Obi Wan Kenobi Lightsabers
 "This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more civilized time." - Obi-Wan Kenobi
The adventures of Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi became legendary throughout the Republic. While Anakin was elevated as the "Hero With No Fear" for his daring heroics, Obi-Wan's more measured tactics earned him the reputation as "the Negotiator." Many times Kenobi was able to cease hostilities without the raising of a single blaster. When diplomacy failed and it did come to violence, the General was ready. Kenobi had the control of a complete army of clone troopers and the latest military hardware. His most trusted clone soldier, Commander 2224 -- also known as Cody -- served him well during close calls on Cato Neimoidia and elsewhere.
During the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi elevated to the rank of Jedi Master, and he occupied a position in the Jedi Council. He was able to contribute to the highest levels of Jedi strategy, and such a vaunted position allowed him to witness the strain between the Jedi order and the Office of the Chancellor firsthand. Whatever reservations Kenobi had about Palpatine had to be discarded when the Jedi undertook the important mission to rescue the Chancellor from the clutches of General Grievous. The cyborg general of the droid army led a bold strike against Coruscant, and managed to abduct the Chancellor. Obi-Wan and Anakin came racing into the battle aboard their Jedi starfighters.
High above Coruscant, an enormous battle raged, as capital ships from the Republic tangled with the escaping forces of the Confederacy. Weaving through the chaos were Obi-Wan and Anakin, backed by Squad 7 of the clone starfighter forces. An attack by a swarm of buzz droids did little to change Obi-Wan's attitude about piloting -- the tiny mechanical vandals stripped his ship in mid-flight, leaving him to land hard in the hangar bay of General Grievous' flagship. Aboard the starship, Anakin and Obi-Wan cut their way through droid forces as they raced to free the Chancellor. It was certainly a trap, but the Jedi had no shortage of confidence in their abilities, as indicated by Obi-Wan's strategy: "Spring the trap."
They found the Chancellor bound to a chair in the spacious observation deck of the General's quarters. Waiting for them was Count Dooku, and unlike the impulsive and disorganized attack of their last duel with Dooku, Obi-Wan and Anakin challenged the Sith Lord as a team. Dooku proved a formidable opponent. He Force-pushed Obi-Wan with terrible strength, tossing the Jedi Master like a ragdoll against the wall of the quarters. Kenobi was knocked unconscious.
Out cold, he never saw the final moments of the duel, where Anakin killed an unarmed Dooku in cold blood at the Chancellor's goading. When Kenobi recovered, he woke up in a canted turbolift shaft, draped over Anakin's shoulder. The Jedi and the freed Chancellor were not only fighting battle droids, but also the ship itself as the massive vessel fell apart around them due to damage suffered from the prolonged space battle. As they tried to reach the hangar bay, the three fugitives were captured in an energy shield, and marched before General Grievous aboard the ship's bridge.
 Obi-Wan and Anakin were able to break their bonds and overpower their captors. Grievous escaped, leaving the prisoners on the abandoned bridge as the starship succumbed to Coruscant's gravity well and began plunging to the surface of the planet. It was Anakin's piloting skills that saved the day, landing the wreck of the starship in an abandoned industrial area. With the death of Dooku, the Republic could claim a significant victory, yet the Chancellor was not willing to relinquish any of the power he had attained during the threat of war.
General Grievous still remained at large, so the state of emergency could not be lifted. The Jedi Council next focused their attentions on bringing the cyborg general to justice. That task fell to Kenobi. But before that, Obi-Wan was given another tough task; challenging not for its tactical difficulty, but for the awkward strain it put on his relationship with Anakin. At the Chancellor's command, Skywalker was put on the Jedi Council. Ordinarily, the Council would not allow the Chancellor to dictate the affairs of the Jedi, but they accepted Anakin. They refused to grant him the rank of Master, though, a decision that angered the powerful young Jedi.
Fueling that anger all the more was the reasoning behind the Jedi Council's acceptance. Obi-Wan explained it to Anakin outside of Council sessions, so that it would remain off official Council records. The Council wanted Anakin to report on the Chancellor's dealings -- he would in effect be spying on the leader of the Republic. Anakin was torn; he counted Palpatine and Obi-Wan among his closest friends, and now both were asking to spy on the other. Obi-Wan grew concerned about Anakin's moodiness. He approached Padme to discuss the troubled man's dilemmas, to gain any insight into Anakin's stresses. Unfortunately, his presence and closeness to Padme would only fuel Anakin's irrational suspicions that everyone was conspiring against him. When clone intelligence reports indicated that Grievous had fled to Utapau, Obi-Wan took three battalions to the planet. He flew ahead of them, to scout out the area by himself before his troops arrived in force. Landing in a massive sinkhole city of the Outer Rim planet, Kenobi made contact with Port Administrator Tion Medon.
The tall Utapaun revealed that the world had been under Separatist martial law, and that General Grievous and the Separatist leadership were on planet, on the Tenth Level of the sinkhole city. Kenobi, riding atop a loyal lizard named Boga, climbed to Tenth Level and found Grievous. He confronted the droid general, backed by his Republic forces led by Commander Cody. The Battle of Utapau commenced, with Obi-Wan squaring off against Grievous. The droid general had been trained in lightsaber combat by Count Dooku. Grievous lacked the finesses of a master swordsman, and instead used brute and whirlwind tactics against Kenobi. Grievous' artificial anatomy allowed him to wield four lightsabers at once, and spin them like deadly buzzsaws.
 But, since he could not use the Force, Kenobi was able to anticipate his blows, and counter them. Obi-Wan sheared off several of Grievous' lightsaber hands, and forced the General to flee. Grievous climbed aboard his waiting wheel bike and tore off into the alleys and corridors of the sinkhole city. Kenobi gave pursuit atop Boga, jumping onto Grievous' vehicle and wrestling him to the ground. In a knuckle-crunching brawl that followed, Grievous and Kenobi traded fierce blows on the General's secret landing platform. Grievous had the advantage of raw physical strength and an armored body. Kenobi was nearly bested, but in the course of the brawl, the Jedi had loosened the plates that protected Grievous' organic innards. Snatching Grievous' blaster pistol, Kenobi fired at the General. The blast pierced Grievous' pressurized gut sac and burned its way through his vital organs. The General was dead. The Clone Wars were over.
But the betrayal of the clone forces had begun. Unbeknownst to Obi-Wan, back on Coruscant, Palpatine had put his master plan into motion. The Chancellor enacted Order 66, a secret command that turned every clone commander against their Jedi Generals. Absolutely loyal to the Republic, Cody believed that the Jedi were conspiring against the Republic. The clones opened fire on Kenobi. He barely escaped Utapau. Fleeing the sinkhole planet aboard General Grievous' starfighter, Kenobi made contact with Bail Organa and Jedi Master Yoda. The loyalist Senator reported that the Jedi Temple had been attacked by clone forces, while Yoda also confirmed that the clones had turned against the Jedi all over the Republic.
The emergency beacon contained within the Jedi Temple was calling all the Jedi home. This signal was luring the scattered Jedi into a trap. Yoda and Obi-Wan realized that they needed to shut off that signal if the Jedi order was to be preserved. Returning to Coruscant, Kenobi and Yoda found the ruins of the temple. Dead Jedi littered the once polished corridors. The corpses were burned by blaster fire, but several exhibited slashes from a lightsaber. Kenobi realized the terrible truth, a suspicion verified by holographic records of the attack. Anakin Skywalker had caused this destruction. He had succumbed to the dark side. The Chancellor was Darth Sidious, and Skywalker was his new apprentice, Darth Vader.
Kenobi rushed to Padme, to tell her this horrific news and determine Anakin's whereabouts. Padme was shocked, and though she knew where Skywalker was headed next, she did not divulge this to Kenobi. She knew that Kenobi's next mission would be to stop Anakin -- perhaps even kill him. Protecting the man she loved and the father of her unborn children, Padme furtively departed Coruscant to confront Anakin. Kenobi stowed away aboard her vessel.
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