Battle of Rendili

"You really have done superb work, Anakin. Saving the Rendili Fleet! Far better than I could have hoped."

- Palpatine

The Battle of Rendili was a battle of the Clone Wars, occuring seventeen months after the Battle of Geonosis, in 20 BBY.

Prelude
When word came that Rendili, the planet home to the Rendili StarDrive corporation and producer of the Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers was possibly going to join the Confederacy, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the Galactic Senate ordered a Jedi-led task force to Rendili. Their mission was either to convince the Rendili Home Defense Fleet to remain with the Galactic Republic or, if that failed, to destroy them lest they fell into the hands of Dooku.

Aftermath
After the surrender of the fleet, the Independent Provisional Government was presumably quickly subdued as Rendili returned to the Republic by the end of the war.

Following the battle, the Rendili Fleet was taken to Coruscant to be refitted and used in the war effort. Due to their strong design, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine planned to turn them into prison ships for use in transporting captured Dark Jedi loyal to Dooku. Presumably they became the Imperial dungeon ships used during the Jedi Purge and Operation Shadow Hand.

At Palpatine's urging, the Senate passed a resolution that mandated all defense fleets to be assimilated into the Republic Navy, to prevent a similar situation from arising in the future. This influx of power into the central military while weakening local systems would form the basis of the Imperial Starfleet and the Imperial ability to "rule through threat of force rather than force itself."

Ventress and Skorr were rescued from the Titavian IV by General Greivous. Skorr was taken by Greivous to make an accounting of the fiasco to Dooku, while Ventress made her way to Coruscant to deal with Vos. When she saw Skywalker, she changed her tactics, and followed him. She witnessed one of Senator Padme Amidala's handmaidens bring him a hologram of his wife, and suddenly showing herself, threatened to kill the "Jedi toy" before finishing him. In a fit of anger, Skywalker fought Ventress, wrapping her in electrical cables and throwing her off a tower into the Coruscant Underworld. She was presumed dead, but would later be found to be alive.

At a meeting before the Jedi High Council, Vos was cleared of all suspicion and welcomed back into the Jedi Order. They failed to realize that his true allegiance still remained with Dooku, who had engineered the entire situation as a means to get a spy into the Jedi ranks.

Galactic Republic

 * Commander Cody
 * Captain Jace Dallin (latter part)
 * Captain Jan Dodonna
 * Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Jedi Master Plo Koon
 * R4-P17
 * Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker
 * Commander Adar Tallon
 * Jedi Master Saesee Tiin
 * Jedi Master Quinlan Vos

Confederacy of Independent Systems

 * Captain Jace Dallin (early part)
 * Gallan
 * Lieutenant Mellor Yago†

Behind the scenes
The Battle of Rendili was obviously based on the World War II Battle of Mers-el-Kebir (which was obviously the namesake of the Mersel Kebir). In that battle, the British Navy was dispatched by Winston Churchill to either convince the Vichy French Mediterranean Fleet to defect to the Allies, or to sink it if they were unwilling to turn. When the French commander refused the offer, the British opened fire, sinking the ships and killing thousands of Frenchmen. It was a move that resulted in driving Vichy France deeper into the sphere of Nazi Germany's arms while making relations with the Free French difficult.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Republic: The Dreadnaughts of Rendili