latter's mission to Maramere, when his escape pod was driven into a star. On a temporary leave from the battlefront, Obi-Wan Kenobi took on a personal mission to find and neutralize the Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress, whom he believed was still alive and dangerous. With the help of Skywalker, Kenobi followed the trail to Boz Pity, a major Confederacy base surrounded by a fleet of over a hundred warships. By chance, the two Jedi were found by Bail Organa, who was investigating the situation in the Outer Rim. Kenobi then called in a full Republic assault force to lay siege to Boz Pity.[66]
Onboard the Star Destroyer Intervention, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, A'Sharad Hett, Adi Gallia, and several other Jedi agreed to launch a pre-emptive assault on Boz Pity. The Intervention dropped out of hyperspace behind the Separatist fleet, but it was caught in the planet's gravity and was forced to crash-land on the surface. With the element of surprise on their side, the Jedi and their clone troopers were able to quickly secure the surface installations. In space, the rest of the Republic fleet arrived shortly and engaged in a fierce battle with the Confederacy ships. Meanwhile, the Jedi attacked the Confederacy headquarters, where Dooku, Grievous, and Ventress were waiting. Soon Bayts was killed by Grievous. Later on, Jedi Master Adi Gallia was also murdered by Grievous, held by the neck by Grievous's hand while he gutted her with a lightsaber. Kenobi confronted Ventress, managing to redeem her at the last moment, but Dooku and Grievous escaped. Ventress, trying to reach Dooku, was blasted down by a MagnaGuard, which was reacting upon orders from Dooku, who did not want Ventress to delay his escape. Critically injured, Ventress warned Kenobi about the upcoming attack on Coruscant, and apparently died. She later was revealed to be alive, thanks to her healing techniques, as she hijacked a shuttle and took off into parts unknown.[66]
Hundreds of other engagements throughout the Rim locked up millions of Separatist warships in battles with the Republic navy, which was now unable to break off its attack, should the Confederacy once again gain the advantage. The Jedi Generals were spread thinly throughout the galaxy, and they had only their clone soldiers to accompany them. The Republic's heartland was now vulnerable to an attack by General Grievous' personal battle fleet, which was exactly what the Sith wanted.
In an attempt to precipitate the end of the war, the Jedi began actively hunting for the Separatist leadership, including Count Dooku, General Grievous, and the Council of Separatists. On different occasions, Wat Tambor, Nute Gunray, and Shu Mai were all nearly captured when they fled to their respective personal strongholds on Xagobah, Cato Neimoidia, and Felucia. Eventually, General Grievous decided to take the entire Council under his personal protection.[1]
By this point in the war, it became important for the Jedi to find the Sith Lord supposedly in control of the Galactic Senate. This was done in the hopes of convincing Chancellor Palpatine to relinquish the emergency powers granted to him at the start of the war.
Anakin Skywalker, having become the "poster boy" of the war (at least in the eyes of the Republic's citizens), was given the rank of Jedi Knight in part due to his role in the Battle of Praesitlyn. He was among the Jedi who took part in the Outer Rim Sieges, which included attacks on major Separatist installations on Saleucami, Felucia, Mygeeto, Neimoidia, Cato Neimoidia, Deko Neimoidia and Koru Neimoidia. During an assault on Koru Neimoidia, Republic walkers and juggernauts were unleashed on the Confederacy forces. Neimoidia was ravaged during the battle and the destruction of many Neimoidian grub-hatcheries would affect the Neimoidian species. Anakin eventually became the Republic's answer to General Grievous, rising to become one of the Republic's greatest heroes ever.
It was during the First Battle of Cato Neimoidia that evidence of Darth Sidious finally came into light. The battle was an attempt by the Republic to capture Nute Gunray, Viceroy of the Trade Federation and a prominent member of the Separatist Council. Though the Republic was driving the Confederacy out of the Core and the Colonies, Nute Gunray went to Cato Neimoidia wishing to take as much wealth with him as he could. Republic Intelligence received information as to his whereabouts, and an army led by Obi-Wan Kenobi, the newly Knighted Skywalker and Jan Dodonna was sent to wait in ambush.[1]
However, Nute Gunray managed to escape. Despite this, Cato Neimoidia had been conquered and Gunray's Mechno-chair had been captured. This specially built piece of furniture contained a holoprojector that broadcast on an encrypted channel, allowing the Viceroy to communicate directly with Darth Sidious. The Jedi Council then tasked Obi-Wan and Anakin with the mission to follow the trail left by this evidence and discover the identity of Darth Sidious once and for all. Their search took them across the galaxy in an ever expanding search for the Sith Lord.[1]
Meanwhile, the Commerce Guild President Shu Mai returned to her headquarters on Felucia to make arrangements concerning the liquidation of her holdings. However, the newly Knighted Barriss Offee and the Selonian Padawan Zonder went to Felucia and attempted to capture her, although they were captured. Later, Aayla Secura and Clone Commander CC-5052 came to the rescue. Unfortunately for them, Shu Mai unleashed a deadly bioweapon into Felucia's water systems before escaping.[67]
After these incidents, Grievous collected the Separatist Council and attempted to find a hideout for them. His first choice was Belderone, though they were forced to flee after it became known to the Republic because a transmission through Nute Gunray's mechno-chair was intercepted. A Republic task force under Kenobi and Skywalker lay in wait. A battle began, in which Skywalker flew through a wave of turbolaser fire to attack the bridge of Grievous's flagship, the Invisible Hand.
The Confederate ships escaped by opening fire on a refugee convoy, destroying several ships. However, by ambushing Grievous at Belderone, the Republic had found out how to decipher the code. By reverse-engineering the device, Republic Intelligence learned of its origin and soon discovered that Darth Sidious had been operating from an abandoned building in the heart of the Works, on the galactic capital Coruscant itself. With his disguise quickly unraveling, Darth Sidious played his final card: the Battle of Coruscant. As Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, he delivered a speech that named Mygeeto, Felucia and Saleucami as a "Triad of Evil," sending half of Coruscant's home defense fleet to pacify the planets. Simultaneously he ordered Count Dooku and General Grievous to attack the weakened galactic capital through the use of secret hyperspace routes through the Deep Core.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan and Anakin went to the remote planet of Nelvaan, believing that Grievous was hiding there. There, Anakin slew a huge monster[64] and gained the admiration of the native Nelvaanians while interrupting an adolescent's rite of passage. They saw his arrival as the sign of a champion known as Holt Kezed ("Ghost Hand" in Nelvaanian, referring to Anakin's mechanical forearm), who would deliver their land from a mysterious evil. Having endured a painful ceremony, Anakin embarked on a quest to confront the evil.[68] He entered a cave where he received a vision that he would become Darth Vader. Then, he discovered a Techno Union facility that experimented on native captives, turning them into fearsome mutants.[69] He destroyed the facility, though he also touched the minds of the captives and returned them to their families. There would be celebrations in the Nelvaanian village.[70]
Later, Obi-Wan and Anakin were sent to Tythe with Red Squadron, where Count Dooku was assumed to be hiding. The squadron was wiped out by orbital defenses, leaving Kenobi and Skywalker to enter the LiMerge Power facility alone. There, Dooku set battle droid forces upon them, but Anakin, in a display of raw Force power, brought the ceiling down upon them, the droids and Dooku. The Sith Lord managed to clamber free of the wreckage, and took his solar sailer off-planet to rendezvous with Grievous over Coruscant. The Jedi also escaped the ruins of the chamber, and returned to their flagship, only to learn that Coruscant had been attacked by Separatist forces. They launched immediately for the Core in their interceptors.
Meanwhile on Coruscant, the Separatist fleet under Dooku and Grievous launched a week-long siege against the galactic capital. Confederacy C-9979 landing craft were unleashed on the capital along with swarms of Vulture droids and Droid tri-fighters. Hundreds of millions of battle droids and tank droids ravaged the streets of Galactic City, causing much damage to lives and property. In response, the Republic deployed its Clone forces against the Separatist droid forces.
As the battle raged in space, in the sky and on the ground, Grievous broke into 500 Republica and kidnapped Palpatine, slaying several troops and Jedi in the process.
Realizing that they were lured away from Coruscant, Skywalker and Kenobi made their way back to the capital world to join in the attempt to rescue Palpatine. Boarding the Separatist flagship Invisible Hand, they made their way through the ship to where the Chancellor was being held.[71]
However, before they could escape they were met by Count Dooku, who once again faced off against the Jedi. Although Dooku originally had the upper hand, the Jedi changed lightsaber styles during the middle of the battle in order to put the Sith Lord on the back foot. Dooku quickly swung the battle back in his favor by throwing Kenobi against the wall and knocking him out.[71]
Dooku and Skywalker fought on, with both Dooku and Palpatine urging Skywalker to give in to the dark side. This backfired on Dooku, as Skywalker gained the upper hand, disarmed his opponent. On Palpatine's instructions, decapitated Dooku, destabilising the Separatist leadership into the military faction led by General Grievous and the civilian faction led by Nute Gunray.[71]
Skywalker, Kenobi and Palpatine were later recaptured by General Grievous, but with the help of R2-D2 they gained control of the ship and landed what remained of it down on Coruscant. However, Grievous escaped and together with the remains of the Separatist fleet fled to the Outer Rim Territories.[71]
As the Separatists were driven off Coruscant, Palpatine stressed that the Separatist threat would not end until General Grievous was destroyed. Clone Intelligence located the Separatist stronghold on Utapau and the Jedi Council assigned Kenobi the task of bringing the General to justice.
Arriving on Utapau, he was greeted by Tion Medon, who informed him of the General's location. After selecting the services of a varactyl named Boga, Kenobi made his way to the tenth level of Pau City, where he engaged in a brief duel with the General. Not long after, the 212th Attack Battalion, led by Commander CC-2224 arrived and engaged what little remained of the Separatist droid army.[71]
Taking the opportunity to leave, Grievous boarded a Tsmeu-6 personal wheel bike and fled the scene. Kenobi pursued the General throughout the battle until they reached the General's personal Belbullab-22 starfighter, where they fought once more. Grievous appeared to have the upper hand on Kenobi until the Jedi Master called Grievous's blaster to him using the Force. Then he shot him several times, destroying his organs. General Grievous, one of the greatest threats to the Republic in its history, was dead at last. The clones then proceeded to destroy the Anti-Air Turrets so that LAAT reinforcements could be brought in. Republic forces continued to push back the droid forces until they received Order 66. Then, troopers under the command of Cody opened fire on Kenobi and Boga. With the clones assuming Kenobi dead, the fight went on as normal until the battle droids were shut down.[71]
On Kashyyyk, a combined Republic/Wookiee force repelled a second Separatist invasion. Kashyyyk was considered a major navigation hub for the southeast quadrant of the galaxy, making it a strategically important system which had long been a target for the Separatist military. Confederate leaders requested the Wookiees join their rebellion, but the Kashyyyk royal families proved indecisive. General Grievous, having become impatient regarding their decision to join the Confederacy, decided to send battle droids to "persuade" them. The droids unintentionally killed Prince Rikummee, and King Grakchawwaa decided to oppose the Separatists.
After a number of probing attacks throughout the war the Separatists finally decided on a full scale invasion of the city of Kachirho in the Wawaatt Archipelago. This was to serve as a literal beach head into the rest of the forest covered planet. To this end the Separatists made particular use of the age old enmity between the native Wookiee and their system neighbors the Trandoshans to prepare for their attack. The Trandoshans did this in a number of ways, in particular by raiding the city and taking its leader, General Tarfful prisoner, using their slaving activities as a cover for the true objective. In secret the Separatists landed a large droid force and prepared for their attack. However, while the system was an important strategic location and both sides believe the battle to be straightforward, it was in fact little more than a diversion by Darth Sidious.
The clone commandos of Delta Squad were dispatched to find Tarfful and unite the Wookiees against the Separatists. After rescuing a Wookiee Chieftain, the commandos aided the Wookiee resistance in Kachirho against the Separatist forces, destroying a Commerce Guild destroyer in orbit. RC-1207 was lost while fighting, and Delta Squad pulled out on a gunship as the Separatist counterattack came. During the aftermath, they discovered they were an advance group for a Republic invasion force.[6]
Kashyyyk was considered too important to lose to the Separatists, so battalions of clone troopers from the 41st Elite Corps supplemented by units assigned to the 501st Legion were dispatched to the Wookiee homeworld to aid the Wookiee forces engaged in battle with a Separatist droid army.[71]
Yoda held good relations with the Wookiees, and thus became the commanding officer for the Republic forces sent to the system. He was assisted in the direction of the combined forces by General Tarfful and Chewbacca, heads of the local Wookiee defense force. Jedi Masters Luminara Unduli and Quinlan Vos (having been reassigned from Boz Pity) were also present.
The Separatists were already blockading the planet by the time Yoda's forces arrived. However, General Yoda's fleet was able to penetrate the blockade and land on the surface. The space battle continued, cutting the detachment of droids already landed off from the rest of the CIS Fleet. The droid battalions established their command posts and attacked.
On the vehicle front, Wookiee flying catamarans were aided by Juggernauts, AT-AP and AT-RT walkers and other assault vehicles. They faced enormous opposition from Separatist droid tanks, OG-9 Homing spider droids and HMP droid gunships.
Despite the best efforts of the combined Wookiee/Republic defense, Kachirho soon became in danger of being overrun by the Separatists. Two things managed to save the Wookiees: the sudden deactivation of the droid army and the transmission of Order 66. Unfortunately, both of these actions would bring about a disaster that would be far worse for them.
Yoda sensed a grave disturbance in the Force as the battle was winding down. This was Order 66, which was being carried out throughout the galaxy. Clone Commander CC-1004 received a comlink-call on a frequency-locked channel reserved for the commanders. The image of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine instructed him to carry out the order to kill the Jedi Master, General Yoda.
As the clones prepared to execute him, Yoda drew his lightsaber and in one fell swoop decapitated his would-be assassins. Yoda then proceeded to escape into the nearby jungle along with Wookiee warriors Tarfful and Chewbacca.
Outside, the battle between Republic and Separatist forces appeared to be over: Wookiees stacked destroyed droids while clone troopers assessed the damage to their equipment and began preparing for a full-scale invasion of Kashyyyk. Jedi Master Luminara Unduli was talking with eight clone officers standing in a circle around her when they executed her. Quinlan Vos was riding on top of a Kuat Drive Yards HAVw A6 Juggernaut; the main cannon of the nearby Juggernaut destroyed the tank, although he was able to survive.[72]
As the Republic forces that came to defend the planet from the invaders became the invaders and executed their commanders in cold blood, the Battle of Kashyyyk was over. The Republic forces soon pulled out of the system, allowing the Wookiees to begin salvaging the masses of wrecked military hardware that the battle had left strewn across the world.
During the events of the Clone Wars, Palpatine became a father figure to Anakin Skywalker. The young Jedi felt comfortable discussing events with the Chancellor that he hid from even Kenobi or Amidala. Palpatine used Skywalker's growing mistrust of the Jedi Council to his advantage, playing against his insecurities by saying that he could offer him much more than the Council ever could. He also revealed his secret identity as Darth Sidious to Skywalker, knowing that he would go to the Jedi Council and report this.
Skywalker did report this information to Mace Windu, who arrived at the Chancellor's Office with fellow Jedi Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin, and Agen Kolar, intent on bringing an end to the Chancellor's reign. Within moments, however, Windu was the only one alive facing off against the powerful Sith Lord. Skywalker, against Mace Windu's orders, arrived at the Chancellor's Office and witnessed Palpatine disarmed and cornered by Windu. Taking advantage of the scene, Palpatine succeeded in seducing Skywalker. As Windu was about to deliver the killing blow, Skywalker severed his lightsaber hand, allowing Palpatine to hurl Windu out the window to his death using Force Lightning. Having committed an act of betrayal against a fellow Jedi, Skywalker knew that his options were limited. Pledging himself to Palpatine, he became a Sith and was given the name Darth Vader. His first task was to lead the 501st Legion to the Jedi Temple and eliminate every single Jedi inside. He was then ordered to go to Mustafar to eliminate the Separatist Council.
The Great Jedi Purge had begun.[71]
As Vader eliminated the Jedi at the Temple during Operation: Knightfall, Palpatine sent a message to the Clone Commanders stationed across the galaxy, telling them to execute Order 66. With this transmission, the clone troopers immediately turned against their Jedi commanders.
Jedi that were killed during Order 66 included such well known Jedi Masters as Aayla Secura, Luminara Unduli, Ki-Adi Mundi, Plo Koon, and Cin Drallig, along with hundreds of other Jedi of all ranks around the galaxy. Jedi that managed to survive the attack included Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Shaak Ti (whom was soon killed by Galen Marek), and A'Sharad Hett, among a handful of others.
After his mission to cleanse the Temple, Vader took a Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor (with R2-D2 in tandem) to Mustafar. The Separatist Council, having been informed that he would arrive soon, assumed that he was coming to protect them. Instead, he viciously slaughtered every single one of them without remorse. Those killed were: Nute Gunray and Rune Haako, with their aide Rute Gunnay, San Hill, Wat Tambor, Poggle the Lesser, Shu Mai and her aide Cat Miin, Passel Argente and his aide Denaria Kee, and Po Nudo and his aide. Nute Gunray was the last to be killed – he begged for peace, but Vader still cut him down.
Palpatine then ordered Vader to send a deactivation signal, which was, ironically originally developed by Geonosian Gizor Dellso to prevent anyone from using the Droid Army against them. Gizor Dellso himself was at one point on Mustafar, but managed to avoid being killed by Vader.
The signal was activated and the vast majority of the Confederacy's military strength was made redundant, forcing many CIS forts to surrender, and bringing the Separatists to an end.[71]
With both the Separatists and Jedi defeated, the newly self appointed Emperor Palpatine spoke before the Senate, declaring an end to the Clone Wars and the formation of the Galactic Empire. He also declared the Jedi to be traitors to the Republic, displaying tampered recordings of his encounter with the Jedi, and that any remaining Jedi would soon be brought to justice. This declaration was met with thunderous applause by much of the Senate, though there were those that held reservations about what they had just heard.
Following Palpatine's declaration, major changes occurred in the fabric of the former Republic. Members of the Petition of 2000, delivered to Palpatine in the days prior to the establishment of the Empire, were arrested and charged with treason. The Commission for the Protection of the Republic, formed during the Clone Wars, was merged with the Imperial Security Bureau and renamed the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order.[73] The clone troopers were reorganized under the name Imperial stormtroopers. The assets of the Trade Federation, Commerce Guild, Corporate Alliance, Techno Union and Intergalactic Banking Clan were brought under the Empire's control. The war machines of the Republic (such as the Acclamator-class transport and AT-TE) were retired from active service on the front lines in favor of new weapons of war such as the Imperial-class Star Destroyer and AT-AT. The captains of the Republic ships that participated in major conflicts of the Clone Wars (such as the Siege of Saleucami and recovery of the Rendili Dreadnaught-class cruisers) were given the credit for winning the battles, completely eliminating the Jedi's involvement.
The Clone Wars had ended; the Republic had fallen, and in its place stood the Galactic Empire.[71]
Surviving Geonosian engineer Gizor Dellso attempted to continue the Clone Wars as the last leader of the remaining Separatists by churning out a droid army of his own on Mustafar. He was quickly destroyed, however, by the 501st Legion and the last real influence of the CIS was destroyed.
The Clone Wars, as the largest galactic conflict ever during its day, still had consequences that lasted through the ages. It resulted in a distrust of droids by many, in the devastation of many planets, and weakening the galaxy in preparation for Imperial rule.
Many civilians in the Republic followed the Clone Wars closely, mainly through the HoloNet and Republic propaganda. Throughout the entire conflict, Republic citizens were overwhelmingly loyal, and dissent was nearly unheard of. This was due in part to simple patriotism but more a product of the pressure to show support. In the tense attitude of the Clone Wars, those who second-guessed the Republic were often looked on with suspicion. Senators, in particular, had to very carefully watch their language, and many fought back accusations of Separatist sympathies when they openly attempted to challenge the questionable 'reforms' of the Supreme Chancellor. Public sentiment held that Palpatine, in fact, was indispensable as a leader. Therefore, any attempts to rebuke his actions were harshly frowned upon by the majority, as there was a significant fear that without Palpatine leading the Republic, it would have no chance against the Confederacy.
Although relatively new to the scene, the clone troopers quickly established themselves as the essential backbone of the Galactic Republic. It was almost immediately apparent, even to the Jedi Council that the limited number of Jedi and no amount of civilian soldiers could provide the kind of military support that the clones could. Bred for the sole purpose to fight and die for the Republic, many throughout the galaxy believed that the clones were just like their battle droid counterparts: "empty" and unfeeling creations with no mind or free will. But as millions of clones continued to lay down their lives for the citizens they had sworn to protect and the Jedi they followed with faith and awe, public sentiment for the clones grew, and many liberal reforms were introduced so that the clones could be treated like men and not expendable machines. At the height of the Clone Wars, the Clone Army of the legendary Jango Fett proved time and again that although they were an "army of one man, it was the right man for the job". The people loyal to the Republic saw them as a symbol of hope, the Jedi cared for them and saw them as comrades-in-arms, and the clones themselves began to believe their closely-guarded suspicion that maybe they were indeed sentient beings and not just mere products.[1]
Personifying the nobility of the Republic cause were the Jedi Knights. The Jedi were larger-than-life heroes whose impossible feats garnered the awe of beings across Republic space. At the forefront of the public eye were the dynamic Jedi duo Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, who often worked together to direct campaigns. These two, referred to ubiquitously with the catchphrase Kenobi and Skywalker, became the poster boys of the Republic war effort. Throughout the war, sensationalist HoloNet reports lauded and exaggerated their achievements. Wherever the pair went, the Republic inevitably won the battle, or so the HoloNet claimed. These two were especially popular with younglings, who followed their exploits as if they were following the records of athletes.[74]
On the other hand, General Grievous was the symbol of the enemy. Along with the adventures of Kenobi and Skywalker, news reports related the atrocities committed at the hands of the cyborg general. Conversely to the famous Jedi pair, wherever Grievous went, the Republic forces were sure to be defeated, sowing fear across the Republic and making more citizens put their faith in the Chancellor. They believed the General to be unstoppable. Indeed, he nearly was.[74]
Although optimism was high at the beginning of the war, as it dragged on, morale began to fall sharply. Even the propaganda-laced HoloNet news reports didn't manage to stem the growing tide of uneasiness over the odds of a Republic victory. The Grand Army's efforts to hold off Grievous were failing. System after system fell to the onslaught of the droid armies, and many planets continued to defect to the Confederacy. Not only that, but the people's faith in the Jedi began to wane over the course of the war, when more and more Knights were killed in battle. It became clear that the warriors who had once seemed invincible were mere mortals as well.
One of the main causes of the dwindling adoration of the Jedi Order, however, was not the mortality of the Jedi but their susceptibility to treason. Though of course no mention of Jedi traitors made it past Republic news censors, civilians nonetheless learned about the defection of Knights like Sora Bulq, Depa Billaba, and Quinlan Vos, who had betrayed not only their Order but the Republic itself. Even the leader of the enemy, Count Dooku, had himself once been a Jedi.
It was not unexpected, therefore, when the Chancellor's Office announced that the Clone Army had turned back a supposed coordinated coup of the Republic by the Jedi Order. Instantly, public sentiment reversed, and with the combined motivation of victory against the Separatists and protection against the supposedly fanatical Jedi, Palpatine was unanimously lauded for his direction of the Republic. His ascension to autocrat was not only unquestioned, it was encouraged.
It would only be years later that the people would realize the consequences of their shortsightedness.
Unlike the people of the Republic, those inhabiting worlds that seceded from the government were often less driven by allegiance to the Confederacy than simply by their yearning to transcend their current condition. There were numerous reasons planets seceded. Some were simply unhappy with the way the Republic and the Senate were being administrated. Others were worlds suffering from the aftermath of wars, famines, or other disasters that had been neglected by the Republic. Still others were worlds where tensions or open wars between sects continued to flare. The Confederacy took advantage of these small conflicts, offering assistance to a sect's minor war if that faction would contribute in turn to the larger galactic conflict.
The Kaleesh of Kalee, the Ishi-Tib of Tibrin, and the Balawai of Haruun Kal were three examples of this Confederate policy of outsourcing war. The people of these planets regarded the Separatists as saviors- they had agreed to intervene and decide millennia-long sectional disputes, conflicts the Republic had long refused to take sides in. For the civilians of worlds where the Confederacy had offered assistance, loyalty to their species translated into patriotism for the Confederacy. The defining attribute of nearly all loyal Confederate citizens was hatred of the Jedi. As the leaders of the Republic armies and its deadliest soldiers, the Jedi represented the greatest threat to the new prosperity the Confederacy sought. Many Confederate civilians poured into the image of the Jedi their hatred over the decayed Republic and fear over the atmosphere of uncertainty surrounding the war. Confederate news broadcasts played up the killings committed by Jedi Knights, and were quick to contrast their self-applied title as guardians of peace and justice with their new roles as juggernauts of death that killed those who were simply defending their homes from invaders. The fear in the hearts of many people on Separatist worlds that their homes would be next contributed to an active hatred of the hypocrisy the Jedi Order of the Clone Wars represented. After the Clone Wars, many Confederates would become part of the Rebel Alliance, another reform-minded organization with goals similar to those of the Confederacy, albeit sans the ulterior motive of a Sith puppeteer and ultimately driven by the desire to restore the Galactic Republic rather than leaving it.
The Clone Wars were first mentioned in A New Hope by Obi-Wan Kenobi and later Princess Leia Organa, although at the time no mention was made about what they actually were. Phrases such as 'during the Clone Wars' were often mentioned in works to give some evidence of depth in narration. Another early concept for the Clone Wars was a war between the Republic and the Mandalorians as mentioned in The Galactic Empire Scrapbook, though this was published less than a year before the script to The Phantom Menace was written. It was widely assumed that the Clone Wars ended long before the establishment of the Empire; A Guide to the Star Wars Universe listed the end of the Clone Wars as 35 BBY (which was later retconned into being the Great ReSynchronization), and Mon Mothma in The Farlander Papers spoke of the "decades of peace" between the end of the Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire, with Palpatine being elected President during the war but not declaring himself Emperor and exterminating the Jedi until much later. However, in Marvel Star Wars, the Clone Wars were said to be at a time late enough that Leia Organa was a notable figure and Palpatine already in power. During the Bantam era of the Expanded Universe, authors were limited in how they could describe the events of the conflict. Prior to the release of Episode II, the general consensus among fans was that the "Clone" in "the Clone Wars" referred to clones being the antagonists in a war against the Republic and the Jedi, and most Expanded Universe material written prior to 2002 seemed to support this belief.
This changed in 2002, when Attack of the Clones was released. In the three years between the 2002 release of Clones and the 2005 release of Revenge of the Sith, a massive multimedia campaign was launched (similar to the one done during 1996 for Shadows of the Empire), in which all forms of media, including books, comics, video games and even a continuation of the HoloNet News feature in Star Wars Insider would tell the events that occurred during this time.
Since the release of Clones and Sith, the Expanded Universe material set in the Classic Trilogy era and later in the timeline has made an effort to include the newly revealed information. Such examples can be seen in the Star Wars: Empire comic series (where both Acclamator-class warships and AT-TEs can be seen), the appearance of an unmasked Boba Fett in several comics and R2-D2 recounting events from Revenge of the Sith (including Operation: Knightfall and the birth of Luke and Leia at Polis Massa), during the Dark Nest Trilogy.
From 2002 to 2007, the Clone Wars era was one of the most completely and coherently documented in the Expanded Universe. While there was no date given for some events such as clone troopers adopting Phase II clone trooper armor, most major events of the war were given a specific month on the 36-month timeline of the Clone Wars, such as Anakin Skywalker's knighting ceremony, which took place 30 months into the war. However, the 2008 The Clone Wars multimedia project retconned the entire timeline to make room for the new continuity, which would not have fit anywhere on the timeline otherwise. Changes include Anakin Skywalker having been knighted shortly after the Battle of Geonosis and the addition of his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. A definitive timeline has yet to be released.
While following the story of the Rise of the Empire, there can be many similarities found between this and the rise of the Roman Empire from the Roman Republic (Republics forming into Empires being one of the similarities). Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) leading his army of clones and marching on the Jedi Temple is very much like when Julius Caesar led his army across the Rubicon, beginning the end of the Roman Republic. There can be many more similarities found between the Rise of the Empire in Star Wars and the equivalent era in Roman history.
Furthermore, the Clone Wars bear a striking resemblance to the American Civil War. Both had secessionist Confederacies whose leaders were reluctant to go to war. Both had the remnant of the prior government use force to preserve the union of their respective countries. Also, both wars saw a massive increase in power by not only the central, federal governments, but in particular by the leaders of those two governments.
The use of Palpatine of the events in his office (modified to suit his own purposes as showing the Jedi "attempt on his life", of course) as a propaganda tool in order to fuel his declaration of the New Order has remarkable similarities to Hitler using the burning of the Reichstag building in 1933 as a pretext for ending most civil liberties in Germany.
Further comparisons with Nazi Germany can be made with the Night of the Long Knives and Order 66. Hitler purged his own party of Stormtroopers (the Sturmabteilung) by the SS in a way similar to Palpatine's purges of both the Jedi and the surviving leaders of the Confederacy at the end of the war. This bears an even more striking resemblance considering that the SA were previously Hitler's bodyguards and private army, much similar to the role of the Jedi in his guise as Chancellor Palpatine, and the direct service of the droid armies of the CIS to the Sith Agenda of Darth Sidious.
Another striking similarity between Order 66 and historical events is Pope Clement's Pastoralis Praeeminentiae and the arrest of most French Knights Templar by Philip IV in a single day (October 13, 1307).
Clone Wars may refer to:
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