Age of Republic - Anakin Skywalker 1

Age of Republic - Anakin Skywalker 1 is the sixth one-shot in the canon comic book anthology series Star Wars: Age of Republic. It was written by Jody Houser, illustrated by Wilton Santos and Cory Smith, and released on February 6, 2019 by Marvel Comics.
==Publisher's summary==
AN UNTOLD ANAKIN ADVENTURE FROM THE HEART OF THE CLONE WARS! A chance to strike a devastating blow to the SEPARATIST cause comes with a high cost. Will ANAKIN choose the darker path, or hold true to the CODE OF THE JEDI? Guest-starring OBI-WAN KENOBI!
==Plot summary==
In space in the Corvair Sector, Republic ships engages Separatist forces in a violent dogfight, and when the clone pilot of a V-19 starfighter is hit and believes that he’s met his end, Anakin Skywalker comes to his rescue and swiftly takes out the tailing vulture droids in his Jedi Interceptor. Anakin and his clone squadron then work together to finish off their remaining enemies, and afterwards on the Resolute, the Republic Venator of General Skywalker, Anakin breaks down the battle with Admiral Yularen. With the droid forces being unexpected, Yularen explains that Republic Intelligence located a previously unknown droid foundry on the Third Moon of Kudo, and now their window to destroy it is limited because their military presence in the sector has been revealed and Separatist reinforcements are two days away. 
Anakin is handed a datapad containing an outline of the basic attack plan, and when he questions why the casualty numbers are so high, Yularen informs him that the foundry’s being run by the local Kudon population and suspects that the droids were rushed into production before full automation of the facility could be complete. While Yularen wants to fully destroy the facility to prevent deaths to their clones, Anakin argues against this as he doesn’t want to kill the living beings working inside. The two begin to argue their sides, and Yularen tells Anakin that his approach is emotional, not tactical, and either way people will die but it’s their job to make sure that it isn’t their people. Anakin walks off and afterwards reflects on the briefing, wishing that he didn’t understand Yularen’s plan of attack, but can’t fault him for wanting to protect his own soldiers. He then questions if leadership in war makes for impossible choices, and wishes that he’d rather just be flying.
Later in the mess hall, Anakin’s former master Obi-Wan Kenobi sits down with him and brings up the discussion with Yularen, and that he’s heard about it. While Yularen may have his faults, his ego isn’t one of them and had wanted to speak with Kenobi about Anakin’s concerns and see if he shared them. Obi-Wan tells Anakin that he isn’t wrong but there is a risk to their own soldiers, but Anakin opines that there has to be a better approach as the reason the Jedi are a part of the war is to help save lives. While Kenobi wishes that he had an answer for this question, the Jedi are all learning and war is very rarely simple. There are those on the Republic’s side in the war that believe the clones are disposable, but at least Yularen has much respect for his own men. Before Anakin leaves with R2-D2 in his Jedi Interceptor, he is instructed by Obi-Wan to trust his feelings and the Force. 
As they come in to land on Kudo III, Anakin has R2-D2 jam the foundry’s sensors, but he starts to become suspicious as he doesn’t see any signs of the local Kudon population or Separatist defenses. R2-D2 stays with the ship in case of a quick exit, and Anakin heads inside to investigate where he soon comes across the local Kudon population enslaved by Separatist droids. Seeing them be forced into labor in the foundry, Anakin reminisces about his childhood as a slave to Watto on Tatooine. Leaping down to the foundry floor, Anakin activates his lightsaber and begins to cut through the waves of battle droids with ease, unleashing his anger caused by the act of slavery. With the droid guards taken care of, Anakin removes the restraints from the Kudon slave workers, and learns from them that their village was gassed and they later woke up in the foundry as prisoners. When more droids start to attack, Anakin instructs the Kudon to grab the blasters from the fallen droids - that is if they know how to use them, but he is told that just because the Kudon don’t fight in his war doesn’t mean that they can’t fight. As Anakin tells them that he’s not asking them to fight in a war, and instead just for themselves, the united Kudon charge forward and attack their captors, the battle droids.
After the conflict, Anakin speaks with Admiral Yularen and Obi-Wan, and the latter explains that it was just a trap laid by the Separatists all along, as they leaked rumors of a new droid foundry for the Republic to find and attack the innocent victims inside. The Separatists would have then blamed the Republic for their deaths, which is an effective means of recruiting currently neutral worlds to their cause. However, this tragedy was avoided thanks to Anakin’s decisions and actions, and while Yularen was skeptical of Anakin’s approach to the battle, it ended up being the right play. Anakin believes that at least the Kudons won’t be siding with the Separatists now, and questions if they’ll join the Republic, to which Obi-Wan says that that’ll be a discussion for politicians, but at least they’re still here to make that choice because of him.
==Continuity==
According to Matt Martin of the Lucasfilm Story Group, Age of Republic - Anakin Skywalker 1 is set sometime between Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and the Clone Wars episode "Cat and Mouse," which places it in the year 22 BBY. Star Wars: Timelines later affirmed as such.
==Media==
===Editions===
*UPC 759606091928; February 6, 2019; Marvel Comics
**00111; Cover A; Paolo Rivera
**00121; Cover B; Lucasfilm Ltd.
**00131; Cover C; Sang Jun Lee
**00141; Cover D; Guru-eFX, Mike McKone
**00151; Cover E; Rod Reis
===Cover gallery===
==Appearances==
==Collections==
*Star Wars: Age of Republic — Heroes
*Star Wars: Age of Republic HC
==Notes and references==
==External links==
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Category:Star Wars: Age of Republic issues