Behind The Scenes

Saesee Tiin (The Phantom Menace)	Plo Koon (Episode 1)
Cloud Car Pilot (vintage)	Adi Gallia (Episode 1)
Coleman Trebor (as Martok Trebor)	Debe Belaba (Jedi Council Set)
Mace Windu (Episode 1 preview figure)	Eeth Koth
Bail Organa (Episode 2)	Yarael Poof (Jedi Council Set)
Orn Free Taa	Oppo Rancis (Jedi Council Set)
Chancellor Palpatine (Episode 2)	Even Piel (Jedi Council Set)
Sly Moore	Yaam Casaren (Custom Twilek Jedi)
Mas Amedda (Episode 1)	Aayla Secura (Episode 2)
Ayy Vida	Shaak Tii (Episode 2)
Ki Adi Mundi (Episode 1)	Nikto Jedi
Mace Windu (Jedi Council Set 1)	Rodian Jedi (Jedi 3 pack)
Yoda (Episode 2)	Human Jedi (Jedi 3 pack)
Super Articulated Clone Troooper (Clone Wars)	Twilek Jedi (Jedi 3 pack)
Clone Trooper (Episode 2)	Battle Droids (Episode 1)
Clone Trooper 3 pack	Super Battle Droid (Episode 2)
Obi Wan Kenobi (Outlander Encounter)	Destroyer Droid (Episode 1)
Anakin Skywalker (Secret Ceremony)	Darth Sidious (Episode 1)
Asaj Ventress (Clone Wars)	Yoda (Padawan Training)
Passel Argente (Geonosian War Chamber)	Count Dooku (Basic Eps 2)
Shu Mai (Geonosian War Chamber)	Bib Fortuna (Vintage)
San Hill (Geonosian War Chamber)	R1-G4 (Tatooine Transaction)
Wat Tambor	Emperors Royal Guard (vintage)
Rune Haako	Prince Xizor (Shadows of the Empire)
Nute Gunray (Geonosian War Chamber)	Death Star Droid
Count Dooku (Geonosian War Chamber)	Geonosian Warrior
TC-14

The figure of Coleman Trebor is used as his brother Martok (my creation). I needed the character to have a strong emotional attachment to the war.

Clone Fighters, AFT style

Since the story entered production soon after Attack of the Clones, some Clone hardware like the ARC fighter wasn't available and I didn't have a Jedi Starfighter.

So I picked up the 'expanded universe' prototype Snowspeeder to fill the gap.

Originally shown monthly between November 2005 and October 2006

For a long time I'd been looking for a Star Wars AFT project. Back in the late 90's I had made three Star Wars toy videos: A movie version of Shadows of the Empire and a duology featuring expanded universe characters: Jedi Prophecy and Trials of the Force. The beginning of the Clone Wars at the end of Attack of the Clones finally gave me the impetus to write and make a story for the website but it was a long time coming. The story was written in 2002 just following the release of Episode 2 but it would go through many rewrites over three years and the final images weren't taken until just after the release of Revenge of the Sith.

Shooting began in December 2003 with the scene on the Jedi temple balcony with Mace Windu and Martok Trebor and continued for the next few months: the Jedi Temple scene in January featuring Windu, Yoda and Ki Adi Mundi and the deleted scene where Dooku meets Prince Xizor.

February 04 saw the scenes in the Republic ship cockpit, the hidden Seperatist factory and Jedi meeting hall.

For some reason, filming dried up until September 04 (Martok's escape in the cargo hold and landing pad, Even Piel's infiltration of the Seperatist ship) and October 04 for the Dooku's palace interiors, the aborted jet pack battle between Ventress and Anakin and the Sarrisarri city scenes. The latter incidentally were filmed concurrently and using the same set as early scenes in Doctor Who: The Infinity Program.

Filming of the green screen elements for the Senate occurred in late Dec 04 once we had acquired the necessary Sly Moore figure.

The last filming block came in May 05 just ahead of Revenge of the Sith and entailed the replacement exterior scenes for Ventress and Anakin's battle. Some minor additional shots were taken as required during editing.

The site had so often been dogged by the promise of projects that then failed to materialise, or stories that were posted before they were finished leading to long gaps while episodes were made behind schedule. Given the long drawn out process of this production it was necessary that almost all the story was made AND edited before the first chaper was even advertised.

The original plan had been for six self contained episodes all under the umbrella story of the new Separatist control droid but following the disappointing second prequel, there wasn’t really the impetus to get the thing from script to web until the run up to the final film in the saga. In order to ensure the story made it through production, some elements were cut and others changed to make the project easier to complete.

One such element was the Prologue. This was to have been a holonet news page with headlines that led to short comic strips that set up the storylines for the six episodes. One cut scene was shot- the meeting between Count Dooku and AFT favourite Prince Xizor. You can see it here.

Title for holonet news page

Durge stealing Stygium Cloaking Crystals in a scene that was never filmed.

Another prologue scene that is referred to in chapter 5 is the theft of stygium cloaking crystals from Aeten II. This crime was to have been perpetrated by Clone Wars villain Durge.

Anakin and Ventress battle in the skies of Drolwyt in the original storyline

The original storyline was like this:

Prologue

Part 1. Space battle. The Padawans are lost into hyperspace

Part 2. Obi Wan and Anakin encounter Ventress at the droid factory on Drolwyt

Part 3. The Padawans find their way to the Seperatist base on Sarrisarri

Part 4. Martok Trebor goes undercover to Dook's palace but is discovered and killed.

Part 5. Following intel from Trebor, the Jedi attack a cloaked ship

Part 6. The final assault on Sarrisarri

An element that was changed during production is the location of the droid foundry discovered by Obi Wan and Anakin. Originally the world was to by called Drolwyt, a dead planet of ancient stone ruins amid acid oceans. Obi Wan and Anakin were to be shown without their Clone army, travelling across the acid seas using jet packs. The jet pack still appears in the scene in the factory.

When Ventress escapes, Anakin gives chase, leading to a battle on the end of a ship rescue line that sees Anakin sent plummeting to the deadly seas below only to be saved by Obi Wan.

Some of that sequence was filmed but abandoned in favour of the easier grassy location.

An entire storyline was excised from the project. Given the dangerous conflict gripping the galaxy, the Jedi council opts to close it’s remote training grounds and recall all young padawans to Coruscant. The initial space battle and subsequent lost ship was to have been carrying three padawans rather than Twilek refugees. The padawans would have crashed on Sarisarri and made their way to the enemy base avoiding dangerous beasts and droid patrols. In the final episode they would have been ideally placed to bring down the defence shield allowing Mace Windu and his team to storm the city.

Lost padawans crash on Sarrisarri. Also never filmed.

The story went through several possible titles. This was a strong contender for a while.

The actual title while unfortunately reminiscent of The Phantom Menace refers to both sides of the war- the stealth of the Separatists macabre new control droid and also Mace Windu's covert operation to use Martok Trebor to infiltrate Dooku's inner sanctum.

Aside from the fact that it takes place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, this story virtually ignores any continuity with any of the comics, books or cartoons related to the Clone Wars.

It does share some locations with another Star Wars story (made into a toy movie and possibly to be adapted for the AFT) Jedi Prophecy which featured the moon of Sarrisarri, itself named after Sarris, a character from Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2.

Had the story been written after I'd seen Revenge of the Sith there are some elements I would have changed. For one, I would have made a place for General Grievous, it's a bit of a shame that he doesn't appear at all.