Battle of Geonosis

"The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun...the Clone War has."

- Yoda

The Battle of Geonosis, also referred to as the First 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. The battle also marked the death of the notorious bounty hunter Jango Fett.

Prelude
"I've got a bad feeling about this."

- Anakin Skywalker

Twenty-two years before the Battle of Yavin, the Galactic Republic was in the depths of a catastrophe. Thousands of star systems and groups including the Trade Federation, InterGalactic Banking Clan, Techno Union, Commerce Guild and the Corporate Alliance, had left the Republic and united with the Confederacy of Independent Systems under the direction of the former Jedi Count Dooku as terrorist strikes hit the capital planet Coruscant. The Republic Congress prepared to meet that year to consider the Military Creation Act.

The day of the vote, Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo landed on Coruscant to oppose the Act and survived an assassination attempt. At the request of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan, Anakin Skywalker were assigned to her security detail. Kenobi pursued the trail of the toxic dart which ended the life of the assassin while Skywalker accompanied the senator back to Naboo.

Kenobi followed the suggestion from his friend Dexter Jettster to the planet Kamino, which had been deleted from the Jedi Archives by an anonymous force. There he learned that ten years prior, Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas had arranged for a purchase of a clone trooper army. During the tour, he met the bounty hunter Jango Fett. Kenobi revealed the new information back to the Jedi High Council and decided to go after Fett, speculating that he was a part of the assassination attempt. They fought on a landing platform, and Kenobi was able to fix a homing beacon on Fett's ship, Slave I.

Kenobi traced Fett to Geonosis. His ship only just dodged a homing torpedo, and he landed on the surface. He snuck into a facility and watched a meeting of Separatist Council, where it was revealed that Viceroy Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation was leading Amidala's assassination attempt. Kenobi reported back to the Jedi Council but was ambushed and taken captive by Droidekas. His signal was rerouted through Amidala's ship on Tatooine, as she and Skywalker had traveled there in a failed attempt to rescue his mother. Meanwhile, Dooku spoke with the captive Kenobi to try to gain him as an ally. Kenobi declined, and Dooku implied it would be difficult for him to secure his release.

Skywalker and Amidala traveled to Geonosis to rescue Kenobi but were captured in the Geonosian droid factories. The two were sentenced to execution in the Petranaki arena along with Kenobi. They narrowly escaped their executions, which involved an Acklay, a Nexu, and a reek.

In response to Kenobi's report about the Separatists' plot, the Galactic Senate, at the proposal of Junior Representative Jar Jar Binks, granted Chancellor Palpatine "emergency powers" to handle the catastrophe.

Jedi Grand Master Yoda traveled to Kamino to gather the clone army and send them to Geonosis right behind a Jedi strike force.

The battle
"My Master will not let the Republic get away with this treachery."

- Count Dooku

A group of at least 200 Jedi, including Jedi Mace Windu, Coleman Trebor, Eeth Koth, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, Even Piell, Shaak Ti, Luminara Unduli, Aayla Secura, Barriss Offee, and Ki-Adi-Mundi were tasked with rescuing Obi-Wan Kenobi and investigating the reports of Separatist warmongering on Geonosis by the Jedi High Council.

The Zilkin Meebur Gascon participated in devising a strategy for the battle and inspecting maps to advise Republic forces.

Arena battle
"This party's over."

- Mace Windu

The three prisoners, Skywalker, Amidala, and Kenobi managed to avert the creatures that had been set upon them long enough for Master Windu's Jedi assault team to show up. As the Jedi came into view throughout the arena, many Geonosians chose to flee rather than face them in combat. However, Count Dooku let loose the Separatist's new battle droid army, and a violent battle took place in the arena. Though outnumbered, the Jedi fought bravely as their ranks were slowly diminished in the face of unending battle droids.

It was during this fierce battle that bounty hunter Jango Fett attempted to kill the famed Jedi Master, Mace Windu. However, during their confrontation, the Reek charged Fett and nearly crushed him; although Fett slayed the beast, its attack had broken his jetpack. When the duel resumed, Mace Windu charged straight towards Fett, deflecting his blaster shots. At the last second the Mandalorian tried to activate his jetpack, but it back-fired, allowing Mace to quickly decapitate the notorious bounty hunter. His damaged helmet was soon found by his "son" Boba Fett after the conclusion of the arena battle.

An unexpected participate in the battle was C-3PO, whose head had been detached and welded onto a battle droid's body while a battle droid's head had been attached to his body. Both incarnations walked into the battle alongside the battle droids and were knocked out by the Jedi. By the end of the battle R2-D2 was able to locate C-3PO's head and reattach it to his original body.

Despite the bravery of the Jedi, Dooku's droids held the upper hand, and with the last of the surviving Jedi surrounded he called a halt to the fighting. The Sith Lord offered the Jedi the chance to surrender, but Windu declined, saying the Jedi would not become hostages with which Dooku could barter. Dooku then apologetically ordered the surrounding droids to slaughter the Jedi.

They were saved by the sudden arrival of Jedi Master Yoda and a group of Clone troopers aboard LAAT/i gunships, creating a perimeter around the survivors long enough for them to board and escape. During the arena battle, enormous Republic assault ships had penetrated the upper atmosphere of Geonosis, knocking out the Geonosian launch hives with aerial bombardments and Clone commando strike teams and clearing the way to deploy the Grand Army of the Republic. As Jedi General Yoda and the survivors evacuated the vacant arena cluttered with droid parts, the first battle of the Clone Wars began.

Desert battlefield
"If Dooku escapes, rally more systems to his cause, he will."

- Yoda

After the rescue of the Jedi, the droid and clone armies battled one another in an intricate series of confrontations on a number of different fronts. Much of the Separatists' heavy equipment had already been loaded onto their transports, but with their communications being jammed the rest was hastily thrown at the clones in order to buy the Separatist navy enough time to escape. Meanwhile, the Republic army's goal was to capture the Separatists leadership and as much of the Geonosian droid founders intact as possible in order to uncover the depths of the Separatist conspiracy, precluding the indiscriminate use of starship weapons. The resulting battle would mostly consist of ground combat then, but although the clone troopers were greatly outnumbered by battle droids the Republic enjoyed air dominance thanks to their preemptive strikes on the launch hives.

Obi-Wan and Anakin directed the gunship carrying them and Senator Amedala to attack the lightly-armored Techno Union transports while the gunship carrying Yoda and Mace Windu proceed on to a nearby assembly area. After arriving, Mace took command of a number of special commando units while Yoda proceed on to the Forward Command Center where he would direct the overall battle. On all fronts the two sides grappled with each other in fierce combat: heavily-armored AT-TE walkers facing down hordes of battle droids as homing spider droids swept their laser cannons across clone trooper battalions, Republic gunships strafing the Separatist front lines and losing a number to intense laser flak. As the Trade Federation core ships attempted to take off, Yoda commanded the army's artillery to bring a number of them crashing back to the ground.

Kenobi vs. Tyranus
"As you see, my Jedi powers are far beyond yours. Now&hellip;back down." "I don't think so."

- Count Dooku and Obi-Wan Kenobi

In the chaos of the battle, the Separatist leader Dooku, also known as Darth Tyranus, attempted to retreat to a hangar where his starship was docked using a Flitknot speeder. However he was spotted by Obi-Wan Kenobi, who directed the gunship carrying them to chase after the count. Unfortunately the gunship was unable to shoot down the Count's speeder, and Dooku's escorting Nantex-class starfighters slipped in behind it and opened fire. One of their shots knocked Padmé and a clone trooper out of the gunship but, despite Anakin's protestations, they did not go back for her. The gunship continued to pursue Dooku, dropping Kenobi and Skywalker into the Count's hangar shortly before being blasted out of the sky by laser fire.

Upon arriving at Dooku's hangar, Kenobi and Skywalker confronted the Count. As Kenobi began to strategize, Skywalker, his fury getting the best of him, ran at Dooku. Dooku discharged a bombardment of Force lightning and blasted Skywalker aside before turning to Kenobi. Kenobi began to circle Dooku as the Count tried to blast Kenobi with another bolt of Force lightning, demanding the Jedi Knight's submission. Kenobi leveled the blast on his lightsaber and calmly declared that he would not surrender. Igniting his lightsaber and angling the blade into a guard position, Dooku awaited Kenobi. Kenobi promptly stormed Dooku, but Dooku instantly deflected Kenobi's opening attack and his subsequent jab. After an abrupt outbreak of blade work, Kenobi sliced at Dooku's legs. Dooku overleapt the strike and flourished his blade to drive Kenobi back as he landed. As Kenobi fell back, Dooku calmly mocked him, telling him that he had expected a better performance from someone who was held in such high esteem by Yoda. Eventually, Kenobi, struggling to keep up, was pulled into a blade lock. Dooku, a full grin on his face, shoved Kenobi's blade aside, and swiftly jabbed at Kenobi's arm, cutting it across the side. As Kenobi fell back in agony, the Count stayed on him, slashing the Jedi across the leg and bringing him down. Despite his wisdom, he shown caution against Dooku, Kenobi, exhausted by the duel, brandishing an unfamiliar lightsaber, and surpassed by Dooku's abilities, was overcome.

As Dooku lifted his lightsaber to finish Kenobi, Skywalker recovered from the blast of Force lightning and saw Kenobi's fight. Bounding across the hangar from the corner in which he lay, Skywalker reached the two just in time to halt the Count's blow. As Dooku turned to regard Skywalker, Kenobi used the Force to reclaim his fallen lightsaber and threw it to Skywalker.

Skywalker vs. Tyranus
"Brave of you, boy, but I would have thought you had learned your lesson." "I'm a slow learner."

- Count Dooku and Anakin Skywalker

Skywalker, taking up up the second blade, began to release an outbreak of broad Form IV strikes, briefly taking the Count off his guard. Dooku was able to reclaim his guard and force Anakin back. Skywalker was unwillingly forced to change to his typical Form V practices when Dooku masterfully disarmed him, flicking his second blade out of Skywalker's hand and destroying the hilt in mid-air. Holding off Dooku with two rapid strikes, Skywalker hastily retreated, regaining his self-control.

Slicing a power cable linked to Dooku's ship as he raised his blade into a high guard, Skywalker caused a short circuit that momentarily caused the hangar lights to flicker. As the chamber darkened, the two advanced on each other. As they watched one another, blades at the ready, Skywalker attacked. The two engaged in a burst of swordplay, seemingly equally coordinated. Despite holding his own against Dooku for much of the fight, Skywalker was finally brought down when Dooku spun and sliced off his arm with a rapid undercut. As Anakin shouted out in agony, Dooku blasted the Jedi aside with a Force push.

Yoda vs. Darth Tyranus
"It is obvious that this contest cannot be decided by our knowledge of the Force, but by our skills with the lightsaber."

- Count Dooku to Yoda, his former master

As Dooku quickly caught his breath, he noticed the echo of footsteps and the clack of a cane, as well as the characteristic panting. Twisting to the hangar entrance, Dooku, and the newly-arrived Yoda regarded one another. Dooku attempted to murder Yoda by telekinetically tearing wall fixtures out of the hangar sides and heaving them at Yoda. When the ancient Jedi blocked, Dooku countered by breaking chunks of stone out of the hangar ceiling, a dangerous proposition as the hangar was carved out of a cavern and doing so could cause a cave-in. Yoda caught the chunks and tossed them aside, turning to Dooku and recognizing his power, but noting that he sensed the dark side of the Force in Dooku. Dooku, asserting his apparent greater power, unleashed a storm of Force lightning at Yoda. The Jedi calmly caught the lightning and deflected it back at Dooku, who again deflected it into a nearby wall. Dooku proceeded to unleash a second volley against Yoda, but as a show of his mastery, Yoda consumed the bolt completely, with no need for deflection, showing Dooku the clear ineffectiveness of this offensive.

Dooku igniting his lightsaber stated that this rivalry would not be decided by their knowledge of the Force, but rather by their expertise with a lightsaber. As Yoda ignited his own weapon, Dooku leaped into action, unleashing his entire Form II finesse against Yoda. However, Yoda's own comprehension of Form IV allowed him to hold off Dooku's endless attacks, and gain the upper hand. Understanding both that he would not be able to kill Yoda and that Republic reinforcements would arrive soon, Dooku diverted Yoda's focus by using the Force to collapse one of the hangar's power columns onto Kenobi and Skywalker. As Yoda ended the duel to telekinetically catch the power column, Dooku was able to swiftly board his ship and depart.

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 traveled to Coruscant, to convene with his master, who was settled in a deserted executive building in the Works. Pleased by the news of war, Darth Sidious commanded his apprentice to arrange a second battlefront against the Republic. Meanwhile, the Grand Army of the Republic was assembled throughout the galaxy as the Clone Wars began.

Back at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Masters Kenobi, and Windu, both declared their shared belief that the battle would not have been won without the clones. However, Master Yoda was quick to point out the irony in such a pyrrhic victory, as the Republic had only fought their first of many such battles, in what became known as the Clone Wars. The council also agreed to investigate the Sith Lord that Dooku had mentioned to Obi-Wan Kenobi during the latter's capture, Darth Sidious, in case Dooku was telling the truth. It would not be until three years later, nearing the end of the Clone Wars, that they would finally identify Sidious as being none other than Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Skywalker, meanwhile, accompanied by Senator Amidala, headed back to Naboo, where they married in a secret ceremony.

Months after the initial battle, the Republic invasion force stationed on the planet was overrun by Separatist and Geonosian forces, leading to the Second Battle of Geonosis.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Defense
 * Star Wars Journeys: Beginnings
 * Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
 * Jedi of the Republic&mdash;Mace Windu, Part I
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars film
 * Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel
 * Tarkin
 * Lost Stars
 * Darth Vader 4: Vader, Part IV
 * Star Wars Special: C-3PO 1: The Phantom Limb
 * Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel
 * Tarkin
 * Lost Stars
 * Darth Vader 4: Vader, Part IV
 * Star Wars Special: C-3PO 1: The Phantom Limb
 * Darth Vader 4: Vader, Part IV
 * Star Wars Special: C-3PO 1: The Phantom Limb
 * Darth Vader 4: Vader, Part IV
 * Star Wars Special: C-3PO 1: The Phantom Limb