The Cestus Deception: Star Wars (Clone Wars): A Clone Wars Novel Read online

  Star Wars: The Cestus Deception is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  A Del Rey® Book

  Published by The Random House Publishing Group

  Copyright © 2004 by Lucasfilm Ltd. & ® or ™ where indicated.

  All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization.

  Excerpt from Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil copyright © 2005 by Lucasfilm Ltd. & ® or ™ where indicated

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Del Rey Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

  Del Rey is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

  Included is the following previously published e-book: “Star Wars: The Hive” by Steven Barnes copyright © 2004 by Lucasfilm Ltd. & ® or ™ where indicated. All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization.

  “Star Wars: The Hive” was originally published by Del Rey in May 2004 as an e-book.

  www.starwars.com

  www.delreybooks.com

  eISBN: 978-0-345-49270-8

  v3.1

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78

  Chapter 79

  Chapter 80

  Chapter 81

  Chapter 82

  Afterword

  The Hive

  Dedication

  About the Author

  Other Books by This Author

  Introduction to the Star Wars Expanded Universe

  Excerpt from Star Wars: MedStar I: Battle Surgeons

  Introduction to the Old Republic Era

  Excerpt from Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived

  Introduction to the Rise of the Empire Era

  Excerpt from Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil

  Introduction to the Rebellion Era

  Excerpt from Star Wars: Death Star

  Introduction to the New Republic Era

  Excerpt from Star Wars: X-Wing: Rogue Squadron

  Introduction to the New Jedi Order Era

  Excerpt from Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime

  Introduction to the Legacy Era

  Excerpt from Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal

  Excerpt from Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast

  Timeline

  CLONE WARS

  TIMELINE

  With the Battle of Geonosis (EP II), the Republic is plunged into an emerging, galaxywide conflict. On one side is the Confederacy of Independent Systems (the Separatists), led by the charismatic Count Dooku, who is backed by a number of powerful trade organizations and their droid armies.

  On the other side is the Republic loyalists and their newly created clone army, led by the Jedi. It is a war fought on a thousand fronts, with heroism and sacrifices on both sides. Below is a partial list of some of the important events of the Clone Wars and a guide to where these events are chronicled.

  MONTHS

  (after Attack of the Clones)

  0 THE BATTLE OF GEONOSIS

  Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones (LFL, May ’02)

  0 REPUBLIC COMMANDO

  Star Wars: Republic Commando (LEC, Fall ’04)

  0 THE SEARCH FOR COUNT DOOKU

  Boba Fett #1: The Fight to Survive (SB, April ’02)

  +1 THE DARK REAPER PROJECT

  The Clone Wars (LEC, October ’02)

  +1 THE BATTLE OF REXUS PRIME

  Boba Fett #2: Crossfire (SB, November ’02)

  +1.5 CONSPIRACY ON AARGAU

  Boba Fett #3: Maze of Deception (SB, April ’03)

  +2 THE BATTLE OF KAMINO

  Clone Wars I: The Defense of Kamino (DH, June ’03)

  +2 DURGE VS. BOBA FETT

  Boba Fett #4: Hunted (SB, October ’03)

  +2.5 THE DEFENSE OF NABOO

  Clone Wars II: Victories and Sacrifices (DH, September ’03)

  +3 MISSION ON QILURA

  Republic Commando: Hard Contact (DR, November ’04)

  +6 THE DEVARON RUSE

  Clone Wars IV: Target Jedi (DH, May ’04)

  +6 THE HARUUN KAL CRISIS

  Shatterpoint (DR, June ’03)

  +6 ASSASINATION ON NULL

  Legacy of the Jedi #1 (SB, August ’03)

  +12 THE BIO-DROID THREAT

  The Cestus Deception (DR, June ’04)

  +15 THE BATTLE OF JABIIM

  Clone Wars III: Last Stand on Jabiim (DH, February ’04)

  +16 ESCAPE FROM RATTATAK

  Clone Wars V: The Best Blades (DH, November ’04)

  +24 THE CASUALTIES OF DRONGAR

  MedStar Duology: Battle Surgeons (DR, July ’04) Jedi Healer (DR, October ’04)

  +29 ATTACK ON AZURE

  Jedi Quest Special Edition (SB, March ’05)

  +30 THE PRAESITLYN CONQUEST

  Jedi Trial (DR. November ’04)

  +30 LUREAT VJUN

  Yoda: Dark Rendezvous (DR, December ’04)

  +31 THE XAGOGAH CITADEL

  Boba Fett #5: A New Threat (SB, April ’04) Boba Fett #6: Pursuit (SB, December ’04)

  +33 THE HUNT FOR DARTH SIDIOUS

  Labyrinth of Evil (DR, February ’05)

  +36 ANAKIN TURNS TO THE DARK SIDE

  Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (LFL, May ’05)

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

 
CORUSCANT GROUP

  Obi-Wan Kenobi; Jedi Knight (male human)

  Kit Fisto; Jedi Master (male Nautolan)

  Doolb Snoil; barrister (male Vippit of Nal Hutta)

  Admiral Arikakon Baraka; supercruiser commander (male Mon Calamari)

  Lido Shan; technician (humanoid)

  CLONE COMMANDOS

  A-98, “Nate”; ARC Trooper, recruitment and command

  CT-X270, “Xutoo”; pilot

  CT-36/732, “Sirty”; logistics

  CT-44/444, “Forry”; physical training

  CT-12/74, “Seefor”; communications

  CESTIANS

  Trillot; gang leader (male/female X’Ting)

  Fizzik; broodmate of Trillot (male X’Ting)

  Sheeka Tull; pilot (female human)

  Resta Shug Hai; Desert Wind member (female X’Ting)

  Thak Val Zsing; leader of Desert Wind (male human)

  Brother Nicos Fate (male X’Ting)

  Skot OnSon; Desert Wind member (male human)

  FIVE FAMILIES OF CESTUS CYBERNETICS

  Debbikin; research (male human)

  Lady Por’Ten; energy (female human)

  Kefka; manufacturing (male humanoid)

  Llitishi; sales and marketing (male Wroonian)

  Caiza Quill; mining (male X’Ting)

  CESTUS COURT

  G’Mai Duris; Regent (female X’Ting)

  Shar Shar; Regent Duris’s assistant (female Zeetsa)

  CONFEDERATION

  Count Dooku; leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems (male human)

  Commander Asajj Ventress; Commander of the Separatist Army (female humanoid)

  VOLUME 531 NUMBER 46

  HOLONET NEWS

  13:3.7

  Baktoid Closes Down

  Five More Plants

  TERMIN, METALORN—In a statement issued to shareholders, Baktoid Armor Workshop confirmed that it will close down five more plants in the Inner Rim and Colonies as a direct result of Republic regulations that have hindered its battle droid program.

  Baktoid plants on Foundry, Ord Cestus, Telti, Balmorra, and Ord Lithone will close by month’s end. An estimated 12.5 million employees will be laid off as a result.

  Legislation passed by the Senate eight years ago forced the disbanding of the Trade Federation’s security forces, the largest single consumer of Baktoid’s combat automata and vehicles. Further licensing restrictions on the sale of battle droids made the purchase of such hardware prohibitively expensive for most of Baktoid’s clientele …

  1

  For half a millennium Coruscant had glittered, a golden-towered centerpiece to the Republic’s galactic crown. Its bridges and arched solaria harked back to ages past, when no leader’s words seemed too grand, no skyscraper too spectacular, and titanic civic sprawls boldly proclaimed the rational mind’s conquest of the cosmos.

  With the coming of the Clone Wars, some believed such glorious days were past. Whether the news holos spoke of victory or defeat, it was all too easy to imagine flaming ships spiraling to their doom beneath distant skies, the clash of vast armies, the death of uncounted and uncountable dreams. It was almost impossible not to wonder if one day war’s ravening maw might not envelop this, the Republic’s jeweled locus. This was a time when the word city symbolized not achievement, but vulnerability. Not haven, but havoc.

  But despite those fears, Coruscant’s billions of citizens kept faith and continued about their myriad lives. A flock of hook-beaked thrantcills flew in perfect diamond formation through Coruscant’s placid, pale blue sky. For a hundred thousand standard years they had winged south for the winter, and might for yet another. Their flat black eyes had watched civilization force Coruscant’s animal life into inexorable retreat. The planet’s former masters now scavenged in her duracrete canyons, their natural habitats replaced with artificial marshes and permacrete forests. This, others argued, was a time of marvels and marvelous beings from a hundred thousand different worlds. This was a time for optimism, for dreams, and for unbridled ambition.

  A time of opportunity, for those with vision to see.

  The red-and-white disk of a two-passenger Limulus-class transport sliced through Coruscant’s cloud-mantle. In the morning sun it glittered like a sliver of silvered ice. Spiral-dancing to inaudible music, it had detached its hyperdrive ring in orbit, slipping through wispy clouds to land with a shush as gentle as a kiss. Its smooth, glassy side rippled. A rectangular outline appeared and then slid up. A tall, bearded man wrapped in a brown robe stepped into the doorway and hopped down, followed by a second, clean-shaven passenger.

  The bearded man’s name was Obi-Wan Kenobi. For more years than he cared to count, Obi-Wan had been one of the most renowned Jedi Knights in the entire Republic. The second, a startlingly intense younger man with fine brown hair, was named Anakin Skywalker. Although not yet a full Jedi Knight, he was already famed as one of the galaxy’s most powerful warriors.

  For thirty-six hours the two had juggled flying and navigational duties, using their Jedi skills to hold their needs for sleep and sustenance to a minimum. Obi-Wan was tired, irritable, famished, and felt as if someone had poured sand into his joints. Anakin, he noticed, seemed fresh and ready for action.

  The recuperative powers of youth, Obi-Wan thought ruefully.

  Only an emergency directive from Supreme Chancellor Palpatine himself could have summoned the two from their assignment on Forscan VI.

  “Well, Master,” Anakin said. “I suppose this is where we part company.”

  “I’m not certain what this is about,” the older man replied, “but your time will be well spent studying at the Temple.”

  Obi-Wan and Anakin continued down the skywalk. Far beneath them the city streets buzzed with traffic, the walkways and ground-level construction occasionally interrupted by wisps of cloud or stray thrantcills. The web of streets and bridges behind and below them was dazzling, but Obi-Wan noticed the beauty little more than he had the height, the fatigue, or the hunger. At the moment, his mind was occupied by other, more urgent concerns.

  As if his Padawan could read his thoughts, Anakin spoke. “I hope you’re not still annoyed with me, Master.”

  There it was, another reference to Anakin’s rash actions on Forscan VI. Forscan VI was a colony planet at the edge of the Cron drift, currently unaffiliated with either Republic or Confederacy. Elite Separatist infiltration agents had set up a training camp on Forscan, their “exercises” playing havoc with the settlers. The most delicate aspect of the counter-operation was repelling those agents without ever letting the colonists know that outsiders had assisted them. Tricky. Dangerous.

  “No,” Obi-Wan said. “We contained the situation. My approach is more … measured. But you displayed your usual initiative. You weren’t disobeying a direct order, so … we’ll mark it down to creative problem solving, and leave it at that.”

  Anakin breathed a sigh of relief. Powerful bonds of love and mutual respect connected the two men, but in times past Anakin’s impulsiveness had tested those bonds sorely. Still, there was little doubt that the Padawan would receive Obi-Wan’s highest recommendations. Years of observation had forced Obi-Wan to grant that Anakin’s seeming impetuosity was in fact a deep and profound understanding of superior skills.

  “You were right,” Anakin said, as if Obi-Wan’s mild answer gave him permission to admit his own errors. “Those mountains were impassable. Confederacy reinforcements would have bogged down in the ice storm, but I couldn’t take the chance. There were too many lives at stake.”

  “It takes maturity to admit an error,” Obi-Wan said. “I think we can keep these thoughts between us. My report will reflect admiration for your initiative.”

  The two comrades faced, and gripped each other’s forearms. Obi-Wan had no children, and likely never would. But the unity of Padawan and Master was as deep as any parent-child bond, and in some ways deeper still. “Good luck,” Anakin said. “Give my regards to Chancellor Palpatine.”
>
  A hovercar slid in next to the walkway, and Anakin hopped aboard, disappearing into the sky traffic without a backward glance.

  Obi-Wan shook his head. The boy would be fine. Had to be fine. If a Jedi as gifted as Anakin could not rise above youthful hubris, what hope was there for the rest of them?

  But meanwhile there was a more immediate matter to consider. Why exactly had he been called back to Coruscant? Certainly it must be an emergency, but what kind of emergency …?

  The appointed meeting place was the T’Chuk sporting arena, a tiered shell with seating for half a million thronging spectators. Here chin-bret, Coruscant’s most popular spectator sport, was played before hundreds of thousands of cheering fans. Today, however, no expert chin-bretier leapt in graceful arcs across the sand; no pikers vaulted about returning serves. No cerulean-vested goalkeepers veered like mad demicots, hoisting their team’s torch aloft. Today the vast stadium was empty, cleared and sequestered, hosting a very different sort of garnering.

  As he emerged from the echoing length of pedestrian tunnel, Obi-Wan scanned the tiered stands. Most of the rows were as empty as a Tatooine desertscape, but a few dozen witnesses were gathered in the box-seat section. He recognized a scattering of high-level elected officials, some important but ordinarily reclusive bureaucrats, a few people from the technical branches, and even some clone troopers. Instinct and experience suggested that this was a war council.

  Over time the Clone Wars’ initial chaos had settled into a tidal rhythm; loyalties declared, alliances formed. The galaxy was too vast for war to touch all its myriad shores, but at any given time battles raged on a hundred different worlds. While that number represented an insignificant fraction of the billions of star systems swirling about the galaxy, due to longstanding alliances and partnerships, what happened to millions of living beings had the potential to affect trillions.