"Missing in Action" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars – Season 5, Episode 12

A remote world in the Outer Rim Territories, Abafar is scarcely populated. It is dominated by vast stretches of featureless desert under oppressive orange skies. The strange regolith that covers the surface twists light in such a way as to obscure shadows and leave no tracks. Particulates in the atmosphere cause the sunlight to diffuse into a uniform orange glow, so it is nearly impossible to tell direction or time of day. The huge stretches of featureless expanse are known as The Void. Pons Ora is one of the few settlements on Abafar, and it is the site of a Rhydonium mining installation operated by the Separatists during the Clone Wars.

Though the clone troopers embodied the war effort of the Galactic Republic against the Separatist Alliance, victory was reliant upon valiant patriots of all shapes and sizes. Meebur Gascon answered the call of duty at the very start of the conflict, and offered his keen analysis as part of Strategic Command since the Battle of Geonosis. The Jedi Council placed Gascon in command of D-Squad's mission to obtain a vital Separatist encryption module. No-nonsense and military-minded with an outsized personality and gruff voice, the diminutive Gascon balked at any suggestion that he was simply a map reader, or that his D-Squad assignment was a result of his tiny size.

An elite clone commando thought lost at the grueling Battle of Sarrish, CC-5576-39 survived a shuttle crash that left him stranded on the distant world of Abafar, stripped of memory and identity. He was found and rehabilitated by Mr. Borkus, an unscrupulous diner owner in the dusty town of Pons Ora. When the Republic agents of D-Squad discovered Gregor, they rekindled his memories of duty, service, and honor, and the commando reclaimed his armor and fought to a spectacular finish to ensure D-Squad carried out its crucial mission. Although he returned to form, the birth of the Empire left Gregor in the unenviable position of training the soldiers due to replace his clone brothers.

A heavyset, barrel-chested Sullustan, Mister Borkus is the proprietor of a no-frills diner in Pons Ora, a small settlement on the mostly unknown world of Abafar. The opportunistic Borkus stumbled upon a clone commando suffering from amnesia. The soldier had escaped a devastating battle, and was stripped of his memory and his identity. Borkus callously took the clone -- Gregor -- under his care, never revealing his origin to the grateful survivor. Borkus "generously" offered to give Gregor room and board, at an expense, and also employed him as a dishwasher. But Gregor's meager wage wasn't enough to pay for his necessities, and thus the lowly dishwasher was little more than Borkus's slave.

Republic attack shuttles serve multiple functions during the Clone Wars. Its roomy interior lined with benches make it well suited as a troop transport, launching from cruisers to travel the interplanetary distances that Republic attack gunships cannot. As the dangers to the Republic's officials grew during the Clone Wars, the attack shuttle was increasingly pressed into service as a principal transport for Republic officers, Senators and Jedi Knights. The transport is well armed with ball-mounted swivel laser cannons that flank the ship's forward snout, as well as fixed laser cannon emplacements along the wing joints.

A reliable and versatile astromech droid, R2-D2 has served Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, and Luke Skywalker in turn, showing great bravery in rescuing his masters and their friends from many perils. A skilled starship mechanic and fighter pilot's assistant, he has an unlikely but enduring friendship with the fussy protocol droid C-3PO.