The Ghost of the 717th

For nearly a decade, whispers ran through the barracks of the 717th Siege Battalion-that their brutal Jedi General Pong Krell had a Padawan.

No one had ever seen her.

Whenever his troopers asked, Krell dismissed the rumors with a sneer. "She's not ready. She's weak."

The clones assumed it was just Krell being Krell - cruel, dismissive, controlling. But deep down, it festered.

Then, after nine long years, Krell finally brought her into the field.

Suspicion burned hot-wary glances, muttered curses, bets that she'd be as heartless and cold as her master.

None more so than Commander Havoc. He studied her with the cold precision of a man who had learned not to trust shadows, already certain she would be nothing but Krell's reflection.

But when their eyes met across the line, something shifted. And for the first time, Havoc wasn't sure if he was seeing an enemy... or the beginning of something far more dangerous.