Jedi Council: Acts of War 2

Jedi Council: Acts of War 2 is the second issue of the Jedi Council: Acts of War comic series, released 19 July 2000 by Dark Horse Comics.

Publisher's summary
The Jedi task force sent to the Yinchorri system is met with a hostile reception, and they soon find themselves facing overwhelming odds on three different worlds. Meanwhile, back on Coruscant, a Yinchorri suicide squad attacks the Jedi Temple itself, fighting to the last being and taking as many Jedi with them as they can. Behind all of these events, Yoda detects a controlling hand, but he cannot detect its source...

Plot summary
In 33 BBY, the Jedi Order dispatched a Jedi mission consisting of three Consular-class space cruisers to the Yinchorri system in an attempt to end the Yinchorri Uprising. Upon arriving in the Yinchorri system, the Jedi cruisers were pursued and attacked by Yinchorri starfighters but managed to evade their pursuers. Meanwhile, a second Yinchorri strike force prepared for an attack on the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, the capital of the Galactic Republic. Outside the Jedi Temple, the Yinchorri warriors were in position and ready for attack. All of this was being watched from a nearby skyscraper by Darth Sidious' apprentice Zabrak Darth Maul. He informed his master that the Yinchorri had begun their attack.

Meanwhile, outside the Temple, the Human Jedi Knight Jude Rozess was on guard duty when she was suddenly attacked by a Yinchorri donning a flutter-pack. Jude fought him, though her lightsaber was disabled by his powerful cortosis shield. Having immobilized her, he told his comrades to attack before the Jedi were aware of their presence while he attempted to kill Jude. He gripped her with his massive hands and strangled her. However, Jude also killed him by reactivating her lightsaber. Back in the Temple, the Yinchorri task force found that all the sleeping quarters were empty. The troops then entered a chamber where they were met by several armed Jedi, including Jedi Master Yoda. In the end, almost all the Yinchorri were killed while only two Jedi died: Jude Rozess and Tieren Nie-Tan.

Back in the Yinchorri system, the Jedi Masters Micah Giett and Plo Koon managed to evade their pursuers by discarding the cruiser's frontal salon pod and escape pods as decoys. Thinking that the crew had abandoned ship, the Yinchorri opened fire on these decoy targets. With one of its thre engines damaged by enemy fire, the cruiser descended into the atmosphere of the gas ball Yibikkoror. Meanwhile, Masters Adi Gallia and Eeth Koth's team landed safely on the watery moon of Yitheeth, having managed to elude their pursuers. There, the Aleena Jedi Knight Tsui Choi and his Padawan Anx Theen Fida had a bath in the surrounding oceans. Having finished doing so, the four Jedi left for a nearby settlement on a speeder provided with the cruiser to continue with their mission of looking for a hidden Yinchorri high command.

Having arrived, the Jedi planned to pose as traders selling parts for the new T-21 Hyper Particle Exchange Chamber which turned out to be entirely made up by Adi Gallia. Soon, they were under attack by a group of Yinchorr under the Devaronian Olmar Grahrk, the younger cousin of the smuggler Vilmarh Grahrk, who was also working with Darth Sidious. However, the Jedi fought back valiantly and defeated their Yinchorri attackers. They then took Grahrk captive, whom told them that the Yinchorri high command was not on Yitheeth. Gallia then decided to leave for nearby Yibikkoror to aid fellow Masters Giett and Koon who were also under attack from the Yinchorri. Having escaped the Yinchorri while in space, the Jedi cruiser used by the Jedi team under Koon and Giett crash-landed on a floating platform within the gas planetoid Yibikkoror. They managed to fulfill their mission to Yibikkoror but immediately came attack again from more Yinchorri.

"Caught between fire and a precision", Giett called for assistance from Adi Gallia's team, who had also escaped a brush with the Yinchorri. The Kel Dor Plo Koon then suggested to his companions that they traverse through the dense atmosphere on the floating platform. Their Yinchorri pursuers followed them and one fell into the dense sea of gas below, presumably killing him. Knowing that they couldn't rely on Gallia to arrive on time, the Jedi attempted to climb to the top of the platform which was held up by balloons. While climbing up the platform, the Padawan K'Kruhk asked Master Lilit Twoseas about the complex relationship between Masters Giett and Koon. While the two men were friends and worked towards the same goals, they seemed to taunt and bait each other regularly. Lilit suggested that he ask them himself. K'Kruhk asked Koon who explained that there was no animosity between him and Giett. He explained that their baiting was engendered in mutual respect and their shared experiences of working together on the same assignments. Since two men were close friends, Koon explained that the taunts served as a means of reaffirming their trust by making light of the danger they were facing. He concluded that Master Giett would have been more concerned had he said nothing. Giett concurred with his friend's opinion.

Back on Coruscant, Yoda interrogated the last remaining Yinchorri and asked him the location of the Yinchorri high command. The soldier responded to the Jedi Master by telling him that he did not know since he was only an ordinary soldier. Yoda then turned to converse with Soon Bayts, a Jedi Knight who brought word from Gallia and Koth that their high command was not on Yitheeth and that they were heading to Yibikkoror to help Plo Koon and Micah Giiett. Meanwhile on Yinchorr, Mace Windu's team was safe and they did not engage the Yinchorri in combat at the time. These distractions gave the Yinchorri in the temple enough time to grab his weapon and attempt to shoot the Jedi. Yoda threw him against a wall, presumably killing him. The Jedi then came to the conclusion that the Yinchorri were misguided rather than bloodthirsty and that the attack may have been the work of an unknown party, rather than the Yinchorri themselves.

Back on Yibikkoror, Giett and Koon's mission managed to reach the top of the platform but were by more Yinchorri donning flutter-packs. They headed towards the communications array in an attempt to find cover and set up position there. Their Yinchorri pursuers had ceased firing since they were at top of the balloon envelope and would not risk puncturing it. While Master Giett realized that the Yinchorri wanted to kill them, they were not prepared to destroy their whole city in the process. Giett instead suggested making a stand at the communications arrays in order to force the Yinchorri to fight the Jedi in melee combat. Master Koon concurred with Micah's tactics but fretted that this could mark their last stand if Master Gallia and the others did not arrive in time.

Collections

 * Jedi Council: Acts of War (TPB)
 * Omnibus: Rise of the Sith