Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars – Battle Tales 5

This thrilling weekly series delves into a period of intense galactic conflict—the Clone Wars! As Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and fellow Jedi Knights confront overwhelming challenges, Commander Cody, Captain Rex, and other clone troopers, stuck in a defensive position, share tales of war featuring beloved characters from The Clone Wars animated series, including Padmé Amidala, General Grievous, and many others!

On Hisseen, Captain Rex, Commander Cody, and Commander Wolffe are recovering from the aftermath of a significant enemy explosion, which both the Hisseenians and allied forces successfully evaded. However, they quickly find themselves surrounded by battle droids demanding their surrender, prompting Cody to recall a past event from earlier in the war.

A flashback transports us to Caliban, an Outer Rim moon characterized by a snowy, mountainous landscape. Here, Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and a squad of 212th clone troopers, under Cody's command, are prisoners of Separatist General Grievous. Grievous orders them to immediately begin constructing a lunar ice bridge if they wish to survive. Kenobi, however, retorts that they will not comply, citing the Galactic Accords, which forbid forcing prisoners of war into manual labor. Grievous dismisses this, asserting that they are under his control and must obey or face death. Later, while working on the bridge, Kenobi informs his men that Grievous originally destroyed the bridge during his invasion of the planet. As the bridge is the only means of crossing the planet, Kenobi suggests it would be unfortunate if the Separatists were to encounter an accident while using it, implying they should sabotage the construction.

As Kenobi and Cody begin devising a plan to introduce flaws into the bridge's construction, they encounter a Qubey, a native of the planet, standing on one side of the destroyed bridge, gazing at its separated family on the other. Upon learning this, Kenobi rescinds his previous orders to sabotage the bridge. Instead, he instructs Cody to rebuild the bridge to an even better state than before. In response, the Qubey embraces Obi-Wan and presents drawings in the snow depicting the Qubey attacking Grievous, indicating an alliance between the Republic and the Qubey. As the days progress, Grievous grows impatient with the prisoners' progress on the bridge. Kenobi defends their efforts, stating that they are working tirelessly and that rebuilding what he destroyed is no simple task. As Grievous threatens Obi-Wan, a group of Qubeys begin clinging to Grievous' limbs in a harmless manner, but he reacts violently and throws them off. Subsequently, the Qubeys return Kenobi's lightsaber, which they had secretly taken from Grievous, and are praised for their swiftness.

Eventually, the Republic prisoners complete the bridge's construction. During a meeting with Grievous on the bridge, Kenobi attempts to negotiate their freedom. Grievous, however, reveals that the bridge will facilitate the movement of weapons and troops across the planet, leading to another Separatist victory. He then declares that Kenobi and his men will be left to die alone on the frozen tundra. As battle droids prepare to fire, Kenobi remarks on Grievous' predictability and reveals that he is not alone, as a group of Qubeys arrive and begin attacking the droids. Grievous orders a droid to summon reinforcements and capture the clones. When the droid hesitates, Grievous, frustrated, calls him an imbecile. With the battle underway, Kenobi ignites his lightsaber and engages Grievous in combat, stating that his threats lose their impact when they are both armed with lightsabers. As the battle intensifies, Cody and the 212th collaborate with the Qubeys to eliminate the Separatist forces and reach their guarded gunship. While dueling on the bridge, Kenobi mocks Grievous by referring to him as Dooku's pet, further enraging the General. However, this is precisely what Kenobi intended. He uses the Force to trigger an avalanche that engulfs the cyborg. Afterward, Cody suggests digging Grievous out to take him into custody, but Kenobi orders them to leave, as Separatist reinforcements will soon arrive, and they have already endangered the Qubeys enough. As Kenobi and his clones depart in the Republic gunship, Kenobi receives confirmation that the Qubeys have reunited on the surface and are together again. He then instructs Cody to destroy the bridge.

Returning to the present on Hisseen, Cody tells Rex and Wolffe that he has learned that everything is relative when you're a Jedi. Before the battle droids can execute them, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Plo Koon arrive just in time to eliminate them, saving their lives. As they joke about their respective roles in the battle, Plo Koon commends the clone leaders for rescuing the Hisseenian leaders before they could fall into Dooku's grasp. Just then, Kenobi receives a message from Yoda summoning them back to Coruscant. They all depart Hisseen aboard gunships, anticipating another exciting adventure.

• UPC 827714019537; September 30 , 2020 ; IDW Publishing ; First printing [1] 00511; Cover A; Derek Charm 00521; Cover B; Derek Charm
• November 5 , 2020; IDW Publishing; Surprise Comics exclusive edition [4] Cover C; John Giang