Mission to Radnor

Upon their arrival on Radnor, the Jedi contingent encountered [Galen](/article/galen_(radnoran), a scientist of Radnoran descent. He had been designated as the leader of the evacuation efforts, following the widespread panic and subsequent departure of government officials and most security personnel. Galen highlighted a critical issue: rampant looting. A group of raiders had illicitly acquired a small force of prototype battle droids from a research facility. They utilized these droids to facilitate their looting activities across abandoned businesses, residences, and stores. En route to the Isolation Sector with Galen, the Jedi witnessed the raiders terrorizing a local Radnoran family.

The Jedi intervened swiftly, engaging the looters and their droid forces. Siri instructed the Padawans to safeguard the family while the Masters confronted the battle droids. With the exception of Anakin, all Padawans complied. Anakin, believing the others capable of handling the situation, chose to aid the Masters in neutralizing the droids. As the raiders began to retreat, he rejoined the other Padawans, assisting them in deflecting blaster fire directed at the Radnoran family. During the defense, Anakin's simmering jealousy of Ferus began to surface, creating friction between the two Padawans. They started to irritate each other, hindering their teamwork. Though the looters escaped, the attacking droids were soon defeated.

As Galen arranged for the transport of the assaulted and wounded Radnoran family for medical treatment and evacuation, he provided the Jedi with directions to the Isolation Sector. He also entrusted them with a supply of medication for distribution among the afflicted, along with the four remaining "bio-iso" (biological isolation) suits necessary to pass through the energy gate separating the two sectors. The Masters decided that they would wear the suits, enter the sector to dispense the medication, and investigate the situation; they instructed the Padawans to stay behind to care for the needy and wounded, maintain order, and prevent unrest. After escorting the Radnoran family and the Padawans to the med center, Galen returned to guide the Jedi Masters to the Isolation Sector.

Upon entering the Isolation Sector, the Masters encountered Galen's sister, Curi, who was tending to the dying survivors of Aubendo. Curi revealed that she and her brother were responsible for the catastrophe, as they owned the bio-weapons lab from which the toxin had leaked. She also warned them that re-entry into the Clear Sector would be too risky. The Jedi were surprised that Galen had omitted this crucial information; consequently, Obi-Wan contacted Anakin and the other Padawans to inform them of the changed circumstances.

The Padawans, now separated from their Masters for the duration of the mission, were tasked with maintaining control over the Clear Sector, without bloodshed, by establishing security patrols. Following Anakin's suggestion, they decided to locate the raiders who were continuing to terrorize Radnorans. Anakin, with Tru's assistance, managed to bypass the memory wipe of a battle droid they had previously disabled. They tracked the droid back to the raiders' hideout. Unexpectedly, the reactivated droid emitted an intruder signal, alerting the raiders to their presence. The young Jedi once again faced more battle droids. By the time they had silenced them, the raiders had vanished.

The Padawans decided to re-evaluate their strategy, but Anakin and Ferus disagreed on the best course of action. Ferus argued that gathering more information was crucial for the planet's well-being, while Anakin believed that capturing the raiders was the priority. Ferus pointed out that Anakin was motivated by a desire to impress his Master, demonstrating his ability to handle a complex mission. This accusation, being accurate, further agitated and angered Anakin, increasing the distance between the two Padawans.

While Anakin conducted his own investigation, Ferus, Darra, and Tru searched the hideout. Darra discovered a collection of files detailing the evacuation process. The holographic files were marked "ECC," indicating their origin from Radnor's emergency command center: someone was providing inside information. By studying the evacuation schedule for Tacto, the raiders had a well-planned strategy. Clearly, someone on the evacuation team was leaking information to the raiders, either for bribes or for more sinister reasons.

The Masters divided into pairs and patrolled Aubendo. While Obi-Wan and Siri were making their rounds among the dead and dying, Curi introduced them to Dol Heep, an ambassador from the nearby planet of Avon who was stranded on Radnor due to the plague. Heep expressed sympathy for the Radnorans and informed the Jedi that his planet was dispatching a large fleet to safely transport any of Radnor's survivors offworld, despite the Galactic Senate's own transport efforts. The Avoni transports were awaiting the Jedi's orders to proceed.

After Dol Heep departed, Obi-Wan and Siri discussed their reservations about his "offer." After speaking with Curi, who told them of Radnor's general distrust of the Avoni, the Jedi suspected that Avon intended to use their fleet for a temporary occupation rather than rescue.

After discovering the files from the raiders' hideout, the Padawans traveled to the emergency command center to question Galen. Ferus suggested to his companions, so as to not intimidate or corner Galen, that only one of them question him. They voted to send Ferus as the questioner, as he among the Padawans had the most experience (though Anakin was reluctant to agree).

Ferus, maintaining a polite tone, inquired about the possibility of someone accessing sensitive evacuation information. Galen, dismissing the Padawans condescendingly, stated that stopping the raiders was not a priority and that their focus should be on keeping the remaining survivors alive. Their discussion was interrupted by a transmission from the Senate transports: the ships were being delayed by engine troubles. Galen appeared even more stressed than before: the toxic clouds of Aubendo would soon reach the Clear Sector. Time was running out.

After Obi-Wan and Siri regrouped with Soara Antana and Ry Gaul, Curi informed them of the Senate's transmission. The Jedi considered reconsidering Dol Heep's offer, but Soara and Ry-Gaul announced a discovery they had made. During their patrol in the Isolation Sector, the two Masters had encountered a Radnoran named Wilk without a bio-iso suit, who was apparently immune to the effects of the toxin. Curi, hopeful, immediately requested a lab analysis of the Radnoran and excused herself from the Jedi.

The Masters soon encountered Dol Heep again, who was awaiting their decision on the Avoni fleet. With the Senate transports delayed and time running out, the Jedi reluctantly accepted Heep's offer, informing their Padawans to expect the imminent arrival of Avoni transports.

The Padawans received their Masters' brief message just before the comlinks went offline. They then focused on quelling a riot in front of the last store in Tacto selling bio-isolation suits. Afterward, Anakin and Tru attempted to restore the communication signal, while Ferus and Darra investigated how the raiders had acquired their advanced battle droids (which Anakin had recognized as similar to the Baktoid B1-series battle droid he had observed in the Battle of Naboo).

Anakin and Tru returned to the command center to obtain Galen's permission before accessing the central communications power source. Galen granted them access, but they soon realized something was amiss: the planet's communications should not have been disrupted by atmospheric toxins; they were being jammed by an external source in space. Based on this and other information, the Padawans concluded that the Avoni fleet was preparing for an invasion.

Back in the Isolation Sector, Curi informed the Masters that her scientists had been unable to determine the cause of Wilk's immunity. Curi was also investigating the cause of the plague and suspected that the supposed accidental release of toxins was not an accident at all, due to missing research data. Before they could discuss it further, they received reports of Avoni ships landing in the Isolation Sector. Obi-Wan and Siri took an airspeeder to the landing site on the outskirts of Aubendo. Hidden from view, they observed Avoni officers and personnel in bio-iso suits unloading skiffs containing durasteel crates. Upon closer inspection, the two Jedi discovered a large cargo bay filled with a contingent of battle droids, similar to those they had encountered with the raiders. The Jedi were quickly detected and forced to defend themselves. After a brief skirmish, Obi-Wan and Siri escaped to regroup with Soara, Ry-Gaul, and Curi.

Curi revealed that she had finally discovered the cause of Wilk's immunity—he had not been infected. Moreover, Wilk had actually escaped to the Clear Sector, then crept back in to the Isolation Sector days later to see his wife. The weapons toxin clearly had a short half-life and was now benign. To prove her hypothesis, Curi courageously took off her bio-iso suit (suggesting for insurance, however, that the Jedi continue to keep theirs on, in the event she started showing symptoms). Knowing now that Avon's intent was clearly invasion, the Avoni _had to know _that the toxin had long dispersed and were simply feigning ignorance, should any notice, by donning the bio-iso suits that Siri and Obi-Wan had seen their workers wear.

With faith in the high probability that the threat of the bioplague was now over, the Masters directed their attention to the Avoni. As they contemplated this new threat, Curi informed them of news she'd felt compelled to hold back from them: she already was acquainted with Dol Heep through her business activities prior to the release of the toxin. Somehow Heep had learned of Radnor's use of the toxin in the development of its high-tech and bio-weapons, and the Avoni had demanded "exclusive rights" to it, offering Galen and Curi a fortune for it. While Curi was firmly against such a deal, Galen wanted to embrace it, claiming that anyone in the galaxy, including the Avoni, were equal customers. The two siblings had argued heatedly over what to do until Galen ostensibly decided to accept Curi's position on the matter. Dol Heep was furious.

But now Curi began to wonder how Galen, one of the top scientists in the toxin's development, did not know of its short half-life. Obi-Wan suggested to her that Galen, in fact, did know.

When the Padawans regrouped, Ferus and Darra reported that they had discovered that the battle droids originated from a factory owned by Galen and Curi. While they didn't accuse anyone directly, they suspected that someone in their recent circle of contacts was involved. Anakin suggested that they travel to the Isolation Sector to inform their Masters, in case Curi was dangerous. Ferus opposed the idea, arguing that it would violate their orders to remain in the Clear Sector and trusting their Masters' abilities to handle the situation. The two Padawans argued until Darra and Tru intervened. Tru felt that both of them were right and suggested that they allow the Avoni to proceed until the Radnorans were evacuated, and only then do what they might to prevent their invasion.

To ensure smooth evacuations, the Padawans split into pairs again and headed for the evacuation points. En route, Anakin and Tru discussed a possible connection between the raiders and the Avoni; wanting to uncover the truth, they decided to return to the raiders' hideout. There, they encountered a Radnoran named Ruuin, who was caught loading stolen goods onto a gravsled. They convinced him to reveal his employer―someone named Nonce. Ruuin claimed that Nonce had obtained the evacuation files from an unknown insider at the command center. He also confirmed that the raiders were working with the Avoni, who planned to airlift them off-planet to new lives and possessions after they had created panic and disruption among the Radnorans, but before the Senate evacuation ships arrived. That's why Ruuin and his accomplices were now rushing to get off-planet, to avoid detection.

After further tests confirmed that the plague was no longer a threat, the Masters were allowed to remove their bio-isolation suits. They decided to leave Aubendo and return to the Clear Sector to halt the evacuations, knowing that the evacuations would only assist the Avoni in their takeover. Traveling in two speeders, the Masters paired up and headed for Tacto. On their way they encountered a smaller version of what seemed to be a Trade Federation MTT (Multi-Troop Transport) moving towards Tacto. Obi-Wan, familiar with the MTTs used by the Trade Federation during the Battle of Naboo, knew that the transport could carry a large number of battle droids; this one carried perhaps 70-100. But, suddenly, the Jedi realized, the MTT had shifted its trajectory and was now heading for them (Dol Heep, it was later learned, had planted tracking devices in the Jedi's airspeeders). The MTT chased them into the nearby "ground canyons," where it cornered them after injuring Soara Antana. It then unloaded its battalion of battle droids.

After leaving Ruuin in the custody of a nearby security officer (one of the few still left on the planet), Anakin and Tru regrouped with Ferus and Darra. Anakin suggested that they confront Galen, now that his high-tech battle droids had unquestionable ties to both the Radnoran raiders and the Avoni invaders. When they found him, Galen was preparing to leave in his airspeeder. The Padawans' quick thinking stopped him, however, and they discovered that the files in his datapad matched those of Ruuin's datapad: both disclosed the coordinates of the same Avoni landing site at which Galen now rushed to rendezvous. There was now proof that Galen, at least, was involved in the Avoni's plans for invasion.

Having eavesdropped on the conversation, Curi, only just arrived from the Isolation Sector, was deeply distressed upon learning of her brother's betrayal. She informed the Padawans that while the plague was no longer a threat, their Masters, she'd only just discovered, were being pinned down in the "ground canyon fields" outside Aubendo by the Avoni invaders, who had destroyed their speeders. Because Curi found that Dol Heep had had all of them under surveillance the entire time, and had also placed trackers in her own transports, she had raced to warn the Jedi, when, suddenly, she'd come upon their plight in the canyons as an MTT forced them down: "They are under attack from a platoon of Battle Droids. _Our _Battle Droids," she added, glancing at Galen. Clearly, the Avoni's plan was to pin down the Jedi as they conducted their "bloodless" invasion.

Reaching out with the Force, Anakin felt strongly that they could trust Curi's information. The plague was no longer a threat: they must trust this. The other Padawans, surprised at Anakin's depth of contact with the Force, unanimously agreed—commandeering Galen's airspeeder, all rushed off to rescue their Masters.

Arriving in the canyons, Anakin also readily recognized the droid transports as being similar to, but somewhat smaller than, the Federation's MTTs. Judging by how many droids they were up against, however, the Padawans decided that stealth was the best course of action. Anakin and Tru, who knew the most about the technical schematics of that type of transport, would attempt to hijack it (gaining entrance through its idling exhaust vents), while Ferus and Darra sought out the Masters to advise them not to attack the Padawan-bearing MTT, which would ambush the droids after the Jedi had drawn them into a predesignated clearing.

Upon reaching their Masters (who'd taken down twenty or more droids while sustaining, beyond Antana's ankle, additional injuries to Gaul's shoulder and Tachi's brow above the eye), Ferus and Darra informed them of Anakin and Tru's plan. Together, the six of them faced off the onslaught of battle droids as they executed their planned retreat, battling their way back towards the clearing where the MTT would strike. But in retracing their steps to the clearing, they realized that the entrance they'd initially come through was now blocked by a rock-slide. Boldly accepting their lot, they faced the Avoni droids with a "do your worst" attitude. Suddenly, a tremendous noise shook the canyon as the Padawan-controlled MTT bashed its way through the sheer rock of the blocked entrance, its engines belching smoke beneath bashed casings. Lurching forward, its proton cannon-fire roared to life: "Obi-Wan had no doubt who was at the controls." The Jedi, as one, leapt towards the battered and bent transport hatch. When all were safely on board, Anakin and Tru commandeered the MTT to finish off the remaining droids. The Jedi team then headed back to Aubendo and the Isolation Sector.

Upon returning to Aubendo, the Jedi found that the Avoni lacked the firepower to defeat "a roused population." When they confronted Dol Heep, the Avoni ambassador called the ruse "a complete misunderstanding" in his people's attempt to "help Radnor" and denied that his planet had anything to do with an invasion (when, in fact, it was an enraged Heep who'd prepared the planet for invasion by releasing, by his own devices, Galen's toxin to the air). He maintained further that the battle droids were there merely "for crowd control" and apologized for their "malfunction." Claiming also that the sabotaging of Radnor was not their doing, Heep immediately had his Avoni "tech experts" restore communications, whereupon the fleet departed.

The Senate ships, which ostensibly had been sabotaged (it was only suspected, for there was no proof), were ordered to return to Coruscant. The Jedi knew that there was nothing they could do about such blatant and criminal duplicity as they'd witnessed in the Avoni. Even if they did take Heep into custody, the Avoni wouldn't pay for their crimes for years, unfortunately, due to the typical but never-ending debates that such a scandalous affair would inevitably cause within the Senate. However, the Jedi did manage to place Galen into custody. Arriving at the Tacto prison where Galen was being held, the Jedi found him with Curi. A guard informed them that she'd held a blaster to his head for nearly two hours out of rage.

As the Jedi departed Radnor, the Radnorans were beginning to rebuild, even as they mourned their dead. Fending for themselves, the citizens of Tacto and the Clear Sector did nothing to help those in Aubendo and the Isolation Sector. In some ways the situation on Radnor was now worse than when the Jedi first arrived. Even so, it was neither the Jedi's mission nor their mandate to rebuild Radnor.