The Clone Wars: Shakedown, comprising six pages, is a webcomic and serves as the second installment in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars webcomic series. This comic, released on StarWars.com on October 2, 2008, functions as a direct prelude to the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television episode "Rising Malevolence." Pablo Hidalgo penned the story, while Thomas Hodges provided the illustrations, Jeffery Carlisle handled the coloring, and Grant Gould created the lettering. The comic marks the debut of the Separatists' novel secret weapon, the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser known as the Malevolence, which is decimating fleets belonging to the Republic Navy through swift, unexpected assaults.
Anakin Skywalker, a General, aboard his command ship, the Venator-class Star Destroyer called Resolute, makes his way to a Republic gathering point orbiting a planet inhabited by the Bith species. Admiral Wullf Yularen assures Skywalker that the staging area is secure, but Skywalker expresses his skepticism, suggesting that the Bith are unlikely to pose a significant threat and that the real danger lies elsewhere. Yularen inquires if the Jedi Knight is referring to the Separatists' newly developed weapon, to which Skywalker responds by pointing out its nearly dozen attacks on the forces of the Republic Navy. Yularen reminds Skywalker that High General Yoda emphasizes the importance of maintaining a presence in this region of space; however, Skywalker feels their current efforts are insufficient. Ahsoka Tano, Skywalker's apprentice, then informs him that their location within this system offers a strategic advantage for observing Separatist movements and presents Skywalker with a chart detailing the weapon's attack locations. Regrettably for the Republic, these attacks appear too erratic to establish any discernible pattern, rendering any prediction of the weapon's next target merely speculative.
In the meantime, within the Phu system, a Republic task force, led by Jedi Master Ares Nune, is actively patrolling the area, searching for any signs of enemy activity. Nune, positioned on the bridge of his flagship, the Venator-class Star Destroyer named Laudable, is engaged in a conversation with Clone Commander Kite regarding their assignment. Nune jokingly remarks on Kite's unique perspective on life, to which Kite replies that he would rather engage the enemy on a planet rather than in space, so he can die with dirt under his feet rather than deckplate. As their discussion concludes, the Confederacy's secret weapon, the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser Malevolence, under the command of General Grievous, attacks the Republic task force. The Malevolence unleashes an ion pulse upon the Republic fleet, catching Nune and his forces completely unprepared and disabling the fleet's deflector shields. Subsequently, the Malevolence proceeds to obliterate Nune's task force, resulting in the deaths of Kite, Nune, and all other personnel aboard the Star Destroyers.
Returning to the Republic capital planet of Coruscant, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and Jedi Masters Plo Koon, Mace Windu, and Yoda are discussing the loss of Nune's fleet within the confines of the Chancellor's Suite. Koon informs them that he has advocated for an increase in patrol frequency within the affected region and that he will personally oversee the sweeps aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer Triumphant. However, the others express concern that these measures may still prove inadequate in halting the Separatists' formidable weapon.
The Clone Wars: Shakedown, a six-page webcomic, is the second entry in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars webcomic series, and has a direct connection to the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television show. The comic serves as a lead-in to "Rising Malevolence," an episode from the first season of the television series. Shakedown introduces the Malevolence and explains Plo Koon's patrolling of the Abregado system in The Clone Wars television episode. According to the 2010 publication Star Wars Annual 2011, which places the "Hunt for the Malevolence" in 21 BBY, Shakedown and other The Clone Wars events occur in that year.
The events of Shakedown concerning the destruction of Ares Nune's fleet were also covered in the in-universe HoloNet News — A Galaxy Divided, which was the first episode of the online HoloNet News podcast series that predated the events of "Rising Malevolence". However, the podcast states that an evacuation of the Laudable via its escape pods was attempted, but the crew was not quick enough to escape, which is different from the comic, which implies that the Laudable was destroyed almost instantly.
Shakedown was made available on StarWars.com on October 2, 2008, along with the series' inaugural issue, The Clone Wars: Prelude. The story was crafted by Pablo Hidalgo, the artwork was created by Thomas Hodges, the coloring was done by Jeffery Carlisle, and the lettering was produced by Grant Gould. Special thanks were also extended to Leland Chee, the caretaker of the Holocron continuity database; Sue Rostoni, the executive editor at Lucas Licensing; and Dave Filoni, the supervising director of The Clone Wars TV series.