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Script: John Ostrander Penciler: Jan Duursema Inker: Dan Parsons Colorist: Joe Wayne Letterer: Digital Chameleon Cover Artist: Patrick Blaine Cover Artist: Batt Book Design: Dave Nestelle Assistant Editor: Jeremy Barlow Editor: Randy Stradley Publisher: Mike Richardson CHARACTER Featured Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker Supporting Quinlan Vos (as Hologram), Taun We, Aayla Secura, Tsui Choi, Kossex (dies), kaminoan aiwha rider Cameo Qui-Gon Jinn (in Anakin flashback), Shmi Skywalker (in Anakin flashback), Padmé Amidala (in Anakin flashback), Count Dooku (in Anakin flashback), Oppo Rancisis (as Hologram) CREATURE kaminoan flying eel, aiwha, colo claw fish DROID utility droid LOCATION Tipoca City, Kamino STARSHIP Jedi Starfighter [Delta-7], droid starfighter, Trade Federation Battleship, Trade Federation landing ship | ||
Script: Haden Blackman Penciler: Stephen Thompson Inker: Ray Kryssing Colorist: Joe Wayne Letterer: Digital Chameleon CHARACTER Featured Shaak Ti Supporting Lama Su, Alpha (ARC Trooper, no designation given until issue #52) Guest Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi Other feline Jedi (presumed dead) DROID battle droid, super battle droid, droideka (destroyer droid) LOCATION Tipoca City ORGANIZATION Clone troopers, ARC troopers, clone youth STARSHIP Trade Federation landing ship TECHNOLOGY reverse-polarity pulse grenade VEHICLE Republic attack gunship SYNOPSIS Cargo platform C-22. A squad of clone troopers tries to hold off an advancing barrage of battle droids. Security sector six. A feline Jedi is about to be blasted by a Super Battle Droid. Central armory. A pair of droidekas have decimated the clone defenders. In a control room, Jedi Master Shaak Ti and cloner Lama Su watch the destruction. Lama Su shows the last line of defense, the Advanced Recon Troopers, ARC Troopers. They were trained by Jango himself and are just as deadly and unpredictable. Master Ti assures him that the Jedi should be able to handle the troopers after the battle. She then asks to be shown to the children. In a training room, three clone youth are surrounded by a squad of clone troopers, defending themselves against the oncoming assault of battle droids. As a droid levels his gun on a child, the child points over his shoulder. Three ARC troopers, with blue markings and pauldrons, drop out of the air easily blasting the remaining droids and rescuing the children. They hand the youth guns, telling them they've been trained for this, just as two droidekas enter and blast two of the ARCs. The remaining ARC trooper doesn't have enough firepower to defeat the droids, but Shaak Ti does. She leaps over the control panel, slicing at the two destroyer droids with her lightsaber as the ARC trooper fires some missiles. The children go with Lama Su for protection as Shaak Ti and the ARC run to protect the third generation clones. They make their way towards the cloning labs, knocking down battle droids with the Force and using a pulse grenade, which takes the ARCs armor offline for a moment. As more battle droids arrive, they are quickly cut down by a thrown lightsaber which belongs to Anakin Skywalker. He and Obi-Wan Kenobi have joined up with Master Ti to help in protecting the third generation. In a long, glass, underwater hallway that leads to the thousands of clone fetuses, the three Jedi make their stand against incoming droids, while the ARC enters a self-destruct code, which shocks the Jedi. The trooper suggests ripping open the transparisteel hallway while holding back the ocean with Force. Using the mystical energy field, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Shaak Ti manage to destroy the droids and reseal the tunnel. The ARC trooper deactivates the self-destruct. Shaak Ti thanks him for saving them, but he just grunts. He was only following Jango's orders.
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Script: Scott Allie Penciler: Tomás Giorello Inker: Ray Kryssing Colorist: Joe Wayne Letterer: Digital Chameleon CHARACTER Featured Merai (dies) Supporting Mon Calamari Duke 1, Passel Argente, Mon Calamari Duke 2, Mon Calamari assistant, Mon Calamari navigator, Mon Calamari officer Guest Mace Windu, Yoda Villain Count Dooku, Darth Sidious (as Hologram) Cameo Adi Gallia (unseen; pilot of Starfighter) LOCATION Kamino SPECIES Mon Calamari STARSHIP Shark, Republic assault ship, Trade Federation Battleship, Jedi Starfighter [Delta-7], droid starfighter, Mon Calamari amphibious fighter COMMENTS Merai mentions "two aces" hitting the water during the dogfight. This refers to Obi-Wan and Anakin from the "Brothers in Arms" story earlier in the issue. SYNOPSIS A pair of Mon Calamari, one referred to as 'Duke', are in a secret discussion with Corporate Alliance representative Passel Argente to presumably knock out a shield on the clone facility, thereby opening it to destruction. The duke asks his commander Merai, for his input. Merai only wants to know one thing, when they will strike. Above Kamino, a droid control ship is spewing droid starfighters and Mon Cal amphibious fighters at the oncoming Jedi starfighters. Commander Merai orders his amphibious assault ships over the facility when the shield drops. A Mon Cal officer tells Merai they should retreat, but he stands firm, saying they have more droids than the Republic has Jedi. He then orders his officer to access file EKJ-2X and forward the coordinated of the shield to the squadron currently entering the water. The ships are destroyed by the Jedi. Bothered by this, Merai orders the coordinates fed to The Shark. He will make the assault himself. He evades the Jedi starfighter squadrons and enters the ocean. But when he reaches the designated coordinates, there is no shield generator. He attempts to assault the shield himself, but his ship is not designed to change environments so quickly and is losing power. He is blasted by one of the Republic ships and crashes, damaged, back into the water. His officers watch him carefully, knowing he's not to be counted out yet. Merai orders his troops to recall all ships, or as many as they can get, and retreat. He uses the tractor beam from the core ship to pull him up into the outer atmosphere where he engages his self-destruct systems. Using his last remaining ounce of energy, he launches his death ship into the Jedi's hyperspace rings, destroying the Republic's only chance of pursuing the fleeing droid control ship. Later, Yoda and Mace Windu are conferring via hologram. Mace says he has counseled Adi Gallia on the loss of their hyperspace rings, with the fact that Kamino was saved. He wonders aloud about why Merai, a commander he knew of, would attempt such a ill-planned attack. Yoda agrees, and adds that the future is getting more clouded. Elsewhere, Count Dooku is talking to his master over the holocomm. Sidious does not grieve at the losses of the day, as balance has been restored. Kamino is safe he says, quite pleased, and the Clone War will not soon end. | ||
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| Trade Paperbacks and Alternate Covers | ||
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The cover art by Blaine and Batt, also includes the signature Joe, indicating Joe Wayne colored the cover as well.
According to the inside cover, the events in this series take place two months after the Battle of Geonosis.
The giant water serpent looks very much to be a colo claw fish as seen on Naboo. It's not improbable that the same species might exist on various planets.
Obi-Wan mentions Sienar creating clone fighters. Raith Sienar and Sienar Fleet Systems designed the TIE fighters from the original trilogy.
The last page of the book features and essay by Jeremy Barlow on the Clone Wars. What are they? Who fights in them? It discusses their beginnings in Luke's dialog from A New Hope, and tells of the excitement yet to come.
In a fierce battle over Kamino, Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi starfighter is shot down and he crashes in to the ocean, much to the shock of Anakin Skywalker. Anakin is shaken out of his vision by Obi-Wan, who asks him to mind the present and not put too much faith in his visions. They enter one of Kamino's buildings.
Obi-Wan is presenting the battle plan to the assembled Jedi. Quinlan Vos and Aayla Secura have received information in a proposed attack by the Separatists against the cloning facilities on Kamino. Master Oppo Rancisis has devised a strategy to cripple their fleet. Obi-Wan divides the Jedi into two groups. Master Tsui Choi and Obi-Wan will lead two flights of fighters defending the facility while another group will stay behind and defend against ground assault.
Obi-Wan orders Anakin to stay behind, since he has been so distracted lately. When he asks his padawan why there has been such turmoil in him, a barrage of images flash through the young man's mind. Qui-Gon Jinn, his dying mother, the slaughter of the Tusken Raiders, his secret marriage, Count Dooku. He chooses to share none of this as he walks away.
The hologram of Quinlan Vos sits down next to Obi-Wan, who feels he's failing Anakin. Vos offers him some advice on how to deal with Anakin. Meanwhile Anakin continues to tinker with a droid he is fixing. Aayla asks him if she can offer some assistance. He doesn't think so, and wonders why he can't fix this droid. She tells him he's trying to hard, and gives it a good whack, which revives it. Suddenly the alarms start blaring, and Obi-Wan informs Anakin he has changed his mind. The padawan can join him.
A Separatist droid control ship, landing craft and droid starfighters make their way into orbit around the planet. Obi-Wan and the Jedi, in their sleek red fighters, enter into their squadrons. Red squadron, lead by Tsui Choi will engage the ships in orbit, while blue squadron, lead by Obi-Wan, will deal with any that make it through.
The ships engage many oncoming droid starfighters. A weequay Jedi, Kossex, takes care of a ship on Anakin's tail, but is quickly blasted apart by another droid fighter.
Obi-Wan begins a run on the landing craft, when Anakin warns him that this is his vision. The starfighter is blasted and crashes into the ocean. Kenobi leaps out of the cockpit, deflecting laser blasts and destroying another droid starfighter with his lightsaber. Suddenly a giant water serpent snatches Anakin's fighter out of mid-air.
Luckily Anakin leaps free onto Obi-Wan's sinking craft just in time. The larger creature disappears, but a school of flying eels attacks the duo. They manage to destroy most of them, but are quite a way off from the actual battle.
Out of the stormy weather, an aiwha and rider appear to rescue the Jedi. They fly back into battle side by side, confident and working together.