Clone Wars

"Designed by the Dark Lord of the Sith, this web is. For now, play his game, we must."

- Yoda

The Clone Wars, occasionally referred to as the Clone War or the Separatist War, was a three-year conflict that divided the galaxy in warfare between the Galactic Republic and the breakaway Confederacy of Independent Systems. The Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious engineered the war to enable the extermination of the Jedi Order and the rise of the Galactic Empire. Prior to the conflict, Sidious amassed political power in his alter ego of the Republic's Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, while his Sith apprentice, Count Dooku, sparked a Separatist Crisis that saw hundreds of Republic star systems flock to his nascent Confederacy. Dooku, a former Jedi Master, also secretly commissioned an army of clone troopers from Kamino to serve as soldiers for the Jedi and the Republic.

The Clone Wars began at the Battle of Geonosis, in which Dooku and his Separatist Council pitted their Separatist Droid Army against the newly formed Grand Army of the Republic, with the Jedi reluctantly accepting their roles as generals of the Grand Army. As battles between Republic clone troopers and Separatist battle droids engulfed countless worlds, heroes emerged on both sides. Among the well-known Jedi Generals were Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker, while the clone soldiers, for whom the conflict was named, displayed individuality and valor in their service to the Republic. Dooku, meanwhile, relied upon agents like General Grievous and Asajj Ventress throughout his military operations. Amidst the pan-galactic warfare, many planets&mdash;including Mandalore and other members of the Council of Neutral Systems&mdash;struggled to remain neutral, but found it difficult to escape from the carnage.

Early on, the Republic and the Confederacy vied for control of the major hyperspace lanes, ending when Skywalker and his new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, secured an alliance between the Republic and the Hutt Clan. The Separatists resorted to technological and even biological warfare, developing weapons like the twin ion cannons of the battleship Malevolence and the Blue Shadow Virus to impair the Republic war machine. Worlds such as Ryloth, Felucia, Malastare, and even Kamino became flashpoints, while other key offensives included the Second Battle of Geonosis, which crushed Geonosis's battle droid foundries; and a futile Jedi-led operation to capture Grievous at Saleucami.

Over a year into the war, Republic Senator Padmé Amidala and Separatist Senator Mina Bonteri collaborated on a joint initiative to end the fighting, but Dooku and Grievous subverted their efforts by bombing the Republic capital of Coruscant and killing Bonteri. An ensuing peace conference on Mandalore similarly failed to gain traction. With no end in sight, the Jedi worked with local militaries like Mon Cala's military and Naboo's Gungan Grand Army as part of the Republic's war effort, and even trained a rebel cell to retake Onderon. The Confederacy also relied on units such as the Umbaran Militia, which waged but lost the Battle of Umbara. All the while, Sidious took advantage of the chaos to expand his power base, particularly through the Republic's acquisition of the InterGalactic Banking Clan.

As the Jedi faced waning public support and even dissent within the Order, Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi unearthed Dooku's role in creating the Grand Army. By that point, however, the Jedi Order was too entrenched to escape from the morass of the Sith's machinations. The accumulation of wartime casualties even compelled the Jedi High Council to approve a plan to assassinate Dooku, but Jedi Master Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress&mdash;Dooku's jilted apprentice&mdash;failed to execute him after a series of attempts. Eventually, the Republic managed to push the Separatists into redoubts within the Outer Rim Territories, initiating the Outer Rim Sieges.

In the war's third and final year, the Confederacy lost its core leadership in quick succession, with Dooku and Grievous perishing at the Battles of Coruscant and Utapau, respectively. However, Sidious had begun his endgame. He seduced Skywalker to the dark side of the Force, thereby molding Skywalker into his new apprentice, the Sith Lord Darth Vader. After evading arrest by Mace Windu and other Jedi, Palpatine branded the Jedi as traitors and triggered Order 66, which forced clone troopers across the galaxy to execute their Jedi Generals, starting a galaxy-wide Jedi Purge. After assaulting the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Vader traveled to Mustafar and murdered the Separatist Council, allowing Palpatine to declare an end to the Clone Wars and transform the Republic into the first Galactic Empire.

A millennium-old vendetta
"At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge."

- Darth Maul

The origins of the Clone Wars dated back to the time of the Old Republic, which reigned a millennium before the war. That era marked a dark age in galactic history, as the Sith battled their ancient enemies, the Jedi, for control of the galaxy. The Sith were hampered by infighting, ultimately leading to their defeat. Alhough the Jedi believed they had vanquished their foes, 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. 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.

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, leading the Jedi Order to assume a peacekeeping role within the Republic, serving at the behest of the Senate and its Supreme Chancellor. Yet over time, the Senate gained notoriety for its stagnant bureaucracy and corruption. Rifts emerged as the central Core Worlds&mdash;including the Republic's capital, Coruscant&mdash;became reputed for their willingness to exploit the resources of the outlying Outer Rim Territories. 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.

Nearly a thousand years into the Republic's reign, Darth Sidious became the ruling Dark Lord of the Sith. Using his alter ego of Senator Sheev Palpatine 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 to remote star systems, Sidious allied himself with Nute Gunray, the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, and ordered the Federation to blockade his homeworld of Naboo. When the Senate's characteristic stagnation proved too slow to overturn the Federation's Invasion of Naboo, Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo called for a Vote of No Confidence in Valorum's leadership, and Palpatine was elected as his successor. The Jedi Order aided the Royal Naboo Security Forces in ending the blockade of Naboo, though not before the Sith revealed themselves in the form of Darth Maul, Sidious's current apprentice. Maul was defeated and presumed dead, leading the Jedi High Council to suspect the existence of a second Sith Lord.

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&mdash;did he say who it was for?" "''Of course he did. This army is for the Republic."

- Lama Su reveals Sifo-Dyas's role in creating the Clone Army to Obi-Wan Kenobi

Sidious soon gained a replacement for Maul: Dooku, a Jedi Master who left the Order and became integral to the Sith's plan for galactic conquest. Sidious and Dooku, the latter of whom adopted the name Darth Tyranus, crafted a plan 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, who would eventually serve as their executioners. Furthermore, the conflict would destabilize the Republic and render it vulnerable to a Sith takeover.

Prior to the Invasion of Naboo, 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. Undeterred, Sifo-Dyas contacted the Kaminoans, a species reputed for its cloning industry, to order the production of a clone army for the Republic. In doing so, Sifo-Dyas circumvented both the Senate and the High Council, purporting to have the support of the former. When the Sith learned of the clone army, 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.

Sifo-Dyas never reached Felucia, and the resulting events became enmeshed in a web of subterfuge that would take the Jedi Order many years to unravel. Dooku, as Tyranus, hired the Pykes to assassinate Sifo-Dyas, and they shot down his T-6 shuttle over the moon of their homeworld, Oba Diah. Sifo-Dyas died in the crash, but Valorum's personal attaché, Silman, had accompanied him on his mission and survived the attack. The Pykes delivered Sifo-Dyas's corpse to Tyranus, but they covertly kept Silman as a hostage, should they need leverage in the future. The Jedi Order, meanwhile, believed that Sifo-Dyas had died on Felucia after he failed to negotiate peace between the local tribes.

After seizing control of the cloning project, the Sith selected the renowned bounty hunter Jango Fett as the genetic template for their army. Chief Medical Scientist Nala Se served as one of the main engineers of the project. On the Kaminoan homeworld 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.

Implanted within each clone's brain was a structural inhibitor chip that was the key to the Sith's revenge against the Jedi. The Kaminoan scientists believed that the chips were designed to prevent aggression within each subject, and that Sifo-Dyas had ordered the installation of the chips as a countermeasure against betrayal from rogue Jedi. In truth, the chips would force each clone to comply with Protocol 66, a directive for the soldiers to execute their Jedi commanders. Thus, the Sith would be able to massacre the entire Jedi Order via its subordinate soldiers.

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

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, a Separatist Crisis arose when thousands of star systems seceded from the Republic and flocked to the Confederacy. The Separatist Crisis sent the Republic into a frenzy, particularly as Dooku repeatedly spurned Palpatine's public requests for negotiation. 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, with the Sith Lords poised to lead both sides of the approaching conflict that would tear the galaxy asunder.

By twenty-two years before the Battle of Yavin, the Sith had nearly completed their preparations for open conflict between the Republic and the Confederacy. Nominally, the Confederacy functioned as a democracy, and delegates from its myriad of member worlds formed a Separatist Senate. 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. 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 Geonosis, as well as Senators Po Nudo of Ando and Tikkes of Mon Cala.

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. As Amidala was returning to Coruscant to vote on the Military Creation Act, Wesell mounted an unsuccessful attempt on her life. As a result, the High Council designated Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan, Anakin Skywalker&mdash;both of whom had been instrumental in the Republic's victory at the Battle of Naboo&mdash;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 any information from her. Nevertheless, Kenobi identified the connection to Kamino, and was alarmed when his research revealed that the planet had been erased from the Jedi Archives. He managed to pinpoint 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.

Upon arrival at Kamino's capital of Tipoca City, Kenobi was greeted by Prime Minister Lama Su, who revealed the existence of the Clone Army. By this time, 200,000 troopers were ready for deployment, with a million more soldiers nearing completion. 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 named Boba, and proceeded to the Confederate capital of Geonosis. Kenobi tracked the Fetts to Geonosis and, after engaging them in a starfighter dogfight that led them to believe he was 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 to form a Separatist Droid Army. Kenobi was thereafter captured, though not before sending a message to Skywalker.

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 Geonosis to rescue Kenobi. Meanwhile, 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 convince Kenobi to help him destroy the Sith. Kenobi refused, and after Amidala and Skywalker were captured, the Geonosians sentenced all three of them to execution in the Petranaki arena.

Despite Kenobi's report that the Confederacy was raising an army, several leading members of the Republic Senate, including Bail Organa of Alderaan, still believed that the Military Creation Act would not be passed in time to contend with the Separatists. Consequently, Senior Representative Jar Jar Binks of Naboo convinced the Senate to grant emergency powers to Palpatine, who used 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, that would never be the case. While Jedi Grand Master Yoda traveled to Kamino to marshal the clone troopers for the Grand Army, Master Mace Windu assembled an assault team of 212 Jedi, drawn from the Masters of the High Council and the Order's ranks of Knights and Padawans, to save Kenobi from imprisonment Geonosis. The galaxy was left on the brink of civil war.

Battle of Geonosis
"This is only the beginning!"

- Count Dooku

The Battle of Geonosis began when Windu and his Jedi strike team infiltrated the Petranaki arena and saved Amidala, Kenobi, and Skywalker from execution by three beasts: an acklay, a nexu, and a reek. While the Geonosian spectators fled from the arena, Dooku unleashed his massive infantry of B1 battle droids, B2 super battle droids, and droidekas against the Jedi. During the ensuing ground battle, Council member Coleman Trebor 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. It was not long before 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 surrender, but Windu refused to let himself and his comrades become hostages.

Just as Windu and the other survivors were about to be executed, Yoda swept in with their much-needed reinforcements: the Grand Army of the Republic. 192,000 clone troopers arrived with Yoda aboard Acclamator-class assault ships, and LAAT/i gunships ferried them to the Petranaki arena to extract their comrades. Amidala, Kenobi, Skywalker, Windu, and the other Jedi survivors 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-class interstellar transports from escaping. While Yoda proceeded to the Republic's forward command center, Windu oversaw an assembly area, where Clone Commander CT-411 gave him command of five special commando units. Colonel Meebur Gascon and other top strategists from Republic Strategic Command advised the Grand Army on its battlefield tactics.

A frenetic offensive ensued, as the Republic's All Terrain Armored Transports 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 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 slowly made headway against the Separatists. Overwhelmed by the Republic's assault, Dooku and the Separatist Council ordered their forces to 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, Skywalker, and Kenobi, 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, but she followed the Jedi after recovering from her fall.

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 Master, arrived and proved more of a challenge for the Sith Lord. Dooku was only able to escape by collapsing a pillar on top of Kenobi and Skywalker, thus distracting Yoda and forcing him to save them. 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.

Dooku secretly traveled to Coruscant, where he met with Darth Sidious and reported that the intergalactic conflict which they had worked so hard 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. The Confederacy, meanwhile, moved its capital from Geonosis to the planet Raxus, which served as the headquarters of the Separatist Senate.

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

As the Clone Wars engulfed many worlds across the galaxy, the Jedi were forced to relinquish their traditional roles as peacekeepers, in favor of military commands within the Grand Army of the Republic. Knights and Masters accepted the new rank of Jedi General, while even Padawans contributed to the Republic's war effort, with some serving as battlefield commanders. Among the newly promoted Jedi Generals was Anakin Skywalker, whom the Jedi High Council elevated to Knighthood. Unbeknownst to his colleagues, Skywalker secretly married Padmé Amidala, a decision that would have repercussions for the entire war.

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, and the Grand Army established a network of listening posts to monitor Separatist activity in the vicinity. Due to the death of Jango Fett, the Kaminoan scientists were forced to stretch 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. In addition, the Republic contracted mercenaries such as Bric and El-Les to help Ti supervise the clones' combat instruction.

The Republic attracted both internal and external criticism for its use of the clone troopers, whom some viewed as slaves to the Jedi. 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 and started a family. On the other hand, the Separatist citizenry took pride in the fact that the officers of the Confederacy military were willing participants, while its armed forces mainly sacrificed expendable battle droids for their cause. One Confederate officer, the husband of Separatist Senator Mina Bonteri, was slain while defending a new base on the planet Aargonar from Republic forces. 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, a cyborg warlord from Kalee who oversaw the Droid Army.

In addition to Grievous, Dooku recruited another agent as his lieutenant and emissary: Asajj Ventress, a slave-turned-Jedi from Dathomir who fell to the dark side of the Force and became Dooku's apprentice. Though Grievous and Ventress developed a long-standing rivalry, both were motivated by a deep-seated hatred for the Jedi Order. Grievous and Ventress also made a habit of claiming the lightsabers of their Jedi victims as trophies, 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.

The outbreak of the Clone Wars shifted the balance of power on several 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 Korrivar loyalists executed numerous acts of sabotage against the Separatist regime, with the Republic covertly sponsoring their guerilla campaign. Despite their efforts, the Confederacy retained control of Antar 4 throughout the war.

Early in the war, the Confederacy seized the Outer Rim world of Lola Sayu, the site of the infamous Republic prison known as the Citadel. The Citadel had been constructed five centuries ago to hold dark Jedi who turned against the Republic. The Separatists now converted the facility into a prisoner-of-war camp, using it to house Republic captives. 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 a presence on both Iego and Millius Prime, but later decided to withdraw from the system. Before leaving, they seeded Iego's asteroid field with a security grid of laser emitters that trapped its residents on the surface.

Other planets that became swept up in the Clone Wars included Akiva, where a Confederate droid factory led the planet to become the site of a battle between the Jedi and the Separatists; 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.

Diversion at 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

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 entire divisions of its Grand Army. 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. As such, the Hutt Clan&mdash;which ruled Hutt Space and the accompanying network of supply routes that reached the Outer Rim&mdash;became a coveted ally for both the Republic and the Confederacy.

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 the 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, a crystalline Outer Rim world that was valued for its location and resources, and was also the site of a Republic relief effort that Senator Bail Organa was overseeing. The Confederate Admiral Trench blockaded Christophsis with a massive detachment from the Confederate Navy, while Separatist ground forces subjugated the planet's inhabitants. After a number of native Christophsians mounted a futile attempt to defend their homeworld, they requested aid from the Jedi High Council.

Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, alongside Admiral Wullf Yularen, were allocated 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. Trench, however, narrowly survived his dreadnought's vaporization and later returned to active duty. Having bypassed the blockade, Skywalker and Yularen delivered much-needed supplies to Organa's refugee camp on the surface of Christophsis. Kenobi, meanwhile, exploited the opening in the Confederate armada and managed to overwhelm the opposing fleet long enough for the Republic to land an invasion force on the planet. The Separatists likewise fortified their ground troops with reinforcements, concealing their true numbers from the Republic.

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 plan of attack. 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 CC-2224 and Clone Captain CT-7567&mdash;nicknamed "Cody" and "Rex," respectively&mdash;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 for Slick. They arrested Slick and sent him to lock-up, though the damage was done. The majority of the Republic's arsenal was reduced to wreckage, with only a quartet of AV-7 Anti-vehicle Artillery Cannons surviving Slick's sabotage.

At the Confederate headquarters, Kenobi and Skywalker encountered Ventress and engaged her in a lightsaber duel, a tactic that she used to buy time for Slick's sabotage. 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: kidnapping Rotta the Huttlet. She traveled to Tatooine aboard her personal starship, the Trident, and spirited Rotta away from his homeworld.

In addition to Slick's sabotage of their weapons depot, the Republic forces lost their naval support when the Separatists' orbital defenses ousted Yularen and his fleet from the Christophsis system. Though they were severely outnumbered, Kenobi, Skywalker, and their clone soldiers managed to repel Loathsom's infantry from the city. Octuptarra combat 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 who were 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.

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 their 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. It was not long before Loathsom mounted another strike on the Republic forces, though this time he set up a deflector shield whose perimeter he kept just beyond his advancing droid troops. The shield rendered the AV-7 Anti-vehicle Cannons useless, forcing the Jedi and clones to devise another method of attack.

While Kenobi and Rex marshalled their troops in a last-ditch defense of the city, Skywalker and Tano infiltrated the Separatist lines and destroyed the shield generator, exposing Loathsom's droids to renewed barrages from the AV-7 Anti-Vehicle Cannons. Their victory coincided with the arrival of Republic naval reinforcements led by Yularen and Yoda, who defeated the Separatist blockade and drove it into retreat. The Republic landed additional infantry and matériel on Christophsis, while Kenobi forced Loathsom to surrender, ensuring a Republic victory. Even as clone trooper reinforcements were deployed to aid the invasion force in securing Christophsis, much of the planet remained in ruins.

Alliances with the Hutt Clan
"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 informs Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano of their mission to save Rotta

Ventress brought the captive Rotta to an abandoned B'omarr Order Monastery on the jungle planet Teth, located in Wild Space, and fortified the site with two full battalions of battle droids. After a scouting team of Republic Advanced Recon Force troopers tracked Rotta to Teth, Skywalker and Tano proceeded there with Captain Rex and Torrent Company, Rex's command unit within the Grand Army's famed 501st Legion, 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.

Because the monastery sat 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 quashed the Separatist droid defenses and retrieved Rotta from the monastery's detention level. However, Tano discovered that Rotta was ill, jeopardizing their chances of delivering him to Tatooine alive. Skywalker suspected Dooku's involvement in the matter, given that both the Republic and the Confederacy sought an alliance with the Hutt Clan.

Unbeknownst to the Jedi, Ventress used the protocol droid 4-A7 to record Skywalker and Tano as they retrieved Rotta. Ventress sent the holorecording to Dooku, who presented it to Jabba as evidence that the Jedi were responsible for Rotta's abduction. After convincing Jabba to consider joining the Confederacy, Dooku ordered Ventress to recover Rotta so that they could claim credit for his rescue. Marshalling 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.

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 arrived just in time to provide support for Rex and the survivors of Torrent Company. While Kenobi and the clone soldiers shored up their defenses in the courtyard, Skywalker and Tano made their way to a secondary landing platform, narrowly evading Ventress. Once there, Skywalker and Tano commandeered an old spice freighter called the Twilight, which they used to ferry Rotta off the surface.

When Kenobi entered the monastery in search for 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 from the battlefield. Meanwhile, Skywalker and Tano piloted the Twilight into orbit of Teth, where Admiral 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 were forced to head directly to Tatooine aboard the Twilight.

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 into joining the Confederacy. During a holographic report to Dooku, Ventress lied to Jabba, stating 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 that he was never reunited with his father.

On Coruscant, Padmé Amidala received word of the Jedi's ongoing efforts to return Rotta to Tatooine. Consequently, 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 place as head of the Hutt Clan. However, Ziro discovered Amidala eavesdropping on the conversation, and on Dooku's advice, he incarcerated Amidala within his palace.

As Skywalker and Tano arrived over Tatooine with Rotta aboard the Twilight, a pair of Confederate Rogue-class 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&mdash;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.

Back on Coruscant, Amidala was able to send word of her capture to the Republic via her protocol droid, C-3PO. Clone Commander CC-1010, nicknamed "Fox," 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 entered into a treaty with the Republic and granted the Grand Army its exclusive, long-awaited access to the Hutts' 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.

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. Ziro was incarcerated within the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center on Coruscant, and his lengthy sentence caused him to develop a deep resentment toward Amidala.

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

The Twi'lek homeworld of Ryloth became the next major battlefront of the Clone Wars when the Techno Union invaded the planet, aiming to pillage its wealth and resources. The Confederate 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 a Twi'lek Resistance 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.

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 Confederate Navy intercepted the transmission between Organa and the High Council, leading Dooku to dispatch Senator Lott Dod of the Trade Federation to thwart Organa's diplomatic efforts with King Katuunko, the monarch of the Toydarians.

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.

Without reinforcements from the Republic, only Syndulla and his Twi'lek Resistance stood against the Separatist occupation of Ryloth. The Twi'lek rebels suffered heavily in a confrontation with the Droid Army and were forced 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 guerilla 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.

Organa and Binks's determination to help the Twi'leks of Ryloth convinced Katuunko to consider bringing Toydaria into the Republic. 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.

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. Despite being gravely outnumbered, Yoda and his troopers managed to best Ventress's battalion of battle droids, even after she reneged on her agreement with Katuunko&mdash;first by ordering her droids to shoot to kill, and later by deploying reinforcements in the form of droidekas.

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 redirected 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.

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

The Confederacy military wasted no time in developing new projects for its war machine. One result was the Malevolence, a colossal Subjugator-class heavy cruiser that became the prized flagship of General Grievous. The Malevolence maiden voyage cut a swath through Republic territory, striking in a dozen star systems and annihilating all of the Republic task forces 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 as Grievous's "mystery weapon," sowing fear throughout the Republic.

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 pod-hunter craft after them.

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&mdash;whose fleet was stationed in the nearby Bith system&mdash;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 CC-3636, nicknamed "Wolffe," along with 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 next victims. Dooku was greatly displeased by Grievous's failure to prevent their escape.

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 50,000 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.

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 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 Admiral 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.

The Separatists dispatched reinforcements to aid the besieged Malevolence, but Jedi General Luminara Unduli 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.

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 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 gave pursuit with a squadron of Vulture droids.

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 the Battle of the Kaliida Nebula, bringing an end to the threat of the Malevolence.

Battle for Kamino
Weeks after the Confederacy's loss of the Malevolence, Grievous launched an invasion to destroy Kamino and its' cloning facilities. Ventress went there to act as his spy and prepare for the invasion. To ensure element of surprise, Grievous sent to two boarding ships loaded with commando droids posing as asteroids to seize the tracking station. The commandos were successful in taking the base, but were stopped by the base's survivors who alerted the Republic by destroying the base. Grievous was forced to retreat

Despite the setback, Grievous and Ventress continue with the attack sometime after the station's destruction. The Republic fleet under Kenobi and Skywalker intercepted a message and reinforced the Republic forces under Jedi General Shaak Ti at Kamino. While Grievous attacked the blockade, Ventress, and her Aqua droids in their Trident-class assault ships then attacked Tipoca City. Ventress went after a DNA sample while Grievous attacked the Clones' barracks. However, they failed in the attack and were forced to retreat.

Last days of the Republic
"Why general? Why kill your own men?" "Because I can. Because you fell for it. Because you're inferior." "But you're a Jedi. How could you?" "A Jedi? I am no longer naive enough to be a Jedi. A new power is rising. I've foreseen it. The Jedi are going to lose this war, and the Republic will be ripped apart from the inside. In its place is going to rise a New Order, and I will rule as part of it." "You're a separatist." "I serve no one side. Only my own. And soon, my new master." You're an agent of Dooku." "Not yet. But when I get out of here I will be. After I've succeeded in driving the Republic from Umbarra, the Count will reward my actions, and make me his new apprentice."

- Jedi defector Pong Krell and CT-7567, during the Battle of Umbara.

Battle over Coruscant
During the latter days of the war, General Grievous managed to capture Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine and hold him hostage, resulting in a large-scale naval battle between the Separatist and Republic forces. Leading this attack were the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. The battle resulted in the death of Count Dooku, the leader of the Separatists. This was a massive blow to the Separatists and droid General Grievous became its new leader. The pair of Jedi afterwards managed to escape the ship along with the Chancellor. Grievous also escaped and fled to Utapau.

Rise of the New Order
"After you have killed all the Jedi in the Temple, go to Mustafar system. Wipe out Viceroy Gunray and the other Separatist leaders. Once more the Sith will rule the galaxy! And we shall have... peace."

- Darth Sidious to his new apprentice, Darth Vader.

On Utapau, Grievous, along with the rest of the leaders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, await instructions from Sidious. Soon enough, Sidious sends the Confederacy to the Mustafar system before Republic forces arrive. Not long after, Republic forces led by Obi-Wan Kenobi attacked the base. Kenobi managed to confront Grievous and the two began to fight. In the hassle, Kenobi managed to rip open the armor covering Grievous' gut sack. The Jedi then shot it with the General's blaster several times, killing the cyborg. The death of Grievous put Nute Gunray in charge. Meanwhile, on Coruscant Palpatine reveals to Skywalker that he is the Dark Lord of the Sith, prompting Skywalker to tell Jedi Master Mace Windu. Not long after, Mace Windu along with Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin, and Agen Kolar attacked the Chancellor. Palpatine quickly admitted to this and killed Fisto, Tin, and Kolar. He later killed Mace Windu with the help of Anakin Skywalker, who needed Sidious to save his wife Padmé from death. The Sith quickly declared the Jedi the enemies of the Republic and sent out Order 66, which saw the clone troopers turning on their Jedi generals. Skywalker then surrendered to Sidious and the Sith Lord re-named him Darth Vader. Vader was sent to the Jedi Temple where he killed every Jedi left in it. On Utapau, Clone commander Cody ordered his men to fire upon Kenobi, but the Jedi survived this, however. On Kashyyyk, Commander Gree with another clone attempted to assassinate Grand Master Yoda, however the master beheaded the two with his lightsaber before they could blast him. Many other Jedi were killed during Order 66, including Ki-Adi-Mundi, Aayla Secura, Plo Koon, and Stass Allie. After murdering the Jedi on Coruscant, Vader headed to Mustafar to eliminate Nute Gunray and the rest of the leaders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, who were hiding on the planet. The fallen Jedi turned Sith Lord then received an order from Sidious to send a shutdown signal that turned off all remaining Separatist droids, ending the war in the process.

Aftermath
"No longer certain that one ever does win a war, I am. For in fighting the battles, the bloodshed already lost we have. Yet, open to us, a path remains that unknown to the Sith is. Through this path, victory we may yet find. Not victory in the Clone Wars, but victory for all time."

- Yoda

The war accomplished exactly what Palpatine had set out to achieve: the Jedi Order was destroyed, and the Republic was transformed into the first Galactic Empire, with Palpatine as its Emperor. The Empire expanded its reach across the galaxy, using the memory of the Clone Wars by promising order to a galaxy tired of war. After it became clear that the Empire was oppressive, however, the Rebel Alliance was created to oppose the Empire's rule. Palpatine's victory in the Clone Wars lasted just over two decades, as the Galactic Civil War led to the fall of Palpatine and his Empire.

Legacy
"I survived one war. I'm not ready for another one. I saw what it did.''" "To the Jedi?" "''To everyone."

- Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla

Following the creation of the Galactic Empire, the Empire tried to sweep away the memories of the troubled times of the Clone Wars. They housed veterans of the struggle in poorly maintained places like Crispus Commons, where they were forced to deal with shabby maintenance and low-paying jobs. Despite this, some, such as Skelly, managed to piece together the truth about the Clone Wars. There were those, such as Bail Organa, who remembered the bravery of those like the Jedi Knights during the Clone Wars. He passed this knowledge to his daughter, Princess Leia Organa, who later sent a holographic message to Obi-Wan Kenobi appealing to him in the name of his service during the Clone Wars. It would remain as one of the most destructive conflicts in galactic history, with billions of casualties on both sides.

Behind the scenes
The Clone Wars were first mentioned in canon in the original Star Wars film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. There were no other mentions of the conflict anywhere in the original trilogy, but the Expanded Universe, now known as the non-canon Star Wars Legends brand, occasionally made brief references to details of the conflict. The canon details of the conflict were revealed in the prequel trilogy films Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. A number of Legends stories expanded upon the war with stories set between the two films. 2008 saw the inception of an animated television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as well as a film by the same title.

Both The Clone Wars film and the television series are part of the official Star Wars canon, as they reflected the vision of George Lucas, while Legends stories about the war became non-canon. As a result, the full beginnings of the war, including the Jedi's first encounters with Ventress and Grievous, are canonically unknown, as the earlier Legends  Clone Wars series covered these events.