Following the eruption of the bloody Clone Wars at the battle of Geonosis, both sides remain deadlocked in a stalemate that can be broken only by elite warrior teams like Omega Squad, clone commandos with terrifying combat skills and a lethal arsenal....

For Omega Squad, deployed deep behind enemy lines, it's the same old special ops grind: sabotage, espionage, ambush, and assassination. But when Omega Squad is rushed to Coruscant, the war's most dangerous new hotspot, the commandos discover they're not the only ones penetrating the heart of the enemy.

A surge in Separatist attacks has been traced to a network of Sep terror cells in the Republic's capital, masterminded by a mole in Command Headquarters. To identify and destroy a Separatist spy and terror network in a city full of civilians will require special talents and skills. Not even the leadership of Jedi generals, along with the assistance of Delta squad and a certain notorious ARC trooper, can even the odds against the Republic Commandos. And while success may not bring victory in the Clone Wars, failure means certain defeat.

Star Wars: Republic Commando: Triple Zero is now available in paperback from Del Rey Books. It is written by Karen Traviss, an author who has quickly established herself as an authority on clone and Mandalorian culture. In the development of Triple Zero, Traviss has refined a working language called Mando'a, and the book is filled with examples of this quickly growing tongue. As a helpful supplement to readers, starwars.com presents downloadable PDFs of a Mando'a Language Glossary and Quick Grammar Guide. These were previously available to Hyperspace members. Hyperspace members can read about the making of Mando'a in this exclusive Star Wars Insider Online Supplement.

Here is an excerpt for Triple Zero.

Chapter 2

Yes, I know I should be directing the battle from the ship. Yes, I know we could reduce the surface of Dinlo to molten slag from orbit. But we can extract more than a thousand men, and that's worth doing. I asked for volunteers and I got the whole ship's crew and every man in Improcco Company, and not from blind obedience. Let me try.

-- General Tur-Mukan, in a signal to General Iri Camas, Battle Group Command, Coruscant, copied to General Vaas Ga, Commanding Officer, Sarlacc Battalions, Forty-first Elite Infantry, Dinlo

* * *

Republic assault ship Fearless, approaching Dinlo, Expansion--Bothan Border, 367 days after Geonosis

General Etain Tur-Mukan watched the HNE news feed with mixed feelings. On one hand the events at home saddened her: on the other, they reminded her what the war was about.

"Fifteen soldiers and twelve civilian support staff are reported dead after today's second bomb blast, this time at a GAR logistics base. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but a security forces spokesman said today that the proximity to tomorrow's first anniversary of the Battle of Geonosis was significant. It brings the total number of deaths in apparent Separatist terror attacks this year to three thousand and forty. The Senate has pledged to smash their networks . . ."

Clone Commander Gett stood at her side, hands clasped behind his back as they waited on the repulsor platform that shunted ammo boxes from the magazine to the hangar deck.

"No way to die," he said.

Etain turned to look at the troops around them. "Neither is this."

They were set to go. Fearless was half an hour out from Dinlo and the gunship pilots were making their way down the passage from the flight briefing to carry out their presortie checks, yellow-trimmed helmets tucked under one arm. They all held the helmets exactly the same way, no doubt the result of thorough drill. General Etain Tur-Mukan noted that.

She stood back from the hatch to let them through and got a salute from each as he passed. One glanced at the somewhat unconventional weapon slung across her shoulder and grinned. He indicated the huge LJ-50 concussion rifle that almost dwarfed her.

"Does that thing light up blue, General?"

"Only if you're on the receiving end, trooper," she said, and gave him her most reassuring smile.

She knew they were afraid, because a commando called Darman had taught her that only idiots didn't fear combat. Fear was an asset, an incentive, a tool. She knew how to use it now, even if she didn't embrace it.

Today she needed to tell Improcco Company that. They knew it already, but this was her first mission with them, and she had learned that a little openness with the troops went a long way. And she wanted them to know that she saw them for the human beings they were. Meeting Republic commandos on Qiilura for the first time had been a painful revelation for her.

"Are you okay with that, General?" Gett seemed to be able to guess what she was thinking almost all the time, and she wondered briefly if telepathy was in their genetic mix. Then she reminded herself that men who all looked the same learned to be very, very sensitive to tiny behavioral cues. "We've got a DC-15 if you prefer. Nice piece of kit."

The LJ-50 was exhaustingly heavy. She'd developed her arm muscles in the last year, but it still took some handling.

"Some very competent gentlemen taught me to use a conc rifle," she said. "They persuaded me to keep my lightsaber for close-combat. Besides, the LJ's got a four-meter spread at a thirty-meter range. I'm a great believer in efficiency over style."

Gett smiled. He knew the stories about the Qiilura mission. They all did, it seemed. Gossip traveled at light speed in a closed community, and it'd had months to make the rounds.

"I understand Omega are okay and on TIOPS in the Outer Rim right now."

"It's kind of you to check for me, Commander." She had to ask. "What's TIOPS?"

"Captain Ordo makes a point of giving your signals priority." He lowered his voice. "Traffic interdiction operations. Boarding the bad guys' vessels."

"Thank you. I've never met Ordo, but he does seem to take care of me very well."

"One of Kal Skirata's Null ARCs."

"Oh, Kal again . . ."

"You've never met him, have you?"

"No, but I hope I do. I feel as if he's been walking behind me for a long time." She looked around the hangar and noted there was one platoon still missing. She'd wait. She needed them all to hear this. "I envy his ability to inspire people."

Gett said nothing. Tact, perhaps, or merely nothing to add; Etain feared that she still projected her own doubts onto others. She was a Jedi Knight now. She had passed her trials on Qiilura with Master Arligan Zey, working under deep cover with him to mobilize the colonists against the remnants of the Neimoidian and Trandoshan occupation. It was silent, grim, secret work, and even though a Republic garrison had now been established on the planet, she still felt that the dwindling population of native Gurlanins and the human farmers were set on a collision course. The Republic had promised the Gurlanins that they would remove the human colony from their world.

So far, they hadn't.