Battle of Nedij

"Take no prisoners, comrades!"

- CC-9873

The Battle of Nedij was the first engagement of the Samix Offensive in 22 BBY, and one of the first battles of the Clone Wars. The Republic Navy's Eighth Fleet, under Vice Admiral Frunze, attacked a blockade of the Confederacy of Independent Systems over the planet of Nedij in the Samix sector of the Outer Rim Territories, beginning the offensive. Taken by surprise, the Separatist defense fleet was defeated quickly and Republic ground forces landed. After a short battle, the Separatist Droid Army was defeated.

Prelude
Following the Battle of Geonosis and the outbreak of the Clone Wars, Admiral Kirst of the Confederate Fifth Fleet occupied the Samix sector. The nearest Republic fleet was in the Thuris sector, having recently finished a counter-piracy campaign. After getting orders from the Admiralty, the Eighth Fleet of Vice Admiral Frunze was sent in to eradicate the Separatist presence from the sector. The first target was Nedij because it was the largest inhabited planet in the sector and one of the closest to the edge of the sector.

The battle
The Eighth a Fleet entered the system undetected and proceeded to attack the Separatist blockade. It was taken by surprise but began fighting back. The communications of the blockade were jammed to prevent them from hailing reinforcements. The blockade was mostly made up of Munificent-Destroyers, who were unable to scramble vulture droids before being destroyed. The blockade was quickly cleared.

The ground forces, under Commander CC-9873, were quickly deployed in gunships, covered by starfighters. The Separatist army tanks were bombed from orbit, and a landing zone was cleared. After pushing back the droid army, the clone troopers were aided by some locals who brought food and other supplies, though they were not needed. The battle was quickly over as the remainder of the Separatist ground troops were destroyed.

Aftermath
The planet of Nedij was used as the Republic forward command post following it's liberation. The battle, one of the first of the war, saw high casualties for the Confederacy and fairly minimal ones for the Republic. It also alerted Admiral Kirst of the Republic offensive.

Behind the scenes
The author picked a minor planet in the sector that did not have much information on it in the canon universe.