Battle of Geonosis The Battle of Geonosis , also referred to as the First Battle of Geonosis , was the first major battle fought in 22 BBY between the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Republic , marking the beginning of the three - year Clone Wars . It would be the first major combat of the Grand Army of the Republic , as well as the first major battle the Jedi would fight in years . The battle also marked the death of the notorious bounty hunter Jango Fett . Prelude . Twenty - two years before the Battle of Yavin , the Galactic Republic was in the depths of a catastrophe . Thousands of star system s and groups including the Trade Federation , InterGalactic Banking Clan , Techno Union , Commerce Guild and the Corporate Alliance , had left the Republic and united with the Confederacy of Independent Systems under the direction of the former Jedi Count Dooku as terrorist strikes hit the capital planet Coruscant . The Republic Congress prepared to meet that year to consider the Military Creation Act . The day of the vote , Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo landed on Coruscant to oppose the Act and survived an assassination attempt . At the request of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine , Jedi Knight Obi - Wan Kenobi and his Padawan , Anakin Skywalker were assigned to her security detail . Kenobi pursued the trail of the toxic dart which ended the life of the assassin while Skywalker accompanied the senator back to Naboo . Kenobi followed the suggestion from his friend Dexter Jettster to the planet Kamino , which had been deleted from the Jedi Archives by an anonymous force . There he learned that ten years prior , Jedi Master Sifo - Dyas had arranged for a purchase of a clone trooper army . During the tour , he met the bounty hunter Jango Fett . Kenobi revealed the new information back to the Jedi High Council and decided to go after Fett , speculating that he was a part of the assassination attempt . They fought on a landing platform , and Kenobi was able to fix a homing beacon on Fett ' s ship , " Slave I " . Kenobi traced Fett to Geonosis . His ship only just dodged a homing torpedo , and he landed on the surface . He snuck into a facility and watched a meeting of Separatist Council , where it was revealed that Viceroy Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation was leading Amidala ' s assassination attempt . Kenobi reported back to the Jedi Council but was ambushed and taken captive by Droideka s . His signal was rerouted through Amidala ' s ship on Tatooine , as she and Skywalker had traveled there in a failed attempt to rescue his mother . Meanwhile , Dooku spoke with the captive Kenobi to try to gain him as an ally . Kenobi declined , and Dooku implied it would be difficult for him to secure his release . Skywalker and Amidala traveled to Geonosis to rescue Kenobi but were captured in the Geonosian droid factories . The two were sentenced to execution in the Petranaki arena along with Kenobi . They narrowly escaped their executions , which involved an Acklay , a Nexu , and a R eek . In response to Kenobi ' s report about the Separatists ' plot , the Galactic Senate , at the proposal of Junior Representative Jar Jar Binks , granted Chancellor Palpatine " emergency powers " to handle the catastrophe . Jedi Grand Master Yoda traveled to Kamino to gather the clone army and send them to Geonosis right behind a Jedi strike force . The battle . A group of at least 200 Jedi , including Jedi Mace Windu , Coleman Trebor , Eeth Koth , Kit Fisto , Plo Koon , Even Piell , Shaak Ti , Luminara Unduli , Aayla Secura , Barriss Offee , and Ki - Adi - Mundi were tasked with rescuing Obi - Wan Kenobi and investigating the reports of Separatist warmongering on Geonosis by the Jedi High Council . Despite this large number of experienced Jedi , among the group were many new Jedi Knights who lacked the experience of their masters . Among these newer knights was Jedi Knight Bultar Swan , who stated after the battle that : " The battle wasn ' t supposed to happen . " He also said that he knew it possibly could , however expected the enemy to surrender as soon as the Jedi ignited their lightsaber s . The Zilkin Meebur Gascon participated in devising a strategy for the battle and inspecting maps to advise Republic forces . Arena battle . The three prisoners , Skywalker , Amidala , and Kenobi managed to avert the creatures that had been set upon them long enough for Master Windu ' s Jedi strike team to show up . As the Jedi came into view throughout the arena , many Geonosians chose to flee rather than face them in combat . However , Count Dooku let loose the Separatist ' s new battle droid army , and a violent battle took place in the arena . Though outnumbered , the Jedi fought bravely as their ranks were slowly diminished in the face of unending battle droids . Jedi Stass Allie and Baltar Swan would back to back during the battle against the massive droid army . It was during this fierce battle that bounty hunter Jango Fett attempted to kill the famed Jedi Master , Mace Windu . However , during their confrontation , the Reek charged Fett and nearly crushed him ; although Fett slayed the beast , its attack had broken his jetpack . When the duel resumed , Mace Windu charged straight towards Fett , deflecting his blaster shots . At the last second the Mandalorian tried to activate his jetpack , but it back - fired , allowing Mace to quickly decapitate the notorious bounty hunter . His damaged helmet was soon found by his " son " Boba Fett after the conclusion of the arena battle . An unexpected participant in the battle was C - 3PO , whose head had been detached and welded onto a battle droid ' s body while a battle droid ' s head had been attached to his body . Both incarnations walked into the battle alongside the battle droids and were knocked out by the Jedi . By the end of the battle R2 - D2 was able to locate C - 3PO ' s head and reattach it to his original body . Despite the bravery of the Jedi , Dooku ' s droids held the upper hand , and with the last of the surviving Jedi surrounded he called a halt to the fighting . The Sith Lord offered the Jedi the chance to surrender , but Windu declined , saying the Jedi would not become hostages with which Dooku could barter . Dooku then apologetically ordered the surrounding droids to slaughter the Jedi . They were saved by the sudden arrival of Jedi Master Yoda and a group of Clone trooper s aboard LAAT / i gunships , creating a perimeter around the survivors long enough for them to board and escape . During the arena battle , enormous Republic assault ships had penetrated the upper atmosphere of Geonosis , knocking out the Geonosian launch hives with aerial bombardments and Clone commando strike teams and clearing the way to deploy the Grand Army of the Republic . As Jedi General Yoda and the survivors evacuated the vacant arena cluttered with droid parts , the first battle of the Clone Wars began . War on Geonosis . Desert battlefield . After the rescue of the Jedi , the droid and clone armies battled one another in an intricate series of confrontations on a number of different fronts . Much of the Separatists ' heavy equipment had already been loaded onto their transports , but with their communications being jammed the rest was hastily thrown at the clones in order to buy the Separatist navy enough time to escape . Meanwhile , the Republic army ' s goal was to capture the Separatists leadership and as much of the Geonosian droid founders intact as possible in order to uncover the depths of the Separatist conspiracy , precluding the indiscriminate use of starship weapons . The resulting battle would mostly consist of ground combat then , but although the clone troopers were greatly outnumbered by battle droids the Republic enjoyed air dominance thanks to their preemptive strikes on the launch hives . Obi - Wan and Anakin directed the gunship carrying them and Senator Amidala to attack the lightly - armored Techno Union transports while the gunship carrying Yoda and Mace Windu proceed on to a nearby assembly area . After arriving , Mace took command of a number of special commando units while Yoda proceed on to the Forward Command Center where he would direct the overall battle . On all fronts the two sides grappled with each other in fierce combat : heavily - armored AT - TE walkers facing down hordes of battle droids as homing spider droids swept their laser cannons across clone trooper battalions , Republic gunships strafing the Separatist front lines and losing a number to intense laser flak . As the Trade Federation core ships attempted to take off , Yoda commanded the army ' s artillery to bring a number of them crashing back to the ground . Confronting the Count . Kenobi vs . Tyranus . In the chaos of the battle , the Separatist leader Dooku , also known as Darth Tyranus , attempted to retreat to a hangar where his starship was docked using a Flitknot speeder . However he was spotted by Obi - Wan Kenobi , who directed the gunship carrying them to chase after the count . Unfortunately the gunship was unable to shoot down the Count ' s speeder , and Dooku ' s escorting " Nantex " - class starfighters slipped in behind it and opened fire . One of their shots knocked Padmé and a clone trooper out of the gunship but , despite Anakin ' s protestations , they did not go back for her . The gunship continued to pursue Dooku , dropping Kenobi and Skywalker into the Count ' s hangar shortly before being blasted out of the sky by laser fire . Upon arriving at Dooku ' s hangar , Kenobi and Skywalker confronted the Count . As Kenobi began to strategize , Skywalker impatiently charged at the Count . Before he could reach Dooku however , the Count intercepted Skywalker with a blast of Force lightning , hurling the young Jedi against a wall and incapacitating him . Dooku and Kenobi then began to circle one another , and Dooku remarked that his powers were far beyond those of his opponent . Ordering Kenobi to back down , he unleashed a blast of Force lightning at the Jedi Knight , but Kenobi simply used his lightsaber to absorb the incoming energy and calmly rebuffed Dooku ' s demand . Dooku then ignited his own lightsaber and awaited Kenobi . Kenobi initiated the duel by aggressively charging the Count , but Dooku deflected Kenobi ' s opening attack and his subsequent jab . After a quick flurry of bladework , Kenobi sliced at Dooku ' s legs , but the Count leapt over the strike and flourished his blade to drive Kenobi back as he landed . As Kenobi retreated , Dooku remarked upon his disappointment , noting that he had expected a better performance from someone who was held in such high esteem by Yoda . A short while later , Kenobi was pulled into a bladelock by the Count . Dooku , a full grin on his face , parried Kenobi ' s weapon and jabbed at his arm , slicing it open and causing Kenobi to drop his lightsaber . He immediately followed the attack up with a slash across one of Kenobi ' s legs , and Kenobi collapsed in agony . As Dooku lifted his lightsaber to finish Kenobi , Skywalker managed to recover from the Count ' s blast of Force lightning . Seeing Kenobi ' s plight , Skywalker ignited his lightsaber and used the Force to leap across the hanger . As he landed , he managed to intercept what would have been a killing stroke on Kenobi by Dooku . Dooku turned to regard Skywalker and mocked him for his earlier foolishness , and as the two opponents disengaged , Kenobi used the Force to reclaim his fallen lightsaber and threw it to Skywalker . Skywalker vs . Tyranus . Skywalker ignited the second blade and unleashed a flurry of Jar ' Kai bladework upon the Count . Initially taken off his guard by Skywalker ' s aggressive series of attacks , Dooku briefly retreated but managed after a short time to regain his composure . The Count quickly reestablished his footing and pushed Skywalker back , taking the advantage when he cut apart the hilt of Skywalker ' s green blade . After losing his extra weapon , Skywalker launched two quick strikes at the Count and retreated . As he regrouped , Skywalker flicked his remaining weapon through a power cable on the floor , damaging it and causing the hangar lights to flicker out for a brief while . Dooku then slowly advanced on Skywalker and both angled their blades into a high guard position . They spent a short time regarding each other in silence , then engaged in a relatively long and continual bout of swordplay . Though Skywalker managed in that time to hold his own against the Count , Dooku unceremoniously ended the duel by slicing off Anakin ' s right arm above the elbow . As Anakin shouted in agony , Dooku blasted him aside with a Force push . The young Jedi skidded over to where Kenobi was also lying and lost consciousness . Yoda vs . Darth Tyranus . As Dooku caught his breath , Yoda entered the hangar and confronted his former student . Dooku asserted that his diminutive former master would not interfere with his affairs again , and immediately attempted to kill Yoda by telekinetically flinging a pair of wall fixtures at him . Yoda repelled the fixtures with his own powers , but launched no counteroffensive . Dooku then used the Force to break apart a small portion of the hangar ceiling , which he dropped onto Yoda . Again however , Yoda was able to toss the improvised missiles aside . Yoda noted that Dooku had become powerful , but lamented that he could sense the dark side of the Force in his former student . In response , Dooku boasted that his power was now greater than that of any Jedi , even Yoda ' s own . He then unleashed a storm of Force lightning at the Grand Master , but Yoda used the Force to catch the bolt with his bare hand . Without any apparent strain , he redirected the blast back at Dooku , who deflected it into a nearby wall . Dooku proceeded to unleash a second volley against Yoda , but as a demonstration of his superior mastery , Yoda absorbed the bolt completely and remarked that the Count still had much to learn . Recognizing the futility of continuing his Force - based assault , Dooku challenged Yoda to lightsaber combat and ignited his blade . Yoda silently accepted and ignited his own weapon , and the two combatants leapt at each other . A brief but very intense duel then ensued in which Yoda was able to gain a slight but visible advantage over the Count . Recognizing that he could not defeat Yoda , and forced to act due to incoming Republic reinforcements , Dooku diverted Yoda ' s focus by using the Force to collapse one of the hangar ' s power columns onto Kenobi and Skywalker . Yoda broke off the duel in order to telekinetically catch the power column , while Dooku quickly boarded his his ship and fled . Aftermath . Count Dooku traveled to Coruscant , to convene with his master , who was settled in a deserted executive building in the Works . Pleased by the news of war , Darth Sidious commanded his apprentice to arrange a second battlefront against the Republic . Meanwhile , the Grand Army of the Republic was assembled throughout the galaxy as the Clone Wars began . Back at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant , Masters Kenobi , and Windu , both declared their shared belief that the battle would not have been won without the clones . However , Master Yoda was quick to point out the irony in such a pyrrhic victory , as the Republic had only fought their first of many such battles , in what became known as the Clone Wars . The council also agreed to investigate the Sith Lord that Dooku had mentioned to Obi - Wan Kenobi during the latter ' s capture , Darth Sidious , in case Dooku was telling the truth . It would not be until three years later , nearing the end of the Clone Wars , that they would finally identify Sidious as being none other than Supreme Chancellor Palpatine . Skywalker , meanwhile , accompanied by Senator Amidala , headed back to Naboo , where they married in a secret ceremony . When Republic engineers announced that they were unable to reconfigure Geonosian factories for Republic needs , it ' s strategic value fell . This lead to how months after the initial battle , the Republic invasion force stationed on the planet was overrun by Separatist and Geonosian forces , leading to the Second Battle of Geonosis .