The Clone Wars

by Lou Anders

  “Sharing the Same Face” by Jason Fry based on the episode “Ambush,” written by Steven Melching, directed by Dave Bullock for the series created by George Lucas

  “Dooku Captured” by Lou Anders based on the episode “Dooku Captured,” written by Julie Siege, directed by Jesse Yeh, and the episode “The Gungan General,” written by Julie Siege, directed by Justin Ridge for the series created by George Lucas

  “Hostage Crisis” by Preeti Chhibber based on the episode “Hostage Crisis,” written by Eoghan Mahony, directed by Giancarlo Volpe for the series created by George Lucas

  “Pursuit of Peace” by Anne Ursu based on the episode “Heroes on Both Sides,” written by Daniel Arkin, directed by Kyle Dunlevy, and the episode “Pursuit of Peace,” written by Daniel Arkin, directed by Duwayne Dunham for the series created by George Lucas

  “The Shadow of Umbara” by Yoon Ha Lee based on the episodes “Darkness on Umbara,” “The General,” “Plan of Dissent,” and “Carnage of Krell,” written by Matt Michnovetz, directed by Steward Lee, Walter Murch, and Kyle Dunlevy for the series created by George Lucas

  “Bane’s Story” by Tom Angleberger based on the episodes “Deception,” “Friends and Enemies,” “The Box,” and “Crisis on Naboo,” written by Brent Friedman, directed by Kyle Dunlevy, Bosco Ng, Brian Kalin O’Connell, and Danny Keller for the series created by George Lucas

  “The Lost Nightsister” by Zoraida Córdova based on the episode “Bounty,” written by Katie Lucas, directed by Kyle Dunlevy for the series created by George Lucas

  “Dark Vengeance” by Rebecca Roanhorse based on the episode “Brothers,” written by Katie Lucas, directed by Bosco Ng, and the episode “Revenge,” written by Katie Lucas, directed by Brian Kalin O’Connell for the series created by George Lucas

  “Almost a Jedi” by Sarah Beth Durst based on the episode “A Necessary Bond,” written by Christian Taylor, directed by Danny Keller for the series created by George Lucas

  “Kenobi’s Shadow” by Greg van Eekhout based on the episode “The Lawless,” written by Chris Collins, directed by Brian Kalin O’Connell for the series created by George Lucas

  “Bug” by E. Anne Convery inspired by the episode “Massacre,” written by Katie Lucas, directed by Steward Lee for the series created by George Lucas

  Illustrated by Ksenia Zelentsova

  Designed by Leigh Zieske

  © & TM 2020 Lucasfilm Ltd.

  All rights reserved. Published by Disney • Lucasfilm Press, an imprint of Buena Vista Books, Inc. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney • Lucasfilm Press, 1200 Grand Central Avenue, Glendale, California 91201.

  ISBN 978-1-368-07107-9

  Visit the official Star Wars website at: www.starwars.com.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Introduction

  SHARING THE SAME FACE by Jason Fry

  DOOKU CAPTURED by Lou Anders

  HOSTAGE CRISIS by Preeti Chhibber

  PURSUIT OF PEACE by Anne Ursu

  THE SHADOW OF UMBARA by Yoon Ha Lee

  BANE’S STORY by Tom Angleberger

  THE LOST NIGHTSISTER by Zoraida Córdova

  DARK VENGEANCE by Rebecca Roanhorse

  ALMOST A JEDI by Sarah Beth Durst

  KENOBI’S SHADOW by Greg van Eekhout

  BUG by E. Anne Convery

  About the Authors

  About the Illustrator

  About the Editor

  Star Wars: The Clone Wars, set between the films Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, is a groundbreaking spectacle that stretched the already seemingly boundless limits of the Star Wars galaxy. Created by George Lucas and later continuing entirely under the stewardship of Dave Filoni, The Clone Wars gave us the further adventures of many characters we already knew and loved, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Padmé Amidala. But it also introduced us to new characters who became instantly iconic, like Cad Bane and Ahsoka Tano. With over one hundred twenty episodes produced over many years, the series was able to forge deeper emotional connections with the characters than ever before. And despite the events of galactic importance happening around them, it is the characters themselves that keep fans coming back. The heroes we love and the villains we love to hate are the glue that holds everything together as we experience the fall of the Republic through their victories and losses.

  Eleven incredible authors have gathered to retell some of the most memorable moments from the series, with each story seen through the eyes of a character who experienced it. From Yoda’s perspective during the early days of the war, by Jason Fry, to Darth Maul’s desperate time on Lotho Minor, by Rebecca Roanhorse, to Obi-Wan’s tragic loss on Mandalore, by Greg van Eekhout, relive just a handful of the many exciting stories from The Clone Wars that we will never forget. And for those of you who are new to the series, please enjoy experiencing these extraordinary moments for the first time. Completing this collection is an original story that digs into the lore of the Nightsisters of Dathomir, written by E. Anne Convery (and she brings a particularly unique perspective, being married to Dave Filoni). I hope you will fall under its spell.

  —Jennifer Heddle

  A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….

  YODA HAD VISITED MANY PLANETS DURING more than eight centuries serving the Jedi Order. Back in his first years as a Padawan, he could have named them all. Now he couldn’t even remember how many he’d seen. All he knew was the number had to be in the tens of thousands.

  But no matter how urgent the mission, when he visited a new world, Yoda would take a moment to open himself completely to the Force. He’d let his senses be flooded by the life energies around him. And everywhere he visited, he found beauty and wonder. Sometimes he had to look for them—look hard, even—but they were always there, and over the centuries he had decided they must be products of life, two more expressions of the ever-changing Force.

  He didn’t have to look hard to find beauty and wonder on Rugosa. They were all around him from the moment his escape pod came to rest on the sandy soil. Coral fans spread red, yellow, and purple branches into the air from atop tall pillars while bulbous coral growths dotted the sand, reminding Yoda of giant fruit. The air was briny, the smell of the ocean on a moon that no longer had one. Above him, in the colorful branches, the gossamer wings of tiny creatures flashed in the watery yellow sunlight.

  As Yoda leaned on his stick and looked around, three clone troopers carried rifles and equipment out of the escape pod. Yoda wondered if Thire, Rys, and Jek had noticed the little flying creatures, or studied the coral forest surrounding them. If so, did the three clones see it differently? Or were their perceptions as identical as the genetic code they shared? Clone troopers were new to Yoda—as was the idea that he was their general and they were under his command.

  That idea was also not entirely welcome. But it was his duty to command them, now that the galaxy had been plunged into war. Katuunko, the Toydarian king, was somewhere nearby, awaiting them beneath a great treelike formation of coral. Yoda’s mission was to negotiate a treaty with Katuunko to establish a Republic base on Toydaria. The Separatists had learned of that mission and sent a task force to intercept Yoda’s ship and drive it away.

  They’d succeeded, but the mission wasn’t a failure yet. Yoda and the three clones had ejected in an escape pod, determined to keep the promised rendezvous with Katuunko.

  “Lieutenant,” Yoda said, and Thire stood up straight and saluted. “Contact with King Katuunko I wish you to make. Speak with him I m
ust.”

  “Right away, General,” said Thire, and Yoda could feel his eagerness as a pulse of emotion in the Force. Eagerness radiated from all three clones, in fact. They’d been assigned to diplomatic escort duty and sent to Coruscant, but the galactic capital was far from the war’s front lines, and they wanted desperately to prove themselves in combat. As if death and destruction proved anyone’s worth, and were anything other than a tragedy.

  But some tragedies could not be avoided. The galaxy was at war—a war Yoda and his fellow Jedi had first failed to prevent and then found themselves a part of. It was important to end that war as quickly and painlessly as possible.

  Thire knelt, holding a holoprojector in his hand. The image of King Katuunko—small wings, webbed feet, the ample belly of a high-status Toydarian—shimmered into existence in the trooper’s palm.

  “A pleasure it is to hear your voice, Your Highness,” Yoda said. “Master Yoda of the Jedi Council this is.”

  “Master Jedi, I thought perhaps Count Dooku had frightened you off,” Katuunko replied.

  “Delayed have I been, but not too far away am I now,” said Yoda. “Unaware I was, Count Dooku was invited to our meeting.”

  “The Count invited himself. He assures me that in this time of war, his droids can offer my world greater security than you Jedi.”

  Thire’s shoulders stiffened with anger while Rys and Jek exchanged glances. Yoda silenced the clones with a stern look.

  “Hmph. A matter of debate that is,” he told Katuunko.

  “Your Majesty might prefer more than words,” interjected another voice—one that was silky and full of menace. “If Yoda is indeed the Jedi warrior you believe he is, let him prove it. Allow me to send my best troops to capture him. If he escapes, join the Republic. But should my droids defeat Yoda, consider an alliance with the Separatists.”

  Katuunko turned his holoprojector to show the slender, taut figure of Asajj Ventress, her eyes a fierce blue against her bone-white skin.

  Hmm. Dooku’s apprentice, Yoda thought.

  So that was his adversary.

  He had been hoping to see the face of Dooku himself. The Separatist leader had once been Yoda’s Padawan, and if Yoda could bring him back to the light, the war would end without further misery and ruin. But apparently that meeting was not to be.

  Katuunko glared at Ventress. “I did not request Yoda’s presence here to test him in battle.”

  Yoda could feel Ventress’s rage driving waves through the Force, as if a youngling had thrown a heavy rock into a still pond. But beneath her anger, he sensed raw hurt and a hunger for connection, for belonging. It was unfortunate that Dooku had sent Ventress rather than confront Yoda himself. But perhaps the apprentice could be taught a lesson that might help her find a different path than the destructive one chosen by the master.

  A welcome outcome that would be. An opportunity we have been given.

  “Accept the challenge I do, Your Highness,” Yoda told Katuunko, then turned his gaze on Ventress. “Arrive by nightfall I will.”

  The transmission ended. Yoda looked from the pink fans of coral to the yellow sky. The flying creatures, he saw now, were baby neebray mantas. Rugosa must be a hatchery for them, the beginning of their lives’ journey. When the neebrays were ready, they would begin their long migration across space.

  “Beautiful this moon is, hmm?” he said to the clones. “Amazing, the universe.”

  A shadow fell over them. A Separatist landing ship passed overhead, its engines humming, and Yoda felt the vibration in the bones of his skull—an unpleasant sensation that was nearly painful. As Thire studied the ship’s underside, his hands instinctively racked his blaster rifle.

  “Gotta be a full battalion in there,” said Rys, watching the ship descend near the massive coral tree where Katuunko awaited them. “Probably packing armor, too.”

  “We’ll have something for them,” Jek promised, brandishing his deadly rotary cannon.

  “Carry only what you need,” Yoda told the clones. “Too much weight, slow you down it will. Destroy Ventress your weapons will not. Now come, come, Lieutenant—hurry we must.”

  He began walking away from the escape pod, taking slow steps and leaning on his stick.

  “Sir, the rendezvous point is that way,” said Thire. Yoda could feel the trooper’s unease and reluctance to challenge his superior officer. He’d had to fight his instincts to point out what he thought was a mistake.

  Yoda turned to regard Thire.

  “As is our enemy,” he explained. “To reach our goal, a straight path we will not follow.”

  He could feel the clones’ doubt as they watched him walk deeper into the coral forest. But they followed, like the obedient soldiers they were.

  The landing ship had deployed tanks—Yoda could hear the hum of their repulsorlifts somewhere behind him and the clones. And now he could hear the cough of their blaster cannons, too.

  Yoda turned and clambered atop a rocky outcropping for a better look. The clones sprang up beside him, expecting combat, Thire flipping down his electrobinoculars.

  “At ease be, my friends,” Yoda said. “Within range we are not.”

  He could feel their disappointment but ignored it. The time to fight was coming soon, but it had not arrived. Hurrying into battle would only help Ventress.

  The Separatist tanks came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the coral forest. One tried to smash through but quickly ground to a standstill.

  “Strong the coral on this moon is,” Yoda said, taking a moment to admire the dappled patterns made by sunlight filtering through holes in the fans above them. “And everywhere resilient, life proves.”

  Thire’s electrobinoculars whirred as he peered through them at their pursuers.

  “Those tanks are too big to follow,” he said.

  Yoda nodded. “See? Size is not everything, hmm? Smaller in number are we, but larger in mind.”

  He put a finger to his brow and giggled, then led the troopers deeper into the forest. A few minutes later, Thire stopped him. Yoda already knew what he was going to say.

  “Sir, there are two patrols coming in on foot,” Thire said, and Yoda sensed he was worried what the Jedi would decide.

  “Now is the time to face the enemy, Lieutenant,” Yoda said. “Ambush them we will.”

  He could feel the three clones’ relief—and their excitement at the chance to fight.

  “We’ll flank them from the south,” Thire ordered.

  “Right,” said Rys. “Let’s move!”

  As the troopers hurried to take their positions, Yoda headed in the other direction, deeper into the coral forest. He heard the sharp sounds of blaster fire—both the clones’ weapons and those of the Separatist battle droids. He waited until the tramp of the droids’ metal feet was close, then darted in front of them, chortling as their laser blasts passed through empty air.

  Yoda let the Force flow through him, asking it to lift him up and give him the speed that age had long since taken away. He felt the Force’s energies around him and moving through him, carrying him along like a rushing river. The droids were no threat—he could see their every move before it happened, and there weren’t enough of them to overwhelm his awareness or his reflexes. Chuckling, he ran atop a coral branch above them.

  The droids split up in an effort to find him, which only made them easier to destroy. A minute later, Yoda heard a whine as Jek fired up his rotary cannon. The sound became a howl as the cannon spat laser blasts at the hapless mechanicals. A moment later, silence returned to the forest and Yoda felt a pulse of pride in the Force. Jek had destroyed the droids. But Yoda sensed a graver threat was nearing.

  Six more battle droids marched into the clearing below, searching for him. Yoda knew he would have to destroy them quickly. He dropped onto one droid’s metal shoulders. The other battle droids turned clumsily, blasting the unlucky droid as Yoda jumped clear. The Force carried him from droid to droid, reminding him of skipping across the lily
pads in the Jedi Temple’s meditation pond as a youngling. The memory made him smile as the droids blasted each other to scrap.

  The whistle and crump of blaster fire was louder now. Yoda hurried through the coral forest and saw a squad of super battle droids ahead of him. The Separatists’ regular battle droids were spindly and fragile, but supers were hulking brutes, built to shrug off damage and vaporize any opposition.

  They’d be too much for the clones to handle—and indeed, Yoda saw that Thire was limping away from the fight, helped by Jek. Yoda leapt over the supers’ broad backs, his lightsaber spinning like an emerald pinwheel, and landed between the droids and the clones. He deflected a laser blast back at the supers, dropping one of them, and followed the clones behind a chunk of fallen coral where they’d sought cover.

  Thire poked his head over the coral and popped off a shot that dropped another super, but had to duck back down to escape withering fire.

  “What are we going to do, sir?” he asked, and Yoda could hear pain and fear in his voice.

  “Hmm.” Yoda deactivated his lightsaber and sat in front of the clones, legs crossed, ignoring the deadly energy flashing over their heads.

  “What’s the general doing?” he heard Jek ask.

  What Yoda was doing was stretching out with his feelings—the first lesson he’d taught so many younglings.

  The first things he felt were the ripples and currents of the Force, generated by the countless tiny organisms that lived in the coral branches and in Rugosa’s soil and air. That life felt like an enormous web of energy. Within that web, Yoda could sense the clones—their minds seemed to blaze in the Force, radiating anger and fear, determination and worry.

  Yoda couldn’t feel the super battle droids themselves—they were machines, imitations of life rather than life itself. But he could sense the empty spots they left in the Force, and because of that he knew where they were. He raised his hand, lifting one of the massive droids into the air. It continued to move its legs and fire, its sensors struggling to determine what was happening.