First Battle of Kamino

"It's a delicate game we play. A precise balance. That balance has been restored, though, and the Separatists' advantage lies dead in the water. With Merai dead, and Kamino still operational, this Clone War will not soon end."

- Darth Sidious

The First Battle of Kamino was a battle which took place two months after the Battle of Geonosis. This battle is also known as the Defense of Kamino or Assault on Kamino.

Background
Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, while working deep undercover under the name of Korto, an information dealer with a network of spies and thieves throughout the Republic and Confederacy, came into the possession of the Separatist's battle plans for Kamino—an intelligence coup of epic proportions. After Korto retrieved and relayed the information to the Jedi Council, his supposedly loyal assistant, Tookarti, reported to Count Dooku that his plans had been compromised.

Dooku appointed Passel Argente, Magistrate of the Corporate Alliance, as the ranking officer for the battle, despite Argente's nonexistent military experience. Commander Merai, an expert in amphibious warfare, received the honor of leading the assault.

After learning of the Confederacy's plans to strike at the nerve center of the Grand Army of the Republic, the cloning facilities on Kamino, the Jedi sent a defense fleet to protect the planet. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Tsui Choi, Aayla Secura, Kossex and several other Jedi would shoot down any incoming ships with squadrons of Jedi starfighters. Shaak Ti would defend Tipoca City, and Oppo Rancisis and a Republic armada would wait out-system for their cue to make a hyperspace jump and take the Separatists with surprise.

Upon arrival, Padawan Anakin Skywalker began to have visions of losing the battle and of his own master's death.

The battle


The day of battle dawned, and Commander Merai sent down his landing ships accompanied by a cloud of droid starfighters. Although numerous Jedi pilots battled above, they could not stop all of the droid forces from landing in Tipoca City, and dozens of fully loaded transports made it through. Jedi Master Shaak Ti and Kaminoan Prime Minister Lama Su worked to protect the fetal and adolescent stage clones from Separatist sabotage, and activated the city's stasis-locked ARC troopers. Under the leadership of Shaak Ti, the ARC troopers advanced through the enemy lines.

Commander Merai was forced to launch a desperate strike at the supposed location of the city's shield generator. However, the Jedi proved too wily for the Mon Calamari tactician; the data gathered by the Corporate Alliance was false—there was no shield generator—and Merai's efforts were in vain. In a last-ditch attack, Merai flew into the Jedi hyperspace rings lying in orbit to destroy them and thus buy his battleships time to retreat. He activated his self-destruct system, but the Jedi sensed this and were able to pull away from the explosion, which destroyed the rings. Upon Merai's death, the CIS retreated on orders from Passel Argente.

Aftermath
Though apparently a victory for the Galactic Republic, the battle was actually engineered by Darth Sidious and his apprentice, Darth Tyranus, to destroy the Confederacy's advance strike force and kill its top commanders, thus ensuring that the war would continue for years.

As a result of the battle, Ko Sai told Yoda that the clone army had been funded by a man named Tyranus.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Republic 50: The Defense of Kamino
 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * Jedi: Aayla Secura
 * Republic Commando: Triple Zero
 * Odds
 * Republic Commando: True Colors
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed comic
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed comic