First Galactic Civil War
- This article is about the bygone civil war that sundered the Galactic Republic. For the ongoing conflict, see Second Galactic Civil War.
| First Galactic Civil War | |
 | |
| Date | Year -25 — Year -22 |
| Location | The Galaxy |
| Result | · Old Republic dissolved · Empire formed in Republic territories · Drayson becomes emperor · Separatists forced deep into the Outer Rim |
| Belligerents | |
Republic: Galactic Republic Jedi Order | Separatist Forces: Trade Federation Corporate Alliance Commerce Guild Confederacy of Independent Systems |
| Commanders and Leaders | |
| Endis Valorum Supreme Chancellor Hiram Drayson Jedi Grand Master Relm | Unknown |
| Casualties and Losses | |
| Billions | Billions |
The First Galactic Civil War, or Clone Wars, was the conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Separatists forces who wished to secede from the Republic. After a costly war, the Separatists were eventually defeated as the Republic transitioned into the Galactic Empire.
Contents
A Republic in Decay (Year -35 to Year -25)
Tensions had been growing in the galaxy for decades. The Core Worlds had been enjoying peace and prosperity while countless systems in the Outer Rim were plagued by widespread corruption, instability, poverty. Criminal activity and petty conflicts disrupted vital trade routes and laws enforced closer to the galactic core were not enforced in the outlying sectors, leading to a what many saw as a double standard within the Republic. Furthermore, The Republic bureaucracy was growing bloated and ineffective, and was either unwilling or unable to settle these disputes. Sith agents, seeing an opportunity to seize power, approached the leadership of the Trade Federation in Year -35 and used subtle force persuasion to convince the viceroy that an attack on the planet Averam would get the attention of the senate back on Coruscant and force them to take Outer Rim matters more seriously. Federation battleships soon encircled Averam and enforced a blockade while legions of fearsome battle droids took control of the major urban centers and planetary shield and communication systems.
News of the Trade Federation's actions soon found its way to the senate. Contradictory reports and a myriad of questions though the senate into confusion and disarray. Outraged that such an crisis could happen under the Republic's watch, Avram senator Hiram Drayson demanded the resignation of Supreme Chancellor Endis Valorum, who had signed and enforced the trade policies which had provoked the Federation's attack. After Valorum refused to step down, the senate called for a vote of no confidence in the Supreme Chancellor. The vote passed by an overwhelming majority and Chancellor Valorum was removed from office. The senate then took up the question of Valorum's successor. Senator Drayson was nominated, along with Alderaan's Zee Wolf and Mon Calamari's Mon Akria. The crisis on Averam and Drayson's own charm and influence handed him a clear victory. In his speech to the senate, newly minted Supreme Chancellor Drayson pledged to bring stability back to the Republic and free it from corruption, thus preventing future tragedies like the one playing out on his homeworld. Chancellor Drayson soon rallied the military might of the Kuat and Rendilli systems and swiftly liberated Averam, though little was done to further punish the Trade Federation's leadership for their actions.
Unbeknownst to the senate, while Chancellor Drayson was a talented and cunning politician, he had long been a puppet of the Dark side of the Force. Drayson's closest mentors and advisers, Vodo Bonias and Suntzu, were the very same Sith agents who had manipulated the Trade Federation to attack Averam and provoke the ensuing crisis that resulted in Drayson's election. In the years following the Averam crisis, Drayson strengthened his power as chancellor and increased his own influence across the galaxy by partnering with the same corrupt officials and lobbyists he had vowed to vanquish. He appointed close friends and allies to important positions within the Republic and increased the prosperity of the Core worlds, further purchasing their loyalty.
War Erupts (Year -25)
Under Chancellor Drayson's leadership, quality of life for many in the Mid and Outer Rim territories continued to spiral as the Republic consistently failed to address the needs of the galaxy outside the Core Worlds and Colonies. Once again under the influence of the Sith, the Trade Federation called together major economic powers in the galaxy to secede from the Republic and form a new, independent government. The Trade Federation, along with the Commerce Guild, the Corporate Alliance, and the Black Sun to formed the Confederacy of Independent Systems on Year -25 Day 90. They immediately began to recruit systems and sectors that had felt neglected and exploited by the Galactic Republic. Many answered their call, and the capital of this new government was established in the Glythe sector, symbolically situated just outside the Core regions.
While the senate was embroiled in debate about how to address the shocking turn of events, the Jedi Council dispatched Jedi Master Bodo Baas to investigate rumors of suspicious traffic and industrial activity outside of any previously charted system. In the course of his investigation, Master Baas stumbled the ocean world Kamino, where a massive army of clones was being grown and trained in secrecy on behalf of the Galactic Republic. The Kaminoan scientists claimed a representative of the Jedi Council had commissioned the army under orders of the Senate, but Baas was unable to find records of any debate let alone vote to order such an army's creation. Likewise, the Jedi Council had no memory of being asked by the Senate to contact the Kaminoans or sending anyone to that region of space. Even using the Kaminoans records, the Jedi and Republic were unable to discover who had funded the creation of the army and all of its weaponry. With no information to go on, the Jedi Council announced their discovery to the senate, only fueling the fires of conspiracy, outrage, and confusion.
The Massacre of Centrality and the Battle of Sumitra
While the Republic was paralyzed with debate, the Separatists decided the time was right to strike. Centrality was a sector the the very edge of known space. While there was no known planets or systems, the Republic operated a large relay station there and it was the base of operations of the Republic's modest Outer Rim defensive fleet. on Year -25 D 126 Coruscant received distress calls from the outpost and scans of several Lucrehulk 3210 Battleship s. Within three hours the calls ceased. By the time the nearest Republic-member planetary defense forces arrived scattered rubble was all that remained. With the relay station and fleet destroyed, the Separatists believed they not only crippled the Republic's ability to monitor movements and communications in the Outer Rim, but also that they had decimated the Republic's military capabilities beyond the Mid Rim. The Republic had largely been demilitarized following the Rusaan Reformation and had always been reluctant to move its forces too far beyond the Core.
The annihilation of the Centrality relay station emboldened the Separatists and the quickly launched a second assault on Year -25 Day 140, this time through the nearby mining sector Sumitra. Separatist analysts believed the Centrality crisis would only deepen the infighting plaguing the Senate, and the resource-rich worlds of the Boordii system would be theirs for the taking. Blockades were soon in place, ore haulers captured, and mines under control of Separatist officials. Holos were broadcast throughout the galaxy promising that the prosperity of outer systems would no longer be stolen by the "rotten core of our galaxy", but other reports showed evidence of aggression against civilians populations. Instead of further dividing the Republic senate, the massacre at Centrality pulled them together. Discussion about the sudden appearance of the mysterious clone army was suspended after a group of senators called for a vote to adopt the army and deploy them against the Separatist threat. The vote was nearly unanimous in favor of the army, now branded the Grand Army of the Republic. The Jedi Order, long time peacekeepers for the Republic, were pressed into service as the leaders of this new army as Chancellor Drayson insisted there was no time to recruit and train any others and that the Republic desperately needed their gifts and abilities.
The Separatist forces in the Boordii system were taken by complete surprise. Within days of their securing the system, two heavily armed Republic fleets arrived and began an unrelenting attack on the battleships in orbit. Once the blockades had been broken, fresh brigades of clone soldiers made their way to the surface of Boordii IV where the Separatists had begun establishing their garrison. Before the next rotation the Grand Army of the Republic had scored its first victory of the war. Most of the system's ore reserves were recovered, and the Senate soon allocated a hundreds of trillions of credits to further outfitting their new army.
The Battle of Geonosis
The Separatists were shocked by the sudden appearance of the massive new Republic army and were eager to gain leverage for their cause. The size and scope of the Republic's military was still uncertain, and the Separatist leadership sought to restrain the army by political means until they could learn more. They hired bounty hunters to abduct several high-profile leaders and socialite from Coruscant on Year -25 Day 155, and held them hostage, demanding that the Republic respect Separatist independence and keep their military to their own borders. The thrill of victory was still fresh in the Senate, and they soundly refused to capitulate to the Separatist demands, believing their new army could easily match the droid armies of the CIS. Chancellor Drayson pleaded with Jedi Grandmaster Relm for the Order's help in safely rescuing the hostages. The Jedi Council quietly dispatched three Jedi knights to investigate the abduction.
On Year -25 Day 200, forty-five days after the hostages were taken, the Jedi knights announced they had not only found the hostages, but that they had made another startling discovery. Geonosis the hive planet where the hostages were being kept, was also the home of several large automated foundries where the Separatist droid armies were being produced in a terrifying quantity. Despite being ordered to wait for assistance, the Jedi knights continued their investigation of the foundries and attempted to rescue the hostages themselves. After a botched rescue attempt, one knight was killed while the remaining two were captured. On Day 215 a clone battlegroup led by Jedi Master Klunda Disaik and her padawan Bral Pardos arrived at Geonosis and punched through the Separatist defenses. While a group of elite clone troopers were sent to locate and retrieve the hostages, bomber squadrons and artillery units set to work attacking the droid factories that were sheltered underground or within mountains. The native Geonosians were ravenous supporters of the Separatists, and the combined swarms of their done soldiers and the heartless battle droids overwhelmed Republic positions on the planet and inflicted heavy casualties. All but one of the hostages were retrieved and returned to the last Republic foothold before the last Acclamator-class Assault Ship departed the surface of Geonossis. A junior senator from Chasin was the only hostage killed. Before their withdrawal, Republic forces managed to destroy two of the planet's seven droid foundries and critically damaged another two. Victory was claimed by both sides in the press.
Civil War on Mon Calamari
The events on Genosis convinced the galaxy that this was no normal trade dispute, and that there would be dire consequences for taking the wrong side, or perhaps even for refusing to take a side. Planetary governments rushed to decide if they would remain with the Republic or cast their lot with the growing Separatist movement. In many sectors, the outbreak of war gave rival worlds and species permission to settle old grudges. The civil war on Mon Calamari is but one example. The ocean world is home to two sentient, aquatic species: the Mon Calamari who mostly live on artificial islands or in shallower regions of the ocean, and the Quarren, who live in deeper waters. Relations between the two had been tense for millennia, often devolving into open warfare. When news of the Separatist movement and the clone armies reached Mon Calamari, the Mon Calamari wished to remain loyal to the Republic, but the Quarren planned to offer aid to the Separatists and secretly agreed to welcome a Separatist outpost on the planet. With help of underwater droid armies, the Quarren launched an offensive against the largest Mon Cala settlements on Day 250. Using a now recognizable tactic, Separatist battleships blockaded the planet, hoping to starve the Mon Cala into submission and win their famous shipyards intact. The Mon Cala, outnumbered, outgunned, and cut off plead with the senate for help.
A fresh Republic battlegroup arrived on Day 260 and took heavy casualties on their several attempts to break the Separatist line. On Day 262, several platoons of specialized clone soldiers arrived on the surface with food, weapons, and medical supplies to reinforce the Mon Cala holdouts, but they made very little initial progress in their attempt to pernitrate the well-defended Quarren positions. After two weeks of stalemate, Jedi General [[]] led an elite team of clones on submersible Devilfish and liberated a camp where thousands of Mon Cala soldiers were help prisoner. With this new front opening up behind their lines, the Quarren and their allies were unable to hold out against the Republic. Mon Calamari pledged their continued support for the Republic's war effort, but the Quarren, though humbled, remained a constant nuisance throughout the war.
The Hyperspace Noose
By the end of the year, Separatist command was enjoying modest success frustrating Republic supply lines and containing their troops to the Inner Rim. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to ascertain the location of the Republic's mysterious cloning facilities or stem the flow of reinforcements, though informants suggested the majority of the clone forces originated somewhere in the Outer Rim and arrived via the Correlian Run hyperlane. CIS admiral [[ ]] decided to fill the space around Icktoch with mines, effectively halting all traffic in and out of the core in that section of the galaxy, and he conspired with local pirate gangs ensure all the smaller and lesser-known routes were under constant surveillance. The Republic first tried to reroute their transports navigating jump by jump to the Hydian Way, but it proved too risky and time consuming as new fronts continually opened up all around the galaxy. Chancellor Drayson demanded the hyperspace lane be opened immediately at whatever cost. After several bloody attempts to open the hyperlane with a fleet, the Jedi padowan Bral Pardos devised a plan to attach hyperspace rings to droid-operated escape pods. The pods would be sent through hyperspace down the Correlian Run, detonating mines by impact until the way was clear. Construction soon began and the first batch was a resounding success.
However, a Separatist agent posing as a local, independent navigator stirred up dissension in the clone ranks, charging that the Republic's plan treated the droids as disposable and warned that they didn't think much higher of the clones who were also mass produced and identical. Several units making the pods refused to work and were subsequently imprisoned, pending trial. The arrest of the dissenting units only caused moral on the ship to sour, pressuring the Jedi to halt the project altogether. The Republic Senate, enraged at the slowdown, agreed to outbid the Separatists with the local pirate groups and returned to the costly work of manually clearing the lanes with starfighters. After fending off four separate attacks' on the vulnerable Republic cruisers, regular traffic resumed on the Corellian Run on Day 350. Analysts reported to the senate that the clone army was not large enough to keep the hyperlanes to Kamino open without sacrificing the advantage they had on several battlefronts. The Supreme Chancellor called a closed session of the senate on Day 360 to approve additional and expensive contracts with the cloners and the corporations producing ships and equipment, and they also debated the possibility of opening additional cloning facilities closer to the galactic core. The senate was split, with half demanding the contracts be extended to support the clone force and safeguard Republic citizens, and the other half fearing further escalation would only extend the war, bankrupt the Republic, and close all possibilities of resolving the conflict diplomatically. Talk of the debate soon leaked, and in the face of overwhelming public support for the war, the contracts were extended at great expense.
Dark Clouds Gather (Year -24)
The Embarrassment at Ryloth
The Separatist movement continued to grow. Their message of the underrepresentation and neglect of the Outer Rim and the corruption of a bloated and outdated Republic resonated with many worlds, as did the promise of mutual support and defense in the face of the mysterious clone army. However, many worlds were suspicious of the Separatists and wished to remain neutral in the war, a war that had nothing to do with them. Ryloth was one such world, independent and tucked away near the edge of charted space. Worried that claims of neutrality were smokescreens for quiet Republic support, the CIS commander [[ ]] sent an envy to Ryloth to investigate. The native Twi'leks, isolationists by nature, objected to the intrusion, fearing that it lead to occupation. A fringe movement calling itself the Twi'lek Resistance destroyed the envoy's shuttle in a failed assassination attempt, news of which seemed to confirm Separatist suspicions about Ryloth, and a full occupation force was soon deployed on Day 45 of Year -24.
Ryloth's delegation pleaded for justice in the senate, claiming their neutrality had been violated. The majority of the senate was lukewarm on the question, with several influential members suggesting that Ryloth's adamant claims of neutrality should put it lower on the priority list in favor of more loyal Republic worlds who had supported the war effort. Debate stalled until a senator from Naboo brokered a compromise to send food and medical supplies in place of military assistance. Jedi Knight [[ ]] was tasked with the mission, and was given command of a vessel with an experimental cloaking device to bypass the planet's blockade. Rather than complete the mission undetected as instructed, the Jedi used the ship to engage the Separatist flagship and called in his battlegroup when the flagship returned fire. Ryloth was soon liberated with help of native militia groups, but not without heavy casualties on the ground. Press on both sides of the war quickly reported the Jedi disobedience and the embarrassment that came when the newly freed Twi'leks still refused to recant their neutrality in the war. While the story was quickly suppressed in the Republic, it shook confidence in the ability of the Jedi order to lead on behalf of the senate.
The Battle of Kamino
The location of Kamino was the most closely guarded secret in the Republic. Its coordinates were kept off of public and even most government navi computers and charts, and discussion of the planet was strictly monitored by Republic intelligence officers. Even if the planet wasn't captured, a strike against Kamino could easily cripple the war effort and spell doom for the Republic. On Day 110, a Republic relay station intercepted transmissions that the fearsome Separatist general [[ ]] had discovered the location of Kamino and would soon launch an all out assault to eliminate the cloning facilities. Sending massive fleets to protect the planet ran the risk of tipping off the Separatists that their plan had been intercepted, and the Jedi Council was eager to discover the source of the leak. Instead two battlegroups were quietly rerouted from the front lines, staffed by only the most advanced units in their fleets. Nearby Republic shipyards also began quickly refitting medical transports with shields and heavy weaponry to take the Separatists by surprise.
When the invading warships arrived at Kamino on Day 120, the waiting Republic defenders made surprising short work of the first wave, and the debris of the destroyed ships fell harmlessly to the oceans below. After the destruction of the first wave, a second wave of battle cruisers kept their distance, deploying their swarms of automated droid fighters instead. Eager not to let the invaders near the vital world, the Republic launched its own fighters and gunships, and began to maneuver to press the fight away from Kamino. As the Republic ships pursued the Separatist forces, Commander [[ ]] aboard the Arquitens Light Cruiser Wanderlust thought he saw something strange in the falling debris, and received permission to break formation and scan the area where it was falling. As the cruiser neared the ocean's surface, a terrifying picture took shape. Scans showed the debris moving, and growing. Focused scans suggested that far below the waves, the wreckage was being combined and constructed into something unthinkable. Immediately the cloning and training stations were put on red alert and the garrison prepared for an onslaught. Starfighter squadrons rushed from orbit to confront the enemy, leaving the Republic warships to manage the remaining Separatist capital ships with only a fraction of their full compliment.
A mere twenty minutes after they were initially detected, massive, squid-like machines rose from the sea and began to scale the floating Kaminoan cities, all the while blasting them with lasers and missiles and drilling through the cities hulls to deploy thousands of battle droids. The clone battle lines were quickly overwhelmed by the droids, and the massive machines proved impervious to their standard arsenal of weapons. It was only after more cruisers descended from orbit to directly target the landing craft that the garrison was given the breathing room they needed to begin to push the enemy back. With the defenses focused on the landing craft, several smaller separatist shuttles managed to escape the planet as the droid assault began to wane. At the end of the battle much of the cloning, medical, and training facilities were heavily damaged, clone morale was low, and rumors spread that a Separatist commando team had escaped with important information- maybe even the clone genetic template. Faced with no other option, the senate yet again pledged hundreds of billions more credits to the war effort to ensure Kamino was well-defended now that its location had been discovered.
Assault on Dolomar
Although they were technically victories, the events on Ryloth and Kamino proved embarrassments to the Republic and its fighting force. More systems began defecting to the Separatist Alliance, and while public opinion of the Supreme Chancellor and the clone army remained moderately positive, trust in the senate and the Jedi commanders plummeted. The Republic needed to strike a decisive blow against their foe, and at the urging of the senate the Jedi set their sights on Dolomar, the last remaining CIS holdout sector in the Core Regions. The Republic's 5th and 9th battle groups arrived in the Twith on Day 237 and began their attack.
Jedi knight Zammur Zhas commanded the Intrepid a newly updated Venator-class Destroyer, and flagship of the 5th Battlegroup. Zhas's padowan was killed during the battle of Kamino, and he held himself responsible for the loss. At his request, the 5th led the first attack, but his tactics were much more aggressive than prescribed and it took the defenders by surprise. Zhas pushed deeper into the system, destroying everything in sight, making no distinction between what may have been a military or civilian ship or station. The Lucrehulk warship Revenue led the 4th Confederate fleet, tasked to defend the system. The Revenue ordered its cruisers to move swiftly to take advantage of its opponent's aggression, cutting it off from the rest of the Republic formation. While most of the battle group managed to shake the noose, the Intrepid and an escort freighter, however, were pinned between two Confederate dreadnaughts on either side, and the Revenue to its bow. Admiral Loshi Vess, commander of the Reveue hailed the Jedi flagship and demanded the surrender of the Jedi and the ship. Surprisingly, Zhas quickly agreed on the condition that the crew be allowed to return to the fleet. Vess, gleeful at the prospect of capturing such a well-known, accepted the terms. Once it was confirmed that only Zhas remained on board, Vess ordered the ship to cease all activity and await a boarding party, but it kept approaching. The engines flared. By the time Zhas' plan was obvious, the ship was too close for the warship's defenses to stop the approach. The Intrepid slammed into the center of the Lucrehulk, destroying both ships instantly in a brilliant explosion. In the confusion that followed, the Confederate defenders were out-maneuvered and destroyed. Zhas' sacrifice was not the last tragic surprise of the assault, either. Clone units, charged with cries of "Remember Kamino" were vicious, eliminating droids, factories, computer centers, power generators, anything that could reasonably support the Separatist war effort even if it was not a purely military asset. They took no prisoners, but within days the sector was no longer a threat and was under control of the Republic. Charges of inordinate collateral damages were investigated, with no definite findings.
Dolomar was every inch the victory the Republic needed it to be. Several high profile Separatist senators and financers were killed, an entire fleet destroyed, and Republic forces had captured several large banks and commandeered its many lucrative accounts to offset the costs of the campaign. With Dolomar under Republic control, there was nothing standing between the Grand Army and the Separatist capitol in the Glythe Sector. The Separatists hurriedly evacuated the leadership and sensitive information from Glythe and clandestinely moved their headquarters to the Hevvrol Sector, where they remained for most of the war. While the senate and public celebrated the resounding success, Jedi Grandmaster Relm began to secretly question what the war would do to the Republic and the Jedi, whether they eventually lost or won.
Af'El Campaign
The rubble on Dolomar had not yet cooled when the Separatists struck back. Fleets launched simultaneous attacks on the Boonta, Colvas, and Kashyyyk systems on Day 245. Republic forces in the region were already tied down in other operations, and little help could be spared for the endangered planets. By Day 250 the Boonta and Colvas system had gone dark, and Separatist media was reporting a resounding success. The Wookies of Kashyyyk proved a more difficult opponent, taking shelter in the thick, unnavigable jungles and striking from their arboreal cities. The progress of the droid armies was slow, and territory was even harder to hold. New landing ships arrived each day, bringing with them hundreds of new droid soldiers, and while the Wookies defenses were holding their own, they could not hold out for long against such an overwhelming foe. They held out long enough, however. On Day 270 the Republic's 5th Fleet arrived and cut off the supply of Separatist reinforcements. With the added help of a clone legion, the native Wookies pushed the enemy off their homeworld. The 5th Fleet continued their campaign along the minor hyperlane that connected Kashyyyk to Colvas and then to Boonta. Under the command of the Besalisk General Jedi Master Patwal Enos, the fleet liberated Colvas on Day 280 and Boonya on Day 300 on that year. While the Separatist casualties dwarfed the Clone losses, by the liberation of Boonta the 5th Fleet had lost forty percent of its troops, ships, and vehicles.
Intelligence uncovered on Boonta confirmed that the Separatist military in the region was operating out of a base on the planet Af'El. Master Enos demanded that they be allowed to continue to press the attack and eliminate the Af'El base. Operating at only sixty percent capacity, and with his troops exhausted and ships in need of repair, the Jedi Council asked him to wait until reinforcements could be diverted. He reluctantly agreed, and plans were made to converge with other Republic elements at Af'El on Day 321. When Enos and the 5th Fleet arrived above Af'El, they found themselves alone. The other promised battlegroups had not arrived, and against the advice of his clone commanders Enos ordered the fleet to engage. The results were horrendous. The 5th Fleet was heavily outnumbered and outmatched, and the intense gravitational pull of the planet limited the normal battle tactics. The entire fleet was destroyed, with only twenty five percent of the original forces safely reaching the surface of Af'El. Collecting themselves in the mouth of a cave, Enos and his clones struggled to orient themselves with the complete lack of visible light on the surface and the lack of ships relaying information from orbit. The vehicles that survived the evacuation proved useless in the abnormally high gravity, and travel was slow with clones relying on the infrared filters in their helmets to see. Encounters with ravenous creatures and the fearsome native Defel further delayed progress and continued to further thin the ranks.
By the time the Jedi reinforcements arrived and reestablished contact with Enos and the remnant of the 5th Fleet on Day 335, only fifteen percentage of the troops remained. The rest had died in costly victories where Enos had repeatedly ordered his forces to confront the Separatist and Defels head on in successive waves. Eventually, the reinforcements landed on the planet and worked their way to join with the 5th Fleet survivors. Enos, for reasons that are still unknown, believed that reports of nearby allies were an enemy ploy and informed his officers that he had knowledge that droid forces would soon assault them in the guide of clone armor. Everyone, Enos ordered, should be treated as hostile. That next morning as reinforcements came into view, the 5th attacked, fearing for their very survival. As they moved from their position and began to advance, an officer noticed that a slain foe was not a disguised droid, but a fellow clone. Fighting ceased as the survivors were offered food and medical care. The officers of the 5th reported Enos' actions, but when the Jedi in command of the reinforcements searched for him, he had vanished. At the end of the Af'El campaign, only five percentage of the original compliment of soldiers that served during the initial liberation of Kashyyyk remained. The Af'El Campaign and the leadership of Jedi Master Patwal Enos represent one of the worst casualty rates of the war. Rumors that Enos was insane, corrupted by the Sith, or defected to the Separatists are hotly debated but remain unsubstantiated. His fate is unknown.
The Republic's Victorious End (Year -23)
The Battle of Coruscant
As the war began its third year, a growing movement was once again calling for a diplomatic end to the war. New orders of clones, along with their food, equipment, and ships were being approved by the senate nearly as fast the the Republic could borrow the credits to fund them. This, on top of the endlessly growing list of worlds demanding assistance rebuilding or medical supplies, threatened to bankrupt the Republic and hand it over to its creditors. Supreme Chancellor Drayson refused to negotiate, citing either the Republic's momentum as a cause to press the war, and then claiming the Separatist aggression left no room for trust. Either way, he told the senate, peace could only follow victory. All debate stopped on Day 24 when a massive Separatist armada appeared in the skies over Coruscant. Apparently using an unknown and therefore undefended hyperspace lane, the armada overwhelmed all defenses as the Republic ships struggled to reposition themselves. The armada took full advantage of the element of surprise, laying into the defenders and bombarding the planetary shields, hoping to overpower them. In the chaos of those first few minutes, multiple landing craft were deployed through the shields and a droid army began their attack on the Senate district. As Senate Security tried to secure and account for all the senators and their families, it was quickly discovered Chancellor Drayson was missing. Confederate transmissions soon showed the Republic Chancellor in binders with Be Dalri, one of the key leaders of the Separatists, who demanded that Coruscant lower its shields and surrender.
The Jedi called in every fleet or battle group in the region that wasn't already engaged, but the closest ships would still be an hour or more arriving. As the Separatist flag ship began to maneuver away from the battle, the Jedi hatched a plan. They assembled a strike team of several Jedi Knights and Masters who would take an elite team of clones and attempt to board the flagship and save the chancellor, hopefully before the warship fled the system with its prisoner. The team successfully breached the hull and located the Chancellor, but not before most of the team was killed. Now consisting of only the Chancellor and two Jedi, they managed to take control of the bridge and seal themselves inside while they tried to find a way to escape back to the surface. Word spread throughout the rest of the Separatist fleet, and they began to fire on the flagship, trying to destroy it, thus killing the chancellor. Miraculously, as the ship began to enter the atmosphere and break apart under the stress, the two Jedi were able to bring what was left of the bow to rest in an unused industrial district. The chancellor was secure, and the tide of the battle was starting to turn. By the battle's end, several shuttles had been captured containing many high ranking leaders and commanders of the Separatist forces who had decided to lead what was thought to be the last blow to the Republic personally. Preparations began to put them on trial for war crimes and treason.
The Battle of Utapau
While Coruscant was recovering from the invasion, the Jedi were leading the Grand Army of the Republic on a campaign across the Outer Rim, laying siege to many Separatist strongholds. Iktochi Jedi Master Fedhu Jus had tracked the dreaded cyborg warlord DM-578, or "General Doom" to the remote world of Utapau, where the general was rumored to be putting the finishing touches on a powerful new weapon. Taking control of each of the myriad sinkhole cities that dotted the planet's surface would take precious time and countless clones, and master Jus knew Doom could not be allowed to escape and continue his rampage through the galaxy. On Day 34, a network of scouts and informants had confirmed that General Doom and several divisions of his best droids were taking shelter in Hole 49. Besides hosting DM-578's troops and workshops, Hole 49 also was home to several civilian housing complexes and two hospitals, making orbital bombardment or an airstrike impossible. Invading the hole would also likely cause high rates of civilian casualties, as the droids, aware of Jedi sensitivities, would take shelter in areas with high population density. A decision was made that Master Jus would surreptitiously make his way into the bowels of the settlement and assassinate the cyborg commander. The Jedi tracked the droid down easily, but his sniper rifle jammed and there was no place he could place explosives that would not endanger the unwitting civilians. Jus' attempt to kill Doom with the lightsaber alerted the droid army to his presence, and Master Jus' waiting clone forces were instantly drawn into the battle they had so desperately tried to avoid. The siege continued for several days, with Jus being wounded after successfully taking down the cyborg general.
The Jedi Are Betrayed
The apprehended leaders were put on trial on Day 30 for an endless list of crimes, but were unable -even under duress- to reveal the identity of the shadowy mastermind behind the Confederacy. Some denied the existence of a mastermind altogether, claiming there was only the Separatist Senate and the War Council. Others confessed they knew of someone pulling strings from behind the scenes, but they never saw him or learned who he was. All they knew was that he was a powerful Force user. This scandalous revelation circulated throughout the Republic's media outlets, leading to several different theories that the Jedi had been behind the entire war in an attempt to seize control of the Republic or the entire Galaxy for themselves. Public opinion of the Jedi plummeted. A few days later, poor public confidence turned to outrage as the captured Confederate leaders were found murdered in their cells. Interviewed interrogators reported they suspected the prisoners were about to trade valuable information in a plea deal. Medical examiners reported the most likely cause of death for all the prisoners was a lightsaber. An immediate investigation was launched, and the senate demanded all Jedi on the planet be sequestered in their temple, which was kept under guard. Swarms of protesters mobbed the senate building and the Jedi temple.
On Day 45, senate investigators announced that while the identities of those who had murdered the captured Separatists still remained unknown, they had reason to suspect three high ranking Jedi were responsible for the creation of the clone army and influencing the Sepratists, perhaps as early as the Trade Federation attack on Averam. The three suspects were Jedi Master Shaddar Idres, her former padowan Della Sollin, and Jedi Knight Wel Gwos. The trio vehemently denied all of the accusations, and immediately demanded to meet with the supreme chancellor to hear the evidence and prove their innocence. It was a trap. Immediately as the Jedi entered the chancellor's office they were ambushed by powerful Sith agents. All three perished in the fight. Chancellor Drayson, sporting fresh lightsaber wounds, addressed the senate for a speech that was broadcast to the whole Republic. He showed them his injuries and informed them that the Jedi who were accused of starting and guiding the whole war had tried to assassinate him and take control of the Republic for themselves. Claiming the whole Jedi Order was behind the conspiracy, he declared them enemies of the Republic and ordered their immediate execution- for they were too dangerous to be kept alive.
Clone troopers and planetary security stormed the Jedi temple, slaughtering anyone inside. At the Chancellor's direction, an emergency beacon was activated, signaling all Jedi to return to the temple. Across the galaxy, the once loyal clone soldiers turned on their Jedi commanders, some doing so even in the middle of battle. Many units were already discouraged by being locked out of command ranks by Jedi who were untrained and often irresponsible generals. Others were dejected, feeling as though they were treated as little more than organic battle droids. For many, the order to eliminate the Jedi and assume control of their units was happily carried out. This command became known was Order 66, and in the following days most every Jedi had been confirmed dead. The remaining Jedi, including Grandmaster Relm and Bodo Bass, vanished into hiding.
Binquaros, the Last Stand
After Order 66, Chancellor Drayson addressed the senate and announced that in light of the great instability and coruption within and without the Republic, he had no choice but to reorganize the Republic into the Galactic Empire. This shocking news was met with applause by the senate who had grown weary of gridlock and an expensive war with no end in sight. The war's end came swift afterwards. Vodo Bonias, Drayson's advisor and the Sith Lord behind the Separatists called the remaining Separatist leaders to a summit on the planet Vinsoth. No sooner had they assembled in a bunker did he personally execute the lot of them. Using the passcodes recovered from the bodies, Bonias remotely deactivated most of the droid armies. The newly minted Emperor Drayson announced the deaths on Day 55, and informed the senate that he had ordered the Imperial fleets to converge on the last Separatist headquarters on Binquaros where the Separatist legislature and newly promoted business leaders were desperately trying to reorganize themselves and reactivate their forces. The planet was defended by the remnants of the 3rd Confederate fleet, and the sentient-operated Ciutric Hegemony Fleet. Neither were a match for the Imperials, and the stronghold was obliterated. Those leaders that were not killed or captured fled into the far reaches of the outer rim where they could exist beyond the Empire's reach. The wrecked hull of the Lucrehulk warship Profit is still in orbit around the planet to this day, a memorial to the end of a war that changed the galaxy forever.
The Aftermath
Fate of the Separatists
The droid armies were deactivated and the vast majority of the Separatist leadership had been confirmed dead or captured, but the Empire continued with smaller mopping up campaigns throughout the outer rim for the next few years. Business leaders, dissidents, and Separatist-sympathizing planetary bodies offered safe harbor to the surviving Separatist sentient forces. Planets, desperate for defense and terrified of Imperial incursion, rushed to recover and reactivate as many battle droids as possible. But while Separatist sympathies were still high, the alliance that gave the Separatists strength was shattered. Separatists holdouts went underground, not daring to confront the Empire outright. The what was left of Confederacy of Independent Systems licked its wounds deep in the Outer Rim, while the Corporate Alliance took root in Hevvrol, and the Trade Federation maintained its Inner Rim territory albeit under the command of new Imperial-appointed leadership.
Ultimately, the Outer Rim campaigns became too costly for the Empire to sustain. The region was remote, dangerous, and hard to navigate. This, combined with escalating power struggles inside the Imperial palace and a small but vocal rebel movement turned the attention of the Empire's military and political will inward once again towards the Core Region. No longer judged to be a threat to the Imperial order, the surviving Separatists were allowed to remain in the remote sectors of the galaxy to rebuild. The corporations that once formed the Separatist Alliance, now distant and independent, returned to their roots and build themselves back into powerful manufacturers, trade conglomerates, and robust financial institutions beyond the reach of Core-focused regulatory bodies.
Fate of the Jedi
The Empire continued to zealously hunt down the remaining Jedi throughout the galaxy. The Jedi remained scattered and hidden for the next twenty-seven years. The remaining Jedi took students and trained them in secret according to their knowledge, but the Order was no more. Only Grandmater Relm and Master Baas remained in the public eye as leaders and advisors of rebel cells. In the early years of the Rebellion, around year 1 or 2, some of the survivors of Order 66 and the students they trained united to form the Jedi Praxiumto revive the old way. This movement, however, was destroyed as members were seduced by the dark side and betrayed the group. In Year 7, Jedi Master Reajiad Nero returned from a lengthy voyage in the Unknown Regions and labored to unite the remaining Jedi into a stable order that could raise up a new generation of Jedi before their knowledge was lost forever. With help of several masters, including Relm,the Jedi Order was reformed, though it lacked the size and influence of former times.
Fate of the Clones
The Clone Army remained in service to the Empire, and the Empire continued to use batches of clones that were in production and training at the wars' end. After the war, however, the Empire no longer ordered any additional clone units. Because the clones aged twice as fast an normal humans, they began to be phased out as the Empire turned first to recruiting soldiers and pilots, and then conscripting them. Older clones were often transferred to Outer Rim units or given teaching positions at the many Imperial Academies. While still skilled and sharp, clones became increasingly looked down upon by the natural born Imperial leadership as either genetic abominations or reminders of a corrupt Republic and the tragic years of war. By Year -10, all clones had been decommissioned or retired, along with the distinctive ships, vehicles, and equipment that they had used in the Grand Army. In Year 18, Ternion Corps an advocacy group for Clone War veterans and their families partnered with cloning scientists to resume production of clone soldiers using the original Kaminoan template in an effort to educate the galaxy and keep the legacy of the Grand Army of the Republic alive.
Birth of the Rebellion
The transition from Republic to Empire was not accepted by everyone. Initially, influential senators like Zee Wolf, Mon Akira and Syrous voiced their concerns but developments within the Empire moved to silence them. With his task accomplished, Sith Lord Vodo Bonias deposed Drayson as Emperor and installed Suntzu after violent clashes between elements loyal to both. With Emperor Sunztu on the throne, the Sith could take direct control of the Empire. The senate was quickly dissolved, and replaced by a system of regional governors, called Moffs. This move, which promised more direct representation from local leadership was welcomed by the citizenry who had grown suspicious of the senate operating on the distant Core world. Senators and aides who did not wish to serve the Empire fled to the far corners of the galaxy. Some found shelter with former-Separatist holdouts, with whom they now shared a common enemy. Others toured the galaxy, drumming up support to restore the Republic. As years went on, rebel cells began to crop up all around the galaxy, with new one emerging just as quickly as the Empire could extinguish others. Ultimately, these rebel cells formed a coalition called the Alliance to Restore the Republic, or simply the Rebel Alliance. Emperor Sunztu's struggles with deposed-emperor Drayson and his allies, called the Order of Darkness temporarily distracted the Empire from the nascent rebel movement, allowing it to take hold across the outer rim. While initially hesitant to acknowledge the rebels' existence, the increasingly public nature of the rebel threat forced them to admit that another conspiracy against the Empire existed, and that they would be crushed.
The Legacy of the Clone Wars
The events of the Clone Wars permanently reshaped the galaxy forever. It not only led to the formation of the Galactic Empire, the largest and most consequential government in thousands of years, but it also gave rise to the Rebel Movement. In this way, the Clone Wars precipitated the Second Galactic Civil War that followed less than two decades later. The massive armies raised by both sides drastically shifted the budgets of most every government in the galaxy, who now expend more credits on defense than anything else. Additionally, the sheer amount of surplus and recovered ships and weaponry left from this conflict has resulted in private armies and planetary defense fleets being the largest they have ever been, especially in the Outer Rim. The improvements made in cloning and medical technology would transform the medical and research institutions across the galaxy, and the number of clone veterans who eventually had families of their own altered the genetic makeup of entire planets for generations.
The isolation afforded to the remaining Separatists when the Empire turned its attention to the rebellion allowed them to grow into prosperous conglomerates once again. Their aversion to another costly war led them to claim neutrality in the ongoing civil war, which also allowed them to do business with both sides. In year 14, several former-Separatist businesses and governments including the CIS and the Trade Federation would form the Galactic Concordiate, which would soon become not only the largest neutral power block in the galaxy, but one of the largest and most powerful alliances in general. This would be seen by many as completing the original Separatist intention of having an alliance of free states focused on business and separate from the Republic/Empire.
Known Veterans
This is a list of those sentients known to have participated in the Clone Wars at some level
Vir Calder, Paul Luz, Con Semper, Tomas O'Cuinn, Fang Turr, Norac Taki, Vizimir Skelgard
| Primary galactic conflict | ||
| Preceded By: New Sith Wars |
First Galactic Civil War Year -25 — Year -22 |
Succeeded By: Second Galactic Civil War First Imperial Civil War |
| First Galactic Civil War | |
| Belligerents | |
| Pro-Imperial | |
| Anti-Imperial |
Galactic Republic loyalists · Nascent Rebel Alliance · Maharettan · Klysteron · Kanchin |
| Separatist | |
| Neutral | |
| Battles and Conflicts | |
| Republic/Separatist Conflict | |
| Imperial/Rebel Conflict | |
| Concurrent | |
