of legitimacy because they were spoken by none
other than Jedi Master Count Dooku of Serenno.
Dooku was respected by many high-ranking
officials within the Republic and even by the Jedi
Order whom he had abandoned. Dooku was
joined by many powerful financial organizations,
including the Trade Federation, the Techno Union
and the Corporate Sector. The combination of
Dooku's charisma and financial backing, the
Confederacy of Independent Systems rose to
meteoric status very, very quickly.
Initially the Separatists (as they were
known to members of the Republic) did not
advocate violence, but instead wanted to
peacefully remove themselves from the influence
of the existing government. Though negotiations
were attempted between Republic senators and
Confederacy representatives, tensions ran high
and little was accomplished. Dooku would often
use the lack progress between the two
organizations to prove to sympathizers just how
ineffective the Republic had become. As years
passed, the Confederacy slowly grew and faith in
the Republic continued to waiver.
Republic Chancellor Palpatine attempted
to assure his senators and citizens that he would
take steps to streamline the bloated government
and gently, but regularly asked for temporary
measures of power not previously provided to his
position. As systems continued to flock to
Separatist banners, most Republic senators saw
wisdom in the Chancellor's course and granted
him what he asked.
As the Chancellor gained more and more
power, rumors began spreading that the
Separatists were amassing a large military force
of droids, soldiers and starships. Fear of war
spread like wildfire through the star systems of
the Galactic Republic. It had been a very long
time since the Republic had maintained a standing
army and many citizens feared that if the
Confederacy chose to take military action, the
Republic would be defenseless.
Fear again came to become reality when it
was discovered that the Separatists were secretly
constructing a massive army of battle droids. As
turmoil swept the senate, Chancellor Palpatine
was finally granted the sanctions by the senate to
create a clone army to defend the Republic. This
was the just as Palpatine had always desired. The
weapon he had spent ten years secretly creating
was being revealed.
When this Grand Army of the Republic
was key in the destruction of droid factories on
the world of Geonosis and several Jedi were
rescued, the Chancellor was hailed as a hero for
his decisive action. However, the Battle of
Geonosis would become known as the first
conflict in the legendary Clone Wars.
The Clone Wars
The Clone Wars would change the face of
the galaxy forever. For years the Grand Army of
the Republic and the droid armies of the
Confederacy ceaselessly attacked each other. Jedi
Knights and Jedi Masters lead clone units into
battle against the Separatists and though they
were highly skilled and well trained, it always
seemed as though the Republic forces were
outnumbered as the independent systems
continued to churn out countless battle droids. It
seemed as though the war would continue without
progress, costing millions of lives across the
galaxy.
The Clone Wars came to a close when
Palpatine revealed to the galaxy that the Jedi
Order had perpetuated the entire conflict in an
effort to seize control of the Galactic Republic. In
a riveting speech before the Galactic Senate,
Palpatine detailed how members of the Jedi
Council had come to his chambers to assassinate
him. It was only by the heroics of a single person
that he had survived, though he was left forever
scarred and deformed by the ordeal. This
previously unknown Jedi who had maintained his
loyalty to the Republic was named Darth Vader.
Vowing to never again allow such
treachery to occur in the galaxy, Palpatine
reorganized the Republic into the Galactic Empire
and promised security and peace to the galaxy. He