Geonosis Geonosis , referred to as Geonosia by some natives , was the inhospitable desert home planet of the Geonosian s . It was the Confederacy of Independent Systems ' first capital and hosted its major battle droid foundries . It was the site of the Battle of Geonosis , the opening conflict of the Clone Wars , as well as the subsequent invasion by the Galactic Republic . Following the cessation of the Clone Wars , the Death Star would be constructed above the planet and placed under the command of Grand Moff Tarkin . Five years after the conflict ' s conclusion , the Galactic Empire would garrison the planet heavily and attempt to mine the planet ' s asteroid s for mineral s . At least five years after the Clone Wars , the Empire moved the Death Star to another construction site and the planet was sterilized by the Empire as a security measure , an act which resulted in the virtual elimination of the planet ' s native population . Description . Situated in the Geonosis system of the Arkanis sector in the Outer Rim Territories , the planet of Geonosis was 43 , 000 light years from the Galactic Core , and less than a parsec away from the Outer Rim planet of Tatooine . It was the homeworld of the Geonosian s , a species of sentient semi - insectoid s . It had a breathable atmosphere , but an arid climate . Its irradiated surface was covered in harsh , rocky desert s , marked by mesas and buttes . Both its rocks and sky were tinted in shades of red . Surface water was scarce , amounting to only 5 % of the entire total planetary surface . From space , it could be seen that Geonosis had awe - inspiring rocky rings . The planet was orbited by fifteen moon s . History . Ancient history . At some point in the ancient history of Geonosis , a comet crashed in one of the planet ' s many moons . The collision debris not only formed the famous rings of Geonosis , but also formed a field of small asteroid s which would sometimes rain down on the planet ' s surface . The Clone Wars . Meeting of the Separatists . In the later years of the Galactic Republic , Geonosis became a major base of operations for the Confederacy of Independent Systems , a separatist alliance that spread across the galaxy . Ten years after the election of Sheev Palpatine as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic , the Archduke of Geonosis , Poggle the Lesser , hosted a summit of the heads of the Confederacy . During that meeting , the trade barons pledged their military forces to Count Dooku , a defrocked Jedi Master and head of the Confederacy . While the Separatists were ready to wage war , their plans were overheard by Obi - Wan Kenobi , a Jedi Master . The Geonosians took Kenobi captive , but he managed to dispatch a distress call to his superiors on Coruscant , the Jedi High Council . The Council then dispatched two hundred Jedi to Geonosis . Meanwhile , the Geonosians sentenced Master Kenobi to death in the Petranaki arena along with his apprentice Anakin Skywalker , and the Republic senator Padmé Amidala . Eventually , the Jedi reinforcements arrived , and quickly dealt with the Geonosian warriors . However , the immense droid army of the Confederacy was laying in wait , and many Jedi fell under enemy fire . When all seemed lost , even more reinforcements arrived , in the form of the newly created Grand Army of the Republic , which made use of clone soldiers . Upon the arrival of the clone army , the Republic and the Confederacy engaged in the first battle of what would later be known as the Clone Wars . Invasion by the Republic . Following the Battle near Dorin , the Republic sent Jedi General Ki - Adi - Mundi , Obi - Wan Kenobi , Luminara Unduli , and Anakin Skywalker to take Geonosis with a massive invasion . As they made their descent , Kenobi ' s and Commander Cody ' s force boarded their gunships and flew to secure the rendezvous point . However their gunships came under heavy fire from the Geonosian s and their defenses . Mundi and Commander Jet ' s forces followed him but they were forced to land their AT - TEs away from the rendezvous due to the heavy fire . Skywalker ' s , Commander Ahsoka Tano ' s , and Captain Rex ' s gunships were shot down and all their AT - TEs were destroyed . Despite that , they continued towards to the rendezvous point and were met with heavy resistance from the Geonosians . Mundi ' s gunship was shot down and he was wounded . Commander Cody was able to land his AT - TEs , but the landing area came under fire from the Geonosians and their AATs . Kenobi ' s gunship was then hit and crash landed away from the landing zone . Only Kenobi and Trapper survived the crash and were then rescued by Waxer and Boil . Kenobi , Cody and their troopers then held the rendezvous awaiting Skywalker ' s and Mundi ' s forces . As Mundi ' s forces made their way through the Caltrop field to the rendezvous point , Jet contacted Admiral Wullf Yularen for air support . The Admiral however , could not divert any air support with risks to other units . Jet then left a squad with the AT - TEs and with Mundi and his Flame trooper s continued to the rendezvous . Skywalker and his force then came to a fortress that blocked their path . Skywalker and Tano then scaled the wall . They were able to destroy the battle droid s , but they were then confronted by Droideka s who they were able to defeat with Rex ' s help . They then planted explosives inside the wall and their way was cleared . Skywalker ' s forces were then able to meet up with Mundi ' s forces . Skywalker then contacted Yularen for air support and Yularen was able to provide a squadron of bombers . As Kenobi ' s forces were being overrun , the bombers then took out the Geonosians ' forces surrounding the rendezvous . Skywalker ' s and Mundi ' s forces then joined Kenobi ' s to plan the last part of their attack . Skywalker would attack the outer defenses of the fortress while Kenobi brought in the AT - TEs and Mundi the gunships . Skywalker , Tano and a squad were able to penetrate the shield . They then threw droid poppers at the fortress ' s proton cannons , disabling them . Kenobi then brought the AT - TEs in range of the shield generator and destroyed . After the shield went down , Mundi brought in the gunships and captured the remaining Geonosians . Kenobi and Mundi , along with the rest of their wounded , left to recuperate , leaving Skywalker , his apprentice , and their force to destroy the factory . Destroying the factory . To help Skywalker , Tano and their forces in destroying the factory , Unduli , along with her apprentice Barriss Offee and Commander Gree ' s 41st Elite Corps came to assist in the attack . They devised a plan to destroy the primary droid factory . Unduli and Skywalker then marched their troops across the bridge , without cover to get Poggle ' s forces ' attention . During his time their , Poggle and his tactical droid , TX - 21 were running the factory at 50 % capacity and had ten garrisons of droids ready to be deployed . The super tank s were not finished yet but would be ready . The droids were then deployed , marching across the bridge to fight the clones . As the two forces fought , TX - 21 then sent in geonosians to attack from above . Despite this , Skywalker ' s and Unduli ' s forces were able to defeat the droids . However , Poggle , at the urging of TX - 21 , deployed the super tanks . As they moved in on the clones , Skywalker ordered their cannons to fire at it , to no affect . The super tanks rolled over the clones as they made their way across the bridge . As battle raged above , Offee and Tano were able to make their way through the catacombs to the main reactor . Unfortunately , Offee inadvertently woke one of the Geonosians , who informed Poggle and TX - 21 of this . After planting the bombs , Offee and Tano were then confronted by Poggle , TX - 21 , their Geonoisans and a super tank . Tano then destroyed TX - 21 , but failed to even dent the super tank . Offee and Tano then fought the Geonosian to get their bombs back , but failed . When Tano was knocked out , Offee took the droid drivers and took control of the super tank . Both of them decided to use the tank to destroy the factory . As the super tanks moved across the bridge , Unduli and Skywalker planted explosives to make the tanks fall into the ravine . They were succesful in destroying the tanks . However , they were then confronted by more battle droids . Skywalker then contacted Tano , telling her to set the bombs off . However , they then used the tank , knowing it might kill them . They fired the tank at the reactor , and the factory collapsed , burying them inside the wreckage . Despite that , Skywalker and Unduli were able find their apprentices alive . Searching for Poggle . Following the successful invasion , Jedi Master Luminara Unduli went in search of Poggle the Lesser , who had retreated into the catacombs of an ancient temple . While she and a trooper searched the temple , a sandstorm prohibited reinforcements from reaching their positions . While communicating with Masters Kenobi and Mundi via hologram , Unduli ' s clone trooper was killed by the undead hordes of the mysterious Hive Queen Karina the Great . Having been knocked unconscious and captured , the Jedi Master was taken before Karina . Jedi Kenobi and Skywalker came to her rescue ; they were not far off when Luminara regained consciousness and wrestled her way out of the zombies ' reach . Realizing what they were up against , she contacted Kenobi to warn him not to come after her , but was cut off as the zombies overwhelmed her . The Jedi disregarded her warnings and continued their search until they came upon Karina ' s abode , where they found Luminara in an energy trap for her to be infested with brain worms . With Kenobi and Commander Cody delaying the zombies and the Queen , Skywalker freed Unduli and the two captured Poggle . Cody and his troops shot down the cave support , burying the Queen and taking Poggle prisoner . The Age of the Empire . Sterilization . At the end of the Clone Wars , the Galactic Republic was replaced by the First Galactic Empire , a tyrannical , autocratic regime led by the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious . Subsequently , the Death Star ' s construction was commenced above Geonosis . The Empire utilized numerous construction modules operated by slaves of various species to construct the battlestation . In 14 BBY , the Imperials attempted to mine the asteroids of Geonosis for mineral s , but the project proved unfeasible . Geonosis was the site of the Death Star ' s construction site and was supplied by a chain of marshaling stations including Rampart Station , Desolation Station , and Sentinel Base . Following the suppression of Berch Teller ' s rebel cell , the newly appointed Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin enacted procedures limiting contact between workers ( including contractors , employees , and slaves ) and the wider galaxy , cancelling leaves and strictly monitoring communications . After Tarkin returned from a tour of his homeworld Eriadu , the Grand Moff ordered for the station ' s sublight engine s to be activated , taking the Death Star into deep space . By 3 BBY , the Death Star had been moved to another construction site . All that remained were a series of Imperial construction modules orbiting the planet Geonosis . The Empire also used poison canisters to sterilize the planet as a security measure , killing all but one of the Geonosian species . Skirmish over Geonosis . In 3 BBY , the Lothal rebel cell along with retired Clone trooper Rex were sent on a mission to one of the construction modules after rebel intelligence discovered the Empire had been building something above the planet , which unknown to them was the Death Star . Upon arriving above Geonosis , the rebels conducted a planetary scan and discovered there was no life on the planet , much to their confusion . Once they arrived at the construction module , they were ambushed by ISB Agent Kallus and several stormtrooper s . After a brief skirmish aboard the station , the rebels escaped , however Kallus and the rebel Zeb were still locked in combat . Zeb boarded an escape pod and Kallus followed him in . The pod soon experienced an engine malfunction , causing it to crash on the icy moon of Bahryn . Striking an unlikely friendship , the Imperial agent and the rebel managed to overcome the cold and fend off two bonzami to survive . After a few hours , the rest of the rebels managed to locate them by tracking their transponder , however Kallus decide to stay behind and wait for the Empire . After saying their farewells Zeb left for the ship . Rescue of Saw Gerrera . In 2 BBY , Saw Gerrera and his Partisans undertook a mission on behalf of Rebel Command to investigate the disappearance of the Geonosian species . During the course of their mission , they were attacked by the Geonosian Klik - Klak , who mistook them for hostiles . Most of Saw ' s team were killed , leaving Saw as the sole survivor . After losing contact with Saw , Senator Bail Organa dispatched the Spectres rebel cell and Clone Captain Rex to complete Saw ' s mission . Upon arriving , they discovered that Imperial construction modules and debris they had seen the last time had been cleared away . While Hera stayed aboard the " Ghost " , Rex , Ezra Bridger , Kanan Jarrus , and Chopper searched the catacombs for Saw while Sabine Wren and Garazeb Orrelios investigated a deflector shield generator , which turned out to be the power source that Saw ' s team had reported before losing contact . After finding Saw , the Spectres and Rex agreed to help him capture Klik - Klak in order to find out what happened to the Geonosians . Following a prolonged pursuit , the rebels managed to capture Klik - Klak while Sabine and Zeb managed to recover the generator ' s deflector core . While Saw was hostile to Klik - Klak , Ezra managed to win the trust of the Geonosian . The rebels subsequently learned that Klik - Klak was the custodian of the last Geonosian queen egg . After some discussion , Kanan convinced Saw to return Klik - Klak to Geonosis after they had finished questioning him . The rebels ' presence on Geonosis attracted the attention of an " Arquitens " - class command cruiser led by Captain Brunson . After escaping two TIE bombers , Hera , Zeb , and Sabine flew the " Ghost " into an air shaft and rendezvoused with the other rebels and Klik - Klak . A fierce disagreement soon broke out between the Spectres , Rex , and Saw . The Spectres and Rex disagreed with Saw ' s plan to take Klik - Klak offworld for interrogation and harsh methods which included electrocuting him with a shocker . Following a struggle , Saw threatened to shoot the Geonosian queen ' s egg in order to obtain information from Klik - Klak . Before the argument could escalate , the rebels and Saw were forced to join forces to repel an Imperial boarding party consisting of Jumptrooper s . To flee the Imperials , Hera took the " Ghost " into the depths of Geonosis . Upon reaching the bottom , the rebels and Saw discovered that the Imperial weapons division had perpetrated genocide against the Geonosians using poison canisters . Saw , experiencing a change of heart , freed Klik - Klak and allowed him to retreat underground with the Geonosian queen egg . The rebels then loaded some canisters as evidence for the Imperial Senate . The " Ghost " then managed to escape the shaft by firing proton torpedo es at Bronson ' s light cruiser . Despite fleeing into space , they lost the canisters in the process . Following their mission , the rebels were debriefed by Senator Organa and Commander Jun Sato . Despite losing the canisters , Organa reassured them that the images they took of the poison canisters could sway more systems to the rebellion . Sato also congratulated them for rescuing Saw and obtaining a deflector core . While Saw was disappointed that they had not discovered what the Empire was building on Geonosis , Kanan reassured them that they soon would . Capturing the droid factory . Following the Battle of Yavin , Skywalker , now the Sith Lord Darth Vader , returned to Geonosis . Having been one of only a few individuals to survive the destruction of the Death Star , Vader had been sanctioned by the Emperor , both as punishment and as part of a test for Vader . Finding himself in need of guaranteeable personal assets free from Imperial oversight ; troops , credits and the like , Vader recruited the rogue archaeologist Doctor Aphra and the assassin droid s BT - 1 and 0 - 0 - 0 to assist him in building an army of unquestionably loyal battle droid s . Vader soon arrived on the planet and his team infiltrated the lair of Karina the Great , who had hatched from the egg protected by Klik - Klak . An injury that had she had suffered before hatching had rendered her sterile , but her instinct to reproduce had influenced her to create a droid factory to produce battle droids as her " children " . While BT - 1 fired on the queen ' s B1 battle droid s , Vader and Aphra severed the queen from her factory , and Aphra used her starship , the " Ark Angel " , to blow a large hole in the roof of the lair so that Vader ' s own starship could then extract both the factory and Vader ' s team with a large crane . The captured droid factory began producing BX - series droid commando s for Vader , which he used to assault the research base of a rival Imperial operative named Cylo . Behind the scenes . The planet Geonosis first appeared in " " , which first premiered on May 16 , 2002 . Between 2002 and 2014 , it appeared in several " Star Wars " Legends literature and media including the 2005 computer and video game " " . Geonosis has also appeared in several Canon media including , the 2015 , and the 2016 " Star Wars Rebels " episode " The Honorable Ones " . In addition , Geonosis also appeared in the non - Canon " " cartoon series where the Imperial General Maximillian Veers attempted to rebuild the Separatist Droid Army in order to restore the Galactic Empire . Geonosis possibly evolved from the planet " Ttaz , " a proposed location for . In pre - production of " Attack of the Clones " , Geonosis was known simply as " rock planet " , its landscape being a rugged world made of red soil and stone reminiscent of the real life planet and the buttes and mesas of the American southwest .