Defense of Rishi Station

Prelude

During the Clone Wars in 22 BBY, the Galactic Republic initiated the deployment of listening posts in the Outer Rim Territories to monitor the movements of the Confederate forces. Due to the significant losses sustained by the Grand Army of the Republic, newly enlisted clone troopers were assigned to these stations without undergoing the standard rigorous training typically experienced by most clones before commencing their duties. A number of these inexperienced clones, pejoratively referred to as "shinies"—a term denoting the troopers' pristine armor that had not yet been exposed to combat—were stationed at Rishi Station, a strategically vital listening post situated near the Wild Space planet of Kamino on the moon of Rishi, under the command of Clone Sergeant O'Niner.

In an effort to halt the Republic's production of clone troopers on Kamino, the Confederate General Grievous formulated a plan to invade Kamino alongside the Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress and a fleet comprised of Munificent-class star frigates and Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ships. However, Rishi Station played a crucial role in safeguarding the area of space surrounding Rishi and Kamino, and as long as the station remained operational, the Republic fleet would receive advance warning of any Confederate activity in the vicinity. To circumvent this obstacle, Grievous resolved to capture the station before proceeding with his plan to invade Kamino.

The battle

Confederate assault

Grievous deployed a squad of elite BX-series droid commandos aboard a Droch-class boarding ship to the Rishi moon with the objective of seizing the base located there. While the incoming pod concealed itself within a meteor shower, the clone troopers stationed inside the listening post activated the outpost's shields to mitigate potential meteor damage. Upon landing amidst the meteors, the droid commandos emerged from their pods and stealthily advanced towards the base, killing CT-327, a clone deck officer who was stationed outside the station as a lookout, along their path. When the clones inside the base lost communication with CT-327, Sergeant O'Niner dispatched clone troopers Nub and Droidbait to locate him, but the two clones were swiftly eliminated by the attacking droids. O'Niner departed from the base's command center to confront the invading droids and instructed trooper Hevy to sound the alarm and alert the Republic fleet. However, the rookie clone trooper discovered that the signal was being jammed, and O'Niner was soon killed by the battle droids.

After witnessing O'Niner's demise, troopers Hevy, Echo, Fives, and Cutup fled from the base through a ventilation shaft located inside the command center. Meanwhile, the leader of the commando droids contacted Grievous via hologram and informed him of their success. The cyborg general instructed the droids to maintain the station's all-clear signal, as deactivating it would alert the nearby Republic fleet to the Separatist presence in the system. This ensured that the Republic remained unaware of the attack and the impending arrival of the Confederate fleet en route to Kamino. Through a hologram transmission, Ventress reported to Grievous that she had infiltrated Kamino and that preparations for the invasion were complete. Meanwhile, the rookie clone troopers emerged from the opposite end of the ventilation shaft and positioned themselves beneath the listening post's landing pad. However, a Rishi eel appeared and seized Cutup before departing the area, further reducing the clones' numbers.

Retaking the station

Rishi Station was scheduled for a routine inspection, and Clone Marshal Commander Cody and Clone Captain Rex were dispatched to assess the base. After Cody contacted the base, a commando droid, disguised in clone trooper armor, responded to the transmission. The commando droid informed the clone officers that the base did not require an inspection, but the clones remained unconvinced and continued their flight towards the listening post. They landed their Nu-class attack shuttle, the Obex, near the base's entrance and were greeted by a commando droid clad in clone armor. After the rookie clone troopers launched a droid attack flare, Rex spotted the flare in the distance and promptly shot the droid in the head.

As Rex removed the clone's helmet, revealing the droid underneath, commando droids positioned behind crates surrounding the clone officers emerged from their hiding places and commenced firing upon them. During the exchange of fire, the droids hurled thermal detonators at the clones' shuttle, resulting in the destruction of the craft. However, the clones managed to escape the area by leaping off the landing pad. Cody and Rex located the surviving rookie clone troopers—Echo, Fives, and Hevy—and instructed them to remove their helmets, suspecting that they were droids in disguise. After the clones complied, Rex began to address them using the derogatory term "shinie." When a Rishi eel reappeared, Rex swiftly dispatched the creature with a single blaster shot to the eye. Impressed by Rex's marksmanship, both clone officers took an interest in the group and provided the rookies with DC-15S carbine blasters.

Rex devised a plan to infiltrate the base by impersonating commando droid Unit 26. While Cody, Echo, Fives, and Hevy positioned themselves on either side of the listening post's entrance, Rex approached the blast doors' surveillance systems. Commando droid units 07, 08, and 09 noticed an anomaly in Rex's vocabulator and demanded that he remove his helmet for identification. Rex complied but propped up a droid head in front of himself to deceive the droids into opening the door. When the commando droids opened the blast doors, the clones ambushed and eliminated them, proceeding to ambush the remaining droids stationed inside the listening post's main control room. After reclaiming the listening post, the clones discovered that the commando droids had hardwired the station's all-clear signal. Meanwhile, Grievous noticed that the commando droids were no longer responding to his transmissions. Suspecting foul play, Grievous dispatched a contingent of B1 and B2 battle droids to investigate the listening post.

Destroying the station

Upon the arrival of the Confederate reinforcements on the moon aboard a C-9979 landing craft, Rex observed that the new arrivals outnumbered the clone troopers and ordered the destruction of the listening post, an order that surprised the rookie troops. After Echo reminded the clone captain that their duty was to protect and defend the base, Rex dismissed his concerns, explaining that destroying the base would deactivate the signal and alert the nearby Republic fleet to the impending Separatist invasion. To destroy the base, Echo suggested utilizing highly explosive liquid Tibanna, which served as a fuel source at the station when the Rishi moon entered its freezing cycle. While Rex and Echo went to retrieve the base's plunk droids that contained the liquid Tibanna, Cody, Hevy, and Fives gathered weaponry from the listening post's supply room.

Outside, Cody, Hevy, and Fives commenced firing upon the approaching droids. The clones attempted to repel the droids before they could breach the base, but the droids' fire overwhelmed them, forcing them to retreat back inside the listening post. When the clones attempted to detonate the Tibanna inside the plunk droids, they discovered that the remote activator was malfunctioning. Hevy volunteered to remain behind and rectify the problem before rejoining the other clones as they fled the listening post through a nearby ventilation shaft. After hearing the invading droids, Hevy exited the control room and concealed himself in an adjacent hallway to avoid detection. Meanwhile, outside the base, Rex realized that Hevy had not yet evacuated the listening post. He contacted Hevy via comlink, but Hevy refused to evacuate until he had repaired the detonator. Unwilling to accept Hevy's decision, the clones rushed to assist the rookie trooper. Hevy, who had been hiding from the droids, utilized his Z-6 rotary blaster cannon to fire upon the battle droids. However, the droids managed to wound Hevy in the leg, incapacitating him.

Though Rex, Cody, Echo, and Fives attempted to contact Hevy via comlink as they raced towards the listening post, the trooper did not respond. Before they could reenter the facility, Hevy sacrificed himself by manually detonating the explosives. The listening post erupted in flames, killing Hevy and destroying all of the droid forces inside. With the all-clear signal severed from the listening post, the nearby Republic fleet—under the command of Admiral Wullf Yularen and Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker—was alerted to the danger. The Republic armada intercepted the incoming Confederate ships over the Rishi moon, and Grievous, realizing that his fleet was outmatched, ordered a full-scale retreat before the Republic could inflict significant damage upon his vessels.

Aftermath

In the immediate aftermath of the battle, a number of Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry gunships were dispatched from the Republic fleet to search for survivors of the engagement. On the moon's surface, the ships located the four surviving clones and transported them back to the fleet, where Echo and Fives were awarded medals for their bravery; Hevy's sacrifice was also commemorated by the Republic. Rex subsequently assigned the two rookies to the 501st Legion in recognition of their distinguished service during the battle. Rishi Station was rapidly reconfigured and replaced with a near-identical structure within a matter of days.

Following the battle, the Galactic Senate issued a dead-or-alive warrant for Grievous, anticipating that he would inevitably target Kamino once again. This proved to be the case several months after the destruction of Rishi Station, when the Confederacy orchestrated another plan to invade Kamino; both Grievous and Ventress were selected to led the attack. However, due to Republic resistance, their attempt to destroy the cloning facilities and seize control of the planet was thwarted.

Behind the scenes

The battle of the Rishi moon was first depicted in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series episode "Rookies," the fifth episode of the series' first season, which premiered on Cartoon Network on October 24, 2008. The Clone Wars Director Dave Filoni utilized the battle to illustrate that while commando droids were more effective than the standard B1 battle droids, a large contingent of B1s still posed a significant threat.