Star Wars prequels RP

Episode I THE PHANTOM MENACE

Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute.

Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo.

While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict… Plot summary "I have a bad feeling about this." "I don't sense anything." "It's not about the mission, Master. It's something…elsewhere…elusive." ―Obi-Wan Kenobi to Qui-Gon Jinn — 20?cb=20250116042720 (file info)[1] Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan prepare to fight their way out of the Trade Federation flagship. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan prepare to fight their way out of the Trade Federation flagship.

Thirty-two years before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (thirteen years before the formation of the Galactic Empire), there is a trade dispute between the Trade Federation and the outlying systems of the Galactic Republic, which has led to a blockade of the Mid-Rim planet of Naboo. Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, leader of the Galactic Senate, has secretly dispatched two Jedi, Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to serve as "the ambassadors" to the Federation flagship, in order to meet with Viceroy Nute Gunray and resolve the dispute. Unbeknownst to them, the Trade Federation is in league with the mysterious Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith, who secretly orders Gunray to invade Naboo and kill the two Jedi upon their arrival. When Gunray asked if that would be legal, Sidious says that he would ensure that it was.

The Viceroy locks the Jedi in the meeting room and attempts to kill them with poison gas while having their ship, the Radiant VII, destroyed in the hangar, but they escape. After battling through squads of battle droids, Jinn and Kenobi make their way to the command deck where Gunray is located, shielding himself behind blast doors. The Jedi are forced to flee upon the arrival of two Destroyer Droids and stow away aboard two separate Federation landing craft leaving for the surface of Naboo to begin the invasion.

Back in the command deck, Queen Amidala contacts Gunray to express her disapproval of their blockade, with Gunray explaining that they wouldn't have done it without the approval of the Senate. When she asks about the ambassadors sent by the Chancellor, Gunray claims that they have received no such ambassadors, leaving Amidala startled and suspicious. Gunray ends communications with her and informs his aide that they should disable all communications on the planet.

Meanwhile, Amidala is conversing with Senator Sheev Palpatine regarding the recent attempt at negotiations and how Gunray claimed that they did not receive any ambassadors. Surprised, Palpatine states that he had assurances from the Chancellor that his ambassadors did arrive. However, Palpatine is unable to finish his sentence as his hologram flickers out. Naboo Governor Sio Bibble suspects that an interruption of communications is a sign that an invasion from the Trade Federation is imminent.

The Jedi liberate the queen and her guards from the battle-droid invasion. The Jedi liberate the queen and her guards from the battle-droid invasion.

On the planet's surface, Qui-Gon saves native outcast Jar Jar Binks from being crushed by a Trade Federation MTT. Kenobi appears, pursued by STAPs, which are destroyed by Qui-Gon. Jar Jar Binks shows the two Jedi the way to an underwater Gungan settlement, Otoh Gunga. Meanwhile, the Trade Federation occupies Theed, the capital city of Naboo, and captures Queen Amidala along with the rest of the government. In Otoh Gunga, the Jedi meet the Gungan leader, Boss Nass, and ask him to help the people of Naboo, but Nass refuses due to hate of the people of Naboo and sends them off in a bongo submarine. They are attacked by an opee sea killer and a colo claw fish but both fish are eaten by a sando aqua monster. The Jedi, with Binks in tow, arrive in Theed and rescue Queen Amidala, using the Force and their lightsabers to dispatch squads of droids. They depart for Coruscant, the Galactic Republic's capital planet, to ask for help from the Senate. As they attempt to run the blockade, the queen's starship is damaged by Federation battleships, but an astromech droid named R2-D2 manages to repair it and they narrowly escape.

Due to the damage to the ship's hyperdrive sustained in the attack, the Jedi decide to land on the nearby planet Tatooine for repairs. While searching for a new hyperdrive generator, they befriend young Anakin Skywalker, a slave boy, whose master is Watto, a Toydarian junk dealer. Watto has the required parts in stock, but Qui-Gon is unable to purchase them, as Republic credits are worthless on Tatooine, nor can he use his powers to trick Watto, since Toydarians are resistant to mental manipulation.

Anakin races ahead of Sebulba during the Boonta Eve Podrace. Anakin races ahead of Sebulba during the Boonta Eve Podrace.

Anakin is gifted with piloting and mechanical abilities, and has built an almost-complete droid named C-3PO. Qui-Gon senses a strong presence of the Force in Anakin, and feels that he may be the Chosen One—the one who will fulfill a prophecy by bringing balance to the Force. By entering Anakin into a podrace, Qui-Gon orchestrates a gamble with Watto's chance cube in which "fate" (really Qui-Gon using his powers to cheat) decided that the boy (alone, since Qui-Gon was unable to include the youth's mother in the bargain) will be released from slavery while also acquiring the parts needed for their ship. The night before the race, Qui-Gon does a blood test on Anakin and discovers that the boy's midi-chlorian reading is off the chart.

Anakin wins the race (defeating his rival, Sebulba) and joins the team as they prepare to leave for Coruscant, where Qui-Gon plans to seek permission from the Jedi High Council to train Anakin to be a Jedi. Meanwhile, Darth Sidious sends his apprentice, Darth Maul, to kill the two Jedi and capture the queen. Maul appears just as the group is leaving the planet, and duels with Qui-Gon. The fight is cut short when Qui-Gon escapes his black-robed assailant by jumping on board the Naboo Royal Starship as it takes off.

Amidala and Palpatine plead before the Senate to intervene with Naboo's crisis. Amidala and Palpatine plead before the Senate to intervene with Naboo's crisis.

On Coruscant, Qui-Gon informs the Jedi Council of the mysterious attacker he encountered on Tatooine, coming to the conclusion that his attacker is a Sith, the latter being a religious order who were followers of the dark side of the Force and thought to have been extinct for over a millennium, much to the shock of the Jedi Council. Qui-Gon also informs the Council about Anakin, hoping that he can be trained as a Jedi. After testing the boy and deliberating with one another, the Council refuses, deeming him too old for training according to the Jedi Code. They are also concerned that they sense much fear in the boy, and that he has a clouded future.

Meanwhile, Senator Palpatine meets with Queen Amidala to warn of corruption in the Senate and advises that she may have to call for a Vote of No Confidence in Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum. When their petition to the Senate is refused, Amidala sees no alternative but to do just that. Palpatine is among the candidates to become the new Supreme Chancellor. The queen later announces to Palpatine that she will return to their home planet to repel the invasion of her people by herself. She is frustrated by the Senate's deliberation and lack of action, and feels that even if Palpatine is elected Chancellor, it will be too late. The Jedi Council sends the two Jedi to accompany the queen back to Naboo, hoping to shed light on any Sith involvement.

Boss Nass at the Gungan Sacred Place Boss Nass at the Gungan Sacred Place

Amidala, back on Naboo, attempts to locate the Gungans at Otoh Gunga, but Jar-Jar, after searching the city, informs them that it has been abandoned. He then leads them to the Gungan Sacred Place, where he is certain the Gungans will be. The Gungans are initially distrustful, until the "handmaiden" Padmé reveals herself as the true queen and humbly begs for their help. She negotiates with Boss Nass to form an alliance and unite their peoples in battle against the Trade Federation. Captain Quarsh Panaka and several other security forces were also dispatched to rescue anyone imprisoned in the Trade Federation's prison camps, although they were only able to successfully extract a handful.

Next, Amidala informs Qui-Gon and Nass of her battle strategy: with the Grand Gungan Army acting as a distraction to the bulk of the main Trade Federation forces, the Naboo resistance led by herself, Captain Panaka and the Jedi will infiltrate Theed via a secret entrance located inside one of the waterfalls. Nute Gunray, hearing reports of the Grand Army's assembly, informs Darth Sidious; Sidious orders Gunray to wipe out both the Gungans and the Naboo as the Trade Federation prepares for battle.

Captain Roos Tarpals orders the Gungan Grand Army to activate their shield, which protects them from ranged attack. OOM-9 has his tanks fire first, but seeing them fail to penetrate the powerful shield, orders them to cease fire. Daultay Dofine gives the command to activate the battle droids. These droids march through the shield and open fire on the Grand Army, soon destroying the shield generator. As the tanks cause heavy casualties among the Gungans, defeat for the alliance seems imminent.

However, victory comes when young Anakin Skywalker accidentally takes control of an N-1 starfighter and goes on to destroy the Federation's Droid Control Ship from the inside, killing Daultay Dofine and rendering the droid army useless. Meanwhile, Amidala and her force fight their way back into the royal palace and capture Nute Gunray.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan fight Darth Maul during the Battle of Naboo. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan fight Darth Maul during the Battle of Naboo.

At the same time, in a Theed hangar bay, Darth Maul engages in combat with the two Jedi, using his double-bladed lightsaber. The battle moves from the hangar, across a series of catwalks, to the Theed Generator Complex. During the fight, Obi-Wan is separated from his master by being kicked off of a catwalk. He grabs the edge of another catwalk below and jumps back up to where Qui-Gon and Maul continue to fight. By this time, Qui-Gon and Maul have become separated by a force field in the entrance to the Generator Room. Obi-Wan catches up to them, but is divided from his master by four force fields. When the force fields deactivate, Jinn and Maul continue their battle while Kenobi remains divided from the battle by one force field when they all reactivate.

After a lengthy duel, Maul suddenly stuns Qui-Gon by hitting him on the chin with his lightsaber handle, then rams his blade straight into Qui-Gon's torso, mortally wounding him. Devastated and angered, Obi-Wan redoubles his assault upon Maul and chops the Sith's lightsaber in half, but Maul eventually overpowers and nearly kills Kenobi by Force pushing him over the edge of a seemingly bottomless reactor shaft. Obi-Wan saves himself from falling when he manages to grab onto a pipe protruding from the wall of the shaft. Maul kicks the Jedi's lightsaber into the pit and prepares to finish him off. After Obi-Wan calms himself, he uses the Force to leap out of the shaft and over Maul's head while summoning his fallen master's lightsaber to his hand. He lands behind the surprised Maul and cuts him in half; Maul's upper and lower body fall into the shaft.

Obi-Wan reaches Qui-Gon moments before he dies, as Qui-Gon instructs Obi-Wan to train Anakin to become a Jedi, reiterating that Anakin is the Chosen One. Obi-Wan gives his word that he will. Qui-Gon dies, leading to Obi-Wan to grieve for his deceased master. The newly elected Chancellor Palpatine arrives to congratulate Queen Amidala on her victory, as Nute Gunray is sent to stand trial for his crimes.

The Gungans and the Naboo celebrate their victory. The Gungans and the Naboo celebrate their victory.

Later, in a room in the queen's palace, Yoda confers upon Obi-Wan the rank of Jedi Knight. Kenobi argues with Yoda about his promise to Qui-Gon regarding Anakin's training. Yoda is convinced it is dangerous to train the boy, but tells Kenobi the Jedi Council has allowed Skywalker to become Kenobi's apprentice. Later that evening, in a temple in Theed, Qui-Gon's body is cremated, and Mace Windu and Yoda agree that the Sith are definitely to blame for the tragedy. As there are only ever two Sith at any given time (a Master and an apprentice), both Masters believe that one must still remain.

The Naboo and Gungans organize a great victory celebration on the streets of Theed, in front on the palace. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are present, the younger now wearing formal Jedi attire, and in his hair is a special braid: the mark of a Jedi Padawan. Palpatine meets Anakin personally assuring the kid that he will be watching his career with 'great interest'. The film ends with Queen Amidala presenting a gift of appreciation and friendship to Boss Nass and the Gungan people.

Episode II ATTACK OF THE CLONES There is unrest in the Galactic Senate. Several thousand solar systems have declared their intentions to leave the Republic.

This separatist movement, under the leadership of the mysterious Count Dooku, has made it difficult for the limited number of Jedi Knights to maintain peace and order in the galaxy.

Senator Amidala, the former Queen of Naboo, is returning to the Galactic Senate to vote on the critical issue of creating an ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC to assist the overwhelmed Jedi.... Plot summary Ten years after the events of The Phantom Menace, the Galactic Republic is in crisis. A Separatist movement led by former Jedi Master Count Dooku, alias the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, is threatening the peace, causing the Galactic Senate to debate a Military Creation Act to form a standing army for the Republic's protection. Senator Padmé Amidala, former Queen of Naboo, intends to return to the Senate and vote against the Act, even though there are no longer enough Jedi to maintain peace and justice in the galaxy.

and chase through . Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi chase Zam Wesell through Coruscant.

Upon her arrival in the clouds on the highest levels of Coruscant, she narrowly escapes an assassination attempt that claims the life of her decoy, Cordé. As a result, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine requests that Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, protect her.

That night, the assassin Zam Wesell makes another attempt on Amidala's life, though the Jedi are able to foil her plot. They pursue her through Galactic City, eventually disarming her in the Outlander Club. Upon being questioned by Obi-Wan and Anakin outside the bar, she is killed by a saberdart, fired by a mysterious man, before the Jedi can learn the name of her employer. Returning to the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan is assigned by the council to track down the assassin's killer. Meanwhile, Anakin continues his task of protecting the Senator and is asked to escort her back to her home planet of Naboo. Anakin welcomes the opportunity, as he often becomes angry and frustrated by Obi-Wan's criticism and is glad to have an opportunity to be on his own. Further, he has become infatuated with Padmé and relishes the chance to spend time with her. Junior Representative Jar Jar Binks assumes Amidala's duties in her absence, despite the Senator being mad at not being at the Senate when the fate of the Military Creation Act is decided.

Obi-Wan engages on . Obi-Wan engages Jango Fett on Kamino.

During the investigation into the assassination attempt on Amidala, Obi-Wan is led to a mysterious planet called Kamino—missing from the Jedi Archives—where he discovers a secret clone army being developed for the Republic. He is told by Prime Minister Lama Su that the military was ordered almost ten years ago by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas—although Obi-Wan was "under the impression" that Sifo-Dyas was killed before that time. A bounty hunter named Jango Fett was hired as the template for the clones. Obi-Wan meets Jango on Kamino and believes him to be the killer he has been tracking. He tries to capture Jango, which leads to a titanic one-on-one fight between them. Jango makes use of his blasters and missile equipment, managing to defeat Obi-Wan by sending him plummeting into the raging sea below. Thinking he is dead, Jango departs Kamino with his son Boba. Unable to capture Jango, Obi-Wan places a homing beacon on his ship, Slave I, and follows him to the planet of Geonosis.

Anakin and spend time on . Anakin and Padmé spend time on Naboo.

Meanwhile, Anakin and Padmé have been spending much time together on Naboo, enjoying each other's company and playfully frolicking in the fields. Eventually, Anakin reveals his deep love for her, vowing to do whatever she requests. However, Padmé resists, explaining that it would be impossible for the two of them to be together since she is a Senator and he is a Jedi. Anakin is angered by this and experiences inner conflict between his strong desires for her and his duties as a Jedi.

Anakin is also troubled by a newfound sense that his mother is in grave danger, and he beckons for Padmé to accompany him to his home planet of Tatooine—in the process, disobeying Obi-Wan's orders to remain on Naboo. Upon arriving, Anakin tracks down his former owner Watto, from whom he learns that his mother has married a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars, and travels to the Lars moisture farm. There, Anakin and Padmé find C-3PO, and the droid introduces Anakin to his step-brother Owen. Cliegg tells Anakin the horrible truth that his mother was kidnapped a month ago by a pack of Tusken Raiders. Anakin travels through the night and finds her tied and beaten in a Tusken camp. Within moments, she dies in his arms. Enraged and heartbroken, he massacres the Tusken community: men, women, and even children. On Coruscant, Yoda senses a terrible darkness in the Force as the slaughter continues (Qui-Gon Jinn's voice shouts "Anakin, Anakin, no!" during this scene). Anakin then brings his mother's body back to the homestead, where her funeral is held. He later confesses his actions to Padmé and vows to prevent the deaths of those he loves.

On Geonosis, Obi-Wan overhears a meeting between Count Dooku and the leaders of the commerce guilds and learns that they are behind the separatist movement and have built up a new droid army. He also knows that it was Nute Gunray who ordered the assassination of Amidala as revenge for the defeat of the Trade Federation at the Battle of Naboo. Obi-Wan transmits his findings to the Council, relayed by way of Anakin and Padmé's ship, though he is surrounded by droidekas and captured before he can finish his report.

The The First Battle of Geonosis

Now that the Jedi council knows of Dooku's army, Jedi Master Mace Windu leads a battalion of Jedi to Geonosis. Unbeknownst to them, Anakin and Padmé also make their way there to rescue Obi-Wan. Meanwhile, Representative Binks calls for Chancellor Palpatine to be given emergency powers, with which he can reach the recently discovered clone army into battle.

Back on Geonosis, Count Dooku tries to persuade Obi-Wan to join him, using the fact that he was once Qui-Gon's master, that Qui-Gon, if alive, would have joined Dooku and that the Republic and Jedi have lost their ways and must be fought against. Obi-Wan refuses to join Dooku, saying that Dooku is wrong about the Republic and Jedi losing their ways and that Qui-Gon would have never joined Dooku if Qui-Gon was alive. Anakin and Padmé arrive on the planet but are quickly captured by Jango Fett and sentenced to death, joining Obi-Wan in the Geonosis arena, where they are to be executed. Moments before heading outside, Padme and Anakin confess their love to each other. In the high stands, Count Dooku, Nute Gunray, Rune Haako, Poggle the Lesser, Jango Fett, and Boba Fett watch the start of the planned execution. The trio are forced to battle a reek, a nexu, and an acklay while in chains. During their struggle, Mace Windu arrives with his Jedi strike team, and they battle Dooku's droid army in the arena. Upon seeing so many Jedi in one place, Jango Fett jetpacks down to the arena floor and engages Windu. After a short struggle, Windu kills Jango due to his jetpack malfunctioning. While the Jedi put up a fight, they are eventually overwhelmed by the Droid Army's numerical advantage and appear to be heading into defeat. Yoda unexpectedly arrives with the Republic's new clone army, but only a handful of Jedi have survived.

and battle each other. Dooku and Yoda battle each other.

An even larger battle erupts outside the arena between the Republic's clone army and the Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Nute Gunray and Rune Haako subsequently retreat in Gunray's ship. The Clone Army gains the upper hand, which eventually leads to the Droid Army retreating. Poggle the Lesser entrusts Count Dooku with the early plans for the Death Star. Dooku attempts to escape, but Obi-Wan and Anakin track him to a secret hangar. Anakin immediately disobeys Obi-Wan's orders to take Dooku together and rushes at Dooku, who fires Force lightning at Anakin, tossing him to the side to some rocks and knocking him unconscious temporarily. Obi-Wan circles Dooku cautiously, the latter saying that his powers are far beyond Obi-Wan's and subsequently firing force lightning at him, Obi-Wan blocking it with his lightsaber and saying that he does not think so as Dooku ignites his curved hilted crimson red lightsaber. Obi-Wan rushes at Dooku, engaging him in a lightsaber duel. Unfortunately, while Obi-Wan is powerful, he is no match for Dooku who taunts him that Master Yoda praises Obi-Wan greatly and that he is disappointed in Obi-Wan's lack of skill. The battle lasts around half a minute as Obi-Wan is defeated. Dooku swings his blade high over his head and brings it down as Anakin, who had just awoken from being tossed to the rocks, leaped forward and blocked Dooku's killing strike on Obi-Wan, engaging Dooku, who toyed with him for several minutes before slicing off Anakin's right hand and force pushing it to the ground next to the defeated Obi-Wan. Dooku puts away his lightsaber. Yoda appears just as Dooku is about to escape, and the two masters of the Force go head-to-head in a fierce battle of the force and then a lightsaber duel with Yoda using his acrobatic style and Dooku using his elegant style. Dooku, realizing he can't defeat Yoda, attempts to topple a large pillar on Obi-Wan and Anakin as a distraction. While Yoda uses the Force to divert the pillar, Dooku flees in his solar sailer. Flying to the Works in the Industrial sector of Coruscant, he meets up with his master, Darth Sidious, who is pleased that the war has begun as planned.

In the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan, Mace and Yoda ponder Dooku's warning that Darth Sidious is controlling the Senate. Yoda is hesitant to believe this, stating that the dark side is capable of creating fear and mistrust. He and Windu agree that they should nevertheless closely monitor the Senate. Meanwhile, Chancellor Palpatine and a number of senators, including Bail Organa, oversee the launching of massive clone trooper forces.

Back at Naboo, Anakin, with a new mechanical arm, and Padmé hold a secret wedding, with C-3PO and R2-D2 as the only witnesses.

The origins of the Clone Wars dated back to the time of the Old Republic,[64] which reigned over a millennium prior to the war. That era marked a dark age in galactic history,[1] as the Sith battled their ancient enemies, the Jedi, for control of the galaxy.[65] The Sith suffered from infighting,[66] which ultimately led to their defeat at the hands of the Jedi in 1032 BBY, but although the Jedi believed they had vanquished their foes,[63] the Sith had merely retreated into hiding. Darth Bane, the last surviving Dark Lord of the Sith, founded a philosophy known as the Rule of Two, which dictated that the entire Sith Order would be comprised solely of a master and an apprentice.[66] Operating in the shadows, the Sith accumulated power and influence in preparation for the endgame of their grand plan: galactic domination and revenge against the Jedi.[8]

From the remnants of the Old Republic, a modern Galactic Republic was formed. For the first time, a Galactic Senate afforded political representation to hundreds of worlds and star systems. The Old Republic's armed forces were disbanded,[1] leading the Jedi Order to assume a peacekeeping role within the Republic, serving at the behest of the Senate and its Supreme Chancellor.[63] Over time, the Senate incurred notoriety for its stagnant bureaucracy and corruption,[67] and rifts emerged as the central Core Worlds—including the Republic's capital, Coruscant—became reputed for their willingness to exploit the resources of the outlying Outer Rim Territories.[1] Adding to the morass of bureaucracy and inaction was the fact that corporate blocs such as the Trade Federation, the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and the Techno Union were granted Senate representation alongside the Republic's member worlds.[56]

Nearly a thousand years into the Republic's reign,[15] Darth Sidious became the ruling Dark Lord of the Sith after betraying and murdering his master Darth Plagueis. Sidious planned to continue the Siths' revenge plot by using his Sith persona and alter ego Sheev Palpatine. His double identity would allow him to deceive and eventually destroy the Galactic Republic and Jedi. In order to infiltrate the Republic, Palpatine became the senator of his home planet Naboo. As the senator of Naboo, he devised a complex scheme to unseat the incumbent Supreme Chancellor, Finis Valorum, and install himself as the Republic's next head of state: as the Republic became embroiled in a dispute over the taxation of trade routes, Sidious secretly allied himself with Nute Gunray, the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, and ordered the Trade Federation to blockade his homeworld of Naboo in 32 BBY. When the Senate's characteristic stagnation proved ineffectual at overturning the Invasion of Naboo, Palpatine manipulated and deceived Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo into calling for a Vote of No Confidence in Valorum's leadership.[63]

After the Jedi nearly eradicated them, the Sith withdrew into the shadows, plotting their revenge. After the Jedi nearly eradicated them, the Sith withdrew into the shadows, plotting their revenge.

The Senate thereafter elected Palpatine as Valorum's successor, and the Jedi Order aided the Royal Naboo Security Forces in ending the blockade, though not before the Sith revealed themselves in the form of Darth Maul, Sidious' current apprentice. Maul was defeated by the Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi and presumed dead, leading the Jedi High Council to suspect the existence of a second Sith Lord.[63] Now the Supreme Chancellor, Palpatine was seen as a crusading reformer in the face of the Republic's failings, while three of those major failings—the maze of bureaucracy, the lack of any formal military, and weak central power—were showcased to the galaxy at large. Additionally, thanks to the Invasion of Naboo, Palpatine was able to vilify galactic corporations, which helped lead to the Separatist government. Though an open war was still ten years away, the fight for Naboo had served as the first spark of the Clone Wars in a number of ways.[53]

Advertisement The creation of the clone army "A clone army, and I must say, one of the finest we've ever created." "Tell me, Prime Minister, when my Master first contacted you about the army, did—did he say who it was for?" "Of course he did. This army is for the Republic." ―Lama Su and Obi-Wan Kenobi on Sifo-Dyas's role in creating the clone army[15] Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas became a pawn in the Sith's plan to create a clone army for the Galactic Republic. Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas became a pawn in the Sith's plan to create a clone army for the Galactic Republic.

Sidious found a replacement for Maul in Count Dooku, a former Jedi Master who had left the Order ten years prior and become integral to the Sith plan for galactic conquest. Unknown to Dooku, Sidious only considered him a temporary apprentice, as his long-term goal was to make Anakin Skywalker his apprentice due to his extraordinary power in the force because he was the prophesized Chosen One. However, because Anakin was too young, Sidious decided to have Dooku as his apprentice in the interim until Anakin eventually came of age.

Sidious and Dooku, the latter of whom adopted the name Darth Tyranus, plotted to manipulate the Republic into a sham war with an opposing state. The Jedi would be forced to serve as generals for a Republic army of soldiers,[15] who would eventually serve as their executioners. Furthermore, the conflict would destabilize the Republic and render it vulnerable to the Sith takeover.[8]

In 33 BBY, the Jedi High Council dismissed one of its members, Master Sifo-Dyas, due to his unorthodox belief that the Republic would need to raise an army for a full-scale conflict that he had foreseen.[62] Undeterred, Sifo-Dyas contacted the Kaminoans, a species reputed for its cloning industry, and ordered the production of a clone army on behalf of the Republic. In so doing, Sifo-Dyas circumvented both the Senate and the High Council, lying that he had the support of the former.[15] When the Sith discovered the existence of the clone army around the time of the Invasion of Naboo or shortly after it, they went to extreme lengths to hijack the project. At the time, then-Chancellor Valorum asked Sifo-Dyas to oversee confidential negotiations between the Republic and the Pyke Syndicate, a rising spice cartel that had begun to dominate the Coruscant Underworld. Unaware of Valorum's request, the High Council separately dispatched Sifo-Dyas to resolve a tribal dispute on the planet Felucia.[62]

Sifo-Dyas never reached Felucia, and the resulting events became enmeshed in a web of subterfuge that took the Jedi Order many years to unravel. Dooku, who was already an agent of Sidious despite Maul still being the latter's apprentice, was commanded by Sidious to kill Dyas to ensure the Sith could take control of the clone army. Obeying, Dooku as Tyranus, betrayed his friend by hiring the Pykes to assassinate Sifo-Dyas, and his T-6 shuttle was subsequently shot down over the moon of their homeworld Oba Diah, killing Sifo-Dyas in the crash, while Valorum's personal attaché Silman, who had accompanied him on the mission, survived the attack. The Pykes delivered Sifo-Dyas's corpse to Tyranus but covertly kept Silman hostage as potential leverage in the future. The Jedi Order, meanwhile, believed Sifo-Dyas to have died on Felucia after he failed to negotiate peace between the local tribes.[62]

Jango Fett was chosen by the Sith to become the genetic template of the clone army. Jango Fett was chosen by the Sith to become the genetic template of the clone army.

After seizing control of the cloning project, the Sith selected the renowned bounty hunter Jango Fett as the genetic template for their army.[15] Chief Medical Scientist Nala Se served as one of the project's main engineers.[38] On the Kaminoan home-world of Kamino, Fett provided both genetic samples and training for his so-called clone troopers, who were subjected to growth acceleration and thereby aged at twice the normal rate of humans. As a result, the first generation of troops was ready within a decade of Sifo-Dyas's original order.[15]

Sifo-Dyas wanted an inhibitor chip implanted in the brain of each clone, as a safeguard against rogue Jedi. However, Dooku and Sidious reprogrammed the chips in order to ensure the Jedi's destruction. Posing as a Jedi, Dooku presented the chip to the Kaminoan scientists and deceived them into believing the chips were designed to preclude aggression within each subject, as well as that Sifo-Dyas had ordered the installation of the chips[68] as a countermeasure against betrayal from rogue Jedi.[38] In truth, the chips would force each clone to comply with Protocol 66, a directive for the soldiers to execute their Jedi commanders for being perceived traitors to the Republic.[68] Thus, the Sith would be able to massacre the entire Jedi Order via its subordinate soldiers.[8]

Advertisement Separatist Crisis "I will not let this Republic that has stood for a thousand years be split in two. My negotiations will not fail." "If they do, you must realize there aren't enough Jedi to protect the Republic. We're keepers of the peace, not soldiers." ―Sheev Palpatine and Mace Windu[15] icon Main article: Separatist Crisis Count Dooku recruited the majority of the galaxy's trade guilds to join the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Count Dooku recruited the majority of the galaxy's trade guilds to join the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

Eight years after the Invasion of Naboo, a pan-galactic Confederacy of Independent Systems began to take shape when Count Dooku commandeered a HoloNet relay station in the Raxus system and berated the Republic with condemning rhetoric. Over the next two years,[1] a Separatist Crisis arose when thousands of star systems seceded from the Republic and flocked to the Confederacy.[67][69] The Separatist Crisis sent the Republic into a frenzy, particularly as Dooku repeatedly spurned Palpatine's public requests for negotiation.[1] The Republic Senate soon became divided over the passage of a Military Creation Act. Advocates of the bill argued that the Republic required a military force to defend itself from the Separatists, whereas others such as now-Senator Padmé Amidala believed that the measure would provoke full-scale civil war between the Republic and the Confederacy. Such a war became increasingly inevitable,[15] with the Sith Lords poised to lead both sides of the approaching conflict that would tear the galaxy asunder.[8]

Fearful that such meetings would grant the CIS state legitimacy, the Republic Senate also declared it illegal under[56] the Republic Senate non-communication law[40] for Republic representatives to meet with Separatists in formal talks.[56] By 22 BBY,[12] the Sith had nearly completed preparations for open conflict between the Republic and the Confederacy. Nominally the Confederacy functioned as a democracy,[69] and delegates from its myriad member worlds formed a Separatist Senate,[56] though in truth it was ruled by the Sith.[8] At the same time, the galaxy's major corporations pledged their support and resources to the Confederacy, and their leaders thereby earned seats on Dooku's Separatist Council.[15] Its members included Chairman San Hill of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, Foreman Wat Tambor of the Techno Union, Magistrate Passel Argente of the Corporate Alliance, Presidente Shu Mai of the Commerce Guild, and Archduke Poggle the Lesser of the Geonosian hives, as well as Senators Po Nudo of Ando and Tikkes of Mon Cala.[70][14]

Nute Gunray's condition for joining the Separatist Council was that Amidala be killed in revenge for her humiliating defeat of him at the Battle of Naboo. Jango Fett and his associate, Zam Wesell, undertook the bounty that Gunray subsequently issued on Amidala. Just before the Senate's vote on the Military Creation Act, Wesell mounted an unsuccessful attempt on Amidala's life, resulting in the High Council designating Jedi Knight Kenobi and his Padawan, Anakin Skywalker—both of whom had been instrumental in the Republic's victory at the Battle of Naboo—as Amidala's personal bodyguards. Wesell's second attempt on Amidala's life similarly failed, and Fett used a Kamino saberdart to execute Wesell before Kenobi and Skywalker could extract information from her. Nevertheless, Kenobi identified the saberdart's connection to Kamino, and was alarmed when his research revealed that the planet had been erased from the Jedi Archives. With the help of Grand Master Yoda, he pinpointed Kamino's location above the galactic plane, just south of the Rishi Maze, and traveled there as part of his investigation into Amidala's assailant.[15]

Obi-Wan Kenobi's discovery of the clone army on Kamino precipitated the opening battle of the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan Kenobi's discovery of the clone army on Kamino precipitated the opening battle of the Clone Wars.

When Kenobi arrived at Kamino's capital of Tipoca City, Prime Minister Lama Su greeted him and revealed the existence of the clone army. By this time, 200,000 troopers were ready for deployment, with a million more soldiers nearing completion of their training. A shocked Kenobi reported his discovery to the High Council, which ordered him to detain Fett and bring him to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant for questioning. Fett escaped from Tipoca City with his son, an unaltered clone whom he named Boba, and fled to[15] the Confederate capital of Geonosis.[71] Kenobi tracked the Fetts and, after engaging in a starfighter dogfight that led them to believe him dead, followed them to the planetary surface. There, he discovered that the Geonosians were manufacturing millions of battle droids in their droid foundries. He also witnessed a meeting between Dooku and the Separatist Council, discovering that they were preparing to merge their resources into a Separatist Droid Army. The Geonosians thereafter captured Kenobi, though not before he sent a message to Skywalker.[15]

Skywalker was with Amidala on the nearby world of Tatooine and relayed Kenobi's message to Coruscant, where Palpatine and the High Council heard the news that the commerce guilds had joined the Confederacy. Against the Council's orders, Amidala and Skywalker rushed to rescue Kenobi on Geonosis. While Kenobi was in his custody, Dooku claimed that the entire Republic was under the sway of a Dark Lord of the Sith named Darth Sidious, and tried to persuade Kenobi to help him destroy the Sith. Kenobi refused, and after Amidala and Skywalker were similarly captured, the Geonosians sentenced all three of them to execution in[15] the Petranaki Arena.[14]

Despite Kenobi's report that the Confederacy was raising an army, Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan and other members of the Senate still believed that the Military Creation Act would not be passed in time to contend with the Separatists. Consequently, Junior Representative Jar Jar Binks of Naboo motioned that the Senate grant emergency powers to Palpatine, who could then use his newfound authority to formally approve the creation of a Grand Army of the Republic. Though Palpatine promised to relinquish his emergency powers once the crisis had passed,[15] that was never to be the case.[8] While Master Yoda traveled to Kamino to marshal the clone troopers for the Grand Army, Master Mace Windu assembled an assault team[15] of 212 Jedi,[72] drawn from the Masters of the High Council and the Order's ranks of Knights and Padawans, to save Kenobi from imprisonment on Geonosis. The galaxy teetered on the brink of civil war.[15]

Advertisement The war Year one (22 BBY–21 BBY) First Battle of Geonosis "This is just the beginning!" ―Dooku[15] icon Main article: First Battle of Geonosis Mace Windu and his allies held out long enough for Yoda to arrive with the clone troopers of the Grand Army. Mace Windu and his allies held out long enough for Yoda to arrive with the clone troopers of the Grand Army.

The Battle of Geonosis[23] commenced when Windu and his Jedi strike team infiltrated the Petranaki arena to save Amidala, Kenobi, and Skywalker from gladiatorial combat with three beasts: an acklay, a nexu, and a reek. While the Geonosian spectators fled the arena, Dooku unleashed a massive infantry of B1 battle droids, B2 super battle droids, and droidekas against the Jedi. During the ensuing ground battle,[15] Council member Coleman Trebor[73] came within seconds of ending the conflict when he nearly managed to kill Dooku, but Jango Fett gunned him down before he could do so. Windu thereafter beheaded Fett, an act that would earn him the ire of his son, Boba. Within a short span, only Amidala, Kenobi, Skywalker, Windu, and a fraction of their Jedi allies were still standing. With his battle droids encircling the ring of survivors, Dooku demanded their unconditional surrender, but Windu refused to allow himself and his comrades to become hostages.[15]

Just as Windu and the other survivors were about to be executed, Yoda swept in with reinforcements, the Grand Army of the Republic:[15] 192,000 clone troopers[71] aboard Acclamator-class transgalactic military assault ships, with LAAT/i gunships ferrying them into the Petranaki arena to defend and extract the surviving Jedi. Amidala, Kenobi, Skywalker, Windu, and the other surviving Jedi withdrew from the arena aboard Yoda's gunships and rushed to Geonosis's red sand plains, where a ground campaign was taking shape. Jedi such as Aayla Secura, Kit Fisto, and many others immediately accepted command positions and led the clone troopers into battle against the Separatist Droid Army, working to decimate the enemy infantry and prevent the Techno Union's Hardcell transports from escaping. While Yoda proceeded to the Republic's forward command center, Windu oversaw an assembly area,[15] where Clone Commander Ponds[74][75] handed him command of five special commando units.[15] Colonel Meebur Gascon and other top strategists from Republic High Command advised the Grand Army on its battlefield tactics.[76]

A frenetic offensive ensued, as the Republic's All Terrain Tactical Enforcers went head-to-head with the Separatists' IG-227 Hailfire-class droid tanks and OG-9 homing spider droids. Yoda ordered the Grand Army's Self-Propelled Heavy Artillery Turbolaser walkers to ground a number of Trade Federation core ships before they could escape. On the ground, the Jedi and their clone troopers were forced to contend with the enemy battle droids and DSD1 dwarf spider droids, but they made gradual headway against the Separatists. Overwhelmed by the Republic's assault, Dooku and the Separatist Council ordered a retreat. Poggle the Lesser entrusted Dooku with the Geonosians' plans to the Ultimate Weapon, and Dooku headed for a remote hangar where his Punworcca 116-class interstellar sloop was docked. En route to the hangar, Dooku crossed paths with Amidala, Kenobi, and Skywalker and they gave chase aboard their LAAT/i gunship. When Dooku's escort of Nantex-class territorial defense starfighters retaliated, Amidala was dislodged from the gunship, while Kenobi and Skywalker pursued the Count.[15]

Beginning on Geonosis, the Clone Wars soon spread to countless worlds across the galaxy. Beginning on Geonosis, the Clone Wars soon spread to countless worlds across the galaxy.

When Kenobi and Skywalker reached the hangar, Dooku defeated them in a lightsaber duel, injuring Kenobi and severing Skywalker's right forearm. The duel continued when Yoda, Dooku's former Jedi Master, arrived and proved more than a challenge for the Sith Lord. Dooku was able to escape only by collapsing a pillar on top of Kenobi and Skywalker, forcing Yoda to choose between pressing his attack and saving his fellow Jedi. Amidala arrived at the hangar with another gunship, but she and her squad of clone troopers were unable to shoot down Dooku's solar sailer. Although Dooku and the Separatist Council had escaped with their forces, the Republic declared victory in the Battle of Geonosis.[15]

The beginning of the Clone Wars shifted the balance of the Force itself.[77] Dooku secretly traveled to Coruscant, where he met with Darth Sidious and reported that the intergalactic conflict which they had worked to instigate was finally underway. Though Kenobi believed that the clone troopers had been instrumental to the Republic's victory on Geonosis, Yoda knew that it was not a victory: The Clone Wars had begun. From Coruscant, the Republic deployed tens of thousands of clone troopers and a fleet of warships and assault craft, which formed the Republic Navy, as part of its war machine.[15] The Confederacy, meanwhile, moved its capital from Geonosis[71] to the planet Raxus Secundus, which served as the headquarters of the Separatist Senate.[56]

Advertisement Conflict spreads "I have to admit that without the clones, it would not have been a victory." "Victory? Victory, you say, Master Obi-Wan? Not victory. The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun, the Clone War has." ―Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, following the Battle of Geonosis[15] The Grand Army became the backbone of the Republic's growing war effort against the Confederacy. The Grand Army became the backbone of the Republic's growing war effort against the Confederacy.

As the Clone Wars engulfed world after world across the galaxy[78] incredibly quickly, Amidala's handmaiden Dormé suspected the Confederacy had forces lying in wait on the impression the events on Geonosis would end in a Separatist triumph, only for the Republic's own forces to be able to confront the CIS.[79] Windu also suspected the Separatists were moving to establish a foothold in the Outer Rim and then move inwards to the Core, eventually having enough strength to strike at Coruscant itself. As such, the Republic was forced to move forces into the Rim to prevent the Confederacy from completing a foothold that they could push in with.[80] Furthermore, in practice, the Separatists knew that they would not have to win every battle; instead, they understood victory could be achieved by making the conflict too costly—in both financial[13] and personnel terms[23]—for the Republic to continue it.[13]

The Confederacy's corporate sponsors began an economic strangulation of the Republic,[17] just as Governor Wilhuff Tarkin of the planet Eriadu had foreseen,[1] but the CIS's corporate backers also publicly distanced themselves from the new power. Claiming themselves neutral,[17] they continued their business with the Republic in the name of war profiteering from both sides.[81] In total truth, corporations like the Trade Federation and Techno Union—thanks to their actions during the war—were almost entirely open in their support of the Separatist cause, yet the neutrality claim managed to stand throughout the war.[17] The Jedi were forced to relinquish their traditional roles as peacekeepers[78] in favor of military commands within the Grand Army of the Republic. Knights and Masters accepted the new rank of Jedi General. Even Padawans contributed to the Republic's war effort, serving as Jedi Commanders on the battlefield[23] at the suggestion of Palpatine.[82] Among the newly promoted Jedi Generals was Anakin Skywalker, whom the Jedi High Council elevated to Knighthood.[23] Unbeknownst to his colleagues, Skywalker had secretly married Padmé Amidala following the Battle of Geonosis,[15] a relationship that would have repercussions for the entire war.[8]

Amidala and Skywalker were also involved in a mission to Nooroyo between the Battle of Geonosis and their wedding, during which they escaped Gunray's forces when the Viceroy arrived for in person negotiations over Nooroyo's spice export.[79] To satisfy the Republic's increased demand for troops, Kamino continued its production and training of clone troopers. In turn, the Republic Navy blockaded Kamino,[83] and the Grand Army established a network of listening posts to monitor Separatist activity in the vicinity.[84] Due to the death of Jango Fett, the Kaminoan scientists stretched the preexisting samples of his DNA in order to decant more clones. The Jedi High Council selected one of its members, Master Shaak Ti, to oversee the training of clone cadets in Kamino's Tipoca City, assisted by contracted mercenaries such as Bric and El-Les to help supervise the clones' combat instruction.[83] The clones quickly started to show signs of individuality, which only improved their effectiveness.[79]

General Grievous and Asajj Ventress served as Dooku's primary agents and assassins. General Grievous and Asajj Ventress served as Dooku's primary agents and assassins.

The Republic attracted both internal and external criticism for its use of clone troopers, whom some viewed as slaves to the Jedi.[21][85] One trooper deserted from the Grand Army after the Confederacy annihilated his unit; he fled to the planet Saleucami, where he took the name Cut Lawquane with a family.[86] On the other hand, the Separatist citizenry took pride in the fact that officers in the Confederacy military were willing participants, while its armed forces mainly sacrificed expendable battle droids for their cause.[21] At the same time, the Confederate populace was insulated from reports of war crimes that were committed in its name. The primary cause of the carnage was General Grievous,[87] a warlord-turned-cyborg from Kalee who oversaw the Droid Army[14] and would lead its numbers to many victories over the course of the war.[88]

In addition to Grievous, Dooku recruited another agent as his lieutenant and emissary:[89] Asajj Ventress, a slave-turned-Jedi from Dathomir who fell to the dark side of the Force and became Dooku's apprentice.[31] Though Grievous and Ventress developed a long-standing rivalry,[30] both were motivated by a deep-seated hatred for the Jedi Order.[21][29] Grievous and Ventress made a habit of claiming as trophies the lightsabers of their fallen Jedi victims, and Dooku collected the pilfered weapons in his palace on Serenno. Ventress acquired one such lightsaber from Jedi Master Tholme, whom she bested in combat during a major campaign. She elected to slay Tholme rather than accept his surrender.[21]

The outbreak of the Clone Wars shifted the balance of power on numerous worlds. Since the Separatist Crisis, a schism had fractured the Gotal population of Antar 4, with the Confederacy backing terrorist groups to combat the moon's Republic loyalists. The loyalists remained in power until shortly after the Battle of Geonosis, when the Confederacy conquered Antar 4, and the moon briefly served as a headquarters for Dooku. While millions of Gotal refugees fled to their colony world of Atzerri, an influx of Koorivar, Gossams, and other Confederate-allied species immigrated to Antar 4. The resulting political crisis on the moon gave rise to one of the Republic's first resistance cells. Gotal and Koorivar loyalists executed numerous acts of sabotage against the Separatist regime, with the Republic covertly sponsoring their guerrilla campaign. Despite their efforts, the Confederacy retained control of Antar 4 throughout the war.[1]

The Confederacy captured the planet Lola Sayu early in the war. The Confederacy captured the planet Lola Sayu early in the war.

Early in the Clone Wars,[90] the Confederacy seized the Outer Rim world of Lola Sayu,[14] the site of the infamous Republic prison known as the Citadel. The Citadel had been constructed five centuries earlier to hold Jedi who turned against the Republic. The Separatists converted the facility into a prisoner-of-war camp, using it to house Republic captives.[90] The Separatists also invaded Millius Prime, one of the thousand moons of the remote planet Iego, and drove away its inhabitants, the peaceful Angels. The Separatists established military sites on both Iego and Millius Prime, but later withdrew from the system. Before departing, they seeded Iego's asteroid field with a security grid of laser emitters that trapped its residents on the surface.[91]

Advertisement Various battles "Tech… what was the war like?" "It was a primary mission objective comprised of battles on various fronts." "But… what was it like?" "Hmm? I just told you." ―Omega asking Tech about the war[92] With the war spread across the galaxy, many planets and parts of space were left to become battlegrounds,[93] creating numerous fronts.[92] With the conflict's nature as a galaxy-wide war, many such fronts could all be active at the same time.[93] Over the course of the Clone Wars, planets swept up in the conflict included Akiva, where a Confederate droid factory turned the planet into a battlefield between the Jedi and the Separatists;[94] and Sedratis, which hosted the Battle of Sedratis. During the latter campaign, Jedi ace pilots Skywalker and Huulik proved instrumental in securing a Republic victory over the Confederacy's droid starfighter forces.[95] During the war, a number of manufacturers converted freighters and transports into combat vessels. New vehicles loaded with weapons were also made.[14] During the conflict, because repair facilities were often heavily damaged during battles, Nomad starships would arrive in star systems after the fleets had departed and the fighting was over. The Nomads would help the local population with repairs to compensate for the damaged facilities.[96] The Wookiees fought for the Republic in several systems.[97]

Battle droids under General Grievous clash with Republic clone troopers on one of the war's many battlefronts. Battle droids under General Grievous clash with Republic clone troopers on one of the war's many battlefronts.

At one point, a battle was fought in the Crombach Nebula, during which Jedi Master Wom-Nii Gnaden's NTB-630 naval bomber collided with a Munificent-class star frigate.[98] One Confederate officer, the husband of Separatist Senator Mina Bonteri, was slain while defending a new base on the planet Aargonar from Republic forces.[56] During a space battle at one point, clone pilot Sicko piloted a LAAT/i gunship towards a force of vulture droid starfighters, allowing the gunship's crew to take out many of the droids.[99] Under the command of General Darrus Jeht, the Maelstrom-class battle cruiser named the Maelstrom served with distinction at the Battle of Kromus and later the Battle of Cularin.[100] The Humbarine sector saw heavy fighting during the war, with its capital planet Humbarine suffering a Separatist bombardment that completely seared the world's surface.[101]

Advertisement Back and forth of Christophsis "Your technology will not save you, and your friends on the planet below shall perish as a result of your failure. The people of Christophsis and her resources shall join the Separatist Alliance." ―Admiral Trench, in a message to his Republic opponents[57] icon Main article: Battle of Christophsis In the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Geonosis, Grievous and the Separatist Droid Army wrested control of the galaxy's major hyperspace lanes, isolating the Republic from the bulk of its Grand Army.[23] Encircled by the Confederacy[51] and with their forces spread thin, the Jedi Generals were unable to gain traction in the Outer Rim Territories, especially as worlds continued to flock to the Confederacy.[23] As the next phase of the Clone Wars began,[51] the Hutt Clan—which controlled Hutt Space with its network of supply routes reaching to the Outer Rim—became a coveted ally for both the Republic and the Confederacy.[23]

Anakin Skywalker's and Trench's fleets exchange heavy fire over Christophsis. Anakin Skywalker's and Trench's fleets exchange heavy fire over Christophsis.

In a bid to secure the Hutts' supply routes for the Separatists, Dooku hatched a plot to kidnap Rotta, the son of Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, and frame the Jedi Order for the crime. Dooku collaborated with Jabba's uncle Ziro, who hoped to depose his nephew as leader of the Hutt Clan. The first stage of Dooku's plan required that the Jedi's attention be diverted elsewhere; to that end, Dooku ordered his forces to conquer Christophsis,[23] a crystalline Outer Rim world valued for its location and resources,[102] and also the site of a Republic relief effort overseen by Senator Bail Organa. The Confederate Admiral Trench blockaded Christophsis with a massive detachment from the Confederacy navy, while Separatist ground forces subjugated the planet's inhabitants.[57] After a number of native Christophsians mounted a futile defense of their homeworld, they requested aid from the Jedi High Council.[85]

Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, alongside Admiral Wullf Yularen, were dispatched with a task force to rescue Organa and the besieged Christophsians. Although their fleet of Venator-class Star Destroyers was unable to penetrate Trench's immense blockade of warships, Skywalker and Yularen used an experimental stealth ship to outmaneuver Trench and obliterate his flagship, the Invincible[57] (although Trench narrowly survived his dreadnought's vaporization and later returned to active duty[103]). Having broken through the blockade, Skywalker and Yularen delivered the much-needed relief supplies to Organa's refugee camp on the surface, while Kenobi exploited the hole in the Confederate armada to overwhelm the opposing fleet[57] long enough to land a Republic invasion force on the planet. The Separatists likewise fortified their ground troops with reinforcements, concealing their true numbers from the Republic.[85]

By this time, Dooku had dispatched Asajj Ventress to Christophsis to further hamper the Republic's progress. As Kenobi and Skywalker planned to ambush the battle droid forces in a major city plaza, a spy within the Republic ranks, Clone Sergeant Slick, apprised the Separatists of the Jedi's attack plan. Slick's actions transformed a potential Republic victory into a retreat, and Kenobi and Skywalker withdrew their men to the Republic's base. Suspecting the existence of an informant, Kenobi and Skywalker departed to gather information behind enemy lines, while Clone Commander Cody and Clone Captain Rex personally launched an investigation into the source of the intelligence leak. After they exposed Slick as the spy, he bombed the Republic's weapons depot, leading Rex and Cody to mobilize a swift manhunt. They arrested Slick and sent him to lock-up, though the damage was already done. Most of the Republic's arsenal was reduced to wreckage, with only a quartet of AV-7 Anti-vehicle Artillery Cannons surviving his sabotage.[85]

At the Confederate headquarters, Kenobi and Skywalker encountered Ventress and engaged her in a lightsaber duel,[23] which she used to buy time for Slick's sabotage.[104] Both Jedi halted their attack once they witnessed the sheer size of the Separatists' landing force. After Kenobi and Skywalker escaped back to their base, General Whorm Loathsom assumed command of the droid infantry and commenced an assault on the city, while Ventress left to execute the next phase of Dooku's plan:[85] for everything that the world had been able to offer the Confederacy,[57] Dooku elected to turn the battle for Christophsis into little more than a distraction, ordering Ventress to depart to carry out the kidnapping Rotta the Huttlet while Loathsom's forces distracted the Republic via the continued Christophsian campaign. She traveled to Tatooine aboard her personal starship, the Trident, and spirited Rotta away from his homeworld.[23]

In addition to Slick's sabotage of their weapons depot,[85] the Republic forces lost their naval support when the Separatists' orbital defenses ousted Yularen and his fleet from the Christoph system. Though they were severely outnumbered, Kenobi, Skywalker, and their clone soldiers managed to repel Loathsom's infantry from the city. Octuptarra tri-droids lent their support to the Separatists' second wave, but the AV-7 Anti-vehicle Cannons halted the advance of Loathsom's rearguard of Armored Assault Tanks. Meanwhile, believing that renegades had kidnapped Rotta, Jabba contacted Sheev Palpatine to request the Republic's assistance in rescuing his son. Since Kenobi and Skywalker were the only Jedi available for such a task, Yoda dispatched a messenger to Christophsis to recall the two Jedi Generals from the battlefront. The messenger was Skywalker's new Padawan learner, Ahsoka Tano.[23]

Yoda arrives on Christophsis to relay new orders to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano. Yoda arrives on Christophsis to relay new orders to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano.

Yularen briefly returned to Christophsis aboard his flagship, the Resolute, to send Tano to the planetary surface aboard a shuttle, then withdrew to rendezvous with reinforcements from the Republic Navy. Tano reached Kenobi and Skywalker just as they were preparing defenses for the next droid attack. Due to the continued lack of support from the Republic Navy, Kenobi and Skywalker remained trapped on-world with their troops, unable to comply with Yoda's order to return to Coruscant. Loathsom mounted another strike on the Republic forces, this time utilizing a mobile deflector shield to maintain a perimeter just beyond his advancing droid troops. The shield rendered the AV-7 Anti-vehicle Cannons useless, forcing the Jedi and clones to devise another strategy.[23]

While Kenobi and Rex scrambled their men in a last-ditch defense of the city, and Kenobi feigned surrender to buy time for Skywalker and Tano to infiltrate the Separatist lines and destroy the shield generator, exposing droids to renewed barrages from the AV-7 Anti-Vehicle Cannons, and forcing Loathsom to capitulate. The Republic victory coincided with the arrival of naval reinforcements led by Yularen and Yoda, who smashed the Separatist blockade and drove it into retreat. Even as Yularen's fleet deployed infantry reinforcements to aid the invasion force in securing Christophsis, much of the planet remained in ruins.[23] The Republic, meanwhile, imprisoned Loathsom on Coruscant for treason.[14]

Advertisement Alliance with the Hutt Clan Clash at Teth "Kidnapped, Jabba the Hutt's son has been. Negotiate the treaty with Jabba, Obi-Wan will. Find the renegades who hold Jabba's son, your mission will be, Skywalker." ―Yoda briefing Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano — 20?cb=20250116042720 (file info)[23] icon Main article: Battle of Teth Torrent Company wages a vertical assault to reach the B'omarr Order Monastery on Teth. Torrent Company wages a vertical assault to reach the B'omarr Order Monastery on Teth.

All while a number of new battles rocked the Outer Rim,[23] Ventress brought the captive Rotta to an abandoned B'omarr Order Monastery on the jungle planet Teth,[14] located in Wild Space, and fortified the site with two full battalions of battle droids. After a scouting team of Republic Advanced Recon Force Scout Troopers tracked Rotta to Teth, Skywalker and Tano proceeded there with Captain Rex and[23] Torrent Company,[105] Rex's command unit within the Grand Army's famed 501st Legion,[106] to rescue the Huttlet. Kenobi, meanwhile, entered into negotiations with Jabba, who granted the Republic a single planetary rotation to save Rotta and return him safely to Tatooine.[23]

As the monastery sat perched atop a cliff, Skywalker, Tano, and Torrent Company were forced to mount a vertical assault, relying on ascension cables and a pair of AT-TE walkers to reach the fortress at the summit. Though they lost one of their AT-TE walkers and endured numerous casualties, the Jedi and clones broke through the Separatist droid defenses and retrieved Rotta from the monastery's detention level. However, Tano discovered that Rotta was severely ill, jeopardizing their chances of delivering him to Tatooine alive. Skywalker suspected Dooku's involvement in the kidnapping, given that both the Republic and the Confederacy sought an alliance with the Hutt Clan.[23]

Unbeknownst to the Jedi, Ventress used the protocol droid 4-A7 to record Skywalker and Tano as they retrieved Rotta. Ventress transmitted the holorecording to Dooku, who presented it to Jabba as evidence that the Jedi were responsible for Rotta's abduction. After persuading Jabba to consider joining the Confederacy, Dooku ordered Ventress to recover Rotta so that they could claim credit for his rescue. Marshaling her assault force of battle droids, Ventress mounted a counter-strike on the monastery, swiftly crushing the Republic's last AT-TE walker and remaining assault craft. With no means of escape, Rex, Skywalker, and Tano barricaded themselves inside the monastery's antechamber with Rotta and Torrent Company. While Rex remained behind with Torrent Company to hold off Ventress and her droid infantry, Skywalker and Tano departed with Rotta to find a secondary exit from the monastery.[23]

Despite their best efforts, Rex and his men were vastly outnumbered, and the battle droids slew all of them save for Rex and five other troopers. The droids held the clone survivors prisoner in the compound's eastern courtyard. Nonetheless, it was not long before Kenobi arrived at Teth with Commander Cody and a detachment of reinforcements. After punching through the Separatists' aerial squadrons of vulture droid starfighters, Cody and his soldiers reached the monastery aboard LAAT/i gunships. They and Kenobi provided support for Rex and the survivors of Torrent Company, while Skywalker and Tano narrowly evaded Ventress and escaped with Rotta on board an old spice freighter called the Twilight.[23]

Asajj Ventress duels Obi-Wan Kenobi on Teth. Asajj Ventress duels Obi-Wan Kenobi on Teth.

When Kenobi entered the monastery in search of Skywalker, he instead crossed lightsabers with Ventress. Upon learning that Skywalker had escaped with Rotta, Ventress broke off from her duel with Kenobi and fled the battlefield. Meanwhile, Skywalker and Tano piloted the Twilight into orbit of Teth, where Wullf Yularen and his Venator-class Star Destroyer were battling a Confederate armada of Munificent-class star frigates. As the Jedi tried to board Yularen's Star Destroyer, a trio of vulture droids firebombed the cruiser's main hangar. Unable to dock with Yularen's flagship, Skywalker and Tano headed directly to Tatooine aboard the Twilight.[23]

Advertisement Cementing an alliance icon Main articles: Mission to Jabba's Palace (Clone Wars) and Raid on Ziro's Palace Dooku was not pleased to learn from Ventress that the Jedi had extracted Rotta from Teth, but he continued to manipulate Jabba and the Hutt Clan towards joining the Confederacy. During a holographic report to Dooku, Ventress falsely stated that Skywalker had murdered Rotta before leaving for Tatooine. Using this deception, Dooku convinced Jabba that the Jedi Order intended to eradicate the Hutt Clan. Dooku thus departed from Jabba's Palace to personally kill Rotta, which would ensure he was never reunited with his father. All the while, Palpatine used the sudden eruption of the Battle of Teth, along with the several other concurrent engagements in the Rim, to justify a series of new security measures on Naboo.[23]

On Coruscant, Padmé Amidala—having wanted to meet with Palpatine to discuss Naboo's new security measures—received word of the Jedi's ongoing efforts to return Rotta to Tatooine. Concerned for her husband's safety after learning Jabba blamed him for the kidnapping, she became determined to convince Jabba of the truth and broker the Republic's treaty with the Hutt Clan. Because Jabba was refusing all communication with the Republic, Amidala visited Ziro the Hutt, who lived in a palace on Coruscant. After Ziro rebuffed her attempt to reopen dialogue between the Hutts and the Republic, Amidala lingered around the palace and witnessed Ziro contact Dooku via hologram. Dooku informed Ziro that thanks to the Sith's web of deceit, Jabba would kill the Jedi when they arrived at his palace on Tatooine, after which the Republic would be forced to arrest Jabba. Accordingly, Ziro would be able to seize his nephew's control of the Hutt Clan. However, Ziro discovered Amidala eavesdropping on the conversation, and on Dooku's advice, he incarcerated Amidala within his palace.[23]

As Skywalker and Tano arrived over Tatooine with Rotta aboard the Twilight, a pair of Confederate Rogue-class Porax-38 starfighters assaulted their freighter, causing them to crash-land in the Dune Sea. While Skywalker diverted Dooku's attention by engaging him in a lightsaber duel, Tano proceeded with Rotta to Jabba's Palace, but a trio of IG-100 MagnaGuards intercepted her outside the compound. Skywalker abandoned his confrontation with Dooku to rescue Tano, but he incorrectly assumed that she was already at Jabba's Palace. Skywalker thus arrived there ahead of his Padawan—much to the ire of Jabba, who still believed that Skywalker had slaughtered his son. With help from Skywalker's astromech droid R2-D2, Tano defeated her MagnaGuard assailants and reunited Rotta with his father. In spite of the Jedi's efforts, Jabba remained determined to execute Skywalker and Tano, and he ordered his bounty hunters to do so.[23]

Padmé Amidala convinces Jabba Desilijic Tiure of the truth, paving the way for a Hutt Clan–Republic treaty. Padmé Amidala convinces Jabba Desilijic Tiure of the truth, paving the way for a Hutt Clan–Republic treaty.

Back on Coruscant, Amidala was able to send word of her capture to the Republic via her protocol droid, C-3PO.[23] Clone Commander Fox[107] immediately responded with a squad of clone shock troopers from the Coruscant Guard, and they raided Ziro's Palace to rescue her. Once Fox and his soldiers had arrested Ziro, Amidala used Ziro's personal holoprojector to contact Jabba, who received her message just as he was about to have Skywalker and Tano killed. Jabba was incensed to learn of Dooku and Ziro's conspiracy to unseat him, but he agreed to end all hostilities with the Jedi. Jabba subsequently signed a treaty with the Republic and granted the Grand Army its exclusive, long-awaited access to Hutt Space's supply routes. At the same time, Kenobi finished securing the Republic's victory on Teth and headed to Tatooine with Yoda, so that they could formalize the treaty with Jabba.[23]

The Republic's alliance with the Hutt Clan resulted in a major setback for the Confederacy. Yet, Darth Sidious remained unconcerned, downplaying the impact of the Jedi's victory after Dooku apprised him of the news.[23] Nonetheless, the treaty also posed problems for the Republic, as making formal treaties with the Hutts ended up legitimizing their businesses,[108] which the treaty also allowed to spread into the Mid Rim.[109] Beyond the cartel lawyers masterfully editing the proposed treaties to give the Hutts unmitigated access to Republic intel,[108] the treaty also saw the Hutts confirm that their organizations would stay out of the war and only work as non-combatants, while the Republic was forced to promise it would not bring the fighting into Hutt territory despite having secured their cooperation[109] and hyperlanes.[23] The Republic incarcerated Ziro within the Judiciary Central Detention Center on Coruscant, and his lengthy sentence caused him to develop a deep resentment toward Amidala.[4]

Advertisement The war reaches Ryloth "Our cities lie in ruins. Our transportation hubs are all but destroyed, so I cannot return home. Our crops burn. The Twi'lek people are starving! And they will die if no aid comes to them." ―Orn Free Taa, the senator of Ryloth, appeals to Toydaria's King Katuunko for aid[110] Jedi General Ima-Gun Di was the last survivor of the Republic's initial battle group on Ryloth. Jedi General Ima-Gun Di was the last survivor of the Republic's initial battle group on Ryloth.

The Twi'lek homeworld of Ryloth became the next major battlefront of the Clone Wars when the Techno Union invaded the planet,[24] aiming to pillage its wealth and resources.[47] The Separatist navy installed a blockade of battleships in orbit of Ryloth, while the Separatist Droid Army subjected the civilian population to a brutal occupation. Besides losing a number of cities and transport hubs, the Twi'leks were cut off from food and relief supplies and thus began to starve. In response, political activist Cham Syndulla founded[110] a Twi'lek Resistance[111] to combat the Confederate occupation. Jedi General Ima-Gun Di, Clone Captain Keeli, and their unit of soldiers provided aid to Syndulla and his freedom fighters. As open warfare engulfed Ryloth, the Separatist blockade eliminated Admiral Dao's Republic fleet, severing the Republic's supply lines to Ryloth and trapping Di, Syndulla, and their men in a canyon alongside many Twi'lek families.[110]

With Ryloth in dire need of aid, the Jedi High Council prepared a shipment of food and medical supplies for the Twi'leks. Yet, because the Republic's Pelta-class frigates did not have enough range to reach Ryloth, the High Council selected the planet Toydaria as a suitable staging ground for the blockade runners. Complicating matters was the fact that Toydaria had declared neutrality in the war. As a result, the High Council asked Senator Bail Organa to oversee negotiations on Toydaria, alongside Jar Jar Binks. However, the Separatist navy intercepted the transmission between Organa and the High Council. Dooku thus dispatched Senator Lott Dod of the Trade Federation to thwart Organa's diplomatic efforts with King Katuunko, the monarch of the Toydarians.[110]

Thanks to Dod's intervention, Katuunko publicly declined to have Toydaria sponsor the Republic's humanitarian shipment to Ryloth. However, Katuunko privately agreed to let Organa transfer his supplies from Toydaria to Ryloth. To prevent the Trade Federation from learning of the subterfuge, Binks distracted Dod and his staff at a formal banquet that night, while Organa oversaw the shipment's departure from Toydaria. By that time, the Separatist Droid Army had nearly overrun the Republic's defenses on Ryloth. Di, Keeli, and their men sacrificed their lives so that Syndulla and his comrades could escape from the canyon with their families. Shortly thereafter, the Republic's trio of Pelta-class frigates penetrated the Confederate blockade and deployed their relief supplies to the Twi'leks. Nevertheless, the Grand Army's inability to provide further military support to the Twi'lek Resistance eroded Syndulla's faith in the Republic.[110]

Without reinforcements from the Republic, only Syndulla and his Twi'lek Resistance stood against the Separatist occupation of Ryloth. The Twi'leks suffered heavily in a confrontation with the Droid Army, and the Separatists forced the freedom fighters to surrender and disarm themselves. Still, the droid infantry continued to massacre the Twi'lek fighters, leading them to carve out hideouts in the shells of downed Confederate C-9979 landing craft. Syndulla and his rebels resorted to executing a guerrilla campaign, periodically eliminating battle droid patrols in the region. For the time being, the Twi'leks were left to wage the ongoing Battle of Ryloth on their own.[47]

King Katuunko aligned Toydaria with the Republic after Yoda defeated Asajj Ventress on Rugosa. King Katuunko aligned Toydaria with the Republic after Yoda defeated Asajj Ventress on Rugosa.

Organa and Binks's determination to help the Twi'leks of Ryloth convinced Katuunko to consider bringing Toydaria into the Republic.[110] Since the Jedi Order hoped to establish a supply base in the Toydaria system, Master Yoda sought a meeting with Katuunko on the coral moon of Rugosa. However, Dooku learned of the rendezvous and sent Asajj Ventress to negotiate with the Toydarian Royal Delegation on behalf of the Confederacy. After a pair of Confederate Munificent-class star frigates intercepted his Republic frigate, Yoda reached the surface of Rugosa in an escape pod alongside his three-man detail from the Coruscant Guard: Lieutenant Thire and troopers Jek and Rys.[89]

To circumvent a political debate with Yoda, Ventress proposed a contest. She would send her best troops to capture Yoda, who would face the challenge of evading apprehension. Katuunko, accordingly, would consider aligning Toydaria with the side of the victor. Although Katuunko was loath to subject Yoda to such a trial, Yoda accepted Ventress's terms and promised to arrive at their location by nightfall. Though they gravely lacked an advantage in numbers, Yoda and his troopers prevailed over Ventress's battalion of battle droids, even after she reneged on her agreement with Katuunko—first by ordering her droids to shoot to kill, and later by deploying droidekas as reinforcements.[89]

When Katuunko informed Dooku of his desire to join the Republic, Dooku commanded his apprentice to assassinate Katuunko. Yoda and his men arrived just in time to save Katuunko, with Yoda using the Force to halt Ventress's lightsabers in mid-air, just centimeters from Katuunko's throat. Instead of surrendering, Ventress distracted Yoda by detonating pre-planted explosives near Katuunko's starship, the Thief's Eye. While Yoda's focus was consumed with telekinetically redirecting the incoming rubble, Ventress took the opportunity to escape aboard her solar sailer. In the wake of Yoda's victory, Katuunko formally pledged Toydaria's support to the Republic and agreed to host a base in his system. He and his delegation thereafter departed from Rugosa alongside Yoda and his soldiers.[89]

Advertisement Rise of the Malevolence "This mystery weapon has struck in a dozen systems, and disappeared without a trace." "We cannot afford to lose any more ships, my friends." ―Mace Windu and Sheev Palpatine[25] icon Main article: Malevolence Campaign Grievous's flagship, the Malevolence, tears through Plo Koon's flotilla in the Abregado system. Grievous's flagship, the Malevolence, tears through Plo Koon's flotilla in the Abregado system.

The Confederacy military wasted no time in developing new projects for its war machine. One result was the Malevolence,[25] a colossal Subjugator-class heavy cruiser[14] that became the prized flagship of General Grievous. The Malevolence's maiden voyage cut a swath through Republic territory, striking in several star systems and annihilating all of the Republic ships that it encountered. Key to the battleship's success were its dual ion cannons, which disabled enemy starships' deflector shields and the rest of their onboard systems, thereby leaving the targets vulnerable to heavy turbolaser fire. Because the Malevolence left behind no witnesses, the Republic citizenry dubbed the unidentified threat Grievous's "mystery weapon," sowing fear throughout the Republic.[25]

The Jedi High Council soon sent one of its members, General Plo Koon, to hunt down Grievous's weapon. Koon and his flotilla of three Venator-class Star Destroyers tracked the Malevolence to the Abregado system, where Dooku and Grievous were overseeing the heavy cruiser's testing. The result of the ensuing battle was identical to those of its predecessors: the Malevolence disabled Koon's cruisers with an ion wave, then tore apart the defenseless craft using its array of turbolasers. Most of the remaining personnel who fled aboard escape pods were killed when Grievous sent teams of B1-series rocket battle droids aboard Droch-class boarding ships after them.[25]

Both Chancellor Palpatine and the Jedi Council were reluctant to spare resources on a search for survivors of Koon's fleet. However, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano—whose fleet was stationed in the nearby Bith system—took it upon themselves to do so. When they reached the Abregado system aboard the Twilight, the only remaining survivors were Koon and Clone Commander Wolffe, along with Clone Sergeant Sinker and trooper Boost of the 104th Battalion's Wolfpack squad. Skywalker and Tano rescued Koon and the clones, and they escaped from the system aboard the Twilight, narrowly avoiding becoming the Malevolence's next victims. Dooku was greatly displeased by Grievous's failure to prevent their escape.[25]

With the veil over Grievous's mystery weapon lifted, the Senate commissioned Skywalker and the Republic Navy's Shadow Squadron of Y-wing starfighter pilots to eradicate the Malevolence. After the Malevolence attacked a Republic medical convoy in the Ryndellia system, Skywalker correctly deduced that Grievous's next target was the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center, a classified Outer Rim facility that was treating over 60,000 wounded clone troopers. Using a smugglers' shortcut known as the Balmorra Run, Skywalker, Tano, Koon, and Shadow Squadron barely beat the Malevolence to the Republic medcenter, which sat on the fringes of the Kaliida Nebula. While Shadow Squadron initiated its assault on the Malevolence, Doctor Nala Se and the rest of her staff began evacuating the medcenter with the help of the Naboo. Yet, they were unable to clear out all of the patients before the Malevolence completed its targeting cycle.[112]

Shadow Squadron intercepts the Malevolence before it can destroy the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center. Shadow Squadron intercepts the Malevolence before it can destroy the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center.

Shadow Squadron's initial attack on the Malevolence claimed the lives of almost half of the unit's twelve-pilot roster. On account of those casualties, Skywalker heeded Tano and Koon's recommendation to abandon their original target of the Malevolence's bridge. Instead, they concentrated their assault on the heavy cruiser's starboard ion cannon. Their proton torpedoes inflicted enough damage to cause the ion cannon to overload when Grievous tried to fire it upon the medcenter. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Wullf Yularen thereafter arrived with a three-cruiser fleet of Star Destroyers, and promptly opened fire on the Malevolence. With both the ion cannons and the hyperdrive disabled, Grievous was forced to order the Malevolence to retreat, setting course for Confederate space.[112]

The Separatists dispatched a fleet of reinforcements to aid the beleaguered Malevolence, but Jedi General Luminara Unduli[113] and her own fleet[114] intercepted them before they could reach the Kaliida Nebula. Even without those reinforcements, the Malevolence was able to hold its own, since its enormous size enabled it to withstand the Republic fleet's barrage of cannonades. Nevertheless, Dooku and Darth Sidious arranged a trap for Padmé Amidala, sending her to the Kaliida Nebula under the premise of negotiating a treaty between the Republic and the InterGalactic Banking Clan. When Amidala arrived, Grievous pulled her H-type Nubian yacht aboard the Malevolence via a tractor beam, aiming to take the esteemed senator hostage so as to secure safe passage for the Malevolence. The tactic worked as Dooku had predicted, with Skywalker ordering the Republic fleet's gunnery teams to stand down in order to protect his wife.[113]

While Koon, Tano, and Yularen remained behind to command the fleet, Skywalker and Kenobi mounted a rescue mission to save Amidala. After using the Twilight to dock with the Malevolence, they rendezvoused with Amidala, who had destroyed her H-type Nubian yacht to delay Grievous. Amidala and Skywalker proceeded to the bridge, where they hot-wired the Malevolence's navigation computer to secretly input a new destination. Kenobi attempted to sabotage the battleship's hyperdrive, but Grievous intercepted him and chased him to the ship's internal rail jet, where Kenobi broke off from their duel. He, Amidala, and Skywalker escaped from the Malevolence aboard the Twilight, but Grievous pursued with a squadron of vulture droids.[113]

It was not long before Skywalker's sabotage came to light. Instead of jumping to hyperspace, the Malevolence collided with a nearby moon. Disgraced, Grievous fled from the battlefield aboard his personal starship, Soulless One. Thanks to that turn of events, the Republic claimed victory in[113] the Battle of the Kaliida Nebula,[14] ending the threat of the Malevolence.[113] A few months later, Unduli would come face-to-face with Grievous on Nadiem out in the Outer Rim.[114] In the mean time, however, Grievous would largely manage to stay out of the Republic's sight, being spotted in the Balmorra system but then remaining off the Republic's radar for weeks.[84]

Advertisement War for resources icon Main articles: Incursion on Noomis Riga, Battle of Khorm and Attack on Atraken "I just received word, Sim—the clones have those clankers surrounded. This latest Separatist incursion will be contained within hours! Once they're done mopping up here, our boys can advance all the way to Ukio. Maybe in time to reopen the old kern route before the harvest. That would be a right boon." ―Fond Dachris, to Sim Aloo[115] As the conflict ground on, it became apparent the Clone Wars was also a war for resources, given the economic toll using clone troopers and battle droids was. As such, economically important worlds became home to multiple battles.[116] The planet of Ukio had left the Republic during the Separatist Crisis,[51] but it was[116] ultimately taken back[51] by the Republic at some point; due to its usefulness as a granary, Ukio was of interest to both sides.[116] The farmer Fond Dachris had hope that the Grand Army would claim Ukio shortly after its victory on his own argiworld, Noomis Riga, where clone troopers surrounded attacking battle droids during a Separatist incursion. Noomis Riga suffered several such incursions during the war, with Dachris' fellow farmer Sim Aloo taking advantage of the carnage by making himself a notable ally of the Republic military. He reported the Republic-loyal Dachris as a Separatist sympathizer and murdered him as part of his plan to claim his neighbor's farm and expand his power.[115]

The Confederacy also cut off agricultural trade routes leading to Coruscant, leaving to entire levels suffering from starvation and, in the minds of the Republic citizenry, justifying their government in striking back against the Confederacy.[17] Atraken and Khorm were also sought by the Republic and CIS, as they both were home to natural mineral resources.[116] The Battle of Khorm was fought at some point after the Battle of Abregado.[14] General Skywalker and Clone Commander Wolffe led the Republic in the battle,[117] while Asajj Ventress was present for the Separatists. During a close encounter between the two,[118] Wolffe lost his right eye to Ventress,[117] which forced him to wear a cybernetic replacement.[14] Atraken, meanwhile, would eventually suffer an brutal attack as the war dragged on. The battle technically ended as a Republic victory, but millions were killed in the fighting, and the whole world was left uninhabitable.[119]

Advertisement Battle over Rishi Station "All right, listen up. There's only one target of interest in this sector: Kamino. It's the closest thing we clones have to a home. Today we fight for more than the Republic. Today, we fight for all our brothers back home. Understood?" "Sir, yes, sir!" ―Rex and rookie soldiers Echo, Fives, and Hevy on defending Rishi Station — 20?cb=20250116042720 (file info)[84] icon Main article: Defense of Rishi Station Concurrent to a period of escalation for the conflict in the Outer Rim, which forced the Republic to rush out new formations of clones before their training was truly complete and assign them out-of-the-way tracking station jobs, the intelligence-gathering arms of the Republic[84] and Confederate war machines became sources of contention[26] over the following weeks. When Grievous targeted Kamino, he knew that the Grand Army's system of listening posts in the vicinity could impede his efforts. To that end, Grievous dispatched a stealth team of BX-series droid commandos to silence Rishi Station, a Republic outpost located on a barren moon in the Rishi system. Under the cover of a meteor shower, the droid commandos landed on the moon and raided Rishi Station, killing most of the facility's garrison. Sergeant O'Niner, the station's lead officer, was among the casualties. The droids then hot-wired the station's all-clear signal, preventing the Republic Navy from learning that Grievous and his fleet were approaching Kamino by way of the Rishi system. In addition, Asajj Ventress infiltrated Kamino's defenses and served as a spy for Grievous, completing the preparations for his invasion. All of this occurred while the Mud Jumpers of the Republic's 224th were involved in a separate campaign on the planet Mimban.[84]

Commander Cody, Hevy, and Fives defend Rishi Station from Grievous's second wave of droid infantry. Commander Cody, Hevy, and Fives defend Rishi Station from Grievous's second wave of droid infantry.

In the aftermath of the Separatists' takeover of Rishi Station, Commander Cody and Captain Rex arrived there on a scheduled inspection of the base and were warned of the danger by a flare used by the remaining Clones. After the droid commandos destroyed their shuttle,[84] the Obex,[120] Cody and Rex fled from the outpost. They soon encountered the remaining survivors of the earlier attack: troopers Echo, Hevy, and Fives. Though the rookie soldiers had barely seen any combat action, Cody and Rex rallied them to retake Rishi Station, and they managed to overpower the squad of droid commandos. Yet, their victory was short-lived. Upon losing contact with the droid commandos, Grievous deployed troop reinforcements to ensure that Rishi Station remained under his control.[84]

With time running out, Rex decided that instead of trying to disable the all-clear signal, they should destroy Rishi Station. Though Rex's plan was the nuclear option, the cessation of the beacon would alert the Republic fleet to Grievous's invasion. To destroy Rishi Station, Echo suggested the idea of using the outpost's supply of liquid tibanna, a highly explosive fuel that served as a heat source during the moon's long winter. While Cody, Fives, and Hevy defended the station's main entrance from the incoming battle droids, Rex and Echo linked a trio of[84] PLNK-series power droids,[71] which contained the liquid tibanna, to a detonation system. When Rex encountered problems with the detonator's handset, Hevy remained behind to repair it, while his comrades escaped to the crags beneath the station. However, Hevy was unable to repair the remote, so he chose to manually activate the explosives.[84]

Thanks to Hevy's sacrifice, the destruction of Rishi Station disabled the alert beacon. Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Wullf Yularen subsequently arrived in the Rishi system with a Republic fleet. Knowing his armada lacked the tactical advantage, Grievous conceded defeat and withdrew his forces from the system. After the battle, Kenobi and Skywalker honored Echo and Fives for their efforts, as well as the late Hevy for his sacrifice. Furthermore, Rex inducted Echo and Fives into the 501st Legion.[84]

Advertisement Intelligence and counterintelligence Kenobi: "Our intelligence has confirmed that Grievous's spies have been intercepting our transmissions." Tano: "He must have some sort of secret listening post out there somewhere." Skywalker: "That would explain how he's been able to ambush our fleets." Kenobi: "Split up your squadrons, Anakin. Find that base and destroy it." ―Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and Anakin Skywalker[26] icon Main article: Skytop Station campaign Though the Republic won the Battle of Bothawui, the loss of R2-D2 posed a major threat to its intelligence system. Though the Republic won the Battle of Bothawui, the loss of R2-D2 posed a major threat to its intelligence system.

Eventually, the Separatists constructed Skytop Station, a core ship that they converted into a listening post in the Ruusan system. Skytop Station plagued the Republic's intelligence network by intercepting various transmissions and acquiring vital data for the Confederacy military.[121] In the midst of this subterfuge, Grievous achieved a series of victories that jeopardized the Republic's foothold in the Outer Rim. He eliminated an entire Republic battle group at the planet Falleen on his way to conquer Bothawui, a strategic world[26] in the Mid Rim.[122] Rex, Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano thereafter mobilized a Republic task force in defense of Bothawui.[26]

During the ensuing Battle of Bothawui,[123] Rex outflanked Grievous's flotilla using a squad of AT-TE walkers that he had hidden within Bothawui's asteroid field. Skywalker and Gold Squadron, a unit of V-19 Torrent starfighters, quickly pressed their advantage and crippled Grievous's frigates, turning the tide of battle in the Republic's favor. However, when Skywalker attempted to prevent Grievous from escaping aboard Soulless One, Skywalker instead lost his personal astromech droid, R2-D2, after debris hit his Delta-7B interceptor. In spite of Grievous's escape, the Republic forces nonetheless emerged victorious at Bothawui.[26]

The loss of R2-D2 had potentially catastrophic consequences for the Republic. Since Skywalker had never wiped R2-D2's memory, the droid contained a trove of classified Republic Military data. Unbeknownst to the Republic, the scavenger Gha Nachkt found R2-D2 and promised the droid to Grievous. When Skywalker and Tano searched Nachkt's freighter,[26] the Vulture's Claw,[124] they failed to find R2-D2 amidst Nachkt's wares. Adding to Skywalker's problems was the fact that his replacement astromech, R3-S6,[26] was a spy droid for Grievous.[125]

Once the Republic's intelligence confirmed the existence of the Confederacy's new listening post, Skywalker received orders from Kenobi to find and eliminate the base. While his fleet scoured a targeted region of space, Skywalker elected to undertake a solo scouting mission to sweep the area's outer corridor. Yet, once Skywalker and R3-S6 were alone in the former's Delta-7B interceptor, R3-S6 activated the starfighter's homing beacon, leading Grievous and a pair of warships directly to their location. It was only due to the timely intervention of Rex and Tano, who hurriedly assembled a squad of soldiers and arrived aboard the Twilight, that Skywalker narrowly escaped demise at Grievous's hands.[26]

As Nachkt brought R2-D2 to Skytop Station, the Twilight intercepted a transmission from the missing droid. Rex tracked the signal to Skytop Station's location in the upper atmosphere of[125] one of the planet Ruusan's three moons.[121] Although Kenobi ordered him to eradicate Skytop Station without rescuing R2-D2, Skywalker made retrieving his droid one of the mission's top priorities. While Rex, Tano, and their strike team planted thermal detonators at the facility's reactor, Skywalker recovered R2-D2 before Grievous's IG-100 MagnaGuards could abscond with the droid. However, R3-S6 delayed Rex, Tano, and their squad of troopers at the reactor room long enough for Skytop Station's security patrols to confront them.[125]

Aboard Skytop Station, Ahsoka Tano saves Captain Rex from General Grievous. Aboard Skytop Station, Ahsoka Tano saves Captain Rex from General Grievous.

Though Tano and her allies repelled the battle droids, their troubles were far from over. Grievous ambushed them, murdering most of the clone troopers in the process. Tano subsequently engaged Grievous in a lightsaber duel so that Rex and the other surviving soldier,[125] Denal,[121] could finish installing the explosives at the reactor. Once they had done so, Denal and Rex rendezvoused with Skywalker, R2-D2, and the Twilight in Skytop Station's main hangar. There, R3-S6 revealed his true allegiances by sealing the exits and activating a trio of vulture droids, thus preventing Rex and Skywalker from aiding Tano in her confrontation with Grievous.[125]

At Skywalker's behest, Rex activated the explosives at the reactor, plunging Skytop Station on a descent into the moon's lower atmosphere. Once R2-D2 opened the hangar door from an exterior terminal, Tano arrived—having broken off from her duel with Grievous—and escaped with Denal, Rex, and Skywalker aboard the Twilight. Before they left the Ruusan system, Skywalker personally retrieved R2-D2, who had eliminated R3-S6. Grievous also escaped, though the loss of Skytop Station became yet another blemish on his career.[125]

Advertisement Separatist leadership targeted "Gunray's capture could be a serious threat to us, my friend. The viceroy will not last long under Jedi interrogation." "I have already put a plan into action, my lord. My best agent, Asajj Ventress, will infiltrate the Jedi ship and either free Gunray or silence him." ―Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus — 20?cb=20250116042720 (file info)[126] As the Clone Wars entered a stalemate,[127] several important members of the Confederacy found themselves in the Republic's crosshairs. One such leader was Nute Gunray, who entered into a brief alliance with Senator Onaconda Farr of Rodia. Although Rodia was part of the Republic, the Senate proved too slow to aid the Rodian population after pirate attacks demolished Rodia's inbound supply ships. Consequently, Farr lost faith in the Republic and accepted Gunray's offer to distribute relief supplies to Rodia. In return, Farr helped Gunray capture Padmé Amidala, against whom Gunray still held a grudge, when she came to Rodia on a diplomatic visit. Though Farr was conflicted about betraying Amidala, he incarcerated his old friend in a local detention tower until Gunray's arrival. However, when Gunray came to collect Amidala, Farr was shocked to learn that Gunray intended to execute her.[27]

Padmé Amidala and Onaconda Farr arrested Nute Gunray on Rodia, but the Republic's success did not last. Padmé Amidala and Onaconda Farr arrested Nute Gunray on Rodia, but the Republic's success did not last.

Although Amidala escaped from the detention tower, complications arose when Gunray's battle droids targeted both her and Jar Jar Binks, who had accompanied her to Rodia. Binks enlisted the aid of a large Kwazel Maw, which demolished most of Gunray's droids and his Sheathipede-class transport shuttle. Moreover, Gunray's indifference to the Rodians' suffering, as well as his brutal treatment of Amidala, convinced Farr that joining the Confederacy was a mistake. Farr aided Amidala in arresting Gunray on behalf of the Republic, concluding Rodia's dalliance with the Separatists. Sheev Palpatine thereafter sent the Rodians a convoy of much-needed supplies.[27]

Under the command of Clone Commander Gree,[27] the 41st Elite Corps[14] arrived on Rodia to take Gunray into Republic custody. The Jedi High Council dispatched Jedi General Luminara Unduli, alongside Ahsoka Tano, to provide further security for Gunray's transfer to Coruscant, where the viceroy would stand trial. Since Darth Sidious believed that Gunray would not be able to withstand the Jedi's interrogation, Dooku tasked Asajj Ventress with rescuing Gunray. Dooku also paid off Captain Faro Argyus, the leader of the Senate Commando detail that had been assigned to Gunray's transfer, to assist in the operation.[126]

Ventress launched her assault just as Argyus, Gree, Tano, and Unduli were leaving Rodia with Gunray aboard the Star Destroyer Tranquility. A trio of Droch-class boarding ships penetrated the Tranquility's hull, then deployed a droid boarding party that eradicated much of the Elite Corps' Green Company. Ventress proceeded to the Tranquility's detention level, where she engaged in a brief rematch with Tano,[126] since the two had previously crossed blades during the Battle of Teth.[23] Though Argyus, Gree, and Unduli came to Tano's aid and prevented Ventress from escaping with Gunray, Ventress used a cache of explosives that she had planted in the Tranquility's engine room to disrupt all of the cruiser's onboard systems. When Unduli pursued Ventress to the engine room, Ventress nearly overwhelmed her, and it was only thanks to Tano's assistance that Unduli was able to continue their lightsaber duel.[126]

As Ventress continued to occupy the Jedi's attention, she signaled Argyus to make his move. Argyus gunned down two of his fellow Senate Commandos who were guarding Gunray, then liberated Gunray from his prison cell. Argyus and Gunray resisted Gree's attempts to stop them and commandeered the Consular-class frigate that had transferred Gunray to the Tranquility. Similarly, Ventress stole an escape pod and joined them aboard their frigate, though she executed Argyus when he insinuated that he would take full credit for the operation's success. Nevertheless, Unduli was able to transmit the tracking data for Gunray's frigate to fellow Jedi General Kit Fisto, whose fleet was close to Gunray's last known position.[126]

Nahdar Vebb and Kit Fisto spearhead an effort to detain Grievous at his private fortress on Vassek's third moon. Nahdar Vebb and Kit Fisto spearhead an effort to detain Grievous at his private fortress on Vassek's third moon.

Since Fisto was leading the hunt to recapture Gunray, Dooku saw an opportunity to test one of his agents. Because Grievous's recent defeats had undermined Dooku's faith in him, Dooku arranged a test for his best general. Using the homing beacon from Gunray's frigate, Dooku lured Fisto and his forces to Grievous's personal fortress[127] on the third moon of Vassek. The Republic's Outer Rim Command Center also monitored Clone Commander Fil[128] and Jedi Knight Nahdar Vebb, Fisto's former Padawan, who led a team of troopers to assist in the search for Gunray. Grievous remained unaware of Dooku's plan to reevaluate his performance.[127]

Fisto, Vebb, and their soldiers infiltrated Grievous's fortress and eliminated a security detail of battle droids that they incorrectly assumed were protecting Gunray. In lieu of the viceroy, Dooku holographically contacted Fisto and Vebb and offered them an alternative prize. Once they realized that the fortress belonged to Grievous, Fisto and Vebb resolved to capture the elusive general, since Grievous's arrest would be pivotal for the Republic's war effort. Yet, when Grievous returned to his fortress, he proved to be far from easy prey. Grievous temporarily evaded the intruders in his lair, but he was forced to undergo repairs from his medical droid,[127] EV-A4-D.[129]

After having his IG-100 MagnaGuards lock down the perimeter, Grievous set about reclaiming the upper hand over his would-be captors. He used his fortress's built-in countermeasures—including an incinerator pit and his pet roggwart, Gor—to assail Fisto, Vebb, and their soldiers. Fil and the rest of his men perished, but Fisto managed to slay the vicious roggwart. Throughout it all, Vebb displayed a growing willingness to use excessive force in response to Grievous's tactics. Matters came to a head when Fisto sneaked into Grievous's control room, and Vebb refused to follow his former Master inside. Instead, Vebb stayed behind to confront Grievous on his own. Unable to help his former Padawan, Fisto could only watch through the surveillance system as Grievous slaughtered Vebb. Before escaping from the moon aboard his Delta-7B interceptor, Fisto dueled Grievous and managed to retrieve the late Vebb's lightsaber, which Grievous had claimed as a trophy. Though Grievous had bested Vebb and the clone troopers, Dooku had expected him to do so, and he was not pleased with Grievous's failure to defeat Fisto.[127]

Advertisement Dooku's temporary capture Dooku: "I'm confident the situation will rectify itself soon." Kenobi: "Soon, you'll be brought to trial by the Senate, and most likely spend a very long time in a cell just like this one." Skywalker: "And that's if you're lucky." ―On Florrum, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker verify in person that Dooku is in the Ohnaka Gang's custody[130] Dooku was the next Confederate official who became a target for the Republic. As part of a manhunt for the Sith Lord, Anakin Skywalker infiltrated Dooku's current flagship, a Munificent-class star frigate, as it was patrolling the Outer Rim. Skywalker allowed himself to be captured in order to lead his forces to the frigate's location. While Obi-Wan Kenobi liberated Skywalker and helped him detain Dooku, Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex besieged Dooku's frigate from aboard the Resolute. However, Dooku fled from the ongoing battle in his solar sailer, with Kenobi and Skywalker in close pursuit aboard a stolen Sheathipede-class transport shuttle. All three of them crash-landed on the planet Vanqor. Whereas Dooku gained safe passage from the Ohnaka Gang, a band of pirates, to the nearby world of Florrum, Kenobi and Skywalker were left stranded on Vanqor, and Tano had to retrieve them from the planet's surface.[130]

Count Dooku, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi all became hostages of the Ohnaka Gang on Florrum. Count Dooku, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi all became hostages of the Ohnaka Gang on Florrum.

Nevertheless, Dooku had not yet reached safety. The Ohnaka Gang took Dooku hostage on Florrum, and the pirates' leader, Hondo Ohnaka, offered him to the Republic in exchange for a hefty sum of one million credits, paid in spice. Before Sheev Palpatine agreed to the deal, the Jedi High Council dispatched Kenobi and Skywalker to Florrum to confirm that Ohnaka and his men indeed had custody of Dooku. However, after the Jedi arrived,[130] Ohnaka drugged them and also took them prisoner, intending to ransom them to the Republic for an even larger payday. Unaware of Kenobi and Skywalker's situation, Palpatine dispatched Senator Kharrus and an escort team from the Coruscant Guard to deliver the spice ransom to Florrum and secure custody of Dooku.[131]

Rogue elements within the Ohnaka Gang caused further trouble for the Republic. Ohnaka's lieutenant, Turk Falso, led a faction of pirates who shot down Kharrus's shuttle over Florrum, hoping to steal the ransom. Kharrus and the shuttle's crew died in the crash, leaving Jar Jar Binks, who was part of the delegation, as the ranking commander for Commander Stone and his soldiers. By the time Binks, Stone, and their squad reached Ohnaka's base of operations, Dooku had escaped. He made his getaway by killing Falso and stealing his[131] Flarestar-class attack shuttle.[71] Rather than arresting Ohnaka, Kenobi and Skywalker left Ohnaka and his pirates alone. The Jedi departed with Binks and the clones aboard the Twilight,[131] aboard which the Jedi had traveled to Florrum.[130] Whereas Ohnaka and the Jedi parted on good terms,[131] Dooku harbored a grudge against Ohnaka.[132]

Advertisement Crisis after crisis "Count Dooku, I have located a world in which we can test my… Excuse me, our new weapon." "I hope it turns out to be worth the expense. You may proceed." ―Lok Durd and Dooku on testing the Defoliator on Maridun — 20?cb=20250116042720 (file info)[58] Aayla Secura's fleet suffers damage over Quell. Aayla Secura's fleet suffers damage over Quell.

The Quell system became the next flashpoint of the Clone Wars when a Confederate armada intercepted Jedi General Aayla Secura's fleet of warships.[133] In the resulting Battle of Quell,[134] the Separatist frigates pummeled Secura's cruisers with heavy bombardment. Soon, only Secura's flagship was maintaining altitude over the planet Quell. Skywalker, Tano, Captain Rex, and Wullf Yularen arrived aboard the Resolute to extract Secura; Clone Commander Bly; and their crew from their doomed vessel. Rex, Skywalker, and Tano brought Secura, Bly, and a few of their troops aboard a Consular-class cruiser. Before they could reach the Resolute, a vulture droid attack inadvertently enabled their frigate's hyperdrive. The Jedi and clones found themselves on an unexpected detour, and they crash-landed on the remote planet Maridun. Yularen was left behind to oversee the Republic's campaign over Quell.[133]

Stranded on Maridun, Bly, Rex, Secura, and Tano sought out medical attention for Skywalker, who had suffered critical injuries during the escape from Secura's flagship. They brought Skywalker to a village of Lurmen pacifists, who treated his wounds.[133] Just as Skywalker's condition was improving, the Separatist General Lok Durd selected Maridun as a test site for the Confederacy's newest weapon. Durd had developed the Defoliator, a cannon that exterminated organic matter while sparing inorganic subjects, such as battle droids. Durd decided to use the Lurmen colonists as test subjects for[58] his Defoliator Deployment Tank.[135]

When Durd came to subjugate the Lurmen, the village's elder, Tee Watt Kaa, persuaded Bly, Rex, Secura, Skywalker, and Tano to leave in order to avoid a potential crossfire. However, the Jedi and clones returned once they realized that Durd was planning to test the Defoliator on the Lurmen village. In the skirmish that followed, the Jedi and clones used a pair of stolen Separatist shield generators to protect the Lurmen from the Defoliator's incendiary capsules. Yet, after Durd's droid infantry breached the Jedi and clones' defenses, Wag Too—the village healer and Watt Kaa's son—convinced other young members of the colony to help defend their home. They succeeded, while Skywalker managed to impair the Defoliator and captured Durd. Nevertheless, Watt Kaa questioned whether it had been worth it for Too and his friends to sacrifice their pacifism for the victory.[58]

Shortly thereafter, a brief but bloody conflict erupted on the glacial world of Orto Plutonia. Both the Republic and the Confederacy maintained bases on Orto Plutonia, which attracted attention from a local settlement of Talz. In an effort to protect their solitude, the Talz obliterated both the Republic and Separatist outposts on their world. The Pantorans, who inhabited Orto Plutonia's single moon of Pantora, claimed Orto Plutonia as a protectorate. Consequently, Pantoran Chairman Chi Cho and Senator Riyo Chuchi requested a detachment of soldiers to investigate the loss of contact with[136] Glid Station,[137] the Republic base on Orto Plutonia. Rex, Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi oversaw a platoon[136] of Rex's troops, who wore the gear of cold assault troopers for the mission.[138]

Riyo Chuchi establishes a peace accord with Thi-Sen. Riyo Chuchi establishes a peace accord with Thi-Sen.

When Kenobi and Skywalker made contact with Chieftain Thi-Sen of the Talz, he communicated his desire to peacefully resolve the conflict. Yet, Cho dismissed the Talz as savages, declaring that the Convention of Civilized Systems did not apply to them. Despite efforts from Chuchi, Skywalker, and Kenobi to find a diplomatic solution, the headstrong Cho insisted on declaring war with the Talz in an effort to exterminate them. Open hostilities erupted when the Talz ambushed Cho, Rex, and their troops. Many Talz and clone troopers lost their lives until Chuchi received approval from the Pantoran Assembly to negotiate an end to the bloodshed.[136]

Despite her youth and inexperience, Chuchi mustered the courage to personally establish a peaceful settlement with Thi-Sen. While Cho succumbed to fatal wounds that he had sustained, Chuchi agreed to cede complete jurisdiction of Orto Plutonia to Thi-Sen and the Talz. Chuchi thereafter departed from Orto Plutonia with Kenobi, Rex, Skywalker, and their troops, leaving the Talz in peace.[136] In light of Cho's death, the Pantorans eventually elected Baron Papanoida as their new chairman.[139] Other cold worlds that saw Republic operations were Toola and Rhen Var, which both saw the deployment of clone cold assault troopers.[14] At some point, Unduli and Secura teamed up in a confrontation against Ventress on[114] the frozen planet[140] Alzoc III. Ventress would be bested and left in an ice cave the two Jedi managed to collapse,[114] but she escaped and continued to menace the Republic for some time.[31] Unduli and Ventress had many more encounters over the course of the conflict.[114]

Advertisement The Battle of Ryloth ends "The Twi'leks on that planet can't wait forever, Master. The longer the Techno Union keeps control of Ryloth, the more difficult it'll be to free them." "I agree. We don't have much time." ―Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu — 20?cb=20250116042720 (file info)[24] As the Resolute distracts the Separatist blockade, Ahsoka Tano's squadrons outmaneuver Mar Tuuk's armada. As the Resolute distracts the Separatist blockade, Ahsoka Tano's squadrons outmaneuver Mar Tuuk's armada.

The Techno Union continued to subjugate Ryloth, and Wat Tambor gained an appointment as the emir of the conquered world.[141] The Republic Senate finally authorized an invasion force from the Grand Army to liberate the Twi'lek homeworld, reopening Ryloth as a Republic battlefront. Skywalker, Tano, and Wullf Yularen received the task of eliminating Confederate Captain Mar Tuuk's orbital blockade of Ryloth. The Republic's first assault on the blockade failed, since Tuuk's fleet obliterated the Star Destroyer Redeemer and forced Skywalker's other warships, the Defender and the Resolute, to retreat from the Ryloth system. Tano also suffered a devastating blow to her morale when she lost an entire unit of clone pilots, Blue Squadron, as part of her first command position.[24]

Skywalker and Tano's next strategy had better results. Since the Defender had sustained heavy damages, Skywalker sacrificed the cruiser by personally ramming it into Tuuk's Lucrehulk-class Battleship. Tuuk fled from his command ship just prior to its demise, thereby ceding command of the blockade to the six frigates' OOM command battle droids. The ensuing chaos enabled the Resolute to return to the Ryloth system. Tano angled the Resolute's ventral hull toward the enemy blockade in order to lure its droid commanders into a trap. Once the frigates moved in, Tano launched several squadrons of starfighters from the Resolute and bombarded the frigates, leaving the blockade in disarray.[24]

Thanks to Skywalker and Tano's efforts, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu were able to safely enter Ryloth's atmosphere with a force of three Acclamator-class transgalactic military assault ships containing the invasion force. However, a Separatist encampment in the city of Nabat precluded Kenobi and Windu from landing their forces on the surface. From Nabat, the T-series tactical droid TX-20 targeted the Republic assault ships with aerial barrages from ground-based[142] J-1 proton cannons.[71] Windu withdrew the transports to a higher altitude until Kenobi, Commander Cody,[142] and the 212th Attack Battalion's[105] Ghost Company could eliminate the proton cannons in Nabat. Once there, troopers Boil and Waxer befriended Numa, a young Twi'lek orphan who had lost her parents when the Separatists stormed Nabat. With Numa's help, Kenobi and Ghost Company disabled the proton cannons and also rescued Nabat's Twi'lek residents, whom TX-20 had been using as living shields to protect his encampment from attack. Once freed, the Twi'leks mobbed TX-20 and destroyed him in retaliation for his subjugation of their home.[142]

Ghost Company's liberation of Nabat allowed Windu and his transports to use the city as a landing zone.[142] While Skywalker and Tano defeated the remnants of the Confederate blockade and secured the space around Ryloth, Kenobi freed more Twi'lek villages from the Techno Union's occupation. Kenobi soon retook the Jixuan desert, bringing Ryloth's southern hemisphere under Republic control. In response to the Republic's rising victories, Wat Tambor entrenched the majority of his droid infantry within the capital of Lessu. It fell to Windu and Commander Ponds to secure Lessu and apprehend Tambor. However, a unit of Armored Assault Tanks inflicted severe casualties to Windu's Lightning Squadron during an ambush at a canyon outside of Lessu. Because the Grand Army could not spare any reinforcements, Windu decided to enlist the help of Cham Syndulla and his Twi'lek Resistance.[47]

Cham Syndulla rallies the combined forces of Lightning Squadron and his Twi'lek Resistance to retake Lessu. Cham Syndulla rallies the combined forces of Lightning Squadron and his Twi'lek Resistance to retake Lessu.

When Windu sought him out, Syndulla still had reservations about working with the Republic, since the Grand Army had previously been unable to aid the Twi'lek Resistance. Syndulla also lacked trust in Ryloth's senator, Orn Free Taa, due to their political rivalry before the war. Yet, Syndulla changed his mind when Dooku ordered Tambor to plunder what he could from the Twi'lek villages, then exterminate everything else. In doing so, Dooku hoped to use Ryloth's demise as a political message about the ramifications of a Republic victory.[47]

Ponds and Lightning Squadron witnessed Tambor's firebombing campaign firsthand, as Hyena-class Droid Bombers targeted all villages within range of Lessu, even those that were filled with innocent civilians. Skywalker and Tano concentrated their efforts on eliminating the bombers, but there were too many for their squadrons to handle. Tambor's ruthlessness reminded Syndulla and Taa of their common desire: achieving liberty for Ryloth. Under Windu's mediation, Syndulla promised not to exploit the situation for political power. Taa, meanwhile, agreed to Syndulla's stipulation to preserve Ryloth's independence, by ensuring that the Grand Army refrained from a post-invasion occupation of Ryloth. With that, Syndulla merged his forces with those of Windu, and the new allies organized a joint assault on Lessu.[47]

Although Dooku ordered him to withdraw from Ryloth, Tambor delayed his departure to maximize the amount of plunder that he could seize from the Twi'leks. As a result, Windu and Advanced Recon Force troopers Razor and Stak infiltrated one of Tambor's inbound Multi-Troop Transports to gain passage across Lessu's plasma bridge, which was the only means of reaching the capital. Once Razor and Stak reactivated the bridge, Syndulla led his Twi'lek freedom fighters and the Republic clone troopers—riding blurrgs and All Terrain Reconnaissance Transports, respectively—as they charged into Lessu. While Syndulla oversaw the ground campaign, Windu arrested Tambor, who had lingered too long and was thus abandoned when his own tactical droid, TA-175, left aboard his shuttle. Despite Tambor's presence in Lessu, Dooku ordered TA-175 to have their Hyena-class bombers lay waste to the capital. However, Skywalker and Tano intercepted the bombers in their Delta-7B interceptors and wiped them out before they reached Lessu. Afterward, Tambor agreed to unconditionally surrender to Syndulla and Windu.[47]

The Battle of Lessu, as it became known,[143] finally brought the lengthy Battle of Ryloth to an end. Now free once more, the Twi'leks held a parade in Lessu to celebrate their victory, with Syndulla, Taa, and Windu in attendance.[47] Syndulla and Windu's accomplishments at Lessu led them to become part of Twi'lek folklore, with songs naming their attack the Hammer of Ryloth.[143]

Advertisement Year two (21 BBY–20 BBY) The Blue Shadow Virus "Where's the antidote, Vindi?" "You mistake my role, Jedi. My job was to manufacture a plague, not to cure it." "We don't have time for games." "Yes, kill me now and spare these old bones the Blue Shadow's dire embrace! Because once the first droid breaks out of that laboratory, all Naboo is doomed!" ―Anakin Skywalker and Nuvo Vindi after the latter's LEP servant droid detonates a viral bomb in the underground laboratory[91] icon Main article: Raid on Nuvo Vindi's laboratory In the Mid Rim, Naboo became the site of the Confederacy's foray into biological warfare.[144] Operating out of a secret Trade Federation laboratory[14] beneath Naboo's eastern swamps, Doctor Nuvo Vindi succeeded in weaponizing the Blue Shadow Virus, a lethal waterborne plague with no known cure, as an airborne strain. He also manufactured viral bombs to release the plague to key Republic star systems. When the Royal Naboo Security Forces discovered a patrol of Vindi's battle droids, Padmé Amidala and Jar Jar Binks returned to help Queen Neeyutnee and Captain Gregar Typho investigate the potential incursion. Amidala and Binks traced the battle droids' point of origin to the eastern swamps, where Vindi's forces captured them.[144]

Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, and Padmé Amidala contain the Blue Shadow Virus within Nuvo Vindi's laboratory. Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, and Padmé Amidala contain the Blue Shadow Virus within Nuvo Vindi's laboratory.

In response, Kenobi, Skywalker, and Tano led a raid on Vindi's laboratory to rescue Amidala and Binks, as well as prevent Vindi from escaping with his cache of bombs. Captain Rex and the clone units[144] Calm Tree, Snow Wolves, and Wildfire[145] provided tactical support for the Jedi's operation. After saving Amidala and Binks, Skywalker aided Kenobi in apprehending Vindi. In addition, the Republic task force's cadre of clone ordnance specialists managed to disarm Vindi's entire supply of viral bombs before he could release the plague to Naboo.[144] Kenobi and Skywalker thereafter escorted Vindi to Naboo's capital, Theed, to stand trial for his crimes.[91]

However, the crisis was not over. Vindi's personal LEP-series service droid had secretly absconded with one of the vials containing the Blue Shadow Virus. The droid used a viral bomb to release the plague within the laboratory. While Kenobi and Skywalker traveled to the distant planet Iego to retrieve a potential cure, Amidala and Binks worked with Rex, Tano, and their men to eliminate the laboratory's remaining battle droids. If the droids escaped from the sealed compound, they would spread the outbreak to the rest of Naboo. Although the Blue Shadow Virus infected everyone save for Binks, the Republic personnel managed to eradicate the battle droids.[91]

During their journey to Iego, Kenobi and Skywalker deactivated the Separatists' laser web over the planet, liberating the inhabitants from their confinement to the planetary surface. The two Jedi also obtained a sample of reeksa root, which was used to cure Amidala, Rex, Tano, and their men from the Blue Shadow Virus, bringing the incident to a close.[91]

Advertisement Victories and sacrifices "The setback at Felucia has affected our efforts in the whole sector. It'll take weeks before we can…" ―Obi-Wan Kenobi[146] Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and their soldiers wait for Plo Koon's gunships to extract them from Felucia. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and their soldiers wait for Plo Koon's gunships to extract them from Felucia.

Felucia, a jungle world in the Outer Rim, became a frequent battlefront throughout the war.[147] Early on, Felucia's strategic location on the Perlemian Trade Route[148] led it to become the site of a campaign between the Confederacy and the Republic. Kenobi, Skywalker, and Tano attempted to repel a Separatist military presence from the world, but the battle droids overwhelmed their detachment of clone troopers, led by Commander Cody and Captain Rex. Once Commander Wolffe arrived with a fleet of Star Destroyers and breached the Confederacy's orbital blockade, Plo Koon and clone pilot Warthog rushed through the opening with a squadron of LAAT/i gunships.[146]

From their starfighters, Koon and Warthog escorted the gunships to the surface, where they extracted Cody, Kenobi, Rex, Skywalker, and their men from the Republic's main staging area. Before leaving Felucia, the gunships also picked up Tano and her patrol of soldiers from elsewhere in the jungle. Though Tano initially refused to retreat, she and her soldiers boarded the gunships right before droid reinforcements compromised their position. The Republic's defeat at Felucia disrupted the Grand Army's efforts in the surrounding sector of space. Tano also faced disciplinary action from the Jedi High Council for disobeying her orders to evacuate from Felucia.[146]

Devaron, another forested planet, soon became one of the war's next battlefields.[149] Working for Darth Sidious, the bounty hunter Cad Bane collaborated with fellow mercenary Cato Parasitti to steal a holocron from the Jedi Archives' Holocron Vault on Coruscant.[146] Bane then targeted Jedi Master Bolla Ropal, the keeper of the Jedi Order's Kyber memory crystal, a device that documented all known Force-sensitive younglings throughout the galaxy. At Sidious's request, Nute Gunray provided Bane with the Trade Federation's armada of Munificent-class star frigates, which Bane used to besiege Ropal's Republic outpost on Devaron. By the time Rex, Skywalker, Tano, and Wullf Yularen arrived in the Devaron system aboard the Resolute, Bane had already overrun the Republic base and had abducted Ropal, bringing him aboard his command ship. The Resolute tore through the majority of Bane's frigates and also disabled his command ship's hyperdrive, trapping Bane in-system. Yet, when Ropal refused to use the holocron to access the memory crystal, Bane had his crew of battle droids torture Ropal to death.[149]

Due to a lack of resources, Rex, Skywalker, and Tano repurposed a trio of AT-TE walkers as unorthodox boarding craft for their assault force, consisting of Execute Battalion and Carnivore Battalion. Once the Jedi and clones had infiltrated his command ship, Bane lured them into an ambush with his droid infantry on the frigate's gunnery deck. Bane further separated Tano from her allies and took her hostage, using her as leverage to force Skywalker to open the Kyber memory crystal. Because the frigate's self-destruct sequence was active, Rex, Skywalker, Tano, and their detachment commandeered a shuttle and fled from the doomed frigate. Bane, still in possession of the holocron and the memory crystal,[149] stowed away on their shuttle by killing trooper Denal and stealing his armor.[150] Once aboard the Resolute, Bane seized a V-19 Torrent starfighter and jumped to hyperspace before Skywalker and Tano could apprehend him.[151]

Working for Darth Sidious, the bounty hunter Cad Bane became a recurring menace to the Jedi Order. Working for Darth Sidious, the bounty hunter Cad Bane became a recurring menace to the Jedi Order.

Following his victory at Devaron, Bane continued his work for Sidious and set out to abduct four Force-sensitive children who were listed in the Kyber memory crystal. After kidnapping the Nautolan Zinn Toa on the planet Glee Anselm, Bane captured Wee Dunn in Rodia's Kay-Tap square, thwarting Kenobi's efforts to stop him. However, Skywalker and Tano intercepted Bane before he could snatch a third child, Roo-Roo Page of the Gungans, in Jan-gwa city on Naboo. Bane endured a brief tenure in Republic custody, ending when he led Kenobi and Mace Windu into a trap on Black Stall Station, his base of operations. Though Bane escaped, Kenobi and Windu recovered the stolen holocron from his possession. Furthermore, Skywalker and Tano rescued Dunn and Toa from Sidious's secret facility on the volcanic world of Mustafar. Nevertheless, the Jedi Order remained unaware that Sidious was behind the entire ordeal.[151]

In spite of its earlier setback at Felucia,[146] the Republic maintained a presence in the Felucia system in the form of the Felucia Medical Station HCTFF2, a Haven-class medical station. Yet, it was devoid of any countermeasures to defend itself, making it an easy target for a small Confederate flotilla. When Kenobi, Skywalker, and Tano investigated the loss of contact with Felucia Medical Station HCTFF2,[152] a Separatist automated vulture droid deployment station[153] launched a squadron of vulture droids. The droid starfighters attacked the Jedi's T-6 shuttle, forcing them to crash-land on Felucia. While there, the Jedi helped the mercenaries Sugi, Embo, Seripas, and Rumi Paramita defend a Felucian farming village from extortion by the Ohnaka Gang, which hoped to pillage the farmers' nysillin crops.[152]

Battle of Malastare "We need that treaty signed so we can gain access to the fuel reserves here on Malastare. Without it, our armies shall be vulnerable." ―Sheev Palpatine reminds Nakha Urus of the necessity of a treaty between the Republic and the Dugs[154] icon Main article: Battle of Malastare During the Battle of Malastare, the Republic detonates Sionver Boll's electro-proton bomb. During the Battle of Malastare, the Republic detonates Sionver Boll's electro-proton bomb.

Concurrent to a Republic offensive, one of the longest and fiercest campaigns of the Clone Wars was[154] the Battle of Malastare.[155] In collaboration with Doge Nakha Urus and his Dug soldiers, Skywalker and Mace Windu led a battle group to safeguard the planet Malastare—whose fuel industry was vital to the Republic's war machine and ensuring the continuation of the Republic's offensive—from a Confederate incursion. However, an enormous detachment from the Separatist Droid Army came close to conquering Malastare. Desperate to ensure a Republic victory, Sheev Palpatine authorized the use of the electro-proton bomb,[154] an experimental weapon that Doctor Sionver Boll had developed[156] to disable only mechanical subjects. The electro-proton bomb generated an electromagnetic pulse that rendered all of the Confederacy's battle droids inert. The bomb's detonation zone also produced a massive sinkhole that engulfed some of the Republic's AT-TE walkers and command crews, requiring a rescue effort.[154]

However, the crater was not the only byproduct of the electro-proton bomb. The blast also awoke a Zillo Beast, a member of a colossal species that had been thought to be extinct. The Zillo Beast proved to be impervious to everything from blasterfire to Skywalker's lightsaber. Because of an ancient enmity between the Dugs and the Zillo Beasts, Urus and[154] his Dug Council[157] demanded that the Republic help them exterminate the creature. Yet, Windu was adamant against doing so, as the creature could be the last of its kind. Windu's actions strained the Republic's diplomatic relations with the Dugs, since the Grand Army still needed access to Malastare's fuel. In order to appease Urus, Skywalker and Windu used Republic RX-200 Falchion-class assault tanks to non-lethally immobilize the Zillo Beast, making it appear as though the creature was dead. As a result, Urus and his council signed a treaty that provided the Republic with exclusive access to Malastare's fuel reserves.[154]

In the wake of the Battle of Malastare, Palpatine ordered Skywalker and Windu to transport the Zillo Beast to Coruscant for study. Palpatine ordered Boll to synthesize the creature's highly durable scales to supplement a new iteration of clone trooper armor. However, the Zillo Beast escaped from the[155] Republic Science and Technical Center[158] and wreaked havoc across Coruscant, inflicting massive property damage and sowing terror among the populace. Unable to subdue the creature, the Jedi and their clone troopers were forced to kill the Zillo Beast.[155]

Second Battle of Geonosis "What I worry about is the way this war seems to be drawing out with no end in sight." "Which it is why it is crucial that our invasion of Geonosis meets with success." ―Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ki-Adi-Mundi — 20?cb=20250116042720 (file info)[28] icon Main articles: Mission to Cato Neimoidia, Engagement near Dorin, Second Battle of Geonosis, Second occupation of Geonosis and Skirmish aboard TB-73 It was not long before the Clone Wars returned to Geonosis. Though the Republic had occupied the desert world since the war's outset, the Grand Army's pan-galactic war effort required that much of Geonosis's occupying forces be distributed elsewhere. Thanks to the Republic's waning attention, the Confederacy was able to re-establish a major presence on Geonosis.[14] Archduke Poggle the Lesser oversaw the construction of a series of new battle droid factories to expand the ranks of the Separatist Droid Army.[28] Poggle's primary foundry earned substantial investments from the Trade Federation and the InterGalactic Banking Clan. During a visit to Lott Dod's palace on Cato Neimoidia, Padmé Amidala discovered a hologram disc with the factory's coordinates and stole it from the Banking Clan's senator, Rush Clovis. The Republic and the Jedi High Council subsequently learned of the existence of Poggle's new droid foundries.[159]

Ki-Adi-Mundi, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, and their combined forces finally reach Point Rain. Ki-Adi-Mundi, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, and their combined forces finally reach Point Rain.

Already, the Confederacy's total supply of battle droids far outnumbered the Republic's clone troopers, with Count Dooku claiming that the ratio was as high as one hundred to one.[89] Hoping to halt the Geonosians' production of new battle droids, the Grand Army committed an immense Jedi-led invasion force to retaking Geonosis. Since Poggle had barricaded himself in his primary foundry, the Jedi mounted a three-pronged assault on the facility's ray shield generator. Jedi General Ki-Adi-Mundi and Clone Commander Jet led the northernmost strike, while Obi-Wan Kenobi and Commander Cody oversaw the central charge. Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano—fresh from routing Confederate forces near the planet Dorin—spearheaded the southward strike with Captain Rex. Wullf Yularen commanded the Republic Navy's efforts, including other areas of the planet-wide campaign.[28]

As the Second Battle of Geonosis began,[14] the Geonosian defenses intercepted the majority of the Republic's LAAT/i gunships. Only Cody and his detachment of AT-TE walkers managed to reach Point Rain, the Republic's staging area near the ray shield generator, where Cody organized his walkers in a defensive formation. The Geonosians' LR1K sonic cannons and Nantex-class starfighters grounded the rest of the Republic's gunships. Kenobi was severely wounded when his gunship went down, and Cody had to send troopers Waxer and Boil to rescue him and trooper Trapper, the transport's only other survivor. Mundi also sustained injuries when his gunship crashed, but he and Jet cut through a cave of Geonosian soldiers, where their squad of clone flametroopers used flamethrowers to overwhelm the Geonosians. Rex, Skywalker, Tano, and their troops obliterated an enormous canyon barricade of battle droids and rendezvoused with Jet, Mundi, and their men.[28]

As Cody and Kenobi continued to defend Point Rain from oncoming waves of Geonosian soldiers, Mundi and Skywalker combined their forces and pushed onward to reinforce their comrades. At the same time, Yularen was able to spare a single squadron of Y-wing starfighters to provide aerial support for Mundi and Skywalker's advance. Consequently, the Jedi and clones were able to secure Point Rain. For the final stage of their operation, Skywalker and Tano led a small squad of troopers through the ray shield, and they used a volley of Electro Magnetic Pulse grenades to disable the Geonosians' J-1 proton cannons. Once they had done so, Cody moved in with a detail of AT-TE walkers and eliminated the shield generator. The ray shield dissipated, allowing Rex, Mundi, and the main body of troops to land there aboard their gunships. The remaining Geonosians surrendered, thus ending the first phase of the Republic's invasion.[28]

While Kenobi, Mundi, and the other wounded troops returned to the Republic fleet for medical treatment,[28] Rex, Skywalker, and Tano undertook the next phase of the invasion: crippling Poggle's main droid foundry. Luminara Unduli; her Padawan, Barriss Offee; and Commander Gree brought in infantry reinforcements to support Skywalker's assault. However, a single bridge was the only means of crossing the chasm that isolated Poggle's factory from the surrounding area. Since the bridge formed a natural bottleneck, the Republic's clone troopers would be completely exposed during their advance on the foundry. As a result, Unduli had Offee memorize the entire labyrinth of catacombs beneath the facility. While Offee and Tano infiltrated the foundry from the catacombs below, Unduli and Skywalker collaborated with Gree and Rex to lead a frontal assault on the facility as a diversionary tactic. Yet, though the droid factory was operating at only half-capacity, Poggle and his tactical droid, TX-21, had already amassed ten garrisons of new troops that were ready for deployment.[160]

At the main droid foundry's reactor, TX-21 intercepts Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee with a super tank. At the main droid foundry's reactor, TX-21 intercepts Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee with a super tank.

As Unduli, Skywalker, and their soldiers made headway against the foundry's droid defenses, Poggle allowed TX-21 to deploy twenty units of their newest creation: the super tank. The super tanks' ray shields enabled them to withstand barrages from the Republic's AV-7 Anti-Vehicle Cannons. In return, the super tanks launched a devastating volley of missiles, inflicting heavy casualties to the Republic troops. Gree and Rex led their soldiers into retreat, thereby drawing the super tanks onto the bridge across the chasm. Skywalker and Unduli climbed across the underside of the bridge, planting thermal detonators on their way to the other side. Once they had reached the factory, Skywalker and Unduli used the explosives to collapse the bridge, plunging the super tanks into the abyss.[160]

Meanwhile, Offee and Tano reached the foundry's reactor via the catacombs, but TX-21 intercepted them with a super tank and a squad of Geonosian soldiers. Though Tano destroyed TX-21, the Geonosians purloined her and Offee's supply of thermal detonators. Unable to devise another means of eliminating the reactor, Offee and Tano commandeered the super tank and fired upon the reactor. Their attack generated a chain of explosions that ruptured the foundry's internal structure, bringing it plummeting to the ground.[160]

Although Unduli accepted Offee's fate, Skywalker was unwilling to let go of his own pupil, and he frantically joined his troops' search for the lost Padawans. Trapped with Offee in the wreckage of their super tank, Tano used a power cell to boost her comlink's reception, leading their Masters to their location. As a result, Unduli and Skywalker were able to rescue Offee and Tano from the mounds of debris. While the main body of troops continued their cleanup efforts,[160] Offee and Tano returned to the fleet for temporary recuperation.[60]

As part of its continued campaign on Geonosis, the Grand Army eradicated other key Geonosian droid factories. Yet, Poggle remained at large, since he had escaped from his main foundry prior to its fall. Kenobi, who had recovered from his earlier injuries, joined Unduli in leading the manhunt for Poggle. As a sandstorm brewed, Unduli and trooper Buzz tracked Poggle to the Progate Temple, the headquarters of the Geonosians' secret queen, Karina the Great. Karina's minions—in truth, undead Geonosians who were being reanimated by her brain worms—killed Buzz and abducted Unduli, dragging her into the catacombs beneath the temple. Once the sandstorm had abated, Commander Cody, Kenobi, and Skywalker took a squad of troopers into the catacombs to rescue Unduli. However, the undead Geonosians took advantage of the tunnels' labyrinthine layout to deal casualties to Kenobi and Skywalker's search party.[60]

Eventually, Cody, Kenobi, Skywalker, and their remaining soldiers reached Karina's throne room, where Poggle had incarcerated Unduli. Despite Kenobi's attempt at negotiation, Karina refused to submit to Republic law. Instead, Karina had Poggle give Unduli a brain worm that would control her mind. Before the brain worm could infect Unduli, Cody and his soldiers turned their headlamps on Karina and the Geonosians, temporarily blinding them. Skywalker freed Unduli from her restraints, and together they handcuffed Poggle and brought him with them as they retreated with the rest of their comrades. Cody and his men eliminated the tunnel's supports on their way out, burying Karina underneath piles of rubble and killing her. Cody, Unduli, Kenobi, Skywalker, and their soldiers managed to escape with Poggle from the Progate Temple just before it collapsed.[60] With that, the Second Battle of Geonosis ended in a Republic victory, starting the second occupation of Geonosis.[161]

Barriss Offee kills Lieutenant Trap of Tango Company after a Geonosian brain worm infects him. Barriss Offee kills Lieutenant Trap of Tango Company after a Geonosian brain worm infects him.

Around the same time as the Republic's successful recapture of Geonosis, Mace Windu oversaw a campaign on the planet Dantooine. His soldiers sustained numerous injuries, thus requiring relief supplies from a medical station near the planet Ord Cestus. Since it was imperative for the Jedi to escort Poggle to Coruscant, Offee and Tano personally embarked on the assignment of picking up the medical shipment from the Ord Cestus medcenter. Kenobi, Mundi, Skywalker, and Unduli separately departed aboard a Venator-class Star Destroyer to transport Poggle to Coruscant. Complicating matters was the fact that a Geonosian brain worm infected trooper Scythe of Tango Company, the troop detail that was escorting Offee and Tano aboard their Pelta-class frigate, TB-73.[161]

Before long, Scythe had infected most of his fellow soldiers with the brain worms. Under the parasites' mind control, the clone troopers gunned down TB-73's clone pilots and activated the bridge's security shields, thereby gaining control of the frigate. Offee and Tano learned of the infection when troopers Edge and Ox attacked them in the ship's mess hall. Lieutenant Trap, Tango Company's commanding officer, also opened fire at the Padawans, and Offee killed him in self-defense. In order to contain the parasites aboard their frigate, Offee went to disable the engines, while Tano contacted Kit Fisto, who was overseeing the Ord Cestus medcenter, to warn him of the outbreak. However, Scythe and his comrades intercepted Offee near the reactor room and infected her with a brain worm. With Offee gone, Tano was now the only uninfected person aboard TB-73.[161]

When Offee confronted her, Tano briefly crossed lightsabers with her friend before escaping to the frigate's ventilation shafts. Meanwhile, after learning of the outbreak from Tano, Skywalker violently interrogated Poggle and learned that the brain worms were susceptible to subzero conditions. Consequently, Tano ruptured TB-73's coolant system, and the intense cold neutralized the brain worms that were controlling the clone troopers. Tano was just in time, as TB-73 arrived out of hyperspace a short distance away from the medcenter. Although Offee attacked Tano before she could reverse TB-73's engines, a pair of Republic tugboats used their tractor beams to reduce the frigate's speed, narrowly preventing a collision with the medcenter. With the brain worms contained, Fisto and his staff provided treatment to Offee, Tano, and the surviving members of Tango Company, guaranteeing a full recovery for all of them.[161]

Hunt for Grievous "It's time somebody finally put an end to that monster." ―Anakin Skywalker, on General Grievous — 20?cb=20250116042720 (file info)[29] Grievous's capture of Eeth Koth prompted the Jedi Order to launch a manhunt for the cyborg general. Grievous's capture of Eeth Koth prompted the Jedi Order to launch a manhunt for the cyborg general.

Even though the Republic's victories outnumbered its defeats, the Separatist Droid Army continued to make advances in the Outer Rim Territories,[29] and, following the Second Battle of Geonosis, both sides effectively began to play a game of "cat and mouse" with each other.[162] Soon, Grievous began to specifically target members of the Jedi High Council,[86] including General Eeth Koth.[29] Deep in the Outer Rim,[163] while Koth and his fleet were investigating attacks on hyperspace routes,[162] Grievous and his Recusant-class Commerce Guild destroyer launched an assault on Koth's flagship,[29] the Steadfast.[14] Grievous then boarded the Steadfast with a strike team of BX-series droid commandos, which swiftly overwhelmed the Star Destroyer's detachment of clone troopers.[29] While Koth ordered Captain Lock[163] and his troops to evacuate from the Steadfast, Koth dueled Grievous aboard the bridge, and he nearly bested Grievous in lightsaber combat despite an arm injury. However, Grievous's IG-100 MagnaGuards electrocuted Koth, allowing Grievous to subdue the Jedi Master and take him hostage.[29]

When Grievous broadcast his capture of Koth to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Koth used hand signals to inform the Jedi High Council of his location: the Saleucami system. Jedi Generals Adi Gallia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker volunteered to lead the ensuing operation to capture Grievous and rescue Koth. While Wullf Yularen and a Republic armada assailed Grievous's fleet above Saleucami, Kenobi and Commander Cody lured Grievous onto their Arquitens-class light cruiser. With Kenobi dueling Grievous as a diversion, Gallia, Skywalker, Captain Rex, and a squad of troopers arrived aboard an Eta-class shuttle and boarded Grievous's light destroyer to save Koth. Yet, Grievous had anticipated the Republic's tactics and had accordingly delegated command of his flagship to his tactical droid, TV-94. Still, Gallia and Skywalker destroyed TV-94 and his droid commandos aboard the bridge, then freed Koth from his containment field there.[29]

Aboard Kenobi's light cruiser, things were not going as planned. Kenobi cut down Grievous's MagnaGuards, but neither Kenobi nor Grievous were able to maintain the advantage during their subsequent duel. Grievous soon headed back to the light cruiser's airlock, where Cody and three of his men intercepted him. Grievous evaded their attempts to subdue him, then ordered his destroyer's crew to open fire on the light cruiser's engines. The ensuing barrages destabilized the cruiser just as Kenobi, Cody, and their soldiers followed Grievous into the airlock. Grievous engaged in a short rematch with Kenobi and also briefly dueled Gallia, who had come to aid Kenobi's efforts. Yet, when the airlock ruptured, all of the combatants were forced to contend with the breach into the vacuum of space. While Grievous slipped away, Gallia helped Cody, Kenobi, and the other remaining trooper climb onto the enemy destroyer.[29]

Grievous boarded a C-9979 troopship to reach Saleucami's surface, forcing Cody, Gallia, and Kenobi to suspend their pursuit of him. Instead, they joined Koth, Rex, and Skywalker aboard their shuttle to withdraw from Grievous's destroyer. Nevertheless, Grievous soon faced ramifications from targeting Kenobi's light cruiser in spite of its close proximity to his flagship. When the cruiser exploded, the debris collided with Grievous's landing craft, sending it crashing to Saleucami and forcing Grievous and his crew to transfer to the escape pods. Thanks to that turn of events, the Republic task force refocused its objectives. While Gallia escorted Koth to a medical frigate for treatment, Skywalker and Yularen stayed to complete the fleet's efforts against the remnants of the Confederate armada. Simultaneously, Kenobi headed to Saleucami's surface with Cody, Rex, and a troop contingent to track down the elusive Grievous.[29]

On Saleucami, Grievous and his battle droids discovered that their escape pod's transmitter had not survived the crash, thereby preventing them from contacting their fleet in orbit. Since only one of the other escape pods had survived, Grievous and his crew headed to its location, trekking across Saleucami's farmlands. Meanwhile, after inspecting the C-9979 landing craft's crash site, Kenobi divided his forces. While Rex took a small squad—consisting of 501st troopers Hardcase, Jesse, and Kix—aboard BARC speeders to scour Saleucami's wetlands for Grievous, Cody and Kenobi remained with their main force of AT-TE walkers to continue the search on the dry territory.[86]

Obi-Wan Kenobi's troop contingent mounts a last-ditch effort to capture Grievous on Saleucami. Obi-Wan Kenobi's troop contingent mounts a last-ditch effort to capture Grievous on Saleucami.

During the course of Rex's patrol, a pair of droid commandos took a potshot at him, missing his heart by only two inches. Once Hardcase and Jesse had gunned down the droid snipers, they and Kix brought Rex to a nearby farmstead that the Lawquane family owned. Suu Lawquane agreed to let Rex spend the night in their barn to recover from his condition. After Kix, the squad's medic, dressed his wound with a bacta bandage, Rex reluctantly let his men resume the search without him, ceding command of the unit to Jesse. As dusk became night, Rex met Suu's husband: Cut Lawquane, a clone trooper who had deserted from the Grand Army. Despite their conflicting ideologies, Rex gradually found common ground with Lawquane based on their dedication to protect those whom they cared about. For Rex, those were his comrades within the Grand Army; for Lawquane, those were his and Suu's two children, Jek and Shaeeah.[86]

Meanwhile, Hardcase, Jesse, and Kix headed for the C-9979 troopship's final escape pod with Cody, Kenobi, and their forces. Both groups converged on the site just as Grievous arrived there with his own squad of battle droids. After having the escape pod's crew signal his fleet for an extraction from the surface, Grievous marshaled his battle droids in a defense of their position. Though Kenobi engaged Grievous in yet another duel, he was unable to stop Grievous from climbing aboard a Sheathipede-class shuttle and reaching his fleet in orbit of Saleucami. Similarly, the Republic fleet failed to intercept Grievous before he departed from the system. Consequently, Kenobi's repeated attempts to detain Grievous ended in frustration.[86]

Back at the Lawquane farmstead, another of the escape pods from the C-9979 landing craft caused trouble for Lawquane and his family. A unit of droid commandos had crashed in an escape pod near the family's homestead, and Jek and Shaeeah inadvertently reactivated all twenty of the lethal droids. While Suu took their children upstairs to take cover, Lawquane entrusted Rex with being the last line of defense for his family. Lawquane, meanwhile, engaged the droid commandos in direct combat when they converged on his homestead. Due to their combined efforts, Lawquane and Rex were able to defeat the droids. The next morning, Rex went to rendezvous with Kenobi and the main body of troops before they departed from Saleucami. Before leaving, Rex promised not to report Lawquane's whereabouts to his superior officers, having reached a better understanding of the former soldier.[86]

Mandalore's fragile neutrality "We mean to save your people!" "You will turn our planet into a military target, which will bring the war to us. Mandalore must remain a neutral system!" ―Sheev Palpatine and Satine Kryze debate the ramifications of a Republic occupation of Mandalore[164] In addition to propagating unrest within the Republic citizenry,[165] the Clone Wars caused an increase in crime throughout the galaxy, especially as the Jedi Order devoted its concentration to the Republic's war effort.[23] Many star systems became determined to preserve their neutrality from both the Republic and the Confederacy. As a result, over 1,500 systems coalesced into the Council of Neutral Systems, a body that advocated for their continued neutrality from the war. Eventually, the council gained a new leader: Duchess Satine Kryze, who ruled the planet Mandalore through a pacifistic regime[49] known as the New Mandalorians.[166] Yet, Kryze attracted criticism when rumors spread that she was assembling an army for the Confederacy.[49] In truth, the real conspirators were Dooku and Darth Sidious,[164] who entered into an alliance with the Death Watch, a Mandalorian splinter group that was bent on reviving Mandalore's warrior culture. The Death Watch's leader was Pre Vizsla, who—as the governor of Mandalore's single moon, Concordia—pretended to be Kryze's ally while conspiring with Dooku to end her rule.[49]

Pre Vizsla reveals himself as the leader of the Death Watch and duels with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Concordia. Pre Vizsla reveals himself as the leader of the Death Watch and duels with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Concordia.

The Death Watch drew the Republic's attention when one of its members assaulted a Republic cruiser, then committed suicide rather than submit to questioning. In response, the Jedi High Council sent Kenobi to investigate Mandalore's potential ties to the Separatists. Kryze, who was old friends with Kenobi, aided his investigation, as did Mandalore's prime minister, Almec. After a Death Watch bomber demolished the Memorial Shrine within Mandalore's capital city[49] of Sundari,[167] the bomber threw himself from a balcony to avoid being captured by Kenobi. Kenobi and Kryze thereafter accompanied the late bomber's body to Concordia, where Vizsla received them.[49]

Kenobi's continuing investigation led him to the Death Watch's secret base within the Concordian mines, where two Death Watch soldiers overwhelmed him. Only Kryze's intervention saved Kenobi from dying in a rock crusher. While attempting to escape from the base, Kenobi and Kryze came across Vizsla, who revealed himself as Death Watch's leader. Vizsla used the Darksaber, an ancient weapon dating back to the Old Republic, to engage Kenobi in a lightsaber duel. However, Vizsla proved unable to defeat the Jedi Master, and Kenobi absconded from Concordia with Kryze.[49] Afterward, Kryze resolved to plead her case before the Galactic Senate,[168] and Kenobi joined Skywalker, Commander Cody, Captain Rex, and a squad of clone soldiers in providing protection for her voyage to Coruscant.[49]

Unbeknownst to Kryze, another Death Watch agent was part of her inner circle of advisors. Senator Tal Merrik,[168] who represented the planet Kalevala in the Mandalore system,[169] smuggled a trio of deadly assassin probes onto Kryze's star liner,[168] the Coronet.[170] In the skirmish that followed, Cody, Rex, and Skywalker destroyed the first assassin probe in the Coronet's cargo hold, but a second one slipped past them and reached the dining chambers, where Kenobi protected Kryze and her retinue. Even after their destruction, both assassin probes deployed an array of minuscule SD-K4a mini-assassin droids, which wreaked havoc on the Jedi and clones, as well as Kryze's contingent of Mandalorian Protectors. Once he and his comrades eliminated the majority of the probe killers, Skywalker learned from the Coronet's cargo manifest that a Republic senator had approved the shipment containing the assassin probes. Merrik's ties to the Death Watch finally came to light when Kenobi questioned him and the other senators—Onaconda Farr, Orn Free Taa, and Kin Robb—who were Kryze's guests aboard the Coronet.[168]

Although Rex destroyed the third and final assassin probe, Merrik remained at large. Merrik took Kryze hostage and slew all of the Coronet's bridge crew, then requested reinforcements from Vizsla. Once the Coronet dropped out of hyperspace, a trio of Droch-class boarding ships arrived to cover Merrik's escape. The boarding craft perforated the Coronet's hull and disgorged B2 super battle droids, which went head-to-head with the clone troopers and royal guards in the star liner's hallways. However, Merrik had rigged the Coronet's engines with explosives, and he used both those and Kryze as leverage to reach one of the boarding ships, even as Kenobi pursued him and the captive Kryze there. Kryze disarmed Merrik and pilfered his blaster, but neither she nor Kenobi were willing to kill Merrik with so many lives at stake. Skywalker nonetheless intervened, murdering Merrik and recovering the detonator for his explosives. Cody, Rex, and their men finished routing the Separatist boarding party, thereby ensuring a safe conclusion to the Coronet's eventful journey.[168]

Satine Kryze struggles to persuade the Republic Senate to halt a potential occupation of Mandalore. Satine Kryze struggles to persuade the Republic Senate to halt a potential occupation of Mandalore.

Even though Kryze had safely reached Coruscant, Vizsla continued to collaborate with the Confederacy to seize control of Mandalore. The Republic Senate was about to vote on whether to send a military force to stabilize Mandalore. Since the Mandalorians were not in favor of a Republic occupation, Vizsla and Dooku theorized that such a situation would cause Mandalore's population to view the Death Watch as heroic liberators. To that end, Palpatine had his agents alter a holographic recording of New Mandalorian Deputy Minister Jerec, one of Kryze's close allies. When Kryze spoke before the Senate, Palpatine presented Jerec's doctored testimony, which decried Kryze's pacifist policies and advocated for the Republic to intervene in Mandalore's affairs. The Senate session occurred the same day that Jerec perished in a Death Watch bombing on Kalevala, preventing Kryze from confirming the veracity of her friend's claims.[164]

Adding to Kryze's troubles was the fact that Vizsla dispatched a Death Watch assassin to murder her on Coruscant. The assassin's first, very public attempt on Kryze's life accelerated the Senate's vote on the occupation of Mandalore, causing the Senate to authorize the invasion. Despite this setback, Kryze refused to back down. She sought out a meeting with Davu Golec, a Mandalorian contact within the Republic Ministry of Intelligence. Golec gave Kryze a disc containing Jerec's original message, but the Death Watch assassin gunned down Golec before he could reveal any more information. Now on the run from[164] the Coruscant Security Force,[171] Kryze finally decided to reach out to Kenobi for help.[164]

As Senate Vice Chair Mas Amedda demanded that Kryze turn herself in to the Republic authorities, Kenobi and Kryze realized that the conspiracy surrounding Jerec's message had originated in the upper echelons of the Republic. After defeating the Death Watch assassin and forcing him to flee, Kenobi escorted Kryze to the Senate Building. There, Kryze turned herself in to the Senate Guard, while Kenobi transferred the disc containing Jerec's original message to Padmé Amidala. Amidala presented the recording at a following Senate session, convincing the Republic to rescind its occupation of Mandalore. As a result, Kryze managed to preserve her people's neutrality,[164] while also averting a major expansion of the Republic's war effort.[67]

Sometime after Kryze's victory in the Senate,[164] Vizsla's alliance with Dooku disintegrated, and Dooku rescinded his support of the Death Watch. During the meeting between the two of them,[172] Dooku scarred Vizsla with his lightsaber[173] on his face.[172] Furthermore, without the necessary backing of the Mandalorian populace, the Death Watch abandoned its plan to conquer Mandalore. Vizsla and his allies instead roamed the galaxy as vagabonds,[174] eventually establishing a presence on the planet Carlac.[172] Even though the New Mandalorians maintained their neutrality,[164] a number of Mandalorians had chose to enter the Clone Wars at some point. Some of the planet Concord Dawn's reputed warriors provided training to the Republic Grand Army. Among their number was Fenn Rau of the Mandalorian Protectors, who served as a flight instructor for the Republic Navy.[175] Rau also commanded Skull Squadron, a Mandalorian unit that supported Republic campaigns.[44]