Battles page
Opens up with Anakin and the ARC Trooper fighting their way past droids to get to the spice miners being held hostage, with Anakin's thoughts of Padme imposed over the action. The ARC Trooper covers Anakin as he jumps in close to two Super Battledroids, using the Force to turn the two droid's guns on each other.
After releasing them, the miners explain that they were forced to load some sort of chemical weapon onto spice transports, killing half the crew and leaving them on the ship. Anakin surmises that they intend to crash the transports into Theed and wipe out half the Naboo by doing so. Anakin and the ARC Trooper head for the fueling site of the transporters.
Meanwhile, Ventress approaches Obi-wan- "I emerged from misery and suffering...only to find the Jedi I had once worshipped... are nothing more but weak, misguided fools. Count Dooku speaks true," she says as she readies her lightsabers, "...the galaxy needs a Jedi Purge!"
After they clash sabers, she uses the Force to lift Obi-wan into the air, holding him in place for Durge to aim at- as Zule stabs Durge through the back, making him miss. Durge reverses the situation and grabs her head, slamming her into the mud, Zule wondering how if she severed his spinal cord- he explains he has no central nervous system, so he doesn't have a spinal cord for her to cut, "Now, I'm going to take your face as a souvenir". Zule then replies "This probably won't kill you..." as she grabs two of his blasters from their holsters, opening fire into his shoulders, "...but it should leave a mark!". Obi-wan asks that Zule saty close to him, that hopefully together they can defeat them.
Ventress orders Durge to depart and oversee the attack on Naboo, and he does so, as Ventress uses the Force to take control of several Gungan corpses.
Anakin, after deciding he'll refer to the ARC Trooper as Alpha (since calling him "the clone" bothers Anakin), arrive at the refueling site.
Meanwhile, Obi-wan and Zule (using the twin blasters) fend off Ventress and the Gungan zombies.
Anakin draws fire from Alpha as the clone plants an explosive device on the refueling device. He sets the timer and bolts for cover as the refueling node explodes.
As Alpha recovers from the blastwave, Durge gets the drop on him, punching him with a blow that sends him flying. "You ruined my mission, soldier boy! Count Dooku told me about your progenitor, how he was supposed to be the best warrior in the galaxy...won some bounty hunter competition." Durge says as he elbows Alpha in the back, then lifts him over his head, "Jango Fett was lucky I was taking a nap. Now I'll just have to kill all his spawn- starting with you!" he continues as he tosses Alpha into the flames.
Alpha manages to roll aside as Anakin arrives- "Get up Alpha- you'll want to see this rematch" he says, swinging the electro-bolas over his head (the ones Durge used on Anakin in the last issue), hitting Durge with the weapon. Injured, Durge activtes his jetpack and retreats.
Meanwhile, Ventress clashes with Obiwan as Zule attempts to reacquire her lightsaber- but Ventress uses one of her baldes to lob off Zule's left arm. Ventress then forces back Obi-wan. "So much emotion..so much fear..and...hope? Who?"
Anakin and Alpha have arrived- "The calvary." Anakin remarks. "Interesting...maybe you're not as cowardly as I'd thought. I will remember that, for when we meet again." Ventress replies. She force-jumps into the air, intercepted by Durge, who carries her off.
"I thought you said you could handle them. Dooku will consider this mission a failure." Durge comments.
"I disagree- now I know my enemy's face- and his heart." She replies.
Back on the ground, the Gunship has arrived, and Alpha urges them to get Obi-wan into a Bacta tank before the chemical agent kills him. Anakin requests to go to Naboo, but Obi-wan denies him, saying 3PO can tell the Queen everything she needs to know, but they must return to Coruscant to warn the Jedi of this new threat.
"I can't believe the Confederacy would do this." Anakin comments.
"Believe it, Anakin. This is the new face of war." Obi-wan replies.
Appalled at the loss of life and the fact that he had led these men to their deaths, K’Kruhk eventually joined up with other dissident Jedi who also protested the Jedi Order’s role in the war, although he eventually returned to the fold after an incident on Ruul.
(Possibly also Dama Montalvo, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Mace Windu, Quinlan Vos, Tholme, and Yoda, because they were present at Vookto’s funeral after the battle.)
Afterwards, Quin and Tholme give their report to Mace and Yoda. Many Jedi have perished in the 3 months since the Battle of Geonosis, and the problem has been made worse because a number of Jedi have refused to serve as generals of the clone army. At Windu’s request, Quin has made contact with the dissidents’ leaders: Sora Bulq (who fought in the Battle of Geonosis), Jeisel, Rhad Tarn, Mira (one of Sora’s former Padawans), and K’Kruhk (who had been thought killed in the Battle of Teyr).
Mace mentions that Sora used to be a lightsaber instructor at the Jedi Temple. When Mace developed Vaapad (some kind of martial art and/or lightsaber combat form), Sora was the one he practiced with. Sora is one of the few who knows it almost as well as Mace does. (Dawn is just starting now.)
Some of the dissidents only wish to remain neutral in the conflict, some think the Republic should negotiate with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, while others propose joining the Confederacy and actively battling the Republic. Though the dissidents don’t all think alike, they have been united by Sora Bulq and there are enough of them to create a schism within the Jedi Order. Yoda points out that the Jedi have many enemies within the Republic, and if they learn of this, they will think the Jedi are weak.
(While this discussion is going on, Mace and Quin have begun fencing with their lightsabers, to keep up Quin’s skills, since he has been using a blaster instead of his lightsaber while undercover on The Wheel.)
The dissident leaders have agreed to a meeting at Sora’s old family estate on Ruul, a moon of Sriluur, the Weequay homeworld—and they only want to meet with Mace Windu.
At this point, the lightsaber practice is cut short by Mace because Quin has used a Vaapad maneuver from Form VII—an especially aggressive Form that can take the user perilously close to the dark side, and Quin has already skirted the edges of the dark side more than once. Mace tells Quin that it is not something he (Quin) should attempt. Quin reveals that he learned the move from Sora Bulq.
It is now the following morning. Mace agrees to the meeting with the dissidents.
At one of Count Dooku’s secret lairs (not the one on Coruscant seen in AOTC, but the Gothic-castle-type one seen in Jango Fett: Open Seasons and Rite of Passage #4), Commander Asajj Ventress arrives to receive orders from Dooku. Dooku knows about the upcoming meeting on Ruul. He tells Ventress that the Jedi Council has sent Mace to “confuse, entrap, and if necessary, kill” the dissidents. He wants Ventress to secretly get to Ruul first to prevent this. He tells her, “You should know, Ventress, that Windu was chief among those responsible for abandoning your Master, Ky Narec.” Ventress replies, “Then he is faithless and deserves to die.”
Sora Bulq is not sure the Republic is worth Jedi dying to protect it, although he says he hasn’t made up his mind yet. K’Kruhk recounts the Battle of Teyr. He feels leading men (even clones) to their deaths in a war goes against everything the Jedi stand for. Jeisel wonders how the Jedi Order can serve a corrupt government without becoming corrupt themselves. Mira points out that many of the complaints made by the Separatists are just, and that they should pursue a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Rhad Tarn thinks the Jedi should be fighting on the side of the Confederacy against the Republic.
That night, Sora is taking a walk on the grounds of the estate when he is attacked without warning by Asajj Ventress, armed with two curved-hilt lightsabers with red blades. Sora defends himself with two blue-bladed lightsabers—one regular saber and one smaller, dagger-like lightsaber. Mira picks up bad vibes through the Force and runs to see what is the matter, calling the other Jedi as soon as she sees the mysterious assassin battling her former Master. Even though Sora tries to warn her away, Mira enters the battle and is killed almost immediately by Ventress.
Then K’Kruhk, Rhad, Jeisel, and Mace arrive and start fighting Ventress. Mace asks the assassin who and what she is and she replies, “I am your humble servant, Mace Windu. I trust you’re pleased.” She then escapes.
Understandably, the other Jedi want to know what the assassin meant by saying this. Rhad openly accuses Mace of being in league with the killer. Since no ship can land on the estate without Sora knowing, and the assassin didn’t arrive with any of the dissidents, she therefore must have come on Mace’s ship.
Mace goes off to find and “deal with” Ventress. K’Kruhk, who knows Mace reasonably well, points out that even if Mace did want the dissidents dead, he wouldn’t need an assassin. Of the five, only Sora might be able to withstand Mace, K’Kruhk opines. Rhad goes after Mace to find him and prove he is conspiring with the assassin. Sora takes Mira’s body back to the house, and orders Jeisel and K’Kruhk to follow Rhad.
Mace finds Ventress’ ship in a clearing in the woods—a Geonosian vessel very similar to Dooku’s Solar Sailer. (It might even be the Solar Sailer. But if it was a different vessel of the same type, it wouldn’t have the solar sail, which was a pre-Republic artifact Dooku added on to his ship.) Mace then leaves. Then Rhad arrives at the ship. Ventress attacks him. During the duel, she is simply toying with Rhad, and taunts and goads him until he goes over to the dark side and agrees to join Ventress. Then Jeisel and K’Kruhk show up with lightsabers blazing, telling Rhad not to listen to the assassin, but it is too late.
Meanwhile, back at the house, Sora is mourning the death of his former Padawan Mira. “Mira. It shouldn’t have happened this way,” he says, venting his feelings out loud even though she cannot hear him. Mace enters and confronts Sora. He has figured out that Sora was working with the assassin all along, and, igniting his lightsaber, asks Sora when did he go over to the dark side? Sora reveals that he was long fascinated by the dark side of the Force, and even more by his and Mace’s work developing Vaapad. Dooku approached Sora after the battle on Geonosis was over, and showed Sora that if changes were ever to be made to the Republic, the Jedi would have to be the ones to do it, and then rule. The plan behind the whole affair was to lure Mace and the others to Ruul, kill one or two of them, and blame Mace for their deaths. The schism would widen, and many more Jedi would join with Dooku and Sora. Now Sora has decided it would be best to kill all of the other Jedi and he alone survive to tell of Mace’s betrayal.
Mace says to Sora, “A small flaw in your plan—I am not dead.” Sora says, “Soon corrected, Master Windu.” They begin dueling. Sora once again wields one regular lightsaber and the smaller “light-dagger.”
Meanwhile, back out on the grounds, K’Kruhk is fighting Ventress and Rhad is fighting Jeisel. Rhad pins Jeisel against a boulder and is about to kill her, but Jeisel Force-grabs her lightsaber (which is lying nearby), calling it to her hand, and stabs Rhad through the abdomen with it.
Back in the house, Mace ends the duel by using the Force to slam Sora into some crumbling masonry, and then leaves.
By now K’Kruhk is lying on the ground, temporarily stunned. Jeisel attacks Ventress but is repelled. Ventress raises her lightsaber to kill K’Kruhk, but then Mace arrives and starts to fight Ventress. Ventress connects the ends of her two curved lightsaber hilts together, forming an approximately S-shaped double-bladed lightsaber. Ventress reveals that she has a special interest in Mace’s death, but he says he doesn’t recognize her. She knows she isn’t a match for Mace’s skills, so she flees.
Mace explains to Jeisel and K’Kruhk (who is now somewhat recovered) that Sora is in league with the assassin and their earlier fight was a sham. The three survivors go to Mace’s ship, fighting their way through a squad of miscellaneous combat and maintenance droids. Sora watches the Jedi ship fly away. “Ah, well. Another day, Mace Windu,” he says.
While the ship is in hyperspace, Mace tells Jeisel and K’Kruhk that he wants them to return to the other dissidents and tell them the truth about Sora Bulq. What they do after that is up to them. K’Kruhk says he will return to the Jedi Temple and encourage others to do the same. “Evil must be opposed,” he says. Jeisel says she won’t join the Confederacy, but she still stands by her philosophical objections. Mace says that whatever she chooses, the Council will honor it, as long as it doesn’t lead her to the dark side.