First Battle of Felucia

"Grievous. Attacked Felucia he has. Heavy are the losses. In need of your leadership the clones are."

- Yoda, to Anakin Skywalker

This battle took place around 21 BBY on the planet Felucia between Republic and Separatist forces. When the Confederate General Grievous and the Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress seized Felucia with the Separatist Droid Army, a clone trooper detachment of the Grand Army of the Republic led by Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker and the latter's Padawan, Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano, was dispatched to maintain the Republic's foothold on the world. The Jedi and their forces were soon overwhelmed by the Separatist battle droids, however, and Republic reinforcements were sent to extract the troops from the planet. While Republic Star Destroyers battled the Separatist blockade surrounding Felucia, Jedi Master Plo Koon and a Jedi Knight took a squadron of LAAT/i gunships with several starfighter escorts to rescue the Jedi and clone troopers on the surface. Although Koon was able to rescue Kenobi, Skywalker, Tano, and the remainder of their battle group, the Republic's retreat from Felucia hampered the Grand Army's efforts in Felucia's entire sector.

The battle
"Can't you see they're retreating?''" "''They're about to overrun you, Ahsoka! You just can't see it. Now follow orders and get in the ship."

- Ahsoka Tano argues with Anakin Skywalker

Around 21 BBY, the second year of the Clone Wars, General Grievous, the Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress, and the Separatist Droid Army initiated an assault on the Outer Rim planet Felucia. High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, and the latter's Padawan, Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano, were dispatched with a clone trooper detachment of the Grand Army of the Republic to defend the world on behalf of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order. After establishing a clearing-based emplacement with All Terrain Tactical Enforcers on the jungle-covered world, Kenobi, Skywalker, Clone Commander CC-2224, and Clone Captain CC-7567 stayed with the main body of troops to defend their camp while Tano led two AT-TE walkers and a Juggernaut tank on a patrol of the dense jungle.

The main Republic force, however, was soon surrounded and overwhelmed by an army of Separatist B1, B2, and DSD1 dwarf spider droids. While Skywalker and Kenobi used their lightsabers to deflect the droids' laser fire, the clone troopers used the circle of AT-TE walkers for cover and fired blaster shots back into the droid lines. Meanwhile, Tano&mdash;instead of returning to the established Republic base&mdash;led her own troops to engage approaching groups of battle droids and Armored Assault Tanks, deflecting droid blasts with her lightsaber from atop her Juggernaut while her clone tank gunners concentrated the AT-TE walkers' fire on the droids.

Elsewhere on Felucia, Ventress landed with a C-9979 landing craft and a detachment of Separatist droid troops at a canyon, and a Jedi Knight and Commander CC-2224, nicknamed "Cody," led Republic forces to defend the Republic's last foothold on the world. The Republic utilized tower-mounted turret emplacement to intercept the Separatist forces, which included droid-piloted Single Trooper Aerial Platforms and Armored Assault Tanks. Despite deploying all of her forces, Ventress was initially unable to push through the Republics' defenses, but she continued to besiege the Republic forces. The clone army then moved to secure a strategic canyon that led straight to the Separatists' base; in doing so, they hoped to force the droids to withdraw troops from the front lines to fortify their own defenses. After her droids had begun to beleaguer the clone forces in the canyon, Ventress executed a surprise attack, clearing a path through the Republic defenses and sending BX-series droid commandos and other troops through the breach before the Republic could counter the assault. Though she was unable to secure a victory at the canyon, she persisted in her efforts against the Republic.

Republic reinforcements soon arrived to rescue the trapped forces on Felucia. With a trio of Venator-class Star Destroyers, including the Negotiator, keeping the Separatist blockade&mdash;comprised of numerous Munificent-class star frigates and a Recusant-class light destroyer &mdash;occupied, Jedi Master Plo Koon led several LAAT/i gunships and their escorting squadron of V-19 Torrent starfighters from his starfighter to extract the troops on the planet's surface. Tasked with breaking a hole through the Separatist blockade to make way for the rescue ships, the Jedi Knight who had led the canyon battle against Ventress, piloting a Delta-7B interceptor, led the Republic Navy's Hunter Squadron to battle the Separatists' Vulture droid starfighters and Hyena-class bombers. The Knight soon spearheaded an attack run on a Munificent-class frigate that was denying passage to the Republic evacuation ships, and with the path cleared, Koon had his fighters form up around the gunships and moved to challenge the blockade.

Ordering his wingman, clone pilot Warthog, to protect the gunships, Koon initiated an attack run on more Vulture droid starfighters, clearing the way for the rest of the Republic ships. Though the Republic's evacuation ships made it past the blockade, they were pursued by numerous droid starfighters into the atmosphere of Felucia. A Republic cruiser, meanwhile, concentrated its firepower on one of the Separatist frigates. Leading the extraction team to the evacuation site, Koon and the Jedi Knight battled through numerous droid starfighters as well as droidekas, Armored Assault Tanks, tri-droids, and other enemy troops on the surface. Elsewhere, Kenobi's men continued to lose ground to the droid forces, and soon there was nowhere for the clone troopers to fall back to. The Separatists then began a push on clone forces to the east of Kenobi's position, but Koon, the Knight, and their forces arrived just in time to bomb the droid forces that were besieging the clones' encampment. As the Republic evacuation ships began to pull their overwhelmed forces out of the battlefield, Ventress unleashed the "full fury" of her droid armies against the Republic forces, forcing the remaining pockets of Republic resistance to fortify their positions for their final stand against the Separatists. As the forces at Cody's base were scheduled to be the last for evacuation, his detachment mounted a defense of their base against Ventress and her droids.

Ventress and battle droid OM5 deployed their battle droid troops with Multi-Troop Transports to attack Cody's base, and though OM5 was destroyed, Ventress utilized a powerful shield-equipped super tank to provide her forces with protection as she advanced them forward. Republic reinforcements soon arrived at the base in the form of a BARC speeder squad, which allowed Cody to eliminate the super tank's shield and destroy the vehicle. With their part of the battle won, Cody's forces began their evacuation, while Cody rejoined Kenobi and Skywalker at their encampment. Nearing the main evacuation site with Koon and their team, Warthog came under attack by two pursing Vulture droids, and Koon turned around to assist the clone pilot. Though the Jedi blasted one of the droids apart, the other hit the debris of the disabled fighter and spun out of control toward the Republic forces below. The careening Vulture droid crashed into an AT-TE walker, and Skywalker and Kenobi jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the collision. Realizing that the gunships had broken through the blockade, Kenobi ordered his troops to prepare for the evacuation. After the LAAT/is had landed, Cody and CC-7567, nicknamed "Rex," led the clone troopers into the escape vessels while returning the droids' fire.

With the evacuation underway, Kenobi contacted Tano and ordered her to retreat, but the Padawan &mdash;who was continuing her fight against the droids six kilometers east of the main Grand Army detachment &mdash;had already broken through the Separatist defenses and refused to abandon the battle. As the gunships lifted off with the main Republic force aboard, Kenobi restated his order, but Tano remained determined to defeat the retreating droids. The Padawan and her squad continued to push back the Separatists, and the approaching Skywalker and Kenobi noticed that battle droid reinforcements were regrouping to counterattack Tano's detachment. The LAAT/i gunships landed directly between the two opposing factions, blocking the Republic squad's fire and forcing the Padawan's troops to retreat. Unable to see the Separatist reinforcements from her vantage point, Tano again objected to abandoning the fight, but Skywalker ordered his Padawan onto the gunship, and she finally obeyed, joining the rest of the forces. The clone troopers returned fire at the approaching droids from the escape craft but were unable to halt the advancing battle droid lines. Tano realized her mistake as she witnessed the destruction of her abandoned AT-TE walkers and the Juggernaut at the hands of the battle droids.

Aftermath
"The setback at Felucia has affected our efforts in the whole sector. It'll take weeks before we can&hellip;"

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Republic's inability to defend Felucia affected the Grand Army's efforts in Felucia's entire sector. Back at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Tano was put to a hearing with the Jedi High Council as her judicial authority. Jedi Masters Yoda and Mace Windu assigned the Padawan to guard duty in the Jedi Archives with Jedi Librarian Jocasta Nu so that Tano could reflect on her actions away from the war zone. However, the Jedi were soon forced to defend their Temple against the bounty hunter Cad Bane, who had been hired by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious to steal a holocron from the Archives and use it to unlock the Kyber memory crystal, a repository of all known Force-sensitive infants in the galaxy.

Behind the scenes
The battle was the setting for the opening scenes of "Holocron Heist," the October 2, 2009 second season premiere of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. It was first mentioned in a live script reading with The Clone Wars series voice cast featured at the 2009 Comic-Con International convention with a script penned by Series Director Dave Filoni, and was later confirmed in the Databank entry for the planet Felucia. In 2010, the battle was expanded upon in the Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures video game, which featured it in its "Republic Defender" and "Starfighter" mini-games.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures video game

Notes and references
Erste Schlacht von Felucia Primera Batalla de Felucia Battle of Felucia Felucian ensimmäinen taistelu (kloonisodat)