Confederacy of Independent Systems

"As I explained to you earlier, I am quite convinced that ten thousand more systems will rally to our cause."

- Dooku, to the Separatist Council

The Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS), also known as the Separatist Alliance, the Separatist State, or simply as the Separatists, was a galactic government that began as a loose separatist movement which stood opposed to the Galactic Republic. In the wake of the Naboo Crisis, various planetary and sectorial governments, declared their independence from the Republic who refused to comply with the excessive taxation and corruption that plagued it, resulting in the secession crisis and a massive military build up in the lead-up to war with the secret support from some galactic mega-corporations.

The following three years would see the Clone Wars wage across the galaxy with the Separatists rapidly attempting to bring the Republic to its knees. But the war was a sham – the Republic’s Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was a Sith Lord called Darth Sidious, whom Separatist Head of State Dooku answered to. Towards the end of the conflict, the Confederacy, who had gained some limited legitimacy during the last peace talks as a separate state, suffered several major defeats in the Outer Rim Sieges as the end of the war approached. Along with Dooku's death, its council being executed on Mustafar, and its droid army being shut down. This leading to the trade groups that had supported the cause to be taken over, along with all of its star systems being occupied by the Galactic Empire while holdouts were established who refused to surrender.

Background
"The Republic is not what it once was."

- Senator Palpatine of Naboo on the declining state of the Senate and Republic

For some thousand years, the galaxy had been governed through the Galactic Republic. A democratic union centered on the capital world of Coruscant, the Republic was ruled by the Galactic Senate led by an elected Supreme Chancellor. With the assistance of the Jedi Order acted as peacekeepers, the Republic enjoyed a millennia without large-scale war. However, as time went on, the government of the Republic became weak and corrupt. < During this era of peace, heightening political tensions arose within the Republic a decade before the Clone Wars, such as when a group of usurpers on the planet Halcyon became discontent with the world's membership who wanting their world to be able to manage its own affairs, they kidnapped several members of Halcyon's planetary leadership and held them in a remote fortress where they prepared for assault as an attempted negotiation with their hostages failed and led the Senate to eventually authorised members of the Jedi Order to travel to Halcyon in order to negotiate and use force if necessary.

While the Invasion of Naboo by the Trade Federation exposed the unwillingly and failure for the Senate to resolve the crisis; while would only be ended by the actions of the Gungans and Royal House of Naboo uniting and ending the occupation, this inefficiency was a result of years of corrupt and ineffectual governance by the Republic that had became mired in bureaucracy. The commerce guilds and trading corporations had also become disillusioned after laws were passed that would introduce taxes for all trade routes that would have the greatest impact on the poorer outlying star systems who support for the Republic was deceasing due to a long history of heavy taxes and indifference from the Core Worlds, who often forced them into accepting one-sided deals and refused to provide military protection, a general feeling of disgust towards the Senate developed. This created fears that tensions would gradually increase to the point of a galactic schism as these outlying systems no longer saw any benefit from being part of the Republic. To address the situation, some began to believe that any attempt at change would require radical thinking and extreme actions, leading to discussions of secession from Republic.

Secession from the Republic
The poorer systems in the Galactic Republic during it twilight years began to rebel and break away after their years of grievances were championed by the charismatic former Jedi Master Count Dooku. Dooku, who had secretly become the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, oversaw the whole movement in secret with his Sith Master, Darth Sidious. The former Jedi was able to rally these worlds into declaring independence from the Republic, a movement which would eventually become known formally as the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

They began to create a sphere of influence in the galactic south by bringing Yag'Dhul and Sluis Van to their side. Dooku needed to persuade the now prosperous world of Eriadu to join the alliance. Then-Governor Wilhuff Tarkin however refused the offer, despite Dooku's commandeering of a HoloNet station in the Raxus system in which he denounced the Republic. Meanwhile on the moon of Antar 4, a major schism occurred between pro-Republic loyalists and those who wished to align with the Separatists. The loyalists were able to retain power until after the Battle of Geonosis, the first conflict of the Clone Wars, before the moon fell to the Separatist Droid Army. as the crisis intensified as more systems pledged loyalty to Dooku and the Confederacy of Independent Systems causing a fully fledged Secessionist Movement to develop across the galaxy. During this period of uncertainty and the fears that the Republic would split into two, a plot to assassinate Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo was set in motion. Amidala, who was a leading opponent of the Military Creation Act that was proposed, was targeted when she arrived on Coruscant for a vote on the measure. The failed attempt was carried out by the bounty hunters Zam Wesell and Jango Fett, who were hired by the Separatists in an attempt to undermine the Republic and to demand any political requests as fears develop over Separatist aggression motivated the Galactic Senate of the Republic to move towards the passage of the creation act, which would establish centralized Armed Forces to protect the thousand-year-old democracy.



Shortly after this, the Jedi Order sent Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi on a mission to the aquatic world of Kamino to investigate the identities of those involved in the plot to assassinate Amidala. After discovering his involvement, Kenobi attempted to arrest Jango Fett but failed. During Fett's escape, Kenobi managed to place a tracking beacon on his ship which allowed him to follow him to the Outer Rim world of Geonosis; their base of operations, where he engaged Fett in a vicious dogfight. Soon after landing on Geonosis, Kenobi discovered when spying on the Separatist Council that the Confederacy and some key galactic corporate titans had formed a agreement into arming the movement to stand against the Republic secretly and also learns that it was Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation who ordered the assassination of Amidala, as revenge for their defeat at the Battle of Naboo. He was swiftly captured afterward and imprisoned by Dooku but not before sending a message to the Jedi Council about his discovery. At Amidala's request, Anakin Skywalker attempted to rescue Kenobi, only to be captured himself along with Amidala and put in the Petranaki arena along with Kenobi. Meanwhile tensions between the Republic and Separatist movement peaked after the Republic learned of the size and significance of it army of battle droids, motivating the Senate to grant emergency powers to the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic—a position that was then occupied by Sheev Palpatine, the alter ego of Darth Sidious.

During the attempted execution of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Senator Padmé Amidala, a team of two hundred Jedi were sent to the arena to rescue the trio. During the rescue the Jedi were attacked by a host of battle droids. During the battle Jango Fett was killed while engaged in a duel with Mace Windu after his jetpack malfunctioned. With the battle turning against the Jedi, Dooku gave the remaining Jedi forces a chance to lay down their arms, a choice to which Windu declined. In the next few moments, several Acclamator-class assault ships arrived over the arena, while LAAT/i gunships tore through the droid forces surrounding the Jedi. With the aid of the newly-formed Grand Army of the Republic, the surviving Jedi managed to escape certain death. All the while, the newly formed clone troopers engaged droid forces on the planets surface, starting the deadly three-year Clone Wars.

Clone Wars
"I have good news for you, my Lord. The war has begun.''" "''Excellent. Everything is going as planned."

- Darth Tyranus and Darth Sidious

Battle of Geonosis
"&laquo;The Jedi must not find our designs for the Ultimate Weapon. If they find out what we are planning to build, we're doomed.&raquo;''" "''I will take the designs with me to Coruscant. They will be much safer there&hellip;with my Master."

- Poggle the Lesser and Count Dooku

The arrival of the clones sparked a full-scale battle on Geonosis, with both sides taking heavy losses. Eventually however, the clone army began to gain the upper hand. This forced Poggle to order his soldiers to retreat and hide, but before he joined them, he turned over plans to the Ultimate Weapon &mdash; a secret project he had been contracted to build by the Separatists &mdash; to Count Dooku. As the battle raged on, Kenobi and Skywalker chased Dooku and tried to prevent his escape by engaging in a lightsaber duel, however they were defeated by Dooku with relative ease. Following their defeat Grand Master Yoda came to their rescue and engaged Dooku in a lightsaber battle. After realising that he was outmatched by Yoda, Dooku fled Geonosis and along Separatists leadership retreated. Though they had suffered a defeat in battle, the goal of the Sith had been fulfilled; the Clone Wars had begun.

Seizing the Hyperlanes
Shortly after Geonosis, began to seize control of the major hyperspace lanes following Geonosis, separating the Republic from its army.

Christophsis


After capturing Christophsis that was led by Asajj Ventress and General Whorm Loathsom who who were initially able to cintrol the battle but were soon overwhelmed the small relief force led by Senator Bail Organa, they were then pushed back and subsequently defeated when the Republic sent reinforcements.

Plot on Teth
On Teth, the Separatists hatched a plot to deny the Jedi the alliance with the Hutt Clan that they so desperately needed and to establish an alliance with the Hutt's themselves. Republic forces attempted to save Rotta, the infant son of crime lord Jabba the Hutt from the Confederacy, who planned to kill the Huttlet and lay the blame on the Jedi Order. However, Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, were able to rescue the Huttlet from Teth and return him to Tatooine and gain the support of the Hutt's for the Republic.

Occupation of Ryloth
"Droid, is the planet Ryloth one of our targeted worlds?''" "Yes, Emir. Based on resources, accessibility, political influence and overall strategic value, it is currently ranked as number seventy-nine." "''Mobilize our troops. We are moving it to number one."

- Wat Tambor and TA-175

After the annihilation of the Republic garrison, Ryloth was occupied and blockaded by the Separatist Droid Army. The army was led by Emir Wat Tambor who oversaw the occupation from the city of Lessu. During the occupation much of Ryloth was pillaged by the droid army by order of the Emir. Throughout the occupation, the Confederacy forces were repeatedly attacked by a group of Twi'lek freedom fighters led by Cham Syndulla. Eventually the Republic Army assembled a force to liberate the planet, a goal they accomplished after heavy fighting. However, they were unable to prevent the Emir's escape with many of the valuables he had looted from the Twi'leks.

Destruction of the Malevolence
"Our ship is unstoppable!"

- General Grievous



The Confederacy had developed a superweapon known as the Malevolence. It worked by firing a powerful ion canon to disable enemy ships before destroying them with a barrage of conventional canon fire. The ship gained the attention of the Republic after destroying the fleet of Jedi General Plo Koon in the Battle of Abregado after revealing itself to the Republic after Koon was rescued by Jedi General Anakin Skywalker after he was marooned in an escape pod. Dooku then ordered the ship to attack an unarmed Republic medical center near the Ryndellia system. Having been alerted to the impending attack, the Republic dispatched a fleet to rescue the medical station. After a fierce battle the ship was finally destroyed when Anakin Skywalker tampered with the ships navicomputer and crashed it into a nearby moon.

Battle of Malastare
The battle of Malastare took place on the resource rich planet of Malastare. The planet was of strategic importance to both the Republic and the Separatists due to the abundance of natural resources (such as oil) on the planet. The Republic was keen to sign a treaty with the Malastare but their plans were hindered when the Separatist Droid Army invaded the planet. Due to the lack of military forces on the planet, the Republic forces were quickly overwhelmed and who in the face of certain defeat, authorized the use of an experimental Electro-proton bomb. In the ensuing blast the droid army was shut down and the battle won for the Republic. The Malastare then proceeded to sign the treaty with the Republic.

Fall of Geonosis
"This investment by the Banking Clan will create unimaginable new war profits. The largest droid factory ever built."

- Rush Clovis Following the discovery of a plan by the InterBanking Clan and the Separatists to build massive new droid foundries on Geonosis, the Galactic Republic launched a second major planetary invasion of Geonosis to shut down the foundries that Archduke Poggle the Lesser had built there. After their discovery on Cato Neimoidia, the Republic dispatched a massive detachment of Clones to retake Geonosis and stop the production of battle droids. After a difficult landing, the Republic forces managed to establish a landing zone at Point Rain near the factories, the Republic then disabled the factories' ray shield, making way for the rest of the clone troopers to safely land. As Poggle attempted to retake Point Rain, the main droid foundry was targeted by the Jedi, who launched a major offensive against the factory. Unknown to the separatists, the main assault was actually a distraction that would enable Padawans Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee to infiltrate the foundry and destroy the reactor core thus blowing the factory up from the inside. Following this victory, the Jedi proceeded to destroy the remaining droid foundries on Geonosis stop the Separatist plans. Although the droid foundries had been destroyed, Poggle remained at large, having escaped before the foundries were destroyed.

Backing the Death Watch
In order to gain much needed support for their attempt at taking over Mandalore, the Death Watch briefly allied themselves with the Confederacy of Independent Systems who commandos performed sabotage missions for the Separatists against Republic targets. One such mission involved a commando attempting to sabotage a Republic cruiser; the Death Watch commando was captured, but rather than surrender and submit to questioning, he committed suicide. His actions, in addition to false rumors, led many in the republic to believe that Duchess Satine Kryze, the leader of the New Mandalorian government and head of the Council of Neutral Systems, was training a Mandalorian army for the Separatists. The Jedi Council dispatched Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi to Mandalore to meet with Satine and investigate the rumours. At first, the Duchess and her advisers discounted any Mandalorian involvement until Kenobi showed holographic recordings of the Death Watch saboteur. Having no other choice, she reluctantly revealed rumors of the Death Watch's return. The rumours were later proven when a death watch commando bombed the memorial shrine in the New Mandalorian capital of Sundari before committing suicide when Kenobi attempted to apprehend him. Left at the bomb site was a holographic representation of the Death Watch symbol, further highlighting the group's return. During these events the leader of death watch - Pre Vizsla - communicated with Count Dooku who revealed his strategy. He would force the Republic into sending peacekeeping forces to Mandalore. Dooku hoped this would lead the populace to view the Republic as invaders and turn to deathwatch to liberate them.

When Satine journeyed to Coruscant, Death Watch made a second attempt on her life. Mandalore's senator, Tal Merrik, was secretly in league with the Death Watch and used his senatorial stamp to smuggle several assassin probes aboard the duchess' ship. Once Satine safely arrived at the galactic capital, the Death Watch reoccupied their base on Concordia as a staging area for their impending invasion of Mandalore. A New Mandalorian scout reported this development to Prime Minster Almec, however the Prime Minister wasn't concerned because he believed that the Death Watch would never be able to take Mandalore without the support of the public. Meanwhile, the Republic Senate had decided to send peacekeeping forces to Mandalore after being shown forged evidence of a senior Mandalorian minister begging the Republic to send help. With the help of Kenobi, the Duchess was able to uncover the unedited version of the holorecording. After being shown the new evidence the Republic Senate revoked its order to send peacekeepers to Mandalore which turn out to be a catastrophic failure for Death Watch cancelled its planned attack on Mandalore and broke all ties with the Separatists.

Kamino Campaign
Following the destruction of a Republic monitoring station, the Separatist army, led by General Grevious and Asajj Ventress, invaded the cloning world of Kamino. The aim of the campaign was to destroy the Republic cloning factories and thus deny the Republic more troops, turning the war in the Separatists favour. The plan was for the droid army to launch an invasion while Asajj Ventress stole the crucial genetic material needed to produce more clones. However their plan was foiled when Jedi General Anakin Skywalker intercepted Ventress and defeated her following a fierce lightsaber duel. The main droid army was also defeated by the clone troopers.

Blockade of Pantora
During the height of the war, the Trade Federation had blockaded the moon Pantora in the Pantora system in an attempt to force them to join the Separatist Alliance. As part of the conspiracy, the daughters of the Pantoran Chairman Papanoida were kidnapped and held upon the main ship of the Separatist blockade. Following a daring rescue by Ahsoka Tano and Pantoran Senator Riyo Chuchi, the conspiracy was uncovered and the Trade Federation was forced to remove its blockade.

Peace Initiative
"Your Republic forces have carried out a barbaric attack on our people! And among the deaths was the very sponsor of the peace accord, Senator Mina Bonteri. With her needless death, I must formally withdraw the proposal for peace offered by our Senate."

- Count Dooku

Following a secret meeting between Padmé Amidala and Mina Bonteri, the Separatist Congress approved the start of peace talks between the Separatists and the Republic. However these talks quickly fell apart following a series of plots by Count Dooku to destroy the peace process. Dooku ordered two attacks - the death of Mina Bonteri and a bombing on the Republic capital of Coruscant. Following these attacks neither side had any desire to continue the peace process. This cancellation was despite heated protests from Amidala who pointed out that the moral responsibility of the war also had to be considered. This led to accusations by some members of the Republic Senate that Amidala had betrayed the Republic.

Loss of Ventress
"Master, I need your help quickly. I am surrounded.''" "You have already lost the battle, child. I've ordered your reinforcements to return." "No! I will destroy the Jedi. I'll show you!" "''You have failed me for the last time. You are no longer my apprentice. And now, you shall die."

- Asajj Ventress is betrayed by Count Dooku during the Battle of Sullust

The separatist fleet began a major space battle against a Republic flotilla, with Asajj Ventress personally leading the Separatists against the Republic. However, the state of the battle would change when Dooku was ordered to kill his apprentice by Darth Sidious to prove his loyalty. Dooku then ordered Ventress' reinforcements to return in an attempt to end his apprentices life. Following the destruction of her command ship Dooku presumed her to be dead and ordered the recall of the armarda from Sullust. However, contrary to Dookus belief Ventress escaped and survived her ordeal.

Capture of the Temple of Eedit
"Master!''" "''Stay back!"

- Knox and Halsey upon Savage Opress's arrival

Republic forces were in control of the ancient Temple of Eedit which acted as a front for the Republic's military outpost. In order to gain control of temple, a Separatist Army was sent to attack. The Republic sent two Jedi&mdash;Jedi Master Halsey and his Padawan Knox&mdash;and several ARF troopers. The Republic troops were able to hold back the Separatist forces and gained the upper hand in the battle. However, in order to test the powers of his new apprentice, Savage Opress, Dooku sent him to Devaron to finish the battle and destroy the Republic forces. Opress mercilessly slaughtered all the clones upon his arrival, including ARF Commander Trauma. Finding the two Jedi in front of temple's door, he attacked Halsey, and although the Roonan fought hard, Opress struck him down. Knox, after witnessing his master's death, attacked his master's killer. However, Opress effortlessly slashed him across the chest, sending him flying into the temple doors, dead. Upon successfully completing his mission, Opress returned to Serenno.

Seeking the Nexus Route
Following the capture of Jedi Master Even Piell, a highly trained strike force led by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker along with his Padawan Ahsoka Tano, attempted to rescue him and his command crew from The Citadel - a high security Separatist prison made specifically for Jedi. The prisoners were of special importance to the republic because they possessed knowledge of the coordinates for the Nexus Route - a Hyperspace lane which led directly to both the Republic and Separatist capital worlds. During the escape, Piell was killed but the vital information was passed onto Ahsoka Tano. Following a number of challenges, the team managed to escape the prison with the coordinates and most of the former prisoners.

Fight for Felucia
"Form up for counterattack. Lower the gate."

- TZ-33, responding to the Republic's offensive

Following the defeat of the Republic during the First Battle of Felucia, the Republic army launched a second invasion attempt. During the invasion the Republic launched a series of major offensives on the planet. In retaliation, General Grevious sent a number of reinforcements to various Separatist outposts on the planet. In response the Jedi intensified their offensive and managed to gain control of the planet and system.

Failure on Mon Cala
"Attack!"

- Riff Tamson to his Separatist army

Following the assassination of the previous Mon Calamari king, the Quarrens attempted to seize control of Mon Cala with the aid of the Separatists. At the request of Prince Lee-Char, the Republic sent an underwater regiment as reinforcements for the Mon Calamari. After a fierce battle the Quarren and Separatists emerged victorious and enslaved all the Mon Calamari. Not willing to give up on Mon Cala, the Jedi Council sent reinforcements in the form of the Gungan Grand Army from Naboo. During the ensuing battle the Quarren came to the realization that the Separatists were only interested in capturing Mon Cala for themselves. With this in mind they turned on the Separatist forces and defeated them.

Attempted conquest of Naboo
"Why bring the war to Naboo?''" "How quickly you forget! After all, the war started here years ago." "You were a part of that first battle?" "''The Sith control everything&mdash;you just don't know it!"

- Anakin Skywalker and Count Dooku

Dooku conspired with General Grievous and Rish Loo to launch another invasion of Naboo, a plot that would involve turning the Gungans against the Naboo. Minister Rish Loo began influencing Boss Lyonie through the use of a necklace. He influenced Lyonie to order an attack on Theed with the help of the Separatist alliance. After Anakin Skywalker and Jar Jar Binks removed the necklace, Rish Loo attempted to kill Lyonie. Believing him dead, Rish Loo went to the assembled Gungan Grand Army and told them that Lyonie was dead, ordering them to attack Theed immediately. Jar-Jar however, arrived at the event, posing as Lyonie. He denounced Rish Loo and cancelled the order to invade Theed. Rish Loo then fled to his laboratory. Anakin followed Rish Loo, fighting the probe droids sent to stop him. Meanwhile, Grievous and his army landed on Naboo and contacted Jar-Jar (who they beleived to be Lyonie) to ask why the attack on Theed had been cancelled. Jar-Jar entered Grievous's lander and attempted to stall the General. Eventually, Grievous figured out that Jar-Jar was not Lyonie, and chased the gungan outside, where he found his entire army deactivated. The gungan army surrounded Grievous and told him to surrender. Grevious replied by drawing two lightsaber and killing several gungan warriors. His rampage was stopped however when General Roos Tarpals stabbed him with an electric spear, the cyborg stabbed Tarpals through the heart and killed him. Just before he died Tarpals drove his spear all the way through grevious allowing the rest of the Gungan warriors to disable Grevious with boombas.

At the same time, Skywalker found Dooku's lair, after following Rish Loo to an ancient cliff-side structure. Unknown to Skywalker, the lair was actually a trap set by Count Dooku, designed to capture Skywalker. Following a lightsaber battle, involving Dooku and several Magna Guards, Skywalker was captured and held hostage by Dooku. Shortly after Skywalkers capture, Padmé Amidala received a message from Dooku on her holoprojector. During the exchange, Dooku told Amidala that he had captured Skywalker. He then demanded that Amidala give back General Grevious in return for Skywalker. She reluctantly agreed and the prisoner exchange took place shortly thereafter. Following the prisoner exchange, the Separatist forces retreated.

Deals with Zygerrian Slave Empire
The Confederacy had formed an alliance with Queen Miraj Scintel who led the Zygerrian Slave Empire. As part of the deal, the Confederacy attacked a Togruta colony on Kiros and enslaved all of its inhabitants.

However their plans were foiled when the Jedi managed to track the missing colonists to the Zygerrian homeworld of Zygerria. The Jedi Council then sent Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano to infiltrate the slave markets where the colonists were being held. During their attempted rescue, Kenobi and Skywalker were captured. Kenobi was sent to a slave processing facility while Skywalker became the personal slave of the Queen. While being held as the personal slave of the Queen, Scientel developed feelings for Anakin. When she was ordered to kill him by Count Dooku she refused. As a punishment for her defiance Dooku killed her. Seeing his opportunity, Skywalker freed Ahsoka and carried the Queen onto a slave ship upon which he escaped.

Following Skywalkers escape, the Queen revealed to him the location of the processing facility where Kenobi and the missing Togruta colonists were being held. Having discovered the location and told the Jedi Council, Skywalker and Tano arrived at the facility. They attempted to break into the facility but failed. Soon after their arrival Republic reinforcements arrived and the facilities defenses were soon disabled. With no hope of escape, the facilities manager Agruss attempted to kill the colonists by dropping them into a volcanic pit. However, his plan was foiled when Ahsoka Tano devised a plan to rescue the colonists. With the succesful rescue of Kenobi and the colonists, the Jedi departed the facility and destroyed it.

Peace Conference
"The Republic recognizes the tragedy of war, but there is nothing we can change that has already occurred.''" "Say it aloud before this gathering&mdash;as representative for Chancellor Palpatine that you declare, without reservation, the Separatist state legitimate''."

- Senators Padmé Amidala and Voe Atell

At the height of the Clone Wars, the Confederacy of Independent Systems held a peace conference with the Galactic Republic on the neutral planet Mandalore between representatives of both governments in an effort to end the pan-galactic conflict. The conference was presided over by Duchess Satine Kryze within her royal palace in the New Mandalorian capital Sundari. At the beginning of the meeting, Naboo Senator Padmé Amidala opened up the discussions, leading the Republic senators in the peace negotiations, but she was quickly rebuffed by Senator Voe Atell, who called for the Republic to declare the Separatist State legitimate. However, before the delegates could further discuss their terms of peace, Lux Bonteri, son of the late Onderonian senator Mina Bonteri, interrupted the summit and announced to the politicians that it was Count Dooku that had his mother murdered. This led young Bonteri to soon afterward be escorted out by Separatist security droids, allowing the discussion to continue. Shortly after his escape, however, the negotiations fell apart completely along with hopes of gaining the full legitimacy it seeked, however the Confederacy had received some legitimacy as a state by the very notion of the conference having took place.

Onderon Rebellion
"Our true king has been silenced. The one you recognize is a traitor and a Separatist minion."

- Saw Gerrera opinion of the Separatist backed King

Having instigated Onderons secession from the Galactic Republic at the beginning of the Clone Wars, King Sanjay Rash found his regime, which was being backed by the Confederacy of Independent Systems, challenged by a group of rebels organized by the young insurgent Saw Gerrera. The rebels hoped to restore the deposed King Ramsis Dendup to the throne. Seeing an opportunity to engage the Confederacy on another front, the Republic began to fund the rebels with credits and arms to combat Rash's occupational forces from the Separatist Droid Army. The Jedi High Council sent a team of advisors to train the rebels along with some of the 501st Legion who were covertly inserted into Onderon and oversaw training sessions at the insurgency's jungle camp. Midway through the training, the camp was attacked and the lessons escalated into actual combat when a battle droid squadron attempted to exterminate the rebels, however, the newly trained rebels eliminated the enemy droid squad. The rebels then infiltrated the Separatist-occupied capital Iziz, conducting strikes on droid patrols throughout the city. They also targeted Iziz's main power generator to extinguish the battle droids recharging source and also proving they were capable of challenging the Separatists and. Count Dooku sent King Rash reinforcements under the command of the super tactical droid General Kalani.

After the rebels attempted and failed to free the deposed King Dendup, King Rash ordered his public execution. However his plans were foiled when General Tandin and his royal guards sided with the rebels during Rash's attempted execution of Dendup, helping Gorera and her insurgents rescue Dendup, He also pledged the Royal Onderon Militia to their forces. With Steela appointed by Dendup as their commanding general, the joint rebel and royal soldiers pulled out from Iziz, hoping to preserve civilian lives by isolating armed conflict to the eastern highlands. As full-scale fighting began, the rebels used the mountain terrain against the Separatists and despite heavy casualties, won the battle with the help of illegal rocket launchers supplied to them by the republic. Faced with this catastrophic defeat, Dooku contacted Rash and Kalani. Rash explained what had happened and that they would need even more help to defeat the rebels. Dooku refused, not wanting another war to deal with. He commanded Kalani to call back all of the droid forces from the planet. As Rash angrily protested, Kalani shot the deluded king, killing him.

Carida Incident
The Carida Incident was the result of a mission undertaken by the Confederacy of Independent Systems who sabotaged the Venator-class Star Destroyer Renown by loading it with rhydonium canisters with the intention of ramming it into the Valor space station, the site of a Republic strategy conference. While escaping Abafar, the D-Squad took refuge in the Venator-class Star Destroyer, on which they planned to return the stolen Separatist encryption module, but they discovered it was overrun by droids. They undertook efforts to disrupt the Confederate plot and stop the ship from destroying a Republic strategy conference in the Carida system.

Fight for Ringo Vinda
The Battle of Ringo Vinda took place outside a separatist controlled space station that surrounded the planet of Ringo Vinda. Initially the battle was turning in the favour of the Republic. However, the battle turned in the Separatists favour when a clone trooper, CT-5385 Tup, malfunctioned and executed order 66 early, killing Jedi General Tiplar. With their momentum lost, the Republic had no option other than to retreat. The unusual behaviour of the Republic was noticed by Admiral Trench who reported it to Dooku, who then reported it to Darth Sidious.

Battle of Anaxes
Anaxes was attacked by a Confederate fleet under the command of Admiral Trench who besieged the Republic shipyards at Anaxes for weeks on end, exploiting the Techno Union's access to a secret Republic strategy algorithm. Even as the tide of battle began to turn against him, Trench remained intent on annihilating the Jedi and their clone infantry. In a last ditch effort, he activated a bomb beneath the assembly complex on Anaxes. However, Anakin Skywalker infiltrated Trench's flagship and forced the admiral to divulge the sequence to disarm the device. When Trench tried to retaliate, Skywalker drove his lightsaber through his chest killing him and ending the battle.

Attack on Mahranee
"I've been monitoring your transmissions, General, and I know that this little chat is being sent to the Jedi Council. So let me make one thing perfectly clear. As long as the Republic resists me, 'innocents' will continue to die. Every death in this war lies firmly at the feet of the Jedi. And now&hellip; it is time for you and your passengers to join the ranks of the fallen."

- Dooku chilling words to Chubor before the mass genocide over Mahranee

The Confederacy would attempt to commit a mass genocide on the people of Mahran under orders from Count Dooku. The planet was of strategic importance to the Confederacy because of its vast quantities of natural resources. In response the people of Mahran begged the Jedi council to send aid. The Jedi responded by sending Jedi General Chubor with a task force of clone troopers. However, the were too late to prevent Confederacy forces from laying waste much of the planet, including the capital city. The Republic attempted to escort the remaining Mahranee off world but were stopped when the Separatists launched a massive attack, slaughtering all the civilians, Jedi and clones. After this massacre, Dooku attempted to lay the blame for the tragedy on the Jedi Council. This led the council to finally authorize an assassination attempt on the Count in an desperate bid to limit the wars casualties.

Defeating the Shadow Collective
"Maul! Your end is at hand!"

- General Grievous, as the attack began

Darth Sidious brought Maul to the Spire, a prison fortress controlled by the Confederacy of Independent Systems on Stygeon Prime. It was there that Sidious briefly interrogated Maul, and told Count Dooku to find out information about who and where the Shadow Collective leaders were. The goal was to make Maul believe that the Sith wanted to destroy the Shadow Collective, so he would seek out Mother Talzin. Meanwhile, Sidious was followed to Stygeon Prime by two Death Watch warriors, Rook Kast and Gar Saxon, under orders from Mandalore's Prime Minister, Almec to free Maul from the Spire.

After being freed, Maul was tracked to Zanbar by General Grievous along with a Separatist fleet. Dooku ordered Grievous not to kill Maul, simply to defeat and break his forces enough that Maul would seek out Mother Talzin's help. Grievous launched his forces towards the surface, and Maul's troops immediately began firing anti-aircraft weaponry at them. The heavy fire was not enough to repel the ships, however, so the Separatists pressed their attack and deployed all of their forces.

After the Shadow Collective lost on Zanbar, Maul attacked Dooku and Grievous over Ord Mantell which led to Maul make his way into orbit and boarded Grievous' command ship. Grievous disabled the battle droid army after Maul gave him the choice to do so or die, and the cyborg general was taken into custody. Dooku, meanwhile, had engaged and defeated the Nightbrothers in battle, before being captured by the Shadow Collective forces.

Sidious and Grievous arrived to confront Maul and Talzin on Dathomir after finding out where Dooku was being held, the latter of whom had used her magick to take control of Dooku's body. This led to a lightsaber duel, in which Sidious quickly gained the upper hand against the Dooku-controlled Talzin. Talzin appeared in the flesh, returned to her physical form, and held off a Force lightning assault from Sidious and, eventually, Dooku. Talzin sacrificed her own life to allow Maul to escape, as Grievous fatally stabbed the Dathomir witch through the chest while Maul fled from Dathomir. The Separatists, meanwhile, also attacked Maul's Black Sun and Pyke Syndicate allies, leading the mercenaries to end their alliance with Maul; destroying the Shadow Collective.

Attempts on Dooku
Towards the end of the Clone Wars, the Jedi Council decided to assassinate Count Dooku to hasten the end of the war. They sent Quinlan Vos under the guise of a bounty hunter to recruit Ventress, who previously came close to killing Dooku and knew much about him, to aid him in the assassination. Their first attempt on Dooku ended in failure with Vos being captured, with a final plan to assassinate him during the second battle of Christophsis ending in the death of his former apprentice Asajj Ventress.

End of the War
"The end of the war is near General"

- Darth Sidious to General Grievous



Towards the end of the three year war, the Republic began laying siege to the Separatist strongholds as the Confederacy began to lose ground in the Outer Rim Territories with battles taking place on Cato Neimoidia, Mygeeto, Saleucami, Felucia, as well as Kaller in what was to become some of the most deadly fighting in the whole conflict. Meanwhile, the Separatist Navy led by Head of State Count Dooku launched an daring attack on the capital of the Galactic Republic - Coruscant. During the battle, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine was captured by General Greivous and kept on board his command ship. The Republic sent Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to rescue the Chancellor. During their rescue attempt, they were confronted by Count Dooku and engaged him in a lightsaber duel. Dooku initially gained the upper hand, knocking Kenobi out, however, after taunting Skywalker into using his rage to focus his attack, he was defeated and subsequently killed by Skywalker. After rescuing the Chancellor, they escaped to the bridge where Greivous lay in wait for them. They engaged him and a duel and managed to defeat him, however he managed to escape. Greivous then ordered the fleet to withdraw and became the leader of the Separatist Alliance who fled to Utapau, an occupied world where he hid and met with the Separatist Council who he ordered to go to the Mustafar system where they will be safe. During his time there, his location was discovered by Clone Intelligence. This led the Jedi Council to send Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi to investigate. Having arrived in secret, Kenobi confirmed the presence of Greivous and ordered a full scale assault on the settlement. During the ensuing battle, Greivous would be killed by Kenobi while trying to flee the sinkhole planet.



Hoping to take a system of high importance that would turn the tide of the war in their favour, the Separatists mounted an attack on the Mid Rim world of Kashyyyk. Due to its status as an important navigational point, the Republic could not afford to lose it. Fighting carried on, on Utapau and Kaller, where the Republic was winning over the Confederacy. The conflict took an unexpected turn as a purge of the Jedi began, and while having no involvement in Order 66 that was authorized by Chancellor Sheev Palpatine (secretly Darth Sidious), it's droid armies on planets such as Mygeeto and Felucia bore witness the Republic armed forces turning on the Jedi Order whose knights and masters were leading them in the battlefields against the Confederacy that bought the fighting to an end with the Republic shortly after.

Downfall of the Confederacy
"The Separatists have been taken care of, my master.''" "''It is finished, then. You have restored peace and justice to the galaxy."

- Darth Vader and Darth Sidious

Massacre on Mustafar
"The plan has gone as you had promised, my Lord.''" "''You have done well, Viceroy. When my new apprentice, Darth Vader, arrives, he will take care of you."

- Nute Gunray and Darth Sidious With the loss of General Greivous and a number of important battles throughout the galaxy, the Separatists were finally defeated - just as Darth Sidious had intended. Though they had been defeated, they were still in control of a number of assets as well as sectors and systems. To deal with this problem, Sidious sent his new apprentice, Darth Vader, to eliminate the remaining Separatist leaders who had gathered on Mustafar.

In the final act of the Sith grand plan; the Separatist leadership was brutally murdered by the Sith Lord Darth Vader. After the slaughter, Vader received the order to end the Clone Wars by sending a shutdown signal to all the droid armies spread throughout the Galaxy, officially ending the Clone Wars.

Subjugation of Separatist worlds
"As Governor Tarkin can attest, our navy was still chasing Separatist holdouts as late as a year ago"

- Rancit, to Tarkin

Following the events on Mustafar, the remaining aligned systems of the Confederacy of Independent Systems were immediately annexed and occupied by the fledgling Galactic Empire without any peace agreements being signed between the two entities as the Empire began to root out remaining Separatist holdouts for at least four years after the Clone Wars, while criminal organizations composed of re-purposed battle droids such as the Droid Gotra operated in Coruscant's underground while some escaped notice all together.

Seeking to make examples of worlds who continued to harbor secessionist tendencies, worlds like Kooriva, Murkhana and Raxus, which still hosted ex-Separatists, became targets of the Empire. One such example, assigned to Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, was of the once loyal Separatist moon, Antar 4. During the genocidal atrocities committed on the moon's population, Imperial forces made no attempt to sort the Separatists from the Imperial loyalists. This served to compel Raxus and other worlds to surrender all former Separatists to Imperial custody, or else suffer a similar demise to that of Antar 4.

The Empire would later see to the near-extermination of life on Geonosis, a once major Separatist world, by wiping out most of the native population of Geonosians using bombs and other foreign weapons.

Legacy
"Understand as a Separatist, I fought for freedom but put my trust in a corrupt leadership." "You were the leadership—a General." "The Jedi were Generals. Do you truly believe they comprehended the cause they started? Holster your weapon, boy. We are no longer enemies. Perhaps we never were."

- Former Separatist General Kleeve to Jedi survivor Caleb Dume

During the Age of the Empire, the tale of the Clone Wars was frequently used as a warning to the Galaxy of what could happen should the Empire and order fail. Separatist military equipment (including battle droids) that survived the war was used by a number of pirate and resistance organizations. A large amount of heavily modified Separatist equipment was used by the Alliance to Restore the Republic; examples include the IG-227 Hailfire-class droid tank and the Armored Assault Tank.

Soon after the Empire's formation, Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader observed the construction of the Death Star, a super-weapon which had begun construction sometime during the Clone Wars by the Confederacy. With the Separatists defeated and their leaders killed, the Death Star project was taken over by the Galactic Empire, who planned to use it to control the galaxy.

Nineteen years later, the Death Star was used to destroy the planet Alderaan, killing all the inhabitants. The Death Star was later destroyed during the Battle of Yavin when a young Rebel pilot, Luke Skywalker, exploited a serious design flaw to destroy the battle station. This event is often credited with beginning the Galactic Civil War.

After the Alliance to Restore the Republic was re-organized into the New Republic after it won the war, it was decided that the Capital of the New Republic would be rotated periodically - addressing one of the main concerns of the Confederate systems.

Government
"The Separatists used to be a part of the Republic. I was close with many of the senators who left. I may not agree with them, but they're more than pawns."

- Republican Senator Padmé Amidala on the Separatist Senate



The Confederacy had a single Head of State. This individual was the leader of the Separatist Council, whose members were made up of various galactic corporations who had pledged full support to the Separatist cause but still deny having links to it while maintaining it connections to the Galactic Republic. The position was held, for most of the Confederacy's existence, by Count Dooku, who was secretly the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus and the apprentice of the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious. After Dooku's death during the Battle of Coruscant, General Grievous, the Supreme Commander of the Separatist Droid Army, assumed command of the Confederacy briefly until his own death at the Battle of Utapau. After the loss of Grievous, Viceroy Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation assumed the position of Head of State. However, like Grievous, he was short lived as he himself would be killed alongside the rest of the Separatist Council by Darth Vader during his mission to Mustafar.

Operating alongside but below the council was the Separatist Senate, a body of senators that dealt with diplomatic and civilian issues. It was made up of worlds who had been part of the Republic but joined the Separatist cause, including ones that had once been members of the Galactic Republic. The senate was seated on the planet of Raxus. Many loyalists and senators of the Galactic Republic believed that the Separatist senators were no more than pawns to Dooku.

Military
"Our friends from the Trade Federation have pledged their support. And when their battle droids are combined with yours, we shall have an army greater than any in the galaxy. The Jedi will be overwhelmed. The Republic will agree to any demands we make."

- Count Dooku

The various commercial entities who joined under the banner of the Confederacy pledged their forces to the Separatist Army and Navy, creating one sprawling group of droids as well as organic forces, and local warriors, and was often referred to as the Droid Army. These ranged from the Trade Federation's battle droids to the security forces maintained by the Commerce Guild, InterGalactic Banking Clan and Corporate Alliance.

One of the largest contributions was by the Techno Union, which donated not only its new B2 super battle droids, but numerous foundries capable of producing thousands more droids for the Confederacy.

It also deployed much larger weapons of war during the Clone Wars. Commerce Guild OG-9 homing spider droids were a common sight on many frontlines, and tank droids, droid subfighters, and AATs provided heavy firepower.

Demographics
The population in the Confederacy held a mostly non-human majority which was reflected in both it's military and political arena as well the galactic corporations who gave support to it, such as the Trade Federation and Corporate Alliance.

Astrography
The territory of the Confederacy of Independent Systems varied in size a great deal during the course of its short history. At the beginning of the Clone Wars, the Confederacy numbered at least ten thousand star systems, as well as the various commercial groups, allied under its banner.