Battle of Bal ' demnic The Battle of Bal ' demnic was a conflict that occurred during the third and final year of the Clone Wars , instigated by the Confederacy of Independent Systems ' attempt to mine cortosis from Bal ' demnic ' s crust . A Galactic Republic task force headed by Jedi Knights Halagad Ventor and Sha Koon was dispatched to prevent the mining . Background . In 67 BBY , Subtext Mining provided Dark Lords of the Sith Darth Tenebrous and Darth Plagueis with secret intel revealing large deposits of cortosis ore within the planet ' s crust . While investigating this claim , Plagueis murdered his master on Bal ' demnic , and glimpsed this battle in a vision of the future . Upon his return to Muunilinst , Plagueis entrusted Larsh Hill to purchase large amounts of Bal ' demnic land and acquire mining rights for the cortosis - rich mainland . Many years later during the Outer Rim Sieges , the Confederacy moved in with their mining operations and military . This maneuver also facilitated the Confederacy ' s strategy to lure Republic forces away from the Core Worlds during the final stages of the war . In the face of the Confederate armed forces , the native Kon ' me leaders were given little choice but to allow a major mining operation to proceed . Jedi intelligence managed to intercept leaked Confederacy communications , which alerted them to the situation on Bal ' demnic . Mace Windu knew full well that if cortosis fell into the hands of Confederacy , the ramifications for the Jedi would be disastrous . The Jedi High Council appointed Halagad Ventor and Sha Koon to lead a battalion of clone troopers with several other Jedi in an important mission to sabotage the mining operation . The battle . Although the native Kon ' me leaders allowed the Confederacy mining operations to begin , the citizens were not so easy to persuade . An uprising ensued , and the Kon ' me began attacking the Confederate forces with powerful weapons provided by war profiteers . The Confederacy responded , unleashing their B1 battle droids upon the rebellious Kon ' me . OG - 9 homing spider droids scaled the planet ' s cliffs and destroyed many of the natives ' weapon emplacements . Despite their heavy losses , the Kon ' me were able to hold their own against the mechanical intruders , and a full - fledged battle erupted . When Halagad Ventor ' s Republic task force arrived in the skies of Bal ' demnic , his ARC - 170 starfighters met immediate resistance in the form of Confederacy Droid tri - fighters . When the air skirmish was over , Halagad and his troops landed with the intent to assist the natives . With all these foreign forces on their planet , the natives were further enraged to the point of total frenzy . In their final bid to drive the outlanders off their precious world , the Kon ' me did not differentiate between Republic and Confederate forces in their powerful counter - attack . With the Confederate forces now under fire from two sides , and also being hindered by the planet ' s difficult terrain , they made a full retreat . Ventor and Koon , who had no desire to return fire on the hostile natives , also ordered a retreat of their forces . Aftermath . The Republic left a small fleet in Bal ' demnic ' s orbit , establishing a planetary defense blockade to prevent any further Confederacy intrusions . Behind the scenes . The battle was first briefly glimpsed in " Clone Wars Chapter 22 " . Arthur Papadam established the details of the battle in Bal ' demnic ' s Databank entry , via the " What ' s The Story ? " campaign . James Luceno further elaborated upon the battle ' s background in " Darth Plagueis " .