Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode 2.02 Cargo of Doom

"Overconfidence is the most dangerous form of carelessness."

Newsreel:

Stolen secrets! Villainous mercenary Cad Bane was hired by Darth Sidious to steal a holocron from the vaults of the Jedi Temple. After fleeing the scene of the crime, Bane hunted down and captured Master Bolla Ropal, who has a crystal which holds secrets of the Jedi Order. As a Separatist fleet arrives to help the bounty hunter, Anakin Skywalker races in to cut off their escape and stop Bane from delivering the stolen holocron.

ACT I

In orbit over Devaron, the Jedi cruiser Resolute tangles with a trio of Separatist frigates. Aboard the Republic vessel, Admiral Yularen signals to General Anakin Skywalker that they receiving an urgent message from the planet. A clone trooper desperately reports from the surface: the base on Devaron has been overrun, and General Bolla Ropal has been captured along with the Kyber memory crystal. The signal is cut short as the clone is killed by a battle droid. Time is of essence: Anakin must find which of the Separatist vessels holds Master Ropal.

Within the prison hold of one of the frigates, an inert Bolla Ropal is thrown into a restraining force field by super battle droids. A battle droid overseeing the interrogation administers mind limiters, pain pulsers and a full dose of X-C33.

Cad Bane commands the frigate to prep for hyperspace while he goes to visit the Jedi prisoner to ask for a "small favor." As the frigate leaves the battle zone, Anakin surmises that it must be carrying Bolla aboard. He orders Admiral Yularen and ready the troops for boarding. Yularen is taken aback -- they have no boarding craft! The Resolute's concentrated barrages destroy the frigate's hyperdrive engines, essentially trapping it in the Devaron system.

In the Resolute hangar, Captain Rex has assembled three brigades of clone troopers (including Execute Battalion and Carnivore Battalion) and awaits orders. Everyone is curious as to Anakin's plan, and he does not disappoint as far as unorthodox improvisation goes: he orders Yularen to prepare the AT-TE walkers for action. They're not boarding craft, but they are pressure-sealed and have magnetic feet. Ahsoka in particular is impressed. Yularen, a by-the-books officer, is exasperated.

Meanwhile, poor Bolla Ropal is subjected to painful electrical charges as his interrogation is supervised by the callous Bane. Bane orders Ropal to open the holocron so he can get at the secrets contained within, secrets that can only be coaxed from within the ancient memory device by a Jedi Knight. Bolla refuses, so Bane intensifies his torture, killing Ropal. Bane sees this murder as only a slight delay in achieving his objective. He'll need another Jedi to open the holocron.

ACT II

The Resolute matches speeds with the crippled frigate, and from the Republic destroyer's belly hold emerge three AT-TE walkers, free-falling through vacuum to land on the stern hull of the Separatist ship. The walkers' cannons blast through confused battle droids. Wearing space-suits, Anakin and Ahsoka use the Force to leap through the void, cutting their way past the enemy. R2-D2 joins the Jedi and plugs into an airlock control, opening a hatch leading into the frigate.

Back on the bridge, an outraged Nute Gunray appears via hologram, chastising Bane for losing four Separatist cruisers that Gunray reluctantly loaned to the bounty hunter at Darth Sidious's request. Bane isn't too worried about expenses. He knows the holocron and its enclosed data is worth a fortune to his shadowy benefactor. The conversation is cut short as the entire frigate shudders from the battle raging on its dorsal hull. Bane, however, refuses to send reinforcements. He plans to lure the Jedi aboard and get one of them to open the holocron.

Bane barks out orders on the bridge. The frigate's memory banks are to be wiped clean, and its self-destruct sequence to be initiated. He transfers all basic controls of the ship to his wrist-com. Bane leaves the battle droid crew to defend the bridge while he disappears into a ventilation duct.

The bridge blast doors fly apart, and Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex and more clones storm in. Anakin orders Artoo to plug into the bridge computer systems. The droid immediately finds a fragment of Bane's holographic conversation with Gunray, and the Jedi learn that Bane possesses both the holocron and the Kyber crystal. Anakin orders Rex to secure the hangar bay and destroy all the escape pods. No one is to get off the frigate. The frigate trembles as the self-destruct sequence begins.

Aboard the Resolute, Admiral Yularen witnesses an explosion in the frigate's aft section. He advises Anakin, but Skywalker is determined to stay aboard and find Master Ropal. Ahsoka and Anakin find the Bolla's body abandoned in a prison cell in the detention level. Anakin orders some clones to return Ropal to the Resolute.

Bane has fled to the gunnery deck, where he leads a squad of battle droids and super battle droids. He intends to divide and defeat the Jedi while the droids keep the clones busy. Another blast shakes the frigate, and the deck lights go out. The Jedi and clones march through the darkness before spotting Bane running through the corridors. They give pursuit, and Bane leads them back to the gunnery deck, where his droids stand ready. A gunfight erupts.

Bane uses his wrist gauntlet controls to deactivate the artificial gravity. The Jedi and clones begin to lift off the deck. Troopers activate the magnetic gripsoles on their boots, fastening themselves to the walls and ceilings while blasting away at the similarly magnetized droids. Both sides need to watch their aim, though, as the gunnery deck is filled with explosive ammunition canisters.

R2-D2 rockets to a control panel in an effort to reactivate the gravity generators. Anakin cuts his way towards Bane and delivers a stunning kick to the hunter's face. As Bane spirals away in zero gravity, the holocron falls from his jacket. Anakin is centimeters away from snatching it when Artoo reactivates the gravity. Everything comes crashing down, and Bane retrieves the holocron. While Anakin is distracted saving a falling clone, Ahsoka chases after the fleeing Bane.

Bane runs through the corridors, using his wrist-com to lock the blast doors behind Ahsoka. He's now separated the Padawan from her Master. As Anakin tries to cut through the gunnery bay doors, a clumsy battle droid blasts an ammo canister, causing a huge explosion. Skywalker is swallowed up by falling rubble.

Bane reaches a seeming dead-end at a closed airlock. He fires a blast at Ahsoka that the young Padawan easily deflects. As she closes in on the hunter, he kicks her lightsaber aside, but Ahsoka gets within his reach and bodily flips the hunter onto the ground. It appears she's won this round, but Bane suddenly grabs her foot and uses his gauntlet to radiate a debilitating stun charge through her body. The young girl is knocked unconscious.

Anakin senses his Padawan's danger through the Force. With renewed vigor, he telekinetically lifts the debris that is pinning him, casting it aside. Skywalker orders Rex to get to the hangar and secure a transport while he tracks down Ahsoka.

Aboard the Resolute, Admiral Yularen detects the destructive power surge that is making its way across the ship. He advises Anakin to abandon his mission and flee the doomed ship. Skywalker refuses, as he has neither the holocron nor his Padawan. He instead orders Yularen to move his ship back to a safe distance

ACT III

Ahsoka is Bane's prisoner, shackled in self-tightening stun-cuffs. Bane happily yanks the Padawan braid jewelry hanging from her lekku, taking it as a trophy. Ahsoka remains defiant. She knows Anakin is on his way. Bane, however, is counting on it. He increases Anakin's sense of urgency by releasing another electric charge through Ahsoka.

Anakin cuts through a trio of droids before arriving at the airlock. Bane activates the shield doors, leaving Ahsoka on the space-ward side of the lock, while he and Anakin stand together in the vestibule. With a sizzling intensity, Anakin orders Bane to stand down, but Bane holds too many cards. The bounty hunter dangles a finger over his wrist control. With a single flick, he can eject Ahsoka into space.

Flanked by two super battle droids, Bane instead makes an offer. If Anakin can open the holocron, he'll let Ahsoka live. Skywalker has no choice. He puts his lightsaber down, and agrees to Bane's terms.

Rex and his clones meanwhile have found a shuttle in the hangar bay. They blast at the remaining droids while the frigate continues to convulse from destruct charges. In the abandoned gunnery bay, a fuel leak quickens a growing blaze that begins to cook the discarded ammunition canisters. Aboard the Resolute, Yularen detects that the frigate's main reactor will implode at any moment. Rex orders troopers Denal and Koho to break off from the gunfight and find Anakin.

In the airlock bay, Anakin uses the Force to levitate the holocron. Under his control, the holocron changes shape, opening to reveal an aperture that accepts Bane's Kyber memory crystal. The holocron glows as it activates. Anakin uses the Force to call both his lightsaber and Ahsoka's to him. Bane steps back as the two super battle droids flank Anakin. The hunter activates his gauntlet, and opens the airlock door.

Ahsoka desperately clings to the airlock bulkhead as the air rushes out from her side of the shielded passageway. Anakin uses the Force to toss a sliced super battle droid body into the shield controls, deactivating the barrier. The entire airlock vestibule is compromised, and Anakin too is caught up in the rush of air. Bane powers up his rocket boots and soars away from the vacuum as an emergency bulkhead seals. With great strain, Anakin pulls along the bulkhead and reaches the airlock controls, sealing the outside hatch. He and his Padawan are reunited, and Anakin cuts through her shackles, freeing her.

Bane makes contact with Gunray, reporting his success at opening the holocron. Gunray suggests that he transmit the holocron data, but Bane is far too cagey for that. He has his own plans for escape. He makes his way to the hangar, and is stopped by Denal and Koho.

Anakin and Ahsoka race through the corridors towards the hangar. Skywalker is still determined to catch Bane, but Ahsoka tells him there is no time. The ship is going to detonate any second. Anakin sees that she is right, and the two run to the Separatist shuttle that Rex has captured. As the vessel begins to lift off, they spot Denal and Bane grappling in the upper deck. Denal blasts Bane, and the hunter's lifeless body falls to the floor. The Jedi leap to the shuttle, which hovers to the upper deck to pick up a wounded Denal before roaring out of the hangar bay.

Denal reports that he did not get the holocron, but there's no time to worry about that. In the gunnery bay, the ammunition reaches critical temperature, triggering an explosion that is mirrored in the reactor bay. The entire frigate vaporizes as the shuttle escapes and flies to the Resolute. The holocron appears to have been destroyed, but at least the Separatists did not get it.

Anakin, however, still sense Bane's presence in the Force...