Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 2.05 Landing at Point Rain

"Believe in yourself or no one else will."

Newsreel:

Counterattack! With the clone army stretched in desparate attempt to engage General Grievous' Starfleet, Separatists planets that were once thought secure are now rising up against the Republic. On Geonosis, Separatist leader Poggle the Lesser, safe in his newly ray-shielded factories, creates thousands of terrible new weapons which march off the assembly line against the outnumbered clone army. The Jedi, resolute in the effort to restore order to the Republic, mount a massive invasion to retake Geonosis and shut down Poggle's factories once and for all....

ACT I

An enormous Republic task force comprising cruisers and transports swarms the ringed red world of Geonosis. Aboard the lead vessel, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi express disbelief that the conflict has brought them back here, the world where the Clone Wars first started. They agree that loyalty of the Geonosians to Count Dooku's revolution is not to be underestimated.

Anakin Skywalker joins them on the bridge with his Padawan Ahsoka Tano. They have just returned from an engagement near Dorin, where Anakin brags his squadron accounted for 76 kills versus Ahsoka's 55. Obi-Wan, incredulous of their light spirits, focuses their attention as they contact the Outer Rim Command for their briefing.

The Jedi convene in the cruiser's war room and are joined via hologram by Yoda, Mace Windu, Chancellor Palpatine, and Luminara Unduli. Intelligence reports peg Poggle the Lesser as having holed up in his primary droid factory, protected by a shield generator. Skywalker, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Kenobi will embark on a three-pronged assault to push past the Geonosian defensive lines and assemble a staging area just short of the shield. Once there, the next phase of the mission will be to knock out the generator.

Yoda counters the Chancellor's concerns about the mission's risks by emphasizing the importance of capturing Poggle to ensure that Geonosis does not rise again.

The briefing continues as the present Jedi are joined by their clone commanders: Cody, Rex and Clone Commander Jet. The three-pronged attack sees Ki-Adi-Mundi and Jet take the northernmost assault. Cody and Kenobi, the central push, while Skywalker and Rex lead the southernmost wing. All three waves will meet at the rendezvous point at 0700, establishing a defensive perimeter to their staging area for their next push.

Ahsoka worries about the Geonosian fortifications, particularly a giant armored wall bristling with gun emplacements. Anakin isn't fazed; their approach brings them no where near that barricade. The Jedi split up to tend to their preparations.

High over Geonosis, the Republic cruisers and transports disgorge the landing forces. Flocks of gunships and carrier craft streak toward the spires of the droid foundry. Geonosian defense cannons fill the skies with flak and laser rays, buffeting the gunships. Soon, needle-nosed Geonosian fighters join the fray, blasting away at the Republic force. Squads of Republic Y-wing fighters offer air support, strafing the Geonosian emplacements.

Kenobi's force is the first to fly. Anakin's is next. Ki-Adi-Mundi's follows close behind. The crossfire is too thick, and Anakin's gunship is the first to get shot down. It slams into the Geonosian desert with Ahsoka, Anakin and Rex aboard. They survive the crash, and immediately engage Geonosian forces on foot as they emerge from the wreckage.

Ki-Adi-Mundi's gunship is the next to fall. As it shakes out of control, Commander Jet radios Cody to get his walkers landed as he may be the last task force still flying. Cody's transports touch down, deploying AT-TEs to continue the trek overland. He orders General Kenobi to stay away from the landing zone as the skies are still too dangerous.

In the thick of the defensive zone, Kenobi has no choice but to keep pushing forward. His gunship is swatted out of the sky by Geonosian fighters, hitting the desert hard in a spectacular crash.

ACT II

An injured Ki-Adi-Mundi and Commander Jet pull themselves from the crash site. Jet reports the status of the operation: Only Kenobi's forces made it to the landing zone, but General Kenobi himself was shot down. Skywalker's armored forces were wiped out in the air, and he and Rex are caught in a firefight on the ground. Nonetheless, they intend to press forward. Ki-Adi-Mundi's AT-TEs are intact, though they must still trek overland. If they are fortunate, they may meet up with Skywalker on their way to Kenobi's position.

Skywalker's forces are pinned down by Geonosian gunners, and cannot receive help from any of the other units, for they are all in dire predicaments. Ahsoka begins to worry about Obi-Wan, but Anakin focuses her on the charge. Skywalker rallies his troops, and they counterattack the Geonosians.

At Cody's landing point, he has circled his AT-TE tanks into a defensive formation. Kenobi's gunship is five kilometers away. Cody dispatches troopers Waxer and Boil overland to check for survivors. The two troopers race across the battlefield to the fallen gunship, which they pry open to find only two survivors: Obi-Wan and Trapper, a clone trooper. Cody sees that the troopers are successful and lays down covering fire as they return, blasting away at the Geonosian speeders and battle tanks.

The injured Kenobi reunites with Cody. Surrounded by Geonosians, the forward group must hold out long enough for Skywalker and Ki-Adi-Mundi to join them at the rendezvous point.

Ki-Adi-Mundi's armored column is stymied by a massive caltrop field. It's slow going as they cut through the tank obstacles to continue forward. Admiral Yularen and Commander Jet talk via comlink. Yularen cannot send any additional air support, as it is allocated elsewhere in the planetary invasion. Yularen does offer his eyes in the sky to help the scattered forces locate each other. Readings indicate Skywalker may be approaching the eastern barrier -- the site of the armored barricade.

The wall that Ahsoka feared during the briefing looms large, cutting off progress through the canyon. It is lined with droid forces that fire down from above. Skywalker, Ahsoka and the clones seek what little cover there is.

Meanwhile, Ki-Adi-Mundi has split up his forces, leaving his tanks to take a longer route while he examines a short cut through a cave. Inside the dark grotto, they are suddenly besieged by winged Geonosian drones.

At the barricade, Anakin and Ahsoka load up with backpacks filled with thermal detonators. The two weave past the incoming fire, and use their grappling spike-launchers to scale the adjacent canyon wall. They emerge above the wall, and leap down onto its surface, cutting through the droids.

Meanwhile, at the rendezvous point, the Geonosian advance continue to whittle away at Cody's forces.

ACT III

Anakin and Ahsoka cut through the last of the droids atop the wall, but the wall itself is lined with automated cannons that continue to blast away at the clones. Sudden reinforcements pop out from hatches built into the barricade top: tumbling droidekas open fire on the Jedi. Captain Rex, who has snuck up the wall on his own, arrives to offer some support. Blasting past the droidekas, the Jedi drop the explosives into the hidden hatches. They use the Force to leap from the exploding wall, employing their telekinetic abilities to send Rex soaring and catching him before he hits bottom. With the wall destroyed, Skywalker and his team continue forward.

Meanwhile, Ki-Adi-Mundi's troops have nearly broken through to the other side of the caves. Flame thrower-equipped clones torch the last of the Geonosian resistance. Skywalker and Ahsoka arrive just in time to see the smoldering Geonosians. The two fragmented units are joined, and the landing site is within reach. The situation is still dire, given the amount of Geonosian infantry surrounding their objective. Skywalker contacts Admiral Yularen, desparate for air support. Yularen has good news. He has spent the time since Commander Jet's request reallocating resources, and has managed to scrape up one fighter squadron.

The cordon tightens around the rendezvous point. Even the wounded Kenobi picks up his blade for what he assumes will be a final stand. Suddenly, Y-wing fighters soar in from above, dropping bombs on the enemy tanks. The clones cheer as the spine of the Geonosian push has been broken. Emerging from the battlefield smoke are Skywalker, Ahsoka and Ki-Adi-Mundi, who find the exhausted Kenobi.

The last phase of the operation remains. Skywalker and Ahsoka lead the charge. Their troopers dash to the artillery battery, and toss droid poppers EMP charges that frazzle the enemy weapons. Cody's walkers then blast the artillery stations and bring the shield generator collapsing. As the shield dissipates, Ki-Adi-Mundi's reinforcing gunships land with additional troops.

The mission is successful. Anakin's final score? 55. Ahsoka: 60. Ki-Adi-Mundi trumps them all with 65.