The Geonosis strike team was a group of 200 Jedi led by Mace Windu that were sent to Geonosis to rescue Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, and Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo, who were scheduled to be executed by the Geonosians in the Petranaki arena. The rescue mission was the opening to the Battle of Geonosis, the first battle of the Clone Wars.
However, not all the members of the strike team fought in the Petranaki arena. Some, like Adi Gallia and Siri Tachi, flew air support in Delta-7 Aethersprite-class starfighters. It should be noted that the space team, led by Adi Gallia, suffered very few if any casualties, while the ground team was almost completely destroyed.
Before the strike team could enter the arena to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Senator Padmé Amidala, they needed to get past the Geonosian defenses. Using two Republic TX-130S fighter tanks, Mace Windu and fellow Jedi Master Luminara Unduli fought their way through Separatist GATs, AATs, and Hailfire Droids, clearing the way for a convoy of transports carrying the strike team to the arena. Above the planet Jedi fought a different battle. Led by Adi Gallia and An'ya Kuro, Jedi Empatojayos Brand, Bant Eerin, A'Sharad Hett, Rana, Ranik Solusar, Jaizen Suel, and Siri Tachi fought off droid fighters in the asteroid belt.
The Battle of Geonosis begins
Upon infiltrating the arena, the Jedi revealed themselves to Dooku and his Separatist counterparts, having secretly infiltrated the stands of the arena. The Separatists' newly-revealed droid army swarmed into the arena in their hundreds, filling the battleground with blaster fire, cutting down many of the less skilled or experienced Jedi. Amidst the heated skirmish, Jedi Master Coleman Trebor attempted to engage Dooku in lightsaber combat. This act was cut short by expertly placed shots from bounty hunter Jango Fett and Trebor fell to his death from Archduke Poggle the Lesser's viewing box. Fett later attempted to fight and kill legendary Korun Jedi Master Mace Windu. However, due to Fett's jetpack having been damaged by the reek and not knowing until it was too late, Windu quickly beheaded the bounty hunter.
The Jedi fought valiantly during the skirmish, though many were not able to survive the onslaught and perished at the hands of Count Dooku's droid army. Toward the close of the arena fighting, the battle droids of the Separatists surrounded the Jedi that still stood. A cease fire ensued while Jedi Mace Windu argued that the Jedi would not surrender. Behind and to the right stood Padawan Anakin Skywalker and Senator Amidala, wielding a blaster. Jedi Knights Joclad Danva, Agen Kolar, and Luminara Unduli flanked them, while Stass Allie and Bultar Swan stood back to back as Master Shaak Ti and Roth-Del Masona prepared to defend themselves. Sora Bulq, Saesee Tiin, Tarados Gon, and Kit Fisto protected Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had bent down to check the pulse of a dead companion. As Windu and Dooku continued to banter, a group of Geonosians brought forward Masters Ki-Adi-Mundi and Plo Koon, who had been captured outside the arena after a failed attack aboard a Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship that had landed on the planet's surface. Aayla Secura was also brought from elsewhere in the large complex.
It is known that Sora Bulq and Eeth Koth were assumed dead after the gunship they were on was shot down, though they did survive. On the exploding gunship, Tarados Gon was indeed killed, which promoted the idea of Bulq and Koth's death. Any other Jedi present most likely perished in battle that day along with at least five other Jedi who were also killed in action.
Many Jedi perished in the ensuing battle.
Of the 100 Jedi who were part of the arena team, an estimated twenty survived the initial battle, of which at least two more died during the battle that followed, making the losses suffered by the team grave. All of the leaders of the strike force except Coleman Trebor survived, while some others were captured and still others (Barriss Offee and Pablo-Jill) escaped the battle. Only the timely arrival of Grand Master Yoda and the newly-created Grand Army of the Republic saved the strike team from impending destruction. Despite the high casualties suffered by the Jedi, their mission was successful, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Padmé Amidala were rescued from execution. After the reinforcements arrived, the arena was abandoned. Clones and Jedi alike would later return to the arena to collect the dead.
The death of so many Jedi in the Geonosian arena considerably drained the Jedi Order, as well as creating several dissidents who refused to fight for the Galactic Republic in the Clone Wars. The strike team's mission paved the way for Palpatine's eventual takeover of the Galactic Republic and the beginning of the Sith's return to dominance.
After the battle, Quinlan Vos's Separatist spy network stopped supplying information to Coruscant. Aayla Secura was sent to investigate, since she would know him the best, as his former Padawan. She found that Vos was very upset since he had known nothing of the development on Geonosis.
The strike team was equipped with land vehicles and spaceworthy craft. The Republic Troop Transport and the TX-130S Saber-class Fighter Tank assisted in the taking of the arena, while Jedi piloted their specialized Delta-7 Aethersprite-class interceptor in space.
The Geonosis strike team first appeared in the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, the second installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. R. A. Salvatore's novelization of the film established that the strike team was composed of 200 Jedi, while the comic adaptation established that 100 Jedi were present in the arena. In his blog on StarWars.com, Lucasfilm Holocron continuity database keeper Leland Chee clarified that only 100 of these Jedi were present in the arena. The total size of the strike team was repeated in a narrative source "Death in the Catacombs," a 2004 short story by Mike W. Barr published in Star Wars Insider 79, and later non-narrative sources.
In deleted scenes, the Battle revolves mainly around two battles: one on the surface, and one in the air. A similar concept to what's canon, except Ki-Adi-Mundi and Plo Koon lead a team of Jedi to attempt to shut the droids on the surface off from the air.
A bust for the character of Mace Windu from Gentle Giant Studios, released in 2013 as an exclusive product for Premier Guild members, states that the strike team was composed of 212 Jedi, which was an assumption made on Wookieepedia articles in June 3rd 2005, July 26th 2005, October 2006, and in April 19th 2011. It was assumed by the talk page for this Wookieepedia article that Adi Gallia's Zeta Squadron participated in the battle in addition to the ground strike team, but both Leland Chee's Jedi Casualties: Battle of Geonosis and Tim Veekhoven's Meet the Geonosis Jedi blog entries treat Adi Gallia as part of the strike team. There were two attempts to excise the assumption from Wookieepedia.
The 2002 Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones novelization establishes that just over 20 of 100 Jedi present in the arena survived the battle, while Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones junior novelization states that about 20 Jedi survived, excluding Mace Windu, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, since Skywalker and Kenobi were not part of the strike team. The 2003 comic book Republic 49 has Quinlan Vos erroneously state that the entire strike team of 200 Jedi died on Geonosis. Chee's Jedi Casualties: Battle of Geonosis lists 14 Jedi survivors in the ring and 6 other Jedi survivors, which would put the number of survivors in the arena at 20. Chee's blog also states that 11 Jedi survived outside the arena, putting the total amount of survivors at 31. Veekhoven's Meet the Geonosis Jedi estimated that about 170 Jedi of the strike team died on Geonosis, which would put the total number of survivors around 30. This article lists 40 Jedi survivors of the strike team, which makes the estimation incorrect.
- LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
- LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
- LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
- Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary
- The New Essential Guide to Characters
- Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
- The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels
- The Official Star Wars Fact File102
- The Official Star Wars Fact File108
- Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide
- Star Wars: Complete Locations
- The New Essential Chronology
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Essential Atlas
- Star Wars Character Encyclopedia
- Star Wars: Force Collection
- Star Wars: Force Collection
- Star Wars: Force Collection
- Star Wars: Force Collection
- Star Wars: Force Collection
- Star Wars: Force Collection
- Star Wars: Force Collection
- Star Wars: Force Collection
- Star Wars: Force Collection
- Star Wars: Force Collection