This novel, titled Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth, serves as a companion piece to the The Clone Wars animated television program. Karen Miller is the author of this book, which was made available to the public on February 23, 2010. The audiobook rendition features the voice talent of Jeff Gurner as the narrator.
A wave of darkness is spreading across the galaxy, consuming planets one by one. A sense of dread permeates the hearts of warriors, generals, and ordinary people alike, residing in distant corners of the galaxy: The war is slipping from our grasp. . . .
Anakin Skywalker is also plagued by this feeling. The Separatist Alliance is employing ruthless and deceitful tactics, consistently outmaneuvering the Republic in the pursuit of strategic objectives. However, following a hard-fought battle against General Grievous on the planet Kothlis, Anakin is assigned a mission that demands his full attention. He and Obi-Wan Kenobi are tasked with infiltrating Lanteeb, a poverty-stricken world located in the Outer Rim, by posing as long-lost natives. This seemingly insignificant planet has piqued the interest of the Separatists, and Anakin and Obi-Wan soon uncover the unsettling truth: A scientist, forced into servitude by General Lok Durd, is exploiting Lanteeb's unique natural resource to create a devastating biological weapon. Anakin and Obi-Wan now find themselves at the center of a dangerous situation. Their presence has been discovered, Lok Durd's scheme has been revealed, and a desperate fight for survival has erupted behind enemy lines—a fight that offers a glimmer of hope for winning a war that must be won at all costs.
The narrative commences before the Battle of Kothlis, where Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and their allied forces are preparing for combat against the Separatists on the aforementioned planet. Upon engaging the Separatist forces, commanded by General Grievous, the Republic forces experience a complete disruption of their communication systems. Despite this setback, they engage the Separatist forces in battle and, despite enduring significant casualties, successfully liberate the planet from Separatist occupation. In the aftermath of the battle, as the surviving Republic soldiers, including Skywalker, Kenobi, and Tano, begin to recover from their injuries, Republic Intelligence agents initiate an investigation to determine how General Grievous managed to introduce a computer virus and communication jamming device into the Republic forces.
Meanwhile, while Tano recuperates at the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center alongside the other surviving clone troopers, Kenobi and Skywalker return to Coruscant for a brief five-day respite. This occurs after they, along with Grand Master Yoda, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, and Senator Bail Organa, assess the situation on Kothlis. They also evaluate the potential ramifications of this event for future encounters with the Separatists.
Senator Organa soon discovers that the Separatists seized control of Lanteeb, a relatively unimportant planet situated in the Outer Rim Territories, several months prior. Organa convenes a meeting with Skywalker, Kenobi, and Senator Padmé Amidala at his residence to ascertain the potential value of Lanteeb to the Separatists. After gathering information from Kenobi, Tano, and Senator Amidala, they collectively deduce that the Separatists intend to exploit a specific mineral found exclusively on Lanteeb to develop a biological weapon against the Republic. Consequently, Kenobi and Skywalker travel to Lanteeb, disguised as locals returning from labor on Alderaan, and commence their investigation into the location of the virus.
Upon arriving on Lanteeb, Kenobi and Skywalker discover that the biological weapon is being developed at a facility overseen by Separatist General Lok Durd, with Dr. Bant'ena Fhernan serving as the virus's designer. Fhernan is being held captive at the facility and forced to create the virus, with Durd threatening to harm her friends and family if she refuses to comply. Upon learning this information, Kenobi and Skywalker transmit a message to Master Yoda on Coruscant, informing him of the situation. Yoda dispatches several Jedi teams to rescue Fhernan's friends and family, and all of the missions are successful, although one of Fhernan's loved ones is killed by one of Durd's henchmen after the rescue operations are discovered by the Separatists. Durd uses the death of Fhernan's loved one and lies to her by saying that her other friends and family members are still in danger if she doesn't do what he says. Consequently, she ultimately betrays Kenobi and Skywalker to Durd's forces when they attempt to return to the facility, but the two Jedi narrowly escape death by commandeering a speeder and fleeing. To evade Durd's forces, Kenobi and Skywalker decide to seek assistance from one of the Lanteeban villages.