No Way Out



title: No Way Out

The tale of "No Way Out" can be found within the pages of Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Volume 9. The narrative centers around Mace Windu as he stumbles upon a forgotten settlement.

Storyline Summary

Mace embarks on a quest to locate the soldiers of Alpha-2 Squad, previously declared missing in action. Upon inquiring with command about any settlements in the vicinity, he's informed that the area is devoid of civilization. This strikes him as odd, considering he is quite literally staring directly at a city.

Upon entering the city's gates, he encounters Z-18, a droid pieced together from various droid components, giving him a hunched appearance. Z-18 guides Windu to the Alpha-2 squad, who, to Mace's dismay, are deceased. As he pursues the vanishing Z-18, the Jedi Master finds himself under assault by zombies composed of various alien races. Even the members of Alpha-2 squad, now zombies themselves, join the attack.

Later, Windu finds himself suspended on a wall, facing the Countess Rajine. Rajine discloses her true nature as an energy vampire, having drained the life essence from all the zombies she commands. Z-18 is revealed to be in her service as well. Windu realizes that Rajine has begun to drain his life force, diminishing his connection to the Force.

Sometime later, Z-18 liberates him, revealing that he once belonged to a Jedi Knight named Samuro, who perished on the planet. Samuro had used his remaining Force abilities to confine Rajine to the planet, and left a Jedi holocron with Z-18 to be given to the next Jedi who happened to arrive on the planet – in this instance, Mace Windu.

The Jedi Master confronts Rajine. Enraged, she destroys Z-18 using Windu's lightsaber. She then faces the Jedi, who activates the holocron, which contains a message from Samuro. Windu and the holographic Samuro combine their Force powers to temporarily restore the zombies to life, and together they vanquish Rajine. With their life forces now freed, Mace contacts dispatch to report that the Alpha-2 squad is no longer missing.

Appearances