General Grievous was a brilliant Separatist military strategist and a feared Jedi hunter, known for his ruthlessness and hacking cough. His body itself was a weapon, allowing him lightning quick strikes and devastating blows. But he was also quick to run from a fight, a tactic that worked until one final meeting with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Ringed by numerous moons, the remote sanctuary of Utapau is a planet pitted with enormous sinkholes. Its windswept surface is dry and desert-like, but deep in the porous crust, at the bottom of the sinkholes are pools of life-giving water. Many of the sinkholes on one of the planet's small continents are lined with intricate cities that stretch deep into caves and crevices beneath the planet's surface, as well as mining operations that seek to uncover valuable minerals from the planet's depths.

A legendary Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi was a noble man and gifted in the ways of the Force. He trained Anakin Skywalker, served as a general in the Republic Army during the Clone Wars, and guided Luke Skywalker as a mentor.

General Grievous believed the personal conveyance of a battlefield commander should instantly demonstrate his authority and lethality. The dim-witted droids under his command had no programming to respond to such inspiration, so Grievous' displays of power were firmly rooted in his own vanity. His combat speeder is a slim vehicle that nonetheless boasts power in the form of its massive turbine engine. It elevates Grievous above the fray so those beneath him need to crane their necks to observe the warrior. Bulkier than a STAP, this chariot consists of a simple column that steers the directional vanes. A pair of laser cannons extends from the base of the column, and the platform itself includes recessed rocket launchers on its forward edge.

The Confederacy of Independent Systems, also known as the Separatist Alliance, was a collection of star systems and corporate titans that left the Republic and fought for independence against the Republic’s clone armies and Jedi Knights. The charismatic former Jedi Count Dooku was the Alliance’s political leader, while its military power came from credits and assets donated by powerful galactic trade groups. No one suspected that the Alliance was actually a tool of Darth Sidious, who had engineered the Clone Wars as part of a Sith plot to rule the galaxy.

Scheming, powerful, and evil to the core, Darth Sidious restored the Sith and destroyed the Jedi Order. Living a double life, Sidious was in fact Palpatine, a Naboo Senator and phantom menace. He slowly manipulated the political system of the Galactic Republic until he was named Supreme Chancellor -- and eventually Emperor -- ruling the galaxy through fear and tyranny.