The Battle for Felinia, also known as the Felinia campaign, was a two-year long battle of the Clone Wars fought over the Mid Rim planet Felinia. It began in 22 BBY, several weeks after the First Battle of Geonosis, when General Schkakerro of the Confederacy of Independent Systems attempted to invade Felinia. However, battle droid forces were opposed by the Republic-backed Felinian Militia, who wasted no time mobilizing millions of personnel to defend their homeworld. Schkakerro was prevented from performing orbital bombardment due to surface turbolaser emplacements, so the Separatists blockaded Felinia and set up self-sufficient droid factories. The Felinians did not back down despite this, causing a stalemate and leading to a prolonged conflict with little progress.
In 20 BBY, Schkakerro deployed hundreds of K-1 thermonuclear missiles across Felinia, resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of civilians. The Republic, considering this to be a serious war crime and already advancing into Separatist space in the region during Operation Armbreaker, deployed a sizable force of capital ships and clone legions to Felinia. Within the next several weeks, they took down all the Separatist factories and rapidly droid numbers, causing the CIS forces on Felinia to collapse. The Republic and Felinian Militia soon secured victory, although they were unable to neutralize Schkakerro as he escaped.
Prelude[]
The origins of the Battle of Felinia could be indirectly traced back to 29 BBY, when Klaatu Corporation, a member of the Corporate Alliance, sent Schkakerro to Felinia with military forces in an attempt to intimidate the Felinian government into signing a deal that would allow KlaatuCorp unrestricted access to the planet's natural resources. This plan failed as KlaatuCorp forces were defeated by the Felinian Militia, causing Schkakerro to hold a strong grudge against the Felinian species.
When the Clone Wars began in 22 BBY, the majority of Felinians did not desire secession from the Republic despite the fact that most of their sector joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Under the leadership of General Onc Panthera, the Felinian Militia built up their forces and installed surface-to-space heavy turbolasers in the event of a Separatist attack. The Grand Army of the Republic sent the 458th Battalion led by Clone Commander CC-6518 "Rov" to Felinia. 576 clone troopers and a few AT-TEs would be completely insufficient for defending against a full-scale planetary invasion, but the Republic wanted to show some support despite their forces being spread thin.
Schkakerro meanwhile had become a general in the Separatist Droid Army, and he personally wanted to attack and destroy Felinia because of what happened seven years earlier. Using the pretext of massive mineral deposits, Schkakerro departed to Felinia with a sizeable fleet consisting of his Providence-class Dreadnought Iniquity, a Lucrehulk-class Battleship, several Munificent-class star frigates, and several Recusant-class light destroyers, along with his army group.
The battle[]
Initial Separatist assault[]
The Confederate forces arrived at Felinia and easily managed to defeat the Felinian Militia forces in space, which consisted of only several corvettes and a few squadrons of Z-95 Headhunters. Schkakerro then ordered ten C-9979 landing craft to assault the capital city of Macharidont. They landed a few kilometers outside the city and deployed numerous armored vehicles and several thousand battle droids. However, the Felinian Militia had anticipated such an attack, and thus took up defensive positions prior to the landing. A few thousand soldiers, including Captain Faroz Cyannus, were able to hold their ground and defeat the droids even though they were heavily outnumbered. The Clones then used a squadron of BTL-B Y-wing starfighters to bomb the C-9979 landing craft, destroying all of them along with all their battle droids and vehicles.
General Schkakerro was infuriated by this development, so he decided to utilize orbital bombardment to destroy the Felinians. He ordered his Munificent-class star frigates to bombard different cities from space, and the frigates moved into position. Before any of them could fire however, one was crippled by a shot from a long-range turbolaser emplacement on the surface of Felinia. A second shot soon followed, destroying that Munificent-class ship. Another frigate targeting a different city was destroyed before it could fire as well, and it became apparent that the Felinians had surface-to-space defenses across the entire planet.
Realizing that this strategy would not work, Schkakerro ordered the frigates to pull back before more were lost, and he accepted the fact that this battle would have to be very fierce in order for the Separatists to win.
Prolonging the battle[]
The CIS set up a blockade fleet led by the Frenzanian Rear Admiral Wrakurona Kazzun. She was able to successfully prevent any non-Separatist vessels from arriving to Felinia or departing from the planet, cutting off the Felinians from Republic support for the time being. Felinian General Onc Panthera vowed that there would be a heavy price to pay for attempting to conquer Felinia, and the Militia was already getting hundreds of thousands of new recruits who wanted to defend their homeworld.
Additional Separatist landing ships came in at more remote locations, where they quickly began to set up droid factories as it would be the most effective way to produce more battle droids and vehicles. The CIS deployed thousands of Vulture droids and targeted Felinian airbases in an attempt to gain air superiority. Schkakerro ordered the rapid construction of a massive command fortress for him to use.
The Galactic Republic did not immediately focus on the situation, as Felinia was not considered strategically important and at this point in the war the Republic was on the defensive due to their forces being vastly outmatched. The 458th Battalion and Felinian Militia were thus on their own to survive the onslaught of Separatist droids, but the large population of Felinia would be helpful in the fight. Additionally, Felinia would be able to sustain itself for some time without the need for imports. The Militia set up many bases and outposts across the planet and got all available soldiers and vehicles combat-ready.
On the Separatist side, Klaatu Corporation took advantage of the situation by coming once more to Felinia with thousands of employees and droids, establishing large mining operations which they used to help construct more droids. Additionally, Sergon Security Services, a private military working for the Separatists, deployed the 22nd Ground Services Division, which had 12,960 troopers in three brigades. These organic soldiers would be more competent than B1-series battle droids, but their numbers were miniscule compared to the Felinian Militia so they could not change the course of the battle much on a planetary scale.
Siege of Macharidont[]
Due to the Republic/Militia's entrenched positions, the Battle for Felinia became a stalemate but was a brutal fight nevertheless. Neither side had enough numbers to gain a significant advantage over the other and dozens of battlefronts appeared across Felinia. The most deadly of these was at Macharidont, where battle droids besieged the capital city for months as the Battle for Felinia continued into 21 BBY. The once respectable city was devastated by constant artillery shelling and high-casualty urban combat. The Separatists also encircled the city, preventing refugees from getting out. Several thousand Militia soldiers along with all of the 458th Battalion did their best to defend Macharidont, but there was nothing that could be done as they were overwhelmed.
Faroz Cyannus and his family were among those trapped in the city, and Cyannus was soon one of the last survivors as the battle droids eliminated everyone. He attempted to save as many lives as he could but was unable to prevent the tens of thousands of Felinian deaths that had occurred, most of them civilians. Schkakerro arrived himself at the city to finish the fight.
Schkakerro along with super battle droids, commando droids, and his personal assassins captured Faroz Cyannus, several of his soldiers, and Cyannus's family who were non-combatants. They were brought to the ruined city plaza one night, where Schkakerro mocked Cyannus for being a fool and trying to do the right thing before killing the Felinian's parents and all of his four littermates by choking followed by decapitation to ensure death. Cyannus witnessed the entire event, being tied to a post and not being able to do anything as he watched his family die one by one over over the course of two minutes.
Before Schkakerro killed Cyannus however, Commander Rov and his twenty surviving clone troopers arrived, firing at the battle droids and assassins. Schkakerro was shot as well, but his armor protected him and he escaped. Cyannus was freed by the clone troopers and he tried to go after Schkakerro for murdering his family. Commander Rov discouraged him from doing so however, saying that Cyannus had no chance and that his family would not have wanted his life to end like that.
Realizing that the city would soon be completely overrun by Separatist forces and that the final pockets of resistance would be eliminated, Cyannus and Rov devised a plan to escape what remained of Macharidont with their few remaining soldiers. There was no hope of surviving an escape in an aerial vehicle, so they hijacked a Multi-Troop Transport. The group made it some distance but unfortunately for them happened to come across Schkakerro again, who was in front of them with an Armored Assault Tank accompanied by four NR-N99 Persuader-class droid enforcers.
Schkakerro ordered the stolen MTT to halt, but it instead fired on him, destroying all his tank droids. However, Schkakerro outmaneuvered the MTT, going behind it to shoot out the power generators. The clones and Felinians could do nothing but wait in the cargo hold and aim their weapons at the door. Schkakerro blasted the MTT's door with his AAT, killing several of its occupants before a thermal detonator knocked out his tank. Commander Rov was hit, and as he died with Cyannus next to him, he told Cyannus to lead both of their soldiers so that they could live to save more lives, as the battle was far from finished. Schkakerro disappeared using a smoke grenade, and the clones and Felinians fled before Separatist forces arrived. Using the darkness as cover, the clones and Felinians, which were only fifteen in number now, stealthily slipped past the enemy line and made it to friendly territory.
Nuclear weapon atrocity[]
General Schkakerro was unsatisfied that the "Cyan Cat" escaped, so he demanded nuclear weapons from KlaatuCorp with death threats. Schkakerro got what he wanted, as KlaatuCorp delivered him three hundred newly manufactured K-1 thermonuclear missiles in 20 BBY. At this point, the battle had been going on for over 500 standard days. Each had an explosive yield of ten megatons, capable of annihilating everything within a radius of about five kilometers and causing lesser damage for far greater distances.
Schkakerro launched 280 of these a matter of days after they were acquired, focusing on targeting population centers. Some of these were intercepted by the Felinian Militia and the Militia attempted to evacuate people from major cities, but despite this the missiles killed an estimated seventy million people after they had all detonated, accounting for the majority of civilian casualties during the battle.
Even though Felinia had been under blockade for over a full year, news of the use of nuclear weapons on Felinia reached the rest of the galaxy. Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine briefly mentioned the event to the Galactic Senate and HoloNet News, calling it a "horrific war crime which demonstrates the pure immorality of the Separatist Alliance." There was strong support to immediately deploy a sizeable force of clones and Jedi to assist the Felinians before more suffering occurred.
Furthermore, at the same time the use of nuclear weapons on Felinia occurred, Republic forces in the galactic south were conducting Operation Armbreaker, a major offensive against the Confederacy in the region. They had conquered many Separatist-controlled systems, and were rapidly advancing down the Rimma Trade Route, which Felinia was located along.
Clone reinforcements[]
Breaking the blockade[]
Battle Group Iota-4 led by Admiral Enrit Falor was dispatched to Felinia. The forces headed for Felinia included twelve Venator-class Star Destroyers, tenAcclamator-class transgalactic military assault ships, and numerous smaller vessels. Aboard the assault ships were legions of clone troopers, one of which was the 96th Legion led by Jedi General Jon Ternath, Jedi Commander Jedaana Lokka, and Clone Commander CC-3527.
The Confederacy's Felinian blockade fleet at this point had expanded from its original size, now having two Lucrehulk-class Battleships, the Providence-class Dreadnought Iniquity, twenty Munificent-class star frigates, twenty Recusant-class light destroyers, and six DH-Omni Support Vessels.
The Republic battle group engaged the Felinian blockade, and Rear Admiral Wrakurona Kazzun maintained her fleet's formation. Admiral Falor split up his forces and attempted to dwindle the Separatist numbers, destroying their capital ships one by one while suffering minimal Republic losses. Falor's forces then pulled back, and Kazzun ordered several of her ships to go after them. However, Kazzun's tactics were unsuccessful and she suffered further losses. The Persistence, Admiral Falor's flagship, then moved to engage Kazzun's Lucrehulk-class Battleship directly. Republic fighters were able to weaken the battleship's defenses, allowing the Persistence to unleash a barrage on the enemy core ship. Rear Admiral Kazzun did not survive this, and the remaining Separatist vessels retreated to the other side of the planet, with their strength being reduced by about half.
Changing the tide on the ground[]
After Battle Group Iota-4 broke through the blockade, ten Acclamator-class assault ships to the surface of Felinia. These ships quickly deployed ten legions of clone troopers (amounting to a total of about 106,000 combat personnel) to reinforce the Felinians. While this number was small compared to the millions of Felinian Militia members and battle droids already there, the clone troopers were much more effective on an individual basis than Felinian troops, leading to the tide of the battle changing in favor of the Republic on multiple fronts. They remained vastly outnumbered by Separatist droids, but this would not be the case for much longer.
With the Republic now having space superiority, warships and bombers destroyed multiple droid factories, reducing the number of replacement battle droids available. Some other factories were sabotaged by clone commandos or taken through conventional ground assault. The Separatist numbers of both battle droids and organic soldiers soon were decreasing rapidly and the Republic and Felinians began gaining on every battlefront after a few weeks.
Schkakerro was greatly concerned about how he was now losing the battle he had been fighting in for so long, so he resorted back to the nuclear weapons. He deployed the twenty remaining K-1 thermonuclear missiles he had, exclusively targeting population centers. Nine of these were intercepted but the other eleven killed two million people, almost all of whom were civilians. As Schkakerro was out of nuclear missiles, he turned to chemical weapons that he had been stockpiling. These chemical weapons had been sparingly used during the battle previously, but now they were deployed at full-scale. Droid bombers dropped them on enemy positions and cities, releasing toxic gas that was harmless to battle droids but lethal to living beings. These chemical weapons were used unwisely in a number of instances, leading to the deaths of organic Separatist personnel.
Schkakerro's assassins eventually captured Felinian General Onc Panthera, who was brought to Schkakerro. After being brutally beaten by the Separatist, Panthera was devoured alive by a group of hungry rodents being held by the Separatist. This event was broadcast publicly. Schkakerro's military tactic became simply fighting to the death in a mindless manner, which was opposed by many tactical droids and organic officers under Schkakerro's command. He thus killed any subordinate officer than questioned his orders.
At this point, Schkakerro was considered to be completely evil by the Felinians and Republic and was supposed to be killed on sight. A number of Separatist soldiers serving under Schkakerro refused to go along with it, so they deserted or surrendered to the Republic. Remaining Sergon Security Services members attempted to leave, claiming that what they were doing was obviously suicide and that it went against the contract Triple S had signed with the CIS. Because of this, Schkakerro told his forces that SSS was working against his goals, and that all of its members needed to be killed. Schkakerro's extremely aggressive and desperate tactics ultimately only led to his forces collapsing faster.
Attempt to acquire more missiles[]
Schkakerro determined that the best course of action would not be to retreat or change his tactics, but rather to get more nuclear missiles and try to kill everyone again. He sent another message to KlaatuCorp, telling them to get him 500 more missiles within a week or that he would crush their skulls. As demanded, KlaatuCorp put 500 K-1 thermonuclear missiles onto the DH-Omni Support Vessel Supply Ship 1257, escorted by two Munificent-class star frigates. The three ships left for Felinia, and the transport operation would be overseen by TJ-8361.
Confederate Marshal General Yosip Zagoonga knew of this due to his high rank, so he secretly and deliberately leaked intel that exposed the plot. Zagoonga was disgusted by Schkakerro, believing that the general was a complete disgrace to what the Confederacy stood for. The intel was discovered by Clone Intelligence, and the clone commando unit Enth Squad was sent on a mission to destroy Supply Ship 1257. They successfully sabotaged the ship and caused the missiles to detonate in a massive explosion, vaporizing all three Separatist vessels and thwarting General Schkakerro's attempt to cause more destruction.
End of the battle[]
Republic closing in[]
Only a few days later, the Separatist territory on Felinia had been reduced to a few scattered pockets of resistance. All battle droid factories had been destroyed and hardly any organic soldiers remained, as most of them had been killed or captured, while the few who remained had no morale left. Schkakerro blamed the failure on his forces being incompetent. He planned to escape to the Iniquity, but knew it would be difficult to do so with Republic air superiority.
Schkakerro's escape[]
The 96th Legion attacked Schkakerro's command fortress and managed to breach the defenses. As they advanced inside the massive building and fought through droid forces, Schkakerro enacted his plan to escape. He trapped Jon Ternath in an area of the fortress, killing the accompanying clone troopers and managing to incapacitate the Jedi Master. Schkakerro then brought the Jedi Master aboard a Gozanti-class cruiser and took off.
Aware that Schkakerro had taken Ternath, Jedaana Lokka and her clones did not fire on the ship. A few LAATs pursued the ship as it ascended into the sky, with clone jetpack troopers breaking through and boarding it. Lokka managed to free her master, and the two briefly engaged four of Schkakerro's assassins, who were armed with vibroblades. The assassins lured the Jedi to the cargo bay, which was then opened, sucking all of them out. Ternath and Lokka used their Force abilities to land on top of the Republic gunships directly behind the cruiser and get inside them, while the assassins had no such capabilities and fell kilometers to their deaths. A few clone troopers were still aboard the ship, but they were killed. A swarm of Vulture droids from the Iniquity then came down, forcing the Republic gunships to break off their pursuit of Schkakerro's Gozanti.
Schkakerro then boarded his Providence-class dreadnought Iniquity, but Battle Group Iota-4 closed in on the remaining Separatist ships. Schkakerro ordered the Munificent-class frigates and Recusant-class destroyers that were left to directly attack the Republic vessels. This was basically a suicide tactic, as the Separatist vessels were outgunned, outflanked, and quickly destroyed. However, the sacrifice of these ships provided enough time for the Iniquity to flee into hyperspace.
The remaining Separatist forces on the planet were destroyed or surrendered within the next several hours, ending the battle in a Republic and Felinian victory.
Aftermath[]
Impact on Felinia[]
While the Galactic Republic and their Felinian allies had emerged victorious, the Felinians had been devastated by the battle, which lasted two full years. Well over one hundred million Felinians died, and even more fled in the time following the battle. Additionally, most major cities on Felinia were destroyed by nuclear weapons or simply from urban combat. Agriculture, infrastructure, and the environment had all suffered greatly as well, leaving the planet in a ruined state. This also caused the Felinians to despise the Confederacy, with many leaving their homeworld after the battle ended to continue fighting against the CIS. Most Felinians were initially accepting to the Galactic Empire as it promised tragedies like the Battle for Felinia would not happen again.
Schkakerro after the battle[]
Following the Battle for Felinia, Schkakerro decided that the CIS was worthless and that he would no longer be affiliated with it. Aboard the Iniquity, the programming of the battle droids was overridden so that they would be loyal to Schkakerro rather than the Confederacy. He subsequently went rogue and pursued his own goals of causing death and destruction.
Image of the CIS[]
The Battle for Felinia had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the public perception of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Separatist war crimes during the battle were heavily publicized by Republic media on the HoloNet, portraying the CIS as a morally bankrupt adversary that did not hesitate to use weapons of mass destruction to kill millions of innocent people. This horrified many people, leading to stronger support for a quicker end to the war, an end which involved the demise of the CIS. Additionally, the failure of General Schkakerro and his forces was used to support the claim that Separatist leaders and military personnel were not only unethical but also completely incompetent and ineffective.
Many members of the CIS, such as Yosip Zagoonga, criticized what their side did on Felinia, claiming that it was not representative of the “true” Separatist movement. Nevertheless, these voices were overshadowed by the fact that, as the losers of the Clone Wars, the Separatists were remembered by mainstream galactic society as being on the "wrong side of history." Some individuals in the Galactic Empire later used the Battle for Felinia as an example of the consequences of lacking a powerful galactic government that used military force to prevent conflicts.