Onderon

In the early stages of its civilization, Onderon was a world characterized by untamed jungles teeming with perilous wildlife. To ensure their survival, the early human inhabitants of the planet sought refuge behind the protective walls of fortified settlements. As time passed, these settlements evolved into massive walled cities, including Iziz, the planet's capital. A group of societal outcasts found their home in the jungles of Onderon rather than within the safety of the cities. Within these jungles, they utilized the rupings as their steeds.

According to the semi-historical Qel-Droma Epics, a Sith Translation Talisman could grant its user immediate comprehension of the Force-infused writings found in Sith scrolls and spellbooks. Krath leader Satal Keto discovered one such talisman on Onderon and replicated it to educate his Krath followers. It was highly valued by Qel-Droma Epics scholars as one of the most important relics. Onderon would eventually become a part of the Galactic Republic, though it also had a history of maintaining neutrality.

In the years following the Invasion of Naboo, Count Dooku, a political idealist, instigated political unrest on Onderon, mirroring his actions on other worlds across the galaxy, including Sullust. During the Clone Wars, the Inner Rim held strategic significance for the Confederacy. Consequently, King Sanjay Rash, the Separatist-supported monarch, aligned Onderon with the Confederacy of Independent Systems following a pro-Separatist coup and Separatist invasion that ousted Ramsis Dendup, the previous monarch. However, many Onderonians disputed the legitimacy of Rash's authority, favoring Dendup's stance of neutrality. This dissent led to the formation of the Onderon rebels, a freedom-fighting group organized by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker.

Under Skywalker's guidance, a Republic contingent, including Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Captain Rex, secretly assisted in training and arming the rebels to fight against the Separatist Droid Army. Forced to hide in Onderon's jungles, the rebels underwent training to learn how to defeat droids and tanks using EMP grenades. However, their training camp was attacked by a droid battalion during their training. The rebels, aided by the Jedi, managed to defeat the droids with relative ease. Now seasoned in battle, the rebels felt prepared to infiltrate Iziz.

Within Iziz, the rebels persisted in their fight against droids, discreetly and methodically eliminating droid patrols and checkpoints. Believing that the deposed Dendup was orchestrating these actions, Rash commanded the former king to cease the attacks. It soon became clear that Dendup was not behind the rebel attacks, frustrating Rash.

Continuing their campaign, the rebels managed to disable the droids' main power supply by commandeering one of the droid battle tanks, causing a power outage after a skirmish. These actions caught the attention of Dooku, who was displeased with Rash's inability to subdue the insurgents. Rash attributed the blame to the droids and requested reinforcements. In response, the Count dispatched General Kalani, a super tactical droid, to succeed where Rash had failed. With the power supply disrupted, the rebels were able to eliminate more and more droids with little resistance. Some time later Steela Gerrera, the leader of the resistance, managed to send a message to the inhabitants of Iziz, revealing that their true king, Dendup, had been silenced by Rash and that they were determined to reclaim their city.

This message alarmed Rash, prompting him to order the execution of the former king. This news reached the insurgency. Saw Gerrera, Steela's brother, decided to rescue the former king on his own but was captured by the droids. He was then taken to the palace for interrogation, overseen by Kalani and General Akenathen Tandin. Kalani intended to torture Saw to death but was stopped by Tandin, who believed the droid's tactics were ineffective in stopping the rebels. However, the droid believed that Tandin merely pitied Gerrera. Saw and the general spoke with each other, the general explaining how Gerrera was viewed as a terrorist, and how Tandin chose to stay free by going under the Separatists' rule. Saw viewed himself not as a terrorist, but as a freedom fighter trying to free his people from Separatist occupation.

During Dendup's public execution, the rebels attempted to free the king but were apprehended by droid reinforcements. Tandin, witnessing the rebels' capture, gathered the royal guard and freed the imprisoned rebels. The resistance fighters managed to escape while the general held Rash hostage. The general himself was held at gunpoint, so Tano jumped out of the crowd watching the execution and Force pushed the droids away, stunning them. The two were able to escape from the droids with the people stopping the droids going after them. Now that the Dendup was freed, the people were more rebellious against the droids and Rash's rule.

The rebels retreated to distant mountains, establishing a base of operations. Back in the city, Lux Bonteri and Tano broadcasted the insurgency's final message, now delivered by Dendup. This message ignited widespread action across the capital, triggering riots and chaos throughout the city. Meanwhile, droid scouts located the rebels' hideout in the eastern mountains. As Rash appeared helpless, Kalani reassured him that fear would restore order among the people once Dendup and the rebellion were eliminated. He also dispatched additional reinforcements to bolster the droid army in the form of HMP droid gunships.

As the droid army advanced towards the mountains, the rebels initially managed to eliminate most of the droids easily. However, with the arrival of the gunships, the rebels were quickly outgunned and overwhelmed. The battle seemed lost, and Tano was ordered by Kenobi to retreat to Coruscant, who reasoned that sometimes people need to fight their own battles. Back on Coruscant, Skywalker refused to accept the Republic's decision to abandon the rebels. He traveled to Florrum to strike a deal with Hondo Ohnaka, hiring him to illegally transport rocket launchers to the rebels on Onderon.

During the battle, the rebels suffered heavy casualties from the new gunships, but the tide turned when Ohnaka and a few of his pirates delivered the rocket launchers Skywalker had ordered. The rebels were able to destroy the gunships with the aid of the new weapons. Back at the base, commando droids discovered the King's hideout and nearly killed him, but Steela intervened and destroyed them in time. Simultaneously, Saw and the rebels destroyed the remaining two gunships, one of which crashed on the side of the mountain where the King was located. The crash caused the mountain to collapse, leaving Steela hanging on the edge. Bonteri attempted to help but was also knocked down. Bonteri was rescued by Tano. With Bonteri safe, Tano focused her attention on Steela, and levitated Steela from the edge of the cliff. However, the crashed droid gunship was still marginally operational however and shot a blast at Tano's shoulder, interrupting her Force grip on Steela who dropped and fell to her death.

Fueled by Steela's sacrifice, the rebels rallied to defeat the droid army decisively. Back in the city, Rash grew desperate, pleading with Dooku for more reinforcements. However, Dooku was displeased with Rash's lack of control and ordered Kalani to regroup the remaining forces and return to Agamar. The droid general executed Rash for his failure and retreated from Onderon.

With the Separatist army gone, Onderon was finally liberated and joined the Galactic Republic. However, Onderon was under siege, prior to the Battle of Coruscant.

The peace that was achieved through sacrifice during the Clone Wars was short-lived. The Republic reformed into the first Galactic Empire and it annexed Onderon. An insurgency emerged to resist Imperial rule, once again led by Saw Gerrera.

Shortly after Order 66, Imperial Admiral and Governor Tarkin tested the loyalty of Clone Force 99, also known as the "Bad Batch," on a mission to Onderon. Tarkin informed the elite clones that they were tasked with eliminating a group of "Separatist insurgents" on Onderon. However, upon arriving, the squad encountered a group of people, including former Republic fighters and refugees, among them children and elderly individuals. Hunter, the Bad Batch's leader, disobeyed orders by refusing to fire on refugees and families. The group, led by Saw Gerrera, surrounded the Bad Batch and captured them. Gerrera offered the clones the opportunity to join his resistance group, but the Bad Batch chose to return to Kamino instead. Ultimately, however, Gerrera declared the planet a lost cause and withdrew from it.

Later, a new squad led by Crosshair, who had left the Clone Force 99 due to their defection from the Empire, arrived to finish the mission to eliminate Saw and his militia. However, Saw was already gone, and the only ones left were some militia members and some civilians. All were killed, including the Elite Squad Trooper ES-01, who had refused to eliminate the civilians, which was seen as treason by Crosshair.

Later on in the Imperial Era, Imperial Security Bureau Agent Alexsandr Kallus and his first stormtrooper squad was tasked with bringing peace and security to the troubled world. Kallus and his unit were then ambushed by a Lasat mercenary who worked for Saw, and Kallus and his unit were caught in an explosion. Kallus was knocked out of the way and the mercenary slowly walked through the smoke and fire and killed every Imperial except for Kallus; including the ones injured in the blast and unable to defend themselves.