First Battle of Isengard

|prev=*Mission to The Shire
*Chase to IsengardThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
|conc=Second Battle of LokStar Wars: Jedi Starfighter
|next=*Wedding of Frodo Baggins and Padmé Amidala
*Mission to Bakura
|name=First Battle of Isengard
|image=
|conflict=Separatist Crisis/War of the Ring
|date=March 25, 1981The New Essential Chronology 
|place=Isengard, Middle Earth
|result=*Galactic Republic victory
**End of the Separatist Crisis
**Beginning of the War of the Ring
**Frodo Baggins passes the Trial of the Flesh
**Saruman's dark side allegiance is revealed
|side1=*Galactic Republic
*Jedi Order
*Gondor
*Rohan
*Elves
*Dwarves
*Lok Revenants
*Mere Resistance
|side2=*Confederacy of Independent Systems
*Mordor
*Isengard
*Dark Acolytes
*Order of the Sith Lords
|commanders1=*Jedi Master King Aragorn
*General Bilbo Baggins
*Jedi Master Adi Gallia
*Jedi Master Echuu Shen-JonStar Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns
*Clone Commander CT-411 ("Ponds")
*Clone Commander CRC-09/571Shatterpoint
*RC-1138Star Wars: Republic Commando
*Meebur Gascon
*Nym
|commanders2=*Saruman the White/Darth Tyranus
*Archduke Poggle the Lesser
*Viceroy Nute Gunray
*General Sev'rance Tann
*General Sun Fac†
*Captain Cavik Toth†
|forces1=
|forces2=
|casual1=*179 Jedi
*Thousands of clone troopers
*4,982 clone commandosOrder 66: A Republic Commando Novel, p270
**3/4 of Theta Squad
*Approximately 12,000 clones seriously injured
*Approximately 8,000 clones lightly wounded
*Many vehicles
|casual2=*Jango Fett
*Many Orc warriors
*Many Geonosian warriors
*A few of the CIS staff
**Sun Fac
*Heavy droid casualties
*14 Lucrehulk-class Core Ships
*117 Hardcell-class transports
*5 Diamond-class cruisers
*3 Dark Acolytes
*A large portion of the Confederate Navy
**Sabaoth Squadron
|civilian=}}
The First Battle of Isengard, known most commonly as simply the Battle of Middle Earth, was the first battle between the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Republic in the conflict that would become known as the War of the Ring. 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.
==Prelude==
In 1981, the Galactic Republic was in the midst of a crisis. Thousands of star systems and conglomerates including the Trade Federation, InterGalactic Banking Clan, Techno Union, Commerce Guild and the Corporate Alliance, had seceded and joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems under the guidance of former-Jedi Saruman the White as terrorist strikes hit the capital city of Gondor, Minas Tirith. The Republic Senate planned to meet that year to discuss the Military Creation Act. Three months before the vote, angry showdowns occurred between planets' inhabitants and among the two opposing governments while the Refugee Relief Movement tried to help where possible.
The day of the vote, Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo arrived on Minas Tirith to vote against the Act, but faced an assassination attempt. She was then assigned Jedi protectors—Sam Gamgee and his youthful Padawan, Frodo Baggins. Gamgee followed the trail of the toxic dart which ended the life of the assassin while Frodo escorted the Senator to the Elves city of Rivendell.
Gamgee followed the tip from his friend Dexter Jettster to the Rohirrim capital of Edoras, which had been erased from the Jedi Archives by forces unknown. There he discovered that ten years earlier, Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas had placed an order for a clone trooper army. During the tour, he met the bounty hunter Jango Fett. Gamgee reported back to the Jedi Council and decided to pursue Fett, suspecting that he was involved in the assassination attempt. They battled in the Rohirrim stables, and Gamgee was able to plant a homing beacon on Fett's ship.
On the tower of Orthanc of Isengard, Saruman encoded a message to General Sev'rance Tann telling her he foresaw a great battle was about to happen. He also ordered her to prepare for his swift departure.
Gamgee pursued Fett to Isengard. His horse barely avoided a homing torpedo, and he arrived on Fangorn forest. He snuck into Isengard and watched a meeting of Separatist leadership, where it was revealed that Viceroy Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation was behind Amidala's assassination attempt. Gamgee reported back to the Jedi Council but was captured by Mountain trolls. His signal was rerouted through Amidala's ship on The Shire, as she and Frodo had traveled there in a failed attempt to rescue his mother. Meanwhile, Saruman met with the captive Gamgee to try to turn him to his side, even revealing that the events on Middle Earth years prior had in fact been orchestrated by a Sith Lord named Darth Sauron, and also strongly insinuated that Sauron was one of the high ranking officials of the Republic's government. Gamgee refused, and Saruman suggested it would be difficult for him to secure his release.
Frodo and Amidala traveled to Isengard to rescue Sam but were captured in the Isengard orc foundries. The two were sentenced to death in the Orthanc arena along with Gamgee. When Sam enquired them as to why they were present, Frodo explained Amidala's idea to rescue him, with Gamgee sarcastically congratulating them for the failed objective. They narrowly escaped their executions, which involved an acklay, a nexu, and a reek.
In response to Sam's report about the Separatists' conspiracy, the Galactic Senate, at the suggestion of Representative Jar Jar Binks, granted Supreme Chancellor Palpatine "emergency powers" to deal with the crisis.
Jedi Hobbit Master Bilbo Baggins brought the secret clone trooper army into use, and sent them to Isengard right behind a Jedi strike force. The rapid nature of the deployment off Kamino left "Cuy'val Dar" sergeants such as Kal Skirata reeling at waking up to discover the commando squads they had trained gone.
==The battle==
===Penetrating the defenses===
A group of 265 Jedi, led by Jedi Masters Aragorn, Coleman Trebor, Eeth Koth, Tauriel, Legolas, Gimli, Shaak Ti, Even Piell, Luminara Unduli and Gandalf were sent to Fangorn forest by the Jedi High Council to rescue Sam Gamgee and investigate reports that Separatists were constructing an army on Isengard.
Upon entering the forest, the squadron of Jedi starfighters were fired upon by Anti-orbital cannons, taking several casualties. Aragorn and Luminara Unduli slipped past the firing range of the cannons and piloted TX-130S fighter tanks, and employed communications jamming to stop any CIS forces from calling for reinforcements. They set off to disable the orbital cannons. The droid defenses, consisting of GATs, Hailfire droids, and Warg Riders, attempted to hold them off, but were destroyed by the Jedi. The power nodes were destroyed, causing the cannons to explode.
The last cannon, however, was housed in a Geonosian base. Aragorn set out on foot to disable the cannon. He penetrated the orc defenses and destroyed the last power nodes with his sword, Anduril. With the orbital defenses disabled, a landing zone had to be made. The Jedi strike team landed in a captured Mordor outpost and moved toward the arena in a convoy of RTTs. Aragorn and Unduli cleared the way in their tanks. They reached the perimeter of the arena, where they destroyed tunnel catacombs deploying orcs. The Jedi deployed into the arena quietly.
Also around this time, the Acclamator-class assault ship Aken was traveling to Middle Earth through its asteroid belt. Aken was escorted by Jedi starfighters lead by Adi Gallia, who had traveled from Nod Kartha, and Siri Tachi. After they were spotted by droid starfighters, the Jedi had to defend the Aken from two C-9979 landing craft and two Trade Federation Missile Frigates that appeared behind them along with Geonosian starfighters from the surface. The Separatist forces pushed the Republic group forward until the Aken reached the edge of the asteroid ring. There, a blockade of Missile Frigates arrived to trap them. Gallia led the starfighters and destroyed a pair of the frigates in their line. This allowed the Aken to escape and eventually reach the surface of Middle Earth. Eventually, the rest of the Acclamator-class Assault ships penetrated the atmosphere, and proceeded to make pre-emptive strikes against the Geonosian beak-wing facilities, which resulted in the few fighters remaining unable to make headway against the Republic's orbital blockade.
Republic Strategic Command, including the Zilkin Meebur Gascon, was involved in planning the battle and analyzing maps to direct Republic forces. Gaba-18 airspeeders provided reconnaissance. V-19 Torrent starfighter prototypes also fought in the battle.
===Arena battle===
The three captives, Frodo, Amidala and Sam managed to avoid the beasts that had been set upon them long enough for King Aragorn's 265-Jedi rescue mission team to arrive. However, Saruman revealed the Dark lord's new secret Uruk-Hai army, and a heated battle took place.
Though outnumbered, the Jedi fought to the end. As the Jedi appeared throughout the arena, many Orcs fled.
It was during the heated battle that followed that bounty hunter Jango Fett attempted to fight and kill the legendary King of Gondor, Aragorn. However, during the fight, the reek nearly trampled Fett and damaged his jet pack. After killing the reek, Fett was charged by Aragorn; at the last second the Mandalorian attempted to activate his jetpack, but failed. The king closed in on Fett, initially slashing his left hand and cutting it off before decapitating the infamous bounty hunter. His battered helmet was soon found by his "daughter" Boba Fett. However, Sauron's forces held the upper hand. C-3PO had accidentally lost his head in a droid factory, and his head was attached to a battle droid's body, while his own body walked onto the assembly line and had a battle droid's head attached in turn. Both incarnations of C-3PO were defeated in the arena and were re-attached by R2-D2. Eventually, Saruman signaled for a cessation of the fight. He offered the chance to surrender, but Aragorn refused, saying the Jedi would not become hostages. Saruamn then remorsefully signaled the surrounding orcs to execute the Jedi.
Meanwhile, huge Republic assault ships penetrated the upper atmosphere and dropped a fleet of gunships, carrying thousands of clone troopers, Gondorian and Rohirrim forces, and dozens of AT-TEs as well as Jedi General Bilbo Baggins, and Gandalf to the surface. By the time the fleet reached the tower, the Jedi had already suffered heavy casualties; all but 50 had been killed. Bilbo ordered the clones to form a perimeter around the survivors as they evacuated. As they left, the empty stadium was littered with Uruk-hai bodies as the opening battle of the War of the Ring began.
===Middle Earth battle===
Around the time of the arena battle, a group of clone troopers lead by Jedi Master Adi Gallia and Jedi Knight Siri Tachi attacked a power plant that fueled the droid foundries in the surrounding area. After having escorted the Aken to the surface of Rohan, Master Gallia and Siri Tachi led several LAAT/i gunships at their command to deploy troopers near the power plant. The two Jedi defended the clones on the ground and in the air from Separatist forces which included battle droids, Armored Assault Tanks, and droid starfighters. Along the way, Gallia had the gunships destroy a nearby Trade Federation Core Ship. Clone troopers eventually reached the power plant and set up explosives inside it. After the plant was detonated by the clones, Adi Gallia and Siri Tachi took to space to prevent Separatist transports from escaping.
After the rescue of the Jedi, the evil and good armies engaged one another in a complex series of engagements on a number of different fronts. The Republic had planned the attack as a sudden, overwhelming assault that would catch the Separatists off guard and prevent them from gaining further influence.
Their army landed in twelve Acclamator-class assault ships, off-loading infantry, armored vehicles, artillery, and air support. The Separatist army consisted of droid infantry of varying strength and larger droid-controlled vehicles.
The Battle of Middle Earth was primarily a ground campaign. However, the Republic's crucial use of aerial bombardment of the Separatists' fighter craft allowed the Republic's gunships to have air superiority throughout much of the battle, giving the clone forces a crucial advantage. And although the clone troopers were vastly outnumbered by droids, the droids were heavily exposed to attacks from the air by Republic gunships. The Republic's armored AT-TE walkers were strong against the lightly armored spider droids employed by the Separatists, but were vulnerable to the missiles on the Hailfire droids and the intense laser flak projected into the air. The Republic gunships were instrumental in clearing away the Hailfire droids and allowing the AT-TEs to establish superiority on the battlefield, although the Hailfires were able to shoot down a number of LAATs, and a few were destroyed by lucky shots from laser emplacements.
Separatist General Sev'rance Tann was ordered to clear the way for Saruman. Along with a force of Uruk-Hai, she proceeded along a canyon where Confederacy forces engaged Republic forces. Tann took control of surviving units, including Mortar Super Battle Droids, Repeater super battle droids, Cave trolls to battle Clone Scout Walkers and Clone Personal Walkers, and OG-9 spider droids to duel AT-TEs. At least one Blurrg trooper fought in those skirmishes. A Uruk-Hai kept Tann updated with Saruman's status. Near the end of the canyon, Tann dueled and defeated three Jedi Knights. When Saruman arrived at the end of the canyon, he congratulated her for her efforts.
Republic reconnaissance troopers mounted their speeder bikes and raced across the battlefield, gathering vital information about enemy activity. Elsewhere, Geonosian-trained acklays and nexus devoured unfortunate clone troopers. A group of the airborne infantry, including Battalion Commander CRC-09/571, led the frontal assault on the Separatist Core Ships. King Aragorn, who was fighting on the ground, made his way to a LAAT/i and used it to destroy several Hardcell-class interstellar transports before landing and defending in a TX-130 Saber-class fighter tank SPHA guns bringing down Core Ships. In this way, another three Core Ships were taken down, before Aragorn was informed that contact with Bilbo Baggins had been lost. Aragorn raced off to find the Hobbit Master but was intercepted by a trio of Saruman's Sith Acolytes piloting Enforcer hovertanks. Aragorn was able to defeat the trio.
Having beaten the droid army into retreat, Bilbo noted that much of the Confederate Navy was still grounded receiving shipments of droids when the Republic attacked. Lightly armored and vulnerable Techno Union starships attempted to withdraw immediately, but many were destroyed in the first wave of attacks from the Republic gunships. The Hobbit Master now ordered the army's artillery to attempt to take down as many of the heavily armored Trade Federation Core Ships as possible, as they each held millions of deadly battle droids, and managed to bring down at least one. In space, the Republic fleet fought to intercept and destroy the Separatist ships that carried scores of combat droids.
Despite taking control of the surface of the planet, the Republic was unable to capture the Separatist leadership and stop the war before it began, and most of the Confederacy's battle droids and heavy equipment escaped aboard Core Ships.
Meanwhile, Jedi Master Echuu Shen-Jon and a team of other Jedi, including Gimli of the Dwarves, destroyed several Core Ships and Techno Union vessels. They received reinforcements in the form of 10 GAR Energy Pummels carried aboard AA-9 freighters while a nearby Republic Starship and Gunship Bombers engaged targets of opportunity. Corporate Alliance Artillery Regulars were among the Separatist forces. The Jedi team then set off to pursue Saruman. However, they were delayed by Sev'rance Tann, who killed Stam Reath, Echuu's apprentice, angering Shen-Jon. Tann then escaped.
Later, above a crevasse, the Republic Commando squad Theta Squad rappelled in and placed charges on a Geonosian door, while Delta Squad held off OG-9 homing spider droids nearby. After the door was blown, Theta and Delta entered the Geonosian caverns and split up. Heading for a droid foundry, Theta squad leader RC-1133 ordered RC-1136 to stay behind and hold a position while the rest moved forward. 1136, or Darman, lost contact with his squad and pulled out. He was the only survivor of Theta.
Delta Squad managed to kill Geonosian Separatist General Sun Fac as he attempted to flee the planet in his personal Geonosian fighter. They also spotted The Mouth of Sauron's Soulless One. The acquisition of the codes allowed the Republic artillery and fleet to take down the rest of the CIS fleet. Along the way, Delta Squad also eliminated significant numbers of droids, Geonosian warriors, and an anti-aircraft turret.
A LAAT/i gunship deployed the four members of Delta Squad into a canyon relatively close the Core Ship access way. They proceeded into the canyon, and fought through a series of ambushes. They finally reached the entrance to the Core Ship, but they were unable to penetrate the shield, so their Clone advisor, CC-01/425, ordered them to blast through a rock wall to reach a nearby exit. RC-1138 led his three commandos towards the second door, and the defending droids were destroyed in short order.
Suddenly, however, an A-DSD advanced dwarf spider droid came through a different doorway, and began firing its cannons at the stranded squad. After several intense minutes, the droid was blown up, and a gunship blasted the shield protecting the Core Ship's entryway, allowing access for Delta Squad.
The squad split up, tasked with sabotaging various crucial systems. RC-1138 stormed through the B2 battle droid storage racks, rapidly finishing off any of them that were activated. RC-1138 found Sev in a corridor just before three destroyer droids rolled by, but they easily destroyed them using EC detonators, proceeding to save Scorch and Fixer, who were under heavy fire. Now together Delta Squad encountered a B1 battle droid dispenser, then several Geonosian elites and a second Advanced dwarf spider droid. Entering a lift, the squad prepared for their ultimate objective, the theft of the Core Ship launch codes, which were housed on the bridge. At that moment, a battle droid announced over a loudspeaker that all primary systems would overload in five minutes.
Delta Squad charged through multiple corridors, meeting dozens of droids on the way, and finally entered the bridge with only about one and a half minutes to spare. They brought down three auto-turrets and a squad of B1 battle droids, and Fixer began extracting the codes from a console as droidekas and B2s began swarming onto the bridge. After a minute, Delta Squad, gravely injured and being constantly hit by laser bolts, retreated through a corridor to a waiting LAAT/i Gunship just as the Core Ship began to explode. Delta squad was one of only a handful of Republic Commando squads not to lose any members during the Battle of Isengard.
===501st Mission===
During the battle, a portion of the 501st Legion engaged in combat. A clone trooper was assigned to secure Checkpoint Alpha. He encountered three orc scouts, but managed to destroy them before they called in reinforcements. Blowing a Hailfire droid to pieces with his thermal detonators, he then secured the wreckage of a nearby Hardcell-class interstellar transport.
The events soon became a full scale battle between the Geonosians, droids, and clones. A clone engineer was deployed to repair the Power droids and FX-series medical assistant droids, ensuring ammunition and medical supplies would aid the battle. During the course of the engagement, two Spider Droids arrived on the battlefield. The clone engineer was then ordered to the recently-deployed AT-TE. The Republic force soon destroyed the droids to prevent the balance of power from swinging.
A Geonosian soldier was shot and killed, which resulted in him dropping a Sith holocron on top of the wrecked Hardcell. A clone jet trooper was called in, and managed to get the holocron to Checkpoint Alpha. The troopers then used the AT-TE to mount an assault on a nearby hill fortress, soon securing it. A clone sniper was deployed, and picked off Geonosians and droids alike. A clone heavy trooper came into play, using his rocket launcher to destroy a Spider droid.
King Aragorn arrived shortly after and led an assault that secured the Northern CIS bunker against droids including Assault battle droids, engineer battle droids. and Nazguls.
===Spire Mission===
Bilbo Baggins then sent a group of clone troopers, an AT-TE, and a couple of LAAT/i gunships into battle. Their mission was to secure the Spire council chamber, and wipe out the remaining droids in the area. They first destroyed the Techno Union Transport ships, denying the droids escape. The clone troopers then wiped out the remaining droids, and successfully captured the spire. The droid defenses included battle droid assassins, Uruk-Hai, and cave trolls.Star Wars: Battlefront
===Space battle===
Following an initial raid on a Geonosian power plant, Adi Gallia and Siri Tachi, flew into orbit in their Delta-7 starfighters, intending to intercept escaping droid transports. Navigating through the asteroid ring, the Jedi received a hyperspace transmission from the pirate Nym, warning that Captain Cavik Toth of Sabaoth Squadron was en route to Middle Earth with his Hex fleet. With the power of the biological weapon Trihexalon, Toth intended to level the battlefield on Isengard, under the orders of Saruman.
Galia and Tachi led the fight against Toth's 8 Hex Deployers and 12 Bombers alongside Zeta Squadron, a squadron of Jedi pilots, including A'Sharad Hett, Bant Eerin, and An'ya Kuro. The Hex threat was summarily defeated under Jedi firepower, though the pilots were soon outmatched with the arrival of two Sabaoth destroyers and complements of Sabaoth starfighters and Defenders. Fortunately, Loyalist aid arrived in the form of Nym and the Lok Revenants with three G-400 starfighters and Nym's Havoc soon joined by three Mere cruisers capable of taking down Toth's capital ships. Nym and his forces dealt with the capital ship turrets on the destroyers while the Jedi attacked the waves of fighters.
After one warship was destroyed, a third Destroyer emerged from hyperspace—Toth's flagship. The Mere cruisers, led by Antilles on the Tritus, directed their fire on the second vessel while all starfighter forces then began to target the flagship's capital turrets before they could cripple the Mere cruisers. Developments on Isengard forced Aragorn to call back Zeta Squadron leaving Gallia and Tachi with only the Revenants for support. Nym sustained critical damage to his craft during the fight, and was forced to leave the battlefield. Nevertheless, the Revenants penetrated the flagship's deflector shields, and the Destroyer's main systems went critical. Toth himself fled his flagship in a personal starfighter, and engaged Adi Gallia in single combat. Toth's weaponry could not overcome the Jedi's mastery of the Force, and his fighter was destroyed moments before his flagship exploded.
===Confrontation with Darth Tyranus===
In the confusion of the battle, the Isengard leader Saruman, also known as Darth Tyranus, tried to flee to the tower of Orthanc where his starship was docked. A Republic gunship carrying Sam Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Padmé Amidala, and clone troopers pursued him. Saruman's Nazgul flying beasts opened fire on the gunship; the resulting attack on the gunship led to Amidala and a clone trooper falling to the desert below. The gunship continued to pursue, deploying Sam and Frodo into the Wizard's tower shortly before being destroyed by laser fire. Trailing Saruman and the Republic gunship was King Aragorn in a fighter tank, who was intercepted by three of Saruman's Dark Acolytes in front of the hangar. They engaged Aragorn in combat, and all three were killed by the king's TX-130S fighter tank, but not soon enough to allow the king of Gondor to involve himself in the fight.
====Sam vs. Saruman====
Upon arriving at the tower of Orthanc, Sam and Frodo challenged the White Wizard. As Sam activite his lightsaber, Frodo, his One Ring getting the best of him, charged at Saruman. Saruman uses his staff of magic and blasted Frodo aside before turning to Gamgee. Sam began to circle Saruman as the Wizard attempted to blast Sam with a bolt of Force lightning, demanding the Hobbit's surrender. Sam grounded the blast on his lightsaber and calmly stated that he would not withdraw. Drawing his staff lightsaber and angling the blade into a guard position, Saruman awaited Gamgee. Sam promptly charged at Saruman and attacked, but Saruman quickly deflected Sam's initial attack and his subsequent jab. After a quick flurry of bladework, Sam slashed at Saruman's legs. Saruman overleapt the attack and flourished his blade to drive Sam back as he landed. As Gamgee fall back, Saruman calmly taunted him, telling him that he had expected a better performance from someone who was held in such high esteem by Bilbo.
Sam attacked again, attempting to regain the offensive, but was forced into retreat by Saruman's elegant Form II bladework. Saruman quickly seized the offensive, the precision bladework of his Makashi style wearing away at Sam's Form III defense. Despite the energy efficiency of Gamgee's defense, Saruman's precision was so great that most of Gamgee's defensive slashes missed Saruman's blade entirely, forcing him to awkwardly scramble to fend off the wizard's attacks and quickly tiring him. Eventually Sam, straining to keep up, was pulled into a bladelock. Saruman, a wide grin on his face, pushed Gamgee's blade aside, and suddenly jabbed at Sam's arm, cutting it across the side. As Gamgee fell back in pain, the White wizard stayed on him, slashing the Hobbit across the leg and bringing him down. Despite his wisely shown restraint against Saruman, Gamgee, unable to battle, wielding an unfamiliar lightsaber, and outmatched by Saruman's skills, was defeated.
As Saruman raised his lightsaber to kill Sam, Frodo recovered from the blast of Saruman's staff and saw Sam's predicament. Leaping across the wall from the corner in which he lay, Frodo reached the two in time to block the Wizard's blow. As Saruman turned to regard Frodo, Sam used the Force to retrieve his fallen saber and tossed it to Frodo.
====Frodo vs. Saruman====
Frodo, taking up the second blade, began to unleash of flurry of broad Form IV attacks, briefly taking the wizard off his guard. Saruman was able to recover his guard and drive Frodo back. Because he had little practical experience with dual-wielding, Frodo was forced to revert to his standard Form V practices when Saruman masterfully disarmed him, flicking his second blade out of Frodo's hand and destroying the hilt in mid air. Warding off Saruman with two rapid strikes, Frodo quickly retreated, regaining his composure.
Slashing a power cable connected to Saruman's ship as he raised his sword, Sting into a high guard, Frodo caused a short circuit that briefly caused the hangar lights to flicker. As the chamber dimmed, the two advanced on each other. As they stared at one another, blades at the ready, Frodo attacked. The two engaged in a flurry of swordplay, seemingly equally matched. Despite holding his own against Saruman for much of the duel, Frodo was finally brought down when Saruman uses the Force to grab Frodo's sword, and pin him against the wall. As Frodo groaned in pain, Saruman blasted the Hobbit aside with a Disarming charm. Frodo eventually landed at Sam's feet.
====Bilbo vs. Saruman====
As Saruman briefly caught his breath, he noticed the sound of footsteps. Turning to the door entrance, Saruman and the newly-arrived Bilbo Baggins regarded one another. Saruman attempted to kill Bilbo by telekinetically ripping wall fixtures out of the tower sides and hurling them at Bilbo. When the Hobbit blocked, Saruman countered by ripping chunks of stone out of the hangar ceiling, a dangerous proposition as the hangar was carved out of a cavern and doing so could cause a cave-in. Bilbo caught the chunks and threw them aside, turning to Saruman and acknowledging his power, but noting that he sensed the dark side of the Force in Saruman. Saruman, affirming his apparent superior power, unleashed a barrage of Force lightning at Bilbo. The Hobbit effortlessly caught the lightning and deflected it back at Saruman, who again deflected it into a nearby wall. Saruman proceeded to unleash a Cruciatus Curse against Bilbo, but as a show of his mastery, Bilbo absorbed the curse completely, with no need for deflection, showing Saruman the clear futility of this assault.
Saruman brandished his lightsaber, stating that this contest would not be decided by their mastery of the Force, but rather by their skill with a lightsaber. As Bilbo drew his own weapon Sting, Saruman leapt into action, unleashing his full Form II mastery against Bilbo. However, Bilbo's own mastery of Form IV allowed him to hold off Saruman's relentless attacks, and seize the offensive. Realizing both that he would not be able to defeat Bilbo and that Republic reinforcements would take the tower, Saruman distracted Bilbo by using the Force to topple one of the tower's pillers onto Sam and Frodo. As Bilbo broke off the duel to levitating the piller, Saruman was able to quickly board his ship and escape.
==Aftermath and legacy==
The explosion of Toth's flagship was seen from the surface. Master Aragorn contacted Master Gallia for a status update. Gallia confirmed her mission was successful, and Aragorn informed her that the battle was over, although Saruman escaped and Frodo had been wounded. The two later had a private meeting in the High Council Chamber.
By the end of the battle, only Republic soldiers remained. However, the victory had not come easy. When the Republic assault ship Implacable was extracted from Middle Earth to Ord Mantell, med triage on board estimated 12,000 seriously injured men and 8,000 walking wounded. Approximately 72,000 clones were deemed combat-fit. Thousands of clone troopers had died in the fighting, and most of the Confederacy's army had been safely evacuated aboard Core Ships during the battle.
Geonosian Archduke Poggle the Lesser had fled along with the rest of the Separatist Council, and his warriors had retreated into the catacombs, where they resisted the Republic's every effort to dislodge them.
Saruman traveled to Barad-Dur to meet with his master, who was settled in Mount Doom, not far from Minas Tirith and the Jedi Temple. Pleased by the news of war he received from Saruman, Sauron ordered the former Jedi, now the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, to retreat to Raxus Prime to prepare a second battlefront against the Republic. Meanwhile, the Grand Army of the Republic was mobilized throughout the galaxy and Middle Earth as the War of the Ring began.
The main reason for the Separatist's defeat was that they were caught completely by surprise, working against their numerical superiority. Another reason they lost is that despite the fact Sev'rance Tann and The Mouth of Sauron, arguably the Orcs Army's most brilliant commanders, were present, they were not given command of the army, and were instead placed in support positions. The Mouth of Sauron remained unknown to the Republic, for he killed off any of the Jedi or clones he encountered, while Sev'rance Tann escaped Geonosis after killing Shen-Jon's Padawan, Stam Reath.
While back at the Jedi Temple on Minas Tirith, Masters Sam Gamgee and Aragorn both expressed their mutual belief that the battle would not have been won without the clones, but Bilbo Baggins retorted at the irony of Sam's use of the word "victory." The battle was but the first of many in what became known as the War of the Ring. They also decided to investigate the Dark Lord that Saruman had mentioned to Sam Gamgee during the latter's imprisonment, Darth Sauron, in case Saruman was truthful about this revelation. It would not be until three years later, nearing the end of the War of the Ring, that they would eventually identify Sauron as being none other than the Supreme Chancellor, Palpatine. Frodo, meanwhile, escorted Senator Amidala to Minas Tirith, where they were wed in a wedding ceremony.
Jango Fett's son Boba buried his father and then took his ship to the moons of Bogden, where he engaged in a firefight.
The pirate Nym was later offered the post of commander of the Karthakk system, although he declined. Gallia then volunteered to be his personal "Jedi advisor."
As the Separatists and Republic built up their forces, they engaged in harassment tactics. Shortly afterward, the two opposing governments fought the Decimator campaign and the Dark Reaper Crisis.
One year after the battle, the Geonosians began construction of the Death Star above Geonosis under the orders of Darth Sauron.
Three years after the battle, when Frodo and Sam confronted Saruman for what was ultimately the final time on the throne room of Minas Tirith, Sam told Frodo that they are to talk him together this time around, referring to Frodo's earlier brash attempt at attacking Saruman head-on that got him blasted with his staff, with Frodo admitting he was going to suggest the exact same thing.The Lord of the Rings Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
==Participants==
===Jedi and Republic===
====Survivors====
====Victims====
===Confederacy===
====Survivors====
====Victims====
*Sun Fac (Geonosian General, aide to Poggle the Lesser)
*Jango Fett (Saruman's henchman, former Mandalore)
*Cavik Toth (participated in the space battle above)
*Dark Acolyte Trio (3 Dark Jedi)
==Appearances==
Category:War of the Rings battles
Category:Duels