First Battle of Geonosis

"This is just the beginning!"

- Count Dooku

The Battle of Geonosis was the first battle between the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Republic in the conflict that would become known as the Clone Wars. It would be the first major combat of the Grand Army of the Republic, as well as the first major battle the Jedi would fight in years. It would spark a huge war that would devastate most of the galaxy.

Prelude
"More happening on Geonosis, I feel, than has been revealed."

- Yoda

The battle occurred after Separatist forces captured Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi on Geonosis and charged him with spying for the Republic. Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala attempted to rescue Kenobi, but were also captured and sentenced to death. They narrowly escaped their executions, which involved an acklay, a nexu, and a reek.

In response to Kenobi's report about the Separatists' conspiracy, the Galactic Senate granted Supreme Chancellor Palpatine "emergency powers" to deal with the crisis.

Penetrating the defenses
"You call this a diplomatic solution?" "No, I call it aggressive negotiations."

- Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala

A group of about 212 Jedi, led by Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Plo Koon, Shaak Ti, Luminara Unduli and Kit Fisto were sent to Geonosis by the Jedi Council to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi and investigate reports that Separatists were constructing an army on Geonosis.



Upon entering the system, the fleet of Jedi starfighters were fired upon by Anti-orbital cannons, taking several casualties. Mace Windu and Luminara Unduli slipped past the firing range of the cannons and commandeered TX-130S fighter tanks, and employed communications jamming to stop any CIS forces from calling for reinforcements. They set off to disable the orbital cannons. Droid defenses of GATs, Hailfire droids, and STAPs attempted to hold them off, were gunned down by the Jedi. The power nodes were destroyed, causing the cannons to explode.

The last cannon, however, was housed in an outpost. Mace set out on foot to disable the cannon. He penetrated the droid defenses and destroyed the last power nodes with his lightsaber. With the orbital defenses disabled, a landing zone had to be made. The Jedi strike team landed in a captured Confederate outpost and moved toward the arena in a convoy of RTTs. Mace and Luminara cleared the way in their tanks. They reached the perimeter of the arena, where they destroyed 6 tunnel catacombs deploying battle droids. The Jedi deployed into the arena quietly.

Arena battle
"This party's over."

- Mace Windu

After deploying into the Petranaki arena with the intent of scaring the Geonosians into surrender, the Jedi were ambushed by a massive droid army of battle droids. The Jedi fought valiantly and destroyed many droids, however they were vastly outnumbered and steadily the Jedi strike team exterminated, while the droid force itself continued to be reinforced. The dozen Jedi who remained were forced into a circle, who then prepared to make their last stand, but at the last minute they were rescued by the timely arrival of Jedi Grand Master Yoda leading a Republic clone army grown in secret on Kamino.

Desert battle


After the rescue of the Jedi, the droid and clone armies engaged one another in a complex series of engagements on a number of different fronts. The Republic's army landed in twelve Acclamator I-class assault ships, offloading infantry, armored vehicles, artillery and air support. The Separatist army consisted of droid infantry of varying strength and larger droid-controlled vehicles. Crucially, the Republic conducted an aerial bombardment of the Separatists' fighter craft, allowing the Republic's gunships to have air superiority throughout much of the battle, giving the clone forces a crucial advantage.

Although the clone troopers were vastly outnumbered by droids, the droids were heavily exposed to attacks from the air by Republic gunships. The Republic's armored AT-TE walkers were strong against the lightly armored spider droids employed by the Separatists, but were vulnerable to the rockets on the Hailfire droids. The Republic gunships were instrumental in clearing away the Hailfire droids and allowing the AT-TEs to establish superiority on the battlefield, although the Hailfires were able to shoot down a number of LAATs.



Having beaten the droid army into retreat, Yoda took note of the fact that much of the Separatist starfleet was still grounded receiving shipments of droids when the Republic attacked. Lightly armored and vulnerable Techno Union starships attempted to withdraw immediately, but many were destroyed in the first wave of attacks from the Republic gunships. The Jedi Master now ordered the army's artillery to attempt to take down as many of the heavily armored Trade Federation Core Ships as possible, as they each held millions of deadly battle droids, while in space the Republic fleet intercepted and destroyed the Separatist ships (that carried scores of combat droids). The Republic was successful in this but despite taking control of the surface of the planet, they were unable to capture the Separatist leadership and stop the war before it began (Commando teams infiltrated the spires holding the Geonosian cities and managed to complete their objectives, however, they suffered heavy casualties).

Meanwhile, Echuu Shen-Jon and a team of other Jedi, including Plo Koon, destroyed several core-ships and Techno Union vessels, before setting off to pursue Count Dooku. However, they were delayed by Sev'Rance Tann, who killed Stam Reath, Echuu's apprentice, angering Echuu. Sev'Rance escaped, and the Jedi pursuit of Dooku was presumably lost.

One particular Commando Squad, Delta Squad, managed to kill Geonosian Separatist General Sun Fac as he attempted to flee the planet in his personal Geonosian fighter. Later, Delta Squad infiltrated and destroyed an underground droid factory and a Federation Coreship and was able to steal (under heavy fire) the escape coordinates for the CIS fleet, thus allowing the Republic artillery and fleet to destroy the CIS fleet.

Duel with a Sith Lord
"Powerful, you have become, Dooku. The dark side, I sense in you." "I've become more powerful than any Jedi&hellip; even you."

- Grand Master Yoda and Count Dooku

In the midst of the battle the Separatist leader Count Dooku tried to escape to a hangar where his starship was located. A gunship carrying Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala gave chase. Dooku ordered his Geonosian escorts to take out the pursuing gunship. The resulting attack on the gunship led to Amidala and a clone trooper falling to the desert below (though they escaped any serious injuries), and this led to some brief tensions between Skywalker and Kenobi. Upon arriving at Dooku's hangar, Kenobi and Skywalker engaged Dooku in a lightsaber battle where Dooku revealed himself to be using the arcane power of the Sith. Dooku defeated the two Jedi, severing Anakin's right arm, but their execution was prevented by the arrival of Master Yoda at the hangar. Mace Windu also attempted to stop Dooku, however, he encountered three of Dooku's Dark Acolytes, who were assigned with blocking off the ground entrance to the hangar. They engaged in combat with Windu, but all three were killed by the Jedi Master's TX-130S fighter tank.



Yoda and Dooku engaged in a ferocious battle that ended when Dooku escaped in his solar sailer moments before Amidala arrived with further reinforcements. The Battle of Geonosis was finally over, although it had done little more than start a brutal conflict that would tear the galaxy apart.

Aftermath
"I have good news for you, my lord. The War has begun." "Excellent. Everything is going as planned."

- Darth Tyranus and Darth Sidious

Count Dooku flew to Coruscant, to meet with his master, who was settled in an abandoned district not far from the Jedi Temple. During his meeting with Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord ordered Dooku; now Darth Tyranus, to retreat to Raxus Prime to prepare a second battlefront against the Republic. Meanwhile, the Grand Army of the Republic was mobilized throughout the galaxy as the Clone Wars began.



The main reason for the Separatist's defeat is derived from the fact that they were caught completely by surprise, working against their numerical superiority. Another reason for the Separatist's defeat is that despite the fact Sev'rance Tann and General Grievous, arguably the Droid Army's most brilliant commanders, were present, they were not given command of the army, and were instead placed in support positions. Grievous remained unknown to the Republic, for he killed off any of the Jedi or clones he encountered , while Sev'rance Tann escaped Geonosis after killing Echuu Shen-Jon's Padawan, Stam Reath.

In the months following the battle Mace Windu would regret his decision not to strike down Count Dooku when he had the chance, and killing Jango Fett without a second thought.

Depa Billaba would later state to Windu on Haruun Kal that by simply bombing the arena on Geonosis, the Republic could have prevented a war that destroyed billions of lives at the expense of only a few hundred Jedi.

Participants
"I may be the only veteran of Geonosis who doesn't have nightmares of that place. [&hellip;] My nightmare is what I find when I wake up."

- Mace Windu

Jedi and Republic

 * Alpha-98 (ARC trooper, survived)
 * Padmé Amidala (Human Senator of Naboo, survived)
 * Stass Allie (Human Jedi Knight, survived)
 * Empatojayos Brand (Human Jedi Knight, survived)
 * Sora Bulq (Weequay Jedi Master, survived)
 * C-3PO (Protocol droid, temporarily dismantled)
 * CRC-09/571 (Clone trooper commander, survived)
 * CT-4/163 (Clone trooper, unknown)
 * CT-55/11-9009 (Clone trooper commander, survived)
 * CT-6/298 (Clone trooper, survived)
 * CT-65/91-6210 (Clone trooper captain, survived)
 * Joclad Danva (Human Jedi Knight, killed)
 * Ur-Sema Du (Jedi, killed)
 * Bant Eerin (Mon Calamari Jedi Knight, participated in the space battle above)[[Image:UrSemaDu.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Ur-Sema Du]] was one of General Grievous's first Jedi victims.]]
 * Lumas Etima (Human Jedi, killed)
 * Fi-Ek Sirch (Nikto Jedi Knight, killed)
 * Kit Fisto (Nautolan Jedi Master, survived)
 * Adi Gallia (Human Jedi Master, participated in the space battle above)
 * Tarados Gon (Klatooinian Jedi Knight, killed in exploding gunship)
 * A'Sharad Hett (Human/Tusken Jedi Knight, participated in the space battle above)
 * Sarrissa Jeng (Human Jedi Knight, killed)
 * Sephjet Josall (Human Jedi Knight, killed)
 * Tassida Judrelle (Jedi, killed)
 * Kai Justiss (Human Jedi Knight, survived)
 * Coleman Kcaj (Ongree Jedi Master, survived)
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi (Human Jedi Knight, survived)
 * Ki-Adi-Mundi (Cerean Jedi Master, survived)
 * Plo Koon (Kel Dor Jedi Master, survived)
 * Agen Kolar (Zabrak Jedi Master, survived)
 * Eeth Koth (Zabrak Jedi Master, killed in exploding gunship)
 * An'ya Kuro (Human Jedi Master, participated in the space battle above)
 * Sar Labooda (Human Jedi Knight, killed)
 * Roth-Del Masona (Human Jedi Master, survived)
 * Ichi-Tan Micoda (Human Jedi Knight, killed)
 * Chankar Kim (Human Jedi Knight, killed)
 * Voolvif Monn (Shistavanen Jedi Knight, survived)
 * Nat-Sem (Jedi Master, killed)
 * Barriss Offee (Mirialan Jedi Padawan, survived)
 * Pablo-Jill (Ongree Jedi Knight, survived)
 * Khaat Qiyn (Human Jedi, killed)
 * Rana (Jedi, participated in the space battle above)
 * Alta Ranga (alien Jedi Master, survived)
 * R2-D2 (Astromech droid, survived)
 * RC-1133 (Clone commando, killed)
 * RC-1134 (Clone commando, killed)
 * RC-1135 (Clone commando, killed)
 * RC-1136 (Clone commando, survived)
 * RC-1138 (Clone commando, survived)
 * RC-1140 (Clone commando, survived)
 * RC-1207 (Clone commando, survived)
 * RC-1262 (Clone commando, survived)
 * RC-1309 (Clone commando, survived
 * RC-3222 (Clone commando, survived)
 * RC-8015 (Clone commando, survived)
 * Stam Reath (Human Jedi Padawan, killed by Sev'rance Tann)
 * Que-Mars Redath-Gom (Weequay Jedi, killed)
 * Aayla Secura (Twi'lek Jedi Knight, survived)
 * Echuu Shen-Jon (Human Jedi Master, survived)
 * Roan Shryne (Human Jedi Padawan, survived)
 * Anakin Skywalker (Human Jedi Padawan, survived)
 * Ranik Solusar (Human Jedi, participated in the space battle above)
 * Sta-Den-Eekin (Klatooinian Jedi, killed)
 * Galdos Stouff (Jedi, killed)
 * Jaizen Suel (Human Jedi, participated in the space battle above)
 * Bultar Swan (Human Jedi Knight, survived)
 * Siri Tachi (Human Jedi Knight, participated in the space battle above)
 * Nicanas Tassu (Human Jedi Knight, killed)
 * Shaak Ti (Togruta Jedi Master, survived)
 * Saesee Tiin (Iktotchi Jedi Master, survived)
 * B'dard Tone (Coway Jedi Knight, survived)
 * Lura Tranor (Human Jedi, killed)
 * Coleman Trebor (Vurk Jedi Master, killed by Jango Fett)
 * Tu'ala (Human Jedi Padawan, killed by Geonosian soldier)
 * Luminara Unduli (Mirialan Jedi Master, survived)
 * Mace Windu (Human Jedi Master, survived)
 * Yoda (Unknown Jedi Master, survived)
 * Tan Yuster (Human Jedi Padawan, killed)

Separatists

 * 81 (Spider droid)
 * Passel Argente (Magistrate of the Corporate Alliance, survived)
 * Count Dooku (Leader of the Confederacy, survived)
 * Sun Fac (Geonosian Lieutenant, aide to Poggle the Lesser, killed by RC-1207)
 * Jango Fett (Dooku's henchman, killed by Mace Windu)
 * Boba Fett (Jango's son/advisor, survived)
 * Po Nudo (Senator for Ando, survived)
 * General Grievous (Kaleesh/Cyborg military commander, survived)
 * Nute Gunray (Viceroy of the Trade Federation, survived)
 * Rune Haako (Settlement Officer for the Trade Federation, survived)
 * San Hill (Chairman of the Intergalactic Banking Clan, survived)
 * Shu Mai (President of the Commerce Guild, survived)
 * Poggle the Lesser (Archduke of Geonosis, survived)
 * Wat Tambor (Foreman of the Techno Union, survived)
 * Sev'rance Tann (Dooku's Chiss Acolyte, survived)
 * Tikkes (Representative of Mon Calamari, former Republic Senator, survived)
 * Toonbuck Toora (Representative of Sy Myrth, former Republic Senator, survived)
 * Rogwa Wodrata (Senator for Alliga)
 * (Shu Mai's aide, survived)

Behind the scenes

 * A scene where Plo Koon and Ki-Adi-Mundi raiding a droid control ship was originally going to be included, but did not appear in the final cut.
 * Another cut scene was the appearance of the Corporate Alliance tank droid.