A hidden Separatist cell threatens the safety of the Republic’s capital as Delta Squad’s loyalty to the Republic is challenged. When Special Forces are called in to rat out a mole, things can get a little messy.. follow the mess with today’s Legendary Adventures!
A group of Jabiimi Separatists (called terrorists throughout the novel) had found their way into the Republic’s capital, Coruscant. Not only have they set up a base, threatening the safety of Senators and people alike, but some of them have wiggled their way into official capacities in the government. As The Clone Wars, Republic Commando, and soon, Labyrinth of Evil/Revenge of the Sith will prove, Coruscant is not as safe as it should be. In order to shore up its defenses, the Republic hires Kal Skirata to investigate. To do so, he recalls Omega Squadron – Darman, Niner, Fi, and Atin, whom he trained as experts, in the hopes Special Forces will give him the muscle needed to root out the spies.
These Jabiimi spies have good reason to be mad at the Republic. The Battle of Jabiim, as collected in the Republic comics, was a disaster for both sides of the war. The Separatists gained victory after the Republic retreated, but both sides faced huge losses to personnel and material. Anakin remembers this event vividly, a hugely traumatic event that will shape him for the rest of the war. The Legendary Adventures will return to it later, but I wanted to take this aside to recommend checking out the comic before moving much further, if you have the chance!
Unfortunately, reading these in order, I don’t feel much sympathy to save the Republic. In Traviss’s previous work, No Prisoners, the Republic sides with a dictator on JanFathal in order to prevent a Separatist take over. Is this a Republic worth saving? Maybe not. Traviss does not seem to be too interested in painting them as good guys, either, which makes it hard to get too involved in the central premise of the mission. Why not just let the Republic fall if the Separatists really are that much better? The novel doesn’t seem to be too interested in answering that question, unfortunately. This is maybe my biggest problem with the way Traviss writes these novels: there are quite a few problems in her galaxy, but she doesn’t seem to be too interested in finding answers that align with the movies. Sure, the Jedi and the Republic are flawed, but for the most part, they are the good guys and we are supposed to be on their side. Unfortunately, Traviss does not agree, making their positions unsympathetic, almost making us want to see them implode.
Delta Squadron is en route to Coruscant when Omega Squadron is recalled by Skirata. Delta Squadron (the one you’re familiar with from the video games, composed of Fixer, Sev, Boss, Scorch) was trained by Walon Vau, who trained Atin and Skirata. This puts history between Skirata and Vau, as Skirata believes that Vau was essentially abusive, training his boys to be hardened killers and soldiers rather than good men. This puts enmity between the squads, which is actually the conflict in the novel. The whole novel really centers around their inability to work together due to their extremely different training styles. This seems like a pretty good argument against using Mandalorian trainers who train their squadron differently, rather than in a uniform way. In The Clone Wars, we get a glimpse of the training regiment that infantry troopers are put through, which seem far more uniform and far more helpful in creating an army. I would’ve loved a greater exploration of why the Kaminoans felt that it was okay to train the Special Forces in such divergent ways.
On Coruscant, the two Squadrons are tasked to work with a pretty significant number of Jedi for this late in the War. Jedi Master Arligan Zey, and Jedi Knights Bardan Jusik and Etain Tur-Mukan are an interesting foil for the Squadrons. Bardan Jusik is Zey’s Apprentice who is staunchly against the War, arguing that the Jedi were essentially using a slave army (interesting how many of Traviss’s unique characters come to this exact conclusion, isn’t it?). Despite his rising prominence in the Army, he struggles with his commitment to both the Jedi and the Republic. On the other hand, Etain struggles with a different type of commitment: a commitment made to clone commando Darman. The two became romantically entangled on Qiilura, where they worked together to take down a scientist developing an anti-clone super virus. Etain is pregnant, one of the biggest no-no’s of the Jedi Order. She is now forced to decide whether she was to remain a Jedi or stay with Darman (readers of Traviss may already guess where she is leaning!) Undercutting the important mission to root our Separatist spies, Etain has to decide when and where she can tell Darman about the baby.
As if the team isn’t big enough, Jinart and Valaqil, the Gurlanin shape-shifters from Qiilura, join the team to help root out the spies. Well, sort of: the two have a secret agenda in helping the clones and Jedi. During the mission to Qiilura, Etain promised the shape-shifters that the Republic would help them reclaim Qiilura from colonists and Separatist forces and return control to the Gurlanin. The Republic has not made good on this promise, either, so the two feel the need to personally keep them on task. Again, the Republic are painted as bad guys, but it is hard to totally sympathize with the anger here. The planet should absolutely be returned to the native Gurlanins, and should attract further Republic intervention as it did hold a Separatist base. But it is hard to blame the Republic for the off-handed promise from a single Jedi in desperate need of allies.
In the end, the spies are rooted out. Simple as that! The main thrust of the book was literally driven by the character conflicts, most of which I struggled to totally become invested in. I’ve heard a lot of people highly recommend this series, so I know it has some fans. I personally have trouble recommending the novels due to its anti-Jedi and anti-hero message (even though that’s not her intention), the dense prose, the highly technical nature of the weapons and the languages, as it was kind of a chore to read at times.
Legendary Travel Tips:
-This book is preceded by The Clone Wars: No Prisoners and followed by The Clone Wars: Gambit duology.
-The Legends paperback edition reprints the short story Omega Squadron: Targets.
-The paperback edition also contains a glossary of Mando’a terms.
You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor!
Essential Legends Collection: Revan | Deceived | Darth Bane: Path of Destruction | Darth Bane: Rule of Two | Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil | Darth Plagueis | Shatterpoint | Kenobi | Rogue Squadron | Rogue Squadron: Wedge’s Gamble | Rogue Squadron: The Bacta War | Heir to the Empire | Dark Force Rising | The Last Command | Yoda: Dark Rendezvous | Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void | Republic Commando: Hard Contact | Survivor’s Quest | Outbound Flight | The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance
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