Geonosis/Legends

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

- Yoda

Geonosis was the home planet of the Geonosians and one of the Confederacy's secret headquarters and Droid foundries.

Geology and Geography


Geonosis was the closest inhabited neighbour to Tatooine being located less than one parsec away. It is the second of five rocky worlds orbiting a yellow sun in the outer rim. The planet had four large outer moons and also eleven smaller. and closer, inner moons. It had dense asteroid rings in equatorial orbit to which the smaller moons acted as tidal sheperds, and the planet regularly suffered from asteroid showers eminating from the rings. It is thought the rings were created by the destruction of a small inner moon in a collision with a two-kilometre wide comet. The rings were rich with mineral resources which were mined by the natives for use in local factories.

Geonosis had a large diameter but light gravity and dense atmosphere. With a weak magnetic field, harsh solar radiation storms were common, and on occasion mass extinctions occured. The most persistent surface organisms were humble red rock algae while the semi-insectoid Geonosians were driven underground. It comprised a dimunitive molten core with a rocky mantle forming a rocky, desert world subject to flash floods that carved great highland canyons. Water made up 5% of the surface.

During the time of the Geonosian rule, much of the planet's architecture was similar in appearance to termite mounds, consisting of domes and buildings built into caverns and rock spires. Therefore, one could easily mistake Geonosian buildings for natural formations and the planet itself for uninhabited.

Early history
In the distant past, Geonosis's largest moon was hit by a rogue comet, sending out a massive debris field that hammered the surface into ruin, before settling into a ring of orbiting rock. This event killed off more than 99% of Geonosis's native species.

Over millions of years, the few creatures who survived the devastation slowly reclaimed the planet. Random meteor impacts constantly weeded out the weaker species, leaving only the truly cunning, hardy, and ruthless species alive. The Geonosians, the dominant life form on the planet, constitued all three.

After the technical-minded Geonosians made contact with the galaxy, the Baktoid Armor Workshop moved several droid and weapon foundries to the planet.

Clone Wars
In 24 BBY, during the reign of Archduke Poggle the Lesser, Geonosis became a member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, which used the planet's factories to build its Droid Army. Two years later, in 22 BBY, Poggle scheduled a private meeting of the Confederacy leaders on Geonosis. It was expected that during this meeting the organizations that formed the backbone of the Separatist movement would put their resources at the disposal of Count Dooku, the Head of State of the Confederacy.

Unbeknownst to the Separatists, their plans of waging war against the Galactic Republic were heard by Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had followed Jango Fett, a bounty hunter employed by Dooku, to Geonosis. Kenobi managed to transmit his discoveries to his Padawan Anakin Skywalker, who was at that time located on Tatooine, before being caught by the Separatists. After retransmitting the information to the Jedi Council, Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, the Senator of Naboo, decided to rescue Kenobi, but ended up imprisoned themselves.

Eventually, Kenobi, Skywalker and Amidala were taken to the Geonosian execution arena and were faced against an acklay, a reek and a nexu respectively, but managed to free themselves. The Separatists, in turn, introduced battle droids to the arena, triggering the Battle of Geonosis, the first battle of the Clone Wars, as Jedi reinforcements, led by Master Mace Windu, revealed themselves among the public and entered the arena to confront the droids.

After a long battle between the Droids and the Jedi, Master Yoda arrived to supply troops to the Republic. After which a great battle erupted in the dust plains of Geonosis.

At the time of the Clone Wars, the planet's population was estimated at 100 billion.

After the Confederacy's defeat at the Battle of Geonosis, the planet was occupied by the Republic.

Post-Clone Wars
As the Clone Wars ended with the Republic, restructured into the Galactic Empire, victorious, Geonosis remained under Imperial control. Geonosian scientists also played a role in the construction of the Death Star. During the Galactic Civil War, while chasing an Imperial carrier who had interfered during the Alliance's raid on the Empire's operations on Bakura, Geonosis was visited by Wedge Antilles, who found several completely operational B-1 battle droids left over from the war, as well as a Jedi starfighter, which he used to escape the planet. After the death of Emperor Palpatine, Geonosis established an isolationist policy.

The planet was spared by the Yuuzhan Vong during their invasion.

Behind the scenes

 * Geonosis is the only planet featured in the Star Wars films to have a ring system.
 * George Lucas considered the Battle of Geonosis to be the biggest action sequence they'd ever tried as of Attack of the Clones.

Appearances

 * The Eyes of Revolution
 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns
 * Boba Fett: The Fight to Survive
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars
 * Star Wars: Republic Commando
 * Republic Commando: Hard Contact
 * Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Old Wounds (non-canon; flashback)
 * ''Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * Empire at War