Geonosis / Legends Geonosis , called Geonosia by some natives , was a ringed , rocky planet in the Arkanis sector of the Outer Rim Territories . The home planet of the insectoid Geonosians , it was known for its droid factories and violent gladiatorial games . The desert world was the Confederacy ' s first capital , hosting its major droid foundries . It was the site of the Battle of Geonosis , the opening conflict of the Clone Wars , in 22 BBY . Geology and geography . Geonosis had a large diameter but light gravity and dense atmosphere . With a weak magnetic field , harsh solar radiation storms and massive sandstorms were common , and on occasion , mass extinctions occurred . The most persistent surface organisms were humble red rock algae while the semi - insectoid Geonosians were driven underground . The planet consisted of a diminutive molten core with a rocky mantle forming a rocky , desert world subject to flash floods that carved great highland canyons . Water made up 5 % of the surface . During the time of the Geonosian rule , much of the planet ' s architecture was similar in appearance to termite mounds , consisting of domes and buildings built into caverns and rock spires . Therefore , one could easily mistake Geonosian buildings for natural formations and the planet to be uninhabited , a great asset during war . History . Early history . In the distant past , Geonosis ' s largest moon was hit by a rogue comet , sending out a massive debris field , which hammered the surface into ruin before settling into a ring of orbiting rock . This event killed off more than 99 % of Geonosis ' s native species . Over millions of years , the few creatures who survived the devastation slowly reclaimed the planet . Random meteor impacts constantly weeded out the weaker species , leaving only the truly cunning , hardy , and ruthless species alive . The insectoid Geonosians , the dominant life form on the planet , constituted all three . Ruled in various independent hives , great wars would periodically break out on the planet ' s surface . Geonosis was first explored by the greater galaxy when miners settled nearby Tatooine around 4000 BBY . The technically - minded Geonosians were fascinated by the outsiders ' technology and proved adept at finding new efficiencies in devices ' function and production . This period saw the foundation of the first droid foundries , and the Geonosians developed labor droids in their own image . Great Galactic War . During the time of the Great Galactic War , Geonosis was famous for the gladiatorial games held on the planet . Many of the combatants were Mandalorians , among them a young fighter . He rose to fame , eventually declaring himself the new Mandalore . He allied the Mandalorians with the Sith Empire , striking against the Galactic Republic . Years later , after his eventual death at the hands of another Mandalorian , it was revealed that Imperial Intelligence had been infiltrating the gladiatorial arenas around the galaxy as sponsors , managers , and gladiators . They had chosen the young Mandalorian as their champion , rigging his fights , using tactics such as drugging the opponent . In 3645 BBY , the Republic evaluated the planet as a possible defense stronghold . A Sith warship crash - landed there , and Rojo Trace was sent by the Jedi Order to investigate . Recessional . Contacts between the Republic and the Arkanis sector proved fleeting , however , and the Geonosians ' advances were soon copied by corporations closer to the Core Worlds . Additionally , contact with outsiders caused a deep rift among the hives that soon erupted into yet more savage warfare . Geonosis was abandoned by the greater galaxy and it was not until the Republic ' s final centuries that scouts and merchants reestablished contact . The hives eventually struck a distribution deal with the Baktoid Armor Workshop that returned their labor droids to the galactic market . Clone Wars . Prelude to war . In the final decades of the Galactic Republic , Geonosis came to the attention of the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious , who was impressed by the Geonosians ' engineering skills . He ensured the rise of the Geonosian rebel Poggle the Lesser to the position of Archduke , and then used the planet ' s connections to the Trade Federation through Baktoid to create an army of battle droids . In 24 BBY , under the leadership of Poggle the Lesser , Geonosis became a member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems , which used the planet ' s factories to build its droid army . This resulted in the formation of the Geonosian Industries . Two years later , in 22 BBY , Poggle scheduled a private meeting of the Confederacy leaders on Geonosis . It was expected that during this meeting the organizations that formed the backbone of the Separatist movement would put their resources at the disposal of Count Dooku , the Head of State of the Confederacy . First battle of the Clone Wars . Unbeknownst to the Separatists , their plans of waging war against the Galactic Republic were overheard by Jedi Knight Obi - Wan Kenobi , who had followed Jango Fett , a bounty hunter employed by Dooku , to Geonosis . Kenobi managed to transmit his discoveries to his Padawan Anakin Skywalker , who was at that time located on Tatooine , before being caught by the Separatists . After retransmitting the information to the Jedi Council , Skywalker and Padmé Amidala , the Senator of Naboo , decided to rescue Kenobi , but ended up imprisoned themselves . Eventually , Kenobi , Skywalker and Amidala were taken to the Petranaki arena and were faced against an acklay , a reek , and a nexu respectively , but managed to free themselves . The Separatists , in turn , introduced battle droids to the arena , triggering the Battle of Geonosis , the first battle of the Clone Wars , as Jedi reinforcements , led by Master Mace Windu , revealed themselves among the public and entered the arena to confront the droids . After a long battle between the droids and the Jedi , Grand Master Yoda arrived with the newly - formed Republic army and rescued the defeated Jedi forces . Following the Confederacy ' s subsequent defeat on the planet , Geonosis was occupied by the Republic , and kept under strong control . Jedi Knight Barriss Offee was working on Geonosis during the Clone Wars . Second Republic assault . Some time later , plans for a new droid foundry funded by Senator Rush Clovis and the Banking Clan were uncovered by Senator Amidala , leading up to another battle on the planet . Jedi Masters Ki - Adi - Mundi , Obi - Wan Kenobi , and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker led an assault on Geonosis to destroy Poggle the Lesser ' s new droid foundry . However , the factory turned out to be very heavily guarded , and the assault met with heavy losses of men and material . The Geonosians deployed several squadrons of Nantex - class territorial defense starfighters that decimated the landing force , even before landing . Shot down and cut off from each other , Skywalker , Kenobi , and Mundi were forced to fight their way to their first prime objective : an assault staging area . Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano ended up going through a canyon where a fortress had been erected , destroying it in the process . They discovered Master Mundi , who had made his way through a tunnel that ended with him losing many men . Kenobi was no better off . His perimeter was being actively destroyed by the Geonosian forces and AAT tanks . Skywalker called in reinforcements and destroyed the Geonosian forces . From there Skywalker and his Padawan destroyed the shield generator with one swift stroke . Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee showed up to help take the factory down . They lead a full frontal assault while the Padawans found their way through the catacombs under the factory where Poggle and a new " super tank " found them and went to take their bombs that they had set on the Main Reactor . Outside , the tactical droid had sent out a dozen tanks to rupture them . They were all destroyed by a sense of ingenuity by the Jedi Masters . The Padawans took the Reactor out with a Super Tank missile and almost sacrificed themselves to do it . They were rescued in the end by their masters . Construction of the Death Star began by the Geonosian ' s under orders of Sidious , secret leader of the CIS . Post - Clone Wars . As the Clone Wars ended with the Republic , restructured into the Galactic Empire , victorious , Geonosis remained under Imperial control . Geonosian Gizor Dellso and several other Geonosians formed a Separatist holdout during the aftermath of the Mission to Mustafar , but the organization was dissolved during the Battle of Mustafar . Geonosian scientists and slaves also played a role in the construction of the Death Star , and the Death Star ' s test bed was once moved temporarily to Geonosis . During the Galactic Civil War , Geonosian scientists set up a bio - lab on Yavin 4 . At some point after Geonosis was made a testing center for the Death Star , the " StarSpeeder 1000 " transport , SF 1401 , exited hyperspace to deliver a Rebel agent to the Rebel Alliance , near Geonosis . However , the Imperials and Boba Fett ambushed them , which eventually cumulated in a dogfight in the interior of the Death Star before escaping to the " Home One " . Geonosians and Rebels fought side - by - side in the Subjugation of Geonosis . The Geonosians were primarily used for slave labor by the Empire . However , in 0 BBY , a Geonosian revolt was instigated by Rebel forces , who had built a secret base on Geonosis . Darth Vader , leading an invasion force , was sent to crush the revolt in what became the Subjugation of Geonosis . Although the Geonosians and the Rebels , fighting side by side , put up a good deal of resistance , the Imperials emerged victorious in the end , destroying all present Rebel operatives , and killing the revolting Geonosians and destroying their homes . As the Clone Wars ended and the Republic transformed into the Empire , Geonosis began to be under Imperial control in 19 BBY . Later , the former clone trooper X2 rescued a squad of Rebel spies from a Imperial base on Geonosis . In 3 ABY , while chasing an Imperial carrier that had interfered with the Rebel Alliance ' s raid on the Empire ' s operations on Bakura , Wedge Antilles visited Geonosis and found several completely operational B1 battle droids left over from the war , as well as a Jedi starfighter , which he used to escape the planet . Soon after , the droid operations were put down by the Galactic Empire , which ultimately brought an official end to the Geonosian Separatist holdouts . During that battle , three Imperial escort carriers ended up being destroyed . Sarkli took cover from the battle droids in a crashed , but working , LAAT / i . The surviving stormtroopers were killed by the battle droids . After the death of Emperor Palpatine , Geonosis established an isolationist policy . The planet was spared by the Yuuzhan Vong during their invasion . Around the time of the Second Galactic Civil War , Boba Fett returned to Geonosis to exhume his father ' s remains and bury them next to his daughter , Ailyn Vel , on Mandalore . Behind the scenes . The concept of a rock planet in the Star Wars saga could be traced back to early story ideas for The Empire Strikes Back . In a story conference , George Lucas had named the concept planet " Ttaz . " He described it as a " Rock planet with cavemen " . Geonosis made its first appearance in and related material . of " " contains a story arc about the Republic recapture of Geonosis . Geonosis is the only planet featured in the " Star Wars " films to have a natural ring system . In the novel " " , it is mentioned that Geonosis was an arid planet whose " moist green beauty [ was ] long burned away " , possibly meaning that sometime in its history Geonosis was a more habitable planet . The Geonosian rings serve as a location for multiple Versus Mode matches in " " .