It is possible that the war itself has been only one further move in some greater game.
—Supreme Chancellor Palpatine
The Clone Wars (Year 7–16), was the name given to the major galactic conflict fought between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The war was named after the clone troopers utilized by the Republic against the droid forces of the Confederacy. These armies, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Confederate Droid Army, were two of the largest armies ever pitted against each other in galactic history, and the fighting between them rapidly spread to countless inhabited star systems.
Unbeknownst to most of those involved, the conflict was started, maintained, and controlled by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, whose ultimate goal was the transformation of the Republic into a galaxy-spanning Empire with him as Emperor as well as the eradication of the Jedi Order and the armies of all who could oppose him. To this end Sidious, in his alter-ego of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, saw to it that the Republic was situated to take on a Grand Army with the Jedi leading it as the Republic's generals. His apprentice Darth Tyranus, the alter-ego of Head of State Dooku, would lead the corporate entities of the Confederacy into amassing a massive droid army and leading it against the Republic. Bringing in countless alien worlds to his cause, Tyranus and Sidious hoped to later disenfranchise the non-Human races by building anti-alien sentiments in the Core. Playing both sides, the Sith were able to dismantle both the Republic and the Confederacy's strongest alliances and economic bases, ruining treaties and shattering the peace on countless worlds all as part of an endgame which would see widespread instability and a public desire for a unifying government.
The Sith plot was almost successful, even after the execution of Darth Tyranus at the hands of Jedi Anakin Skywalker. Indeed, the Sith plot hinged on Sidious' intentions on turning Skywalker to the dark side and using him as a weapon against the Jedi. When the Jedi High Council unraveled the truth about Sidious' identity, the Sith entered the situation believing that the distrust he had fomented between the boy and the High Council would sway him to protecting him from the Jedi. Sidious had, for the first time in many years, miscalculated. When Master Mace Windu was prized to deliver the killing blow to Sidious after the Sith had been bested in a lightsaber duel, Skywalker attempted to stop the swing but was pushed aside by Windu's superior skill and was able to deliver a fatal strike to Sidious, killing him and breaking the Sith line. With the Sith dead and the Confederacy leaderless, the Jedi would able to swiftly capture the Confederacy's Council of Financiers and deactivate the droid armies, allowing democracy to resume and bringing the war to a deafening halt.
Origins[]
I will not let this Republic which has stood for a thousand years be split in two. My negotiations will not fail."
"If they do, you must realize there aren't enough Jedi to protect the Republic. We are keepers of the peace, not soldiers.
—Chancellor Palpatine and Mace Windu discuss the growing conflict.
Preparing the way[]
While the Clone Wars officially began in Year 7, the foundations for war could be traced back nearly a millennium as part of the Sith Grand Plan formulated in the wake of the Sith Empire's defeat at Ruusan. The Order of the Sith Lords, founded by Darth Bane in the wake of the collapse of the Sith Empire, was created to destroy the Republic and the Jedi Order. While Bane was determined to see this happen, he knew that it was not possible within a single lifetime. To this end, Bane began laying the foundations for future Sith to build upon until the Grand Plan could be achieved. Inheriting the wealth of some of the lost Sith killed at the battle of Ruusan, Bane began to forge a vast intelligence-gathering network and, eventually, a fortified hideout on Ciutric IV from which he could plot his revenge on the Jedi. Over the next few centuries, Bane and his successors faced a number of challenges. While the Empire had seen the rise of many Sith Lords, Bane was but one man, and vowed that the Sith would number only two; a Master and an apprentice. In this way, the fate of the Sith would always stand on the edge of oblivion; one error would cost them everything. Bane, his apprentice, and the early heirs of their Order, while accumulating resources in secret, were forced to sit by quietly as the Jedi and Republic recovered and restored themselves and grew ever-stronger. The Sith waited and watched in secret, having the luxury of observing the Jedi and the Republic, without their enemies even knowing that they still existed.
The economic zenith of the Sith plan came largely during the tenure of Darth Plagueis, a Muun Sith Lord who was more publicly known as the plutocrat Hego Damask. Throughout his reign as Dark Lord, Plagueis amassed significant financial leverage and allies, which he used to undermine and exacerbate the already-strained relationships between the Core worlds and the Rim. Simultaneously, Plagueis' apprentice Darth Sidious, publicly known as the Nabooan noble Sheev Palpatine, amassed political influence and authority in the heart of the Republic itself–the Senate. Together, the pair would accomplish more toward their goals than their Sith predecessors had accomplished in centuries. To this end the Sith began crafting conflicts which would target specific groups and see their armies destroyed before the Sith made their move. Starting with the Silent War in 13 BrS, the Sith saw the destruction of a surviving cabal of Sith Lords and a large swath of the Jedi Order's Shadow operatives, or Sith hunters. The nature of the Silent War was one of secrecy and obfuscation; the Senate and the Jedi did not wish for a Sith threat to peace become widely known and therefore many of the affected systems were left in the dark and were passed over for relief aid or help from the Core, fostering a bitterness between many Outer Rim systems which already felt ignored by the elitists in the Galactic Core. Simultaneously, the Sith created another conflict to distract from the fighting on the Outer Rim. A seemingly small conflict between pirates and the Trade Federation in the Outer Rim erupted in 9 BrS when Iaco Stark, pirate entrepreneur, began stealing bacta from the Trade Federation and then re-selling it to Federation markets for cheaper than it would have been sold in the first place. While turning a tidy profit for himself, this inflamed the anger of the Trade Federation–a powerful voting bloc in the Galactic Senate. Seeking to resolve the conflict peacefully, Senator Finis Valorum brokered a diplomatic summit at Troiken. But events spiraled into open war when Stark attempted to kidnap the peace delegates. For several decades prior, a Militarist movement had been developing in the Galactic Senate, which advocated repealing a number of the Ruusan Reformations and militarizing the Republic once more. When the conflict erupted after the betrayal at Troiken, Republic Militarist Senator Ranulph Tarkin intervened on the Republic's behalf, styling his personal forces the Republic Army and Navy. Tarkin's fleet was destroyed and he himself killed, but the conflict fizzled out when Stark defected to the Republic in exchange for amnesty. The damage, however, was already done: the Trade Federation was radicalized and began demanding greater freedom in building droid armies, while the Militarist movement had gained both ground and a martyr. In the aftermath of the war, Tarkin was declared the Hero of Troiken by newly-elected Supreme Chancellor Valorum, earning the Militarists further legitimacy and adherents. They began pushing for the commissioning of a fleet of dreadnaughts, and even non-Militarists began to advocate taking greater control of outlying systems.
The ramifications of the Stark Hyperspace Conflict on the Republic were significant, and a mighty victory toward the Sith's Grand Plan. In a conflict that lasted less than a year, the near-millennium of serene peace that the Republic enjoyed was eroded away and the process of re-militarization begun. Meanwhile, the Trade Federation–soon to find themselves puppets of the Sith–began a military buildup which would prove to be of immense import to the Sith plan in the decades that followed. This year also saw the Jedi dispatched to the world Galidraan in order to combat the threat presented by the True Mandalorians. Led by Jedi Master Dooku, the Jedi's mission quickly turned into a bloodbath which would haunt Comlis Dooku for years to come. Stepping away from the Order at this time, Dooku retired to his homeworld of Serenno where he took up his hereditary title of Count and quickly found himself appointed to represent the planetary system within the Galactic Senate. Over the next decade, Dooku would form a bond with the up and coming Senator of Naboo, Sheev Palpatine, who would influence him to pursue the study of the dark side of the Force and become a future asset for the Sith. Winning over Dooku's trust, the Sith manipulated him into killing his friend Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, and secretly contracting with the Kaminoans to build a clone army. Searching for a template to clone would consume much of Dooku's free time, and would serve as his final test before becoming a Sith Lord himself.
Over the next decade, the Sith began assembling a network of Force-sensitives, Jedi cast-offs, and Sith cultists to populate the Shadwo Collective. The Collective was to be an elite group of spies, assassins and generals to lead the opposition against the Republic in the coming war. As Darth Maul trained to be the leader of the Collective, Sidious began tracking down others to assist him in the ranks. During this time the Bando Gora cult caught the attention of the Sith. Bringing violence to the planet Baltizaar, the Bando Gora were beset upon by a task force of Jedi, who took a number of casualties before successfully repelling the cultists. In the meantime, however, Jedi student Komari Vosa—a student of Jedi Master Dooku—was captured and brutally tortured, resulting in her turning to the dark side of the Force and assuming leadership of the cult. Indirectly controlling the cult, Sidious saw Vosa turn to the dark side and vow to serve the Sith. Dispatching her into the Outer Rim, Sidious informed Dooku of his former student's fall and asked the Count to send bounty hunters after her. One of the bounty hunters, Jango Fett, proved successful in hunting Vosa and returned her to Dooku on Serenno. Pleased, Dooku turned Vosa over to Sidious and employed Fett as the template for the clone army. Making Vosa a general within the Shadow Collective, Sidious dispatched her on a secret assignment with Darth Maul. In an effort to manipulate the illegal arms market, as well as move against Darth Plagueis, Sidious dispatched Maul to the prison Cog Hive Seven. There, Maul was to seek out arms manufacturer Iram Radique, and use the Bando Gora to acquire a weapon with which to kill Darth Plagueis. With Senator Dooku firmly in his grasp, Sidious named him Darth Tyranus and set him out into the galaxy to unite the disenfranchised Outer Rim systems and the corporate elites under the banner of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. While growing the Confederacy's membership was his primary goal, Darth Tyranus continued the search for Force Adepts to become his generals and spies for the coming war. Growing the Shadow Collective, Tyranus seduced captured Jedi and untrained Forceful individuals to the dark side and trained them to become warriors for the Sith. Always searching for new talent, Tyranus even involved non-Forceful individuals such as the Chistori warrior Cydon Prax and the Gen'Dai bounty hunter Durge. The most important and the most famous ally recruited to the Confederate cause was the Kaleesh warrior Qymaen jai Sheelal, chosen by Tyranus to be the public leader of the Confederate army when the time arose.
Two years after the Resynchronization of the galactic calendar, Plagueis and Sidious provoked another conflict in order to advance their goals. They urged the Yinchorri, themselves new admissions to the Republic, into an aggressive war as a test of their military prowess and strength. In need of a clone army, Palgueis was interested to see if the Yinchorri if they could serve as trainers for the new clone combatants. Ultimately, the Yinchorri failed to live up to expectations, but were successful in killing a member of the High Council and several other Jedi. Additionally, as their race was immune to telepathic manipulation, their isolation and defeat only eliminated them as a threat to the Sith Plan. Most significantly, the conflict had critically undermined the Chancellorship of Finis Valorum. This created the circumstances necessary for Darth Sidious to ascend to political supremacy in the Republic. By this time the Senate is split into two distinct groups: the Rim faction which was supported by the industrialist seats and led by the Senator of Serreno, Count Dooku; and the Core faction, led by Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, continue to create instability for the entire galaxy. Senator Dooku presents the Kaleesh general Qymaen jai Sheelal as an example of the neglect and corruption within the Republic and the Jedi Order. Painting the Yam'rii invasion of the Kalee system as a Jedi-backed assault on the Kaleesh, Dooku hoped to sway more in the Senate to his cause. After Sheelal's testimony, his transport is shot down over the capital and suspected dead; although he was actually rescued by Darth Tyranus and rebuilt as a monstrous cyborg suitable to lead the new Confederate army of droids in the coming war.
History[]
The Separatist Crisis begins (Year 3)[]
As the Rim faction reeled from the terror attack on Sheelal, the event that initiated the Separatist Crisis in the public mind was the invasion of the planet Naboo by the Trade Federation. Having formed a blockade around the planet for several months in protest of the new trade laws enacted by the Galactic Republic, the Trade Federation seized the capital city of Theed and its surrounding regions and occupied it with an army of battle droids. Simultaneously on Coruscant, the masterminds behind the plot, Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious, began to ensure the fall of Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum and prepare for the installation of Sidious as the new leader of the Republic. Two Jedi, Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, were sent as ambassadors to negotiate with the Trade Federation, but Darth Sidious ordered the Neimoidian leaders of the Trade Federation to have them destroyed upon arrival. Sensing a threat, Jinn and Kenobi avoided the Federation and made their way through Theed on foot. As the Federation leadership negotiated with Senator Naberrie, Darth Maul arrived to take control of the situation and silence the uncooperative Queen Amidala. While the Federation Viceroy, Nute Gunray, attempted to force Queen Amidala to sign a treaty with the Federation, Maul executed the Queen in order to keep the conflict growing. As the Republic reacted to the brutal execution, unaware of Sith involvement, Palpatine called for a Vote of No Confidence in the leadership of the Republic, and Chancellor Finis Valorum was voted out of office. Riding on the sympathy vote and riding a bipartisan ticket, Palpatine was elected Chancellor after beating out Dooku and Bail Organa's bids from the Rim and Core faction respectively. With Palpatine's election, the Sith had secretly come to control the Senate and the Rim faction. Ordering for a swift military assault on Naboo to drive out the Trade Federation, Palpatine decreed that the Republic's Planetary Security Forces would prove sufficient to handle the threat that the Federation posed. With his bid for power solidified, Sidious murdered Darth Plagueis and assumed complete control over the Sith Grand Plan with Darths Tyranus and Maul as his pupils.
Departing the Senate with Palpatine's election, Senator Dooku publicly declared the formation of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and started a wave of secession that tore the Senate asunder. As the Republic entered into this conflict, the Jedi Order vowed to assist in whatever way possible, sending several Knights to serve as military advisers in systems that needed defending. While the High Council refused to serve as Generals, many Jedi assisted behind the scenes, destabilizing crime organizations, paramilitary groups, and slave empires that could add their strength or wealth to the Confederacy. Meanwhile, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn had discovered a teenage Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine after escaping Naboo on a cargo hauler. Taking the boy as his Padawan, Jinn knighted Kenobi and sent him back to Coruscant with the news.
Military buildup(Year 4)[]
While the invasion of Naboo and the terror attack on Coruscant sparked the Separatist Crisis, all-out war was still a few years away. Darth Sidious secretly commissioned Kuat Drive Yards to produce starship, vehicles and equipment for millions of soldiers, using billions of credits siphoned from the Republic treasury. Meanwhile, the Jedi Order and the Sith play a cat-and-mouse game in the shadows, with the Jedi attempting to cut-off aid to any Sith sympathizers that they could. While Gar-Oth's Empire wass destroyed by Jedi Yoshi Raph-Elan and prevented from bolstering Confederate troops, the Nightsisters of Dathomir succeed in capturing a Star Temple and attempted to harness ancient Kwa technology. Although Jedi Quinlan Vos infiltrated them and destroyed the tech, the Nightsisters remained active and began a relationship with Darth Tyranus' alter ego of Count Dooku and the Confederacy.
The Confederacy grows (Year 5)[]
After roaming the Outer Rim for over a decade on recruitment exercises, Dooku selected to settle on Raxus Secundus and declare it the capital of the Confederacy. To further distract the Jedi, Dooku dispatches Shadow Collective member Aurra Sing on a string of Jedi assassinations that cause endless strife for Jedi relations in the Core and Inner Rim. Meanwhile, Anzati released from stasis by Aayla Secura overrun Kiffex, led by Volfe Karkko. The activation of the Darkstaff in the Cularin system sends the entire star system eight years into the future in an event known as the Blink.
Sep Crisis (29/6)[]
- Raith Sienar develops plans for his Expeditionary Battle Planetoid, which will evolve into the Death Star.
The war beings (Year 7)[]
Fear began to grow within the heart of the Republic, as many Senators came under the threat of assassination and terror attacks became more frequent. In the weeks leading up to a vote on the Military Creation Act which would form a Grand Army of the Republic, the Jedi Order assigned Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi to investigate the attempted assassination of Senator Padmé Naberrie of Naboo. In the midst of his investigations, Kenobi traced the murderous plot back to Kamino where he stumbled upon the clone army being created for the Republic. Looking into the clone army, he discovers that it has been created for the Republic, allegedly by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, and is ready for deployment. Reporting his finding to the Jedi Council, they dispatch Master Yoda to speak with the cloners while Jinn and his Padawan are asked to sit in on negotiations on Alderaan.
On Alderaan, Jinn and Skywalker serve as part of the Jedi delegation sitting in on the negotiations between the Republic Senate and the Confederate Parliament. Senator Naberrie leads the negotiations, while Lady Mina Bonteri represents the Parliament and calls for peace on behalf of the Conferacy and demands an end the the assassinations. Shocked, Naberrie inquires into the assassinations of Confederate leaders, which seem to mirror those of Republic Senators. Before any evidence can be exchanged, Darth Maul lands at the conference hall and fights his way into the proceedings. Jedi Skywalker engages Maul in the conference room, only for Master Jinn intervening before Maul can kill the young Jedi. Dueling fiercely, Jinn is cut down by the Zabrak Sith. Before Skywalker can enact revenge, the clone army blasts through the walls led by Jedi Kenobi and Maul flees. With Skywalker's training incomplete, Kenobi accepts the responsibility to train him. The Senators accept the narrative that Dooku was behind the attack all along, and that earlier beliefs that a third party might be manipulating both the Republic and the Confederacy are dismissed and the war is underway.
Despite the declaration of war and the formation of the Grand Army of the Republic, the fighting does not begin immediately. Both the Republic and the Confederacy continue to build up their strength, only striking out with strategic assaults. Many Jedi are reluctant to fight in the war, with some disavowing the conflict completely. Palpatine wins reelection following the successful first outing of the clone army and declares that the Confederacy will not threaten the galaxy for long.
Year two (27/8)[]
- Radnor is struck by a bioplague; the nearby Avoni attempt to conquer it. The Jedi are sent to help evacuate survivors.
- Outbound Flight departs from Yaga Minor.
- Population of Engebo V is wiped out by skekfish. (Confederate victory)
- Ashaar Khorda and his followers defeated. (Republic victory)
Year three (26/9)[]
Year four (25/10)[]
- The Yuuzhan Vong establish an advance base on the planet Bimmiel.
- The Virgillian Civil War, a conflict between the Virgillian Free Alignment and the Aristocracy, begins.[6]
Year five (24/11)[]
In Year 11, Palpatine's eight year term as Supreme Chancellor was coming to an end, which necessitated the reveal of the Confederacy's growing army to the galaxy. Dooku emerged on the Confederate capital world of Raxus to announce the backing of the joining of the Baktoid Armor Workshop, the Commerce Guild, the Corporate Alliance, the Techno Union. When most of the Rimward leg of the Rimma Trade Route came under the control of the Confederacy, some 200 agricultural worlds and major hyperspace crossroads followed suit. On the eve of the election, Shadow Acolyte Granta Omega attacked the Senate with two assassination attempts on the Chancellor's life. With 21 senators dead in the wake of the attack, and the increasing threat of the Confederacy, the Emergency Powers Act passes and allows Palpatine to stay in office until the end of the crisis.
Year six (23/12)[]
With the war entering its sixth year, Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan track Darth Maul to Humbarine where the Sith Lord causes a planet-wide cataclysm. During the fighting, Kenobi is wounded and Skywalker attacks Maul one-on-one. Fueled by hatred of Maul for killing Master Jinn, Skywalker kills the Sith Lord and revels in his victory. In the wake of Maul's death, Skywalker is elevated to the rank of Jedi Knight. During this year, the Cularin system reappears in the galaxy after having been missing for eight years.
- A diplomatic envoy consisting of Jedi Masters Ludwin Katarkus and Everen Ettene, along with their Padawans Danyawarra and Halagad Ventor, leaves Coruscant to broker peace talks in the Virgillian Civil War.
- Slicers attacked the networks of the HoloNet News.
- The People's Inquest set up a temporary camp outside the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
- The Sepan Civil War came to a month-long standstill.
- Ando and Sy Myrth formally secede from the Galactic Republic, with their respective Senators Po Nudo and Toonbuck Toora issuing their resignations via droid proxy during a morning session of the Galactic Senate. Within hours, anti-Republic protesters celebrate the separation in Quantill City, Ando, and over 500 Aqualish arrange for passage off of Coruscant.
- Ferus Olin resigns from the Jedi Order. He eventually ends up living on the world of Bellassa where he starts a good friendship with Roan Lands.
Sith revealed (Year 13)[]
With the violence increasing in the war, and more and more Jedi dying or breaking away to join the Shadow Collective, the High Council and the Republic attempt to make a decisive strike on Geonosis, when it is revealed that much of the droid army is produced in the planet's subterranean factories. Launching a full-scale assault on the world, Kenobi and Skywalker face Dooku, who is revealed to be a Sith Lord. While many Jedi died in the fighting, the Confederacy's droid production facilities are decimated and their army greatly weakened.
Year eight (21/14)[]
Although the Battle of Geonosis was a victory for the Republic, the war's end was still not in sight. Millions of clone trooper units departed from Coruscant on missions to find and defeat the Confederacy. The Jedi capable of taking up arms against this new threat were ordered to take up the rank of General and lead clone troopers in their campaigns. No longer were Jedi permitted to stand idle, as the Order committed itself to the end of the fighting. Armories and clone barracks were installed around the Coruscant Jedi Temple's main hangars and the Jedi Order transformed into a largely militaristic order. In the initial aftermath of Geonosis, the Jedi Order became determined to hunt down the Shadow Collective's members and kill Sith Lord Dooku and find any other Sith that were in league with him. Chief Jedi Shadow Avlis Tholme, tasked with infiltrating the Confederate information networks and rooting out the Sith, discovered that Master Sora Bulq had defected and was leading the Shadow Collective.