Confederacy of Independent Systems
The Confederacy of Independent Systems is a government that features in Star Wars.
Contents |
History
The Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) was a government that formed in the waning days of the Galactic Republic. It was formed eight years after Senator Palpatine won the election and became the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. In this time, discontent began to emerge among various systems and among the interstellar corporations over the actions of the Galactic Republic with these various factions being brought together by Count Dooku. This led to the formal foundation of a new government that declared its independence from the Republic though unknown to anyone the new born Confederacy was simply a tool by the secretive Sith. Their activities were discovered on Geonosis by the Jedi Order with hostilities emerging that resulted in the Clone Wars. This saw the Grand Army of the Republic and its newly formed legions of Clone Troopers engaging in a galactic conflict against the Confederacy's armies of Battle Droids. The war was fought on multiple fronts all across the galaxy. The planet Christophsis came to be conquered by a Separatist force led by Asajj Ventress and General Whorm Loathsom. After taking the planet, a small relief force was dispatched that was led by Senator Bail Organa. Ultimately, the Confederacy forces were defeated by Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker's Padawan Ahsoka Tano who led a detachment of Clone Troopers. By this point, the Confederacy looked to secure passage control over passageways in the Outer Rim and looked to prevent the Repblic from forming an alliance with the Hutts. This saw the kidnaping the son of Jabba the Hutt where the Huttlet Rotta was to be killed so that the Separatists could blame the death on the Jedi Order. However, General Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano came to rescue the Huttlet from Teth and returned him to Jabba on Tatooine thus gaining support from the Hutt Clan.
On Ryloth, a Republic garrison was annihilated by the Separatists with a Droid Army blockading the planet with this being Emir Wat Tambor overseeing the occupation from the city of Lessu. During this time, he was responsible for pillaging the planet of its treasures that he intended to keep for his own collection. In response, a group of Twi'lek freedom fighters emerged under the leadership of Cham Syndulla who attacked the CIS forces but only managed to inflict minimal losses on the enemy. Eventually, a Republic force was assembled with the task of liberating the planet and succeeded in their objective after heavy fighting against the Separatists. This resulted in the capture of Tambor though his tactical droid managed to escape from many of the valuables looted from the Twi'leks.
The CIS then came to field their newest weapon against the Republic with this being a superweapon based on a massive cruiser known as the Malevolence. This ship under the command of General Grievous made use of a powerful ion weapon capable of disabling entire fleets making them easy prey to the cruiser. It came to gain the attention of Jedi General Plo Koon at the Battle of Abregado where his fleet of cruisers were destroying leaving him stranded in an escape pod with the few survivors of his ships. They came to be rescued by Jedi General Anakin Skywalker where by this point Count Dooku ordered the Malevolence to target an unarmed Republic medical center near the Ryndella system. After being alerted of the attack, the Republic responded by dispatching a fleet where they came to disable the Malevolence with Anakin Skywalker tampering with the heavy cruisers navicomputer thus causing it to crash into a nearby moon.
Once the CIS had outlived its usefulness, Darth Sidious tasked his new apprentice Anakin Skywalker who had become Darth Vader with the goal of eliminating the leaders of the Confederacy that had gathered on Mustafar. At the same time, a shutdown signal was sent to the Droid Army thus shutting them down and bringing an end to the Clone Wars as the Republic transformed itself into the first Galactic Empire.
Overview
In appearance, the Confederacy of Independent Systems was an intergalactic government consisting of worlds that separated from the Galactic Republic. They came to be known as the Separatist Alliance and as Separatists where they seemingly wished to form an independent state.
Leadership was held by the Separatist Council that was made of the leaders of wealth and influential galactic trading groups that backed he Separatist Alliance who it by providing warships, droid armies and credits. These corporate bodies linked to it that included the Trade Federation, Techno Union, InterGalactic Banking Clan, Retail Caucus and the Corporate Alliance. A governing body within the Confederacy was the Separatist Parliament that consisted of worlds that sought separation from the Republic.
Its military consisted of the Droid Army that included mass deployment of various models of battle droids. The Confederacy preferred the use of mindlessly loyal and easily controlled soldiers rather than flesh-and-blood warrior. Among the variety of droid designs used by the CIS included:
- B1 battledroids : the tall and thin droids were built as mechanical imitations of their Geonosian builders. They could either be controlled through centralised command centers or programmed for independent action. Programming glitches did cause them to suffer from the manifestation of personality quirks. B1 droids were noted for being dim-witted and being no match for clone troopers or Jedi but were designed to be used in overwhelming numbers against their enemies which they managed effectively.
- B2 Super Battle Droid :
- B2-RP battle droid :
- Commando Droids : these humanoid droids were a huge improvement over standard battle droids that were made to be elite warriors though this made them too expensive to produce in large numbers. Commando droids were stealth and powerful fighters that were both tougher as well as faster than other models where they utilised complex engineering that offered them amazing agility whilst advanced processors meant that they responded quickly in battle engagements.
- Droideka :
- Sniper Droid :
- Assassin Droid :
- MagnaGuards :
During the war, the Separatists began to field droid generals that consisted of T-Series Tactical Droids that began to take command of army divisions. Over time, they began to field Super Tactical Droids that were more powerful versions of these command droids. These were highly intelligent and strategic with these qualities making them excellent commanders in the Separatist Army.
In time, the Confederacy's cause was taken by up more worlds that took up the banner of the Separatist Alliance leading to the military being bolstered by organic warriors from those planets.
The Separatist armed forces also made use of a variety of vehicles which included:
- Dwarf Spider Droid :
- LM-432 Crab Droid :
- STAP :
- AAT Battle Tank :
- NR-N99 Persuader-class Tank Droid :
- Hailfire Droid :
- DDT tank :
- Homing Spider Droid :
- Octuptarra Droid :
Aerial support was provided by Droid Gunships that were introduced late in the war and were heavily armed and ray-shielded automated airships. They were designed as a support unit which were able to wipe out infantry and armor units with relentless barrages of explosive ordnance. Underneath the gunship were flat fuselages hat carried two clusters of missiles pods and the could be outfitted with droid deployment racks for insertion or extraction in heavy combat zones.
The Separatist Navy consisted of a variety of vessels that included:
- Neimoidian Escort Shuttle :
- Vulture droid fighters :
- Hyena droid bombers :
- Trident Drill Assault Craft :
- Trade Federation Landing Ship :
- Separatist Supply Ship :
- Separatist Dreadnought :
- Trade Federation Battleship :
To maintain their forces, they made use of Separatist Supply Ships that were converted corporate transport ships that were part of a well-protected supply chain that kept the droid armies operational. These huge barbell-shaped transport ships which brought in reinforcements, supplies, weaponry and other essential war material. Trade Federation Droid Control Ships served as centralised command centers that could be used to direct armies of B1 battle droids.
Members
- Count Dooku :
- General Grievous :
- Asajj Ventress :
- Admiral Trench :
- Kalani : a Super Tactical Droid who fought in the Clone Wars. He discovered a shutdown code within himself and his forces which he deactivated allowing him to evade Order 66.
- Nute Gunray :
- Wat Tambor :
- Lok Durd :
- Whorm Loathsom :
Notes
- The Confederacy of Independent Systems were created by George Lucas where they made their first appearance in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Video games
- In Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, the Separatists droid army appeared as antagonists in the video game tie-in to the live-action film. Among the different model of battle droids included the flying B1-A air battle droids and the armored Grapple droids.
- In Star Wars: Battlefront, the Separatists appeared as a playable faction and featured in the story mode of the video game.
- In Star Wars: Battlefront II, the Separatists appeared as a playable faction and featured in the story mode of the video game.
- In Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes, the Separatists appeared as antagonists in the video game.
Appearances
- Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones:
- Star Wars: Clone Wars:
- Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith:
- Star Wars: Clone Wars:
