Torrent Company's Captain Rex agrees to relieve Anakin Skywalker of his ubiquitous-and insatiably curious-Padawan, Ahsoka, for a while by bringing her along on a routine three-day shakedown cruise aboard Captain Gilad Pellaeon's newly refitted assault ship.But the training run becomes an active-and dangerous-rescue mission when Republic undercover agent Hallena Devis goes missing in the middle of a Separatist invasion. Dispatched to a distant world to aid a local dictator facing a revolution, Hallena finds herself surrounded by angry freedom fighters, and questioning the Republic's methods-and motives.Summoned to rescue the missing operative who is also his secret love, Pellaeon-sworn to protect the Republic over all-is torn between duty and desire. And Ahsoka, sent in with Rex and six untested clone troopers to extract Hallena, encounters a very different Jedi philosophy, which shakes the foundation of her upbringing to the core.As danger and intrigue intensify, the loyalties and convictions of all involved will be tested. . . .