A conflict unfolded on Devaron during the era of the Clone Wars, pitting the forces of the Galactic Republic against the combined might of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Trade Federation. Leading the Separatist and Federation forces was the Duros bounty hunter Cad Bane, acting on the orders of the Sith. His mission: to capture Jedi Master Bolla Ropal. Bane sought to use Ropal to unlock a holocron which Bane had pilfered from the Jedi Temple, hoping to access the information stored within the kyber memory crystal held by Ropal. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano, dispatched to pursue Bane, reached the Devaron system aboard the Resolute shortly after Ropal's capture.
While the attacking Venator-class Star Destroyer obliterated the frigates guarding Bane's flagship, Bane resorted to torture, ultimately leading to Ropal's demise, in a futile attempt to force him to unlock the stolen Jedi holocron. When Skywalker, Tano, and Clone Captain Rex launched an impromptu boarding action on Bane's flagship with the intention of apprehending him, the bounty hunter adjusted his strategy, capturing Tano to coerce Skywalker into opening the holocron. Subsequently, Bane's flagship met its end, with the Jedi believing Bane to have been eliminated by clone trooper Denal, and the holocron lost. However, Bane had actually slain Denal, donned his armor, and boarded the escape shuttle, successfully fleeing the Resolute, thus triggering another pursuit.
In the year 21 BBY, amidst the galaxy-spanning Clone Wars, Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious engaged the services of the Duros bounty hunter Cad Bane to penetrate the Jedi Temple on Coruscant with the aim of stealing a Jedi holocron. Recognizing the inherent difficulty of such an assignment, Bane enlisted the aid of Clawdite bounty hunter Cato Parasitti to act as an insider, assisting him and his techno-service droid Todo 360. Jedi Grand Master Yoda had a premonition of intruders within the temple, but the Jedi assumed their target would be military intelligence housed within the communication centre. While Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his former apprentice Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker maintained vigilance, Skywalker's Padawan Ahsoka Tano was assigned guard duty in the Archives as a consequence for disobeying orders to withdraw during the First Battle of Felucia.
Parasitti, having assumed the guise of Ord Enisence, a Skrilling Jedi Master whose recent passing remained unknown to the Jedi Order, gained entry to the Temple with ease and proceeded to the archives. A bored Tano eagerly offered "Enisence" her assistance, but Parasitti curtly dismissed her in an attempt to be left undisturbed. After Parasitti accessed a computer terminal, she guided Bane and Todo through a vulnerable point in the Temple's deflector shields and through the ventilation shafts to the entrance of the Holocron Vault. Informed by Yoda of the intruders' presence, Kenobi and Skywalker began tracking Bane while the Temple was placed under lockdown. Chief librarian Jocasta Nu, noticing "Enisence" at the computer, attempted to inform the impostor about the lockdown, but Parasitti, catching the old woman off guard, rendered her unconscious and assumed her form. As Skywalker and Kenobi closed in on Bane's location, the bounty hunter was attempting to breach the vault door. Parasitti was attempting to aid Bane when Tano discovered her, quickly realizing she was dealing with an impostor and subduing the shapeshifter after a brief struggle.
With no further assistance forthcoming, Bane had Todo create an opening in the wall and proceed to the communication centre, while he placed a small explosive device on the door control. Detonating the controls, Bane successfully opened the vault door. When Kenobi and Skywalker emerged from the vents in the Vault hallway, they observed the hole created by Todo and followed, failing to notice the partially open vault door. Bane then detonated a bomb he had implanted in Todo earlier, after the droid had reached the communication centre. Securing a holocron, Bane then stealthily exited the Temple undetected. Only after Bane's escape did the Jedi realize the true objective of the burglary. Parasitti, angered by Bane's abandonment, informed the Jedi that Rodian Jedi Master Bolla Ropal was the Duros' next target. The Jedi were alarmed, as Ropal was the custodian of the kyber memory crystal, which contained a comprehensive list of every Force-sensitive child known to the Order and could only be deciphered by a holocron. Skywalker and Tano commenced their pursuit of the bounty hunter.
To capture Ropal, who was in command of clone forces on the planet Devaron, Sidious, secretly controlling the Confederacy of Independent Systems, instructed Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray to grant Bane command of a fleet consisting of five Munificent-class star frigates. Bane's forces entered the Devaron system and launched an attack on the Galactic Republic outpost where the Rodian Jedi was stationed, successfully capturing him. The remaining forces at the outpost were under intense assault.
In rapid pursuit of the bounty hunter, Skywalker arrived in the system aboard his flagship, the Resolute, accompanied by Tano. The Jedi received information from a clone trooper on the planet below that Ropal had been captured and that there was no chance of evacuating the remaining forces, after which the transmitter was destroyed at its source. Skywalker ordered Admiral Wullf Yularen to engage Bane's fleet. The swift assault rapidly destroyed the frigates escorting Bane's flagship, followed by attacks that crippled the hyperdrive of the remaining frigate, preventing Bane's escape. The bounty hunter paid little attention to the attack, however, as in the detention block he had battle droids torture Ropal in an attempt to force him to unlock the stolen holocron. Ropal refused, and when Bane continued the interrogation, disregarding the presiding droid's warnings that the Jedi Master could not endure much more, the Rodian perished. Turning his attention to the Republic attackers, Bane noted that the Jedi commanding the enemy Venator-class Star Destroyer was clearly a daring strategist, and devised a new plan for opening the holocron.
Skywalker decided to board Bane's frigate and rescue Master Ropal, despite the skepticism of Yularen, Tano, and Clone Captain Rex, as the Resolute was not equipped with boarding craft, their initial plan having been to land on the surface. Observing the All Terrain Tactical Enforcers stored in the hangar bay, Skywalker conceived a plan to use them as makeshift boarding craft. While Yularen remained doubtful, Tano and Rex quickly agreed, and they boarded three walkers with three companies of clone troopers. The walkers were then deployed onto Bane's crippled starship from above, with Skywalker and Tano wearing spacesuits. A brief exchange of fire with enemy vulture droids and battle droids atop the frigate ensued, but the Republic forces quickly gained access to the frigate. As Skywalker and his team advanced towards the frigate's bridge, Bane had the droid bridge crew slave all of the ship's functions to his wrist computer, before fleeing into the ventilation system just before the Jedi and clones arrived.