A battle was fought around 22 BBY during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. When Confederate forces tried to invade the strategically situated planet of Nexus Ortai, they were confronted by a Republic fleet commanded by Admiral Wullf Yularen, High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, and Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano. The Republic forces were successful in repelling the initial Separatist attack but took heavy damage while doing so. After General Grievous arrived with Separatist reinforcements, the Republic was forced to retreat from the system.
Around 22 BBY, early in the Clone Wars, the Confederacy of Independent Systems initiated an invasion against the peaceful world of Nexus Ortai, hoping to conquer the planet because of its strategic position at the crossroads of hyperspace lanes. In order to defend the planet, a Galactic Republic fleet—commanded by Admiral Wullf Yularen, High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker—engaged Confederate Munificent-class star frigates and Vulture droid starfighters above Nexus Ortai. Kenobi and Skywalker, flying Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptors, led V-19 Torrent starfighters of Ghost Squadron against the Confederate Vulture droids. Skywalker's Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, was willing to fight alongside her master, but the latter forbid her to do so, ordering Tano to stay aboard one of the Republic's Venator-class Star Destroyers and learn from Yularen.
After both sides had sustained heavy damage, Skywalker ordered Ghost Squadron to attack the Separatist command ship, while he and Kenobi took care of the droid starfighters. Despite Kenobi's protests, Skywalker took many droids by himself and demonstrated his exceptional piloting skills by destroying them. Soon, Ghost Squadron succeeded in destroying the command ship, and the Republic considered the Separatists to be finished. At that point, however, more Separatist starships arrived, commanded by General Grievous. Realizing that their forces could not hold off against the Confederate reinforcements, Kenobi ordered Yularen to prepare the fleet for withdrawal, much to Skywalker's dismay. After picking up the two Jedi and remaining pilots of Ghost Squadron, the Star Destroyers jumped to hyperspace and retreated to Republic territory.
Mace Windu briefs other Jedi on the Separatist advantage in the number of starships.
The loss of Nexus Ortai marked nearly two dozen worlds that the Republic had to pull back from in the Mid Rim region of the galaxy. The main reason for this was revealed to be the Confederate Navy's advantage in size, giving them four times as many ships as the Republic. To this end, Jedi Master Mace Windu proposed to strike at one of the InterGalactic Banking Clan's shipyards producing warships for the Confederacy. Skywalker then formulated a plan to infiltrate the Separatist-controlled Gwori system and destroy the shipyards located there.
The battle of Nexus Ortai was featured in the 2008 graphic-novella The Clone Wars: Shipyards of Doom, written by Henry Gilroy and illustrated by the Fillbach Brothers, which serves as a tie-in to The Clone Wars TV series.
Although The Official Star Wars Fact File Part 29 places Shipyards of Doom between Clone Wars Gambit: Siege and "Rookies," this article disregards that chronological placement due to the fact that Clone Wars Gambit: Siege and "Rookies" take place in 21 and 22 BBY, respectively, leading to an error in chronology.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic 5.4
- The Essential Atlas
- The Official Star Wars Fact FilePart 29