PROLOGUE A long time ago in a galaxy far far away The Republic was at war For two thousand years the Jedi Knights had kept the peace but even their formidable skills could not prevent the strife this time Led by the former Jedi Count Dooku the Separatist Separatist coalition broke away from the Galactic Republic War erupted during a rescue mission on Geonosis and many Jedi died Jedi Master Yoda arrived unexpectedly unexpectedly with clone troops in time for the Republic to win that first battle but too late to stop the war At first many in the Republic were sure that their clone troopers would end the war quickly But the Trade Federation with its enormous army of droids supported the Separatists Even with the forced-growth forced-growth techniques of the clone masters it took longer to grow a clone trooper than to produce a battle droid The Clone Wars raged on and spread to many systems _
Only the Jedi were not surprised For on Geono- sis Obi Wan Kenobi and his Padawan apprentice Anakin Skywalker had learned that Count Dooku had turned to the dark side of the Force and the of the dark side had been growing for years The Jedi knew that defeating the Separatists would be neither quick nor easy with a Dark Lord of the Sith aiding them power As soon as they recovered from the injuries they had received during their battle with Count Dooku Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi rejoined the war Together they became heroes of the Republic sometimes leading clone troopers in pitched battles sometimes making daring raids in secret For their work Anakin was made a full Jedi Knight and Obi-Wan Obi-Wan was given a seat on the Jedi Council and the title of Master No one not even the Jedi knew that one of the things driving Anakin was his desire to be back on Coruscant the home of the Galactic Senate In defiance of the Jedi Order he had secretly married Senator Padmé Amidala who spent most of her time working there As the fighting spread into the Outer Rim Worlds the moments Anakin could steal to be with his wife became fewer Then the Separatists struck a paralyzing blow straight at the heart of the Republic A fleet of ships commanded by the dreaded Separatist General 2
Grievous slipped through the outer line of defenses to attack Coruscant itself In the confusion the Separatists Separatists kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine the elected leader of the Republic But Coruscant was not only the heart of the government government and the location of the Galactic Senate It was also the home of the Jedi Temple As the Separatist attack began a message was beamed to the Outer Rim summoning the Jedi's greatest warriors home Before the Separatist fleet could leave the Coruscant star system with the Chancellor they found themselves under attack Waves of clone starfighters led by Obi Wan and Anakin stormed around their ships 3
