Border dispute on Ansion

As the Separatist Crisis intensified, both the Commerce Guild and the CIS actively sought to recruit additional planets to their cause. During this time, Ansion became a target of interest. This was because Ansion was central to a complex web of treaties and alliances, including the Keitumite Mutual Military Treaty and the Malarian Alliance, that connected other planets of greater strategic value. Consequently, Ansion's departure from the Galactic Republic was poised to trigger a cascading effect of significant proportions, potentially leading to the loss of numerous worlds within forty or more interconnected star systems from the Republic.

Shu Mai, the Presidente of the Commerce Guild, spearheaded the efforts to orchestrate Ansion's secession, operating under the guidance of the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus and in collaboration with Mousul, the Ansionian Senator. Soergg Vosadii Bezhin, a Hutt, served as the trio's local contact on the planet. Their strategy involved exploiting the long-standing border dispute between Ansion's urban government, known as the Unity of Community, and the nomadic Alwari tribes. The intention was to sway a majority of city-states to collectively support Ansion's withdrawal from the Republic.

The Jedi Order dispatched two teams of Jedi—comprising Masters Luminara Unduli and Obi-Wan Kenobi, along with their respective Padawans Barriss Offee and Anakin Skywalker—with the mission of persuading Ansion to remain within the Republic. However, challenges arose from the outset. Soergg, the Hutt, instructed his majordomo, Ogomoor, an Ansionian male, to obstruct the Jedi's mission by any means necessary. Two days prior to Obi-Wan and Anakin's scheduled arrival on Ansion, Luminara and Barriss were attacked by local mercenaries hired by Ogomoor. While they swiftly repelled the initial assault, the second wave began to overwhelm them. It was at this juncture that Kenobi and Skywalker arrived ahead of schedule. The Jedi promptly defeated the remaining mercenaries before proceeding to meet with the Unity Council of the Unity of Community.

During the meeting, the Jedi Order's diplomatic ambassadors pledged to persuade the Alwari tribal leaders to cede at least half of their land to the industrialized cities. This would facilitate an agreement to remain within the Republic. However, before they could depart from Cuipernam, Ansion's capital city, to commence their search for the Alwari on the Ansion plains, Barriss Offee was kidnapped by Kyakhta and [Bulgan](/article/bulgan], two of Soergg's enforcers. These two Alwari outcasts (from the Tasbir clan) released the Jedi after the skilled Padawan cured their mental impairments and disabled the explosive devices that Soergg had implanted in their necks to ensure their obedience. Following Barriss's return to the Jedi, Kyakhta and Bulgan consented to guide the offworlders in their quest to locate the ruling Borokii overclan.

After acquiring six purebred suubatars, the Jedi, accompanied by their Alwari guides, departed Cuipernam and initiated their search. After surviving a brief encounter with native gairks in a river, they encountered the cautious Yiwa clan. Mazong, its leader, stipulated that the Jedi must first prove their worth—demonstrate that they possessed souls, unlike those of the "great but soulless Senate"—before receiving assistance.

To achieve this, the Jedi were required to perform at a ceremonial feast held that evening. Each Jedi delivered a heartfelt performance at the feast. Barriss initiated the performances with a compass dance, an impressive acrobatics display of movement and light (utilizing her lightsaber), which greatly impressed the Alwari, including Skywalker. Anakin then sang a poignant Tatooine ballad taught to him during his childhood by his mother. Following this, Kenobi captivated his audience with a compelling hero's tale. Unduli concluded the performances with a mesmerizing display of the Force, manipulating native particles of sand that swirled around her in another captivating dance of light. The Yiwa were so impressed by the performances that they agreed to provide the Jedi's Alwari guides with the coordinates necessary to locate the Borokii more quickly.

Shortly after departing the Yiwa, the Jedi and their companions encountered a massive swarm of native kyren. These were small but highly dangerous avians that traveled in flocks of up to two hundred million. The Jedi party and their suubatar mounts sought refuge behind some jijite columns until the swarm had passed. Shortly thereafter, they encountered several chawix, carnivorous-poisonous plants that relied on the wind to travel and ambush their prey.

As the Jedi continued their search for the Borokii, Padawan Barriss Offee noticed a small creature stealing supplies from them one day. She tracked the little Gwurran into some nearby hillside tunnels, where she encountered its tribe. The numerous pygmy-sized Gwurran began hurling rocks at her, but ceased their attack after the Padawan repeatedly deflected them with her lightsaber. Upon learning that the intrepid Tooqui had taken the supplies solely to feed his tribe, Barriss promised the childlike Gwurran a party of sorts, where the Jedi could educate them about their wider world and the galaxy. Immediately after Offee's reunion with her comrades (who indulged the Gwurran and attempted to satisfy their relentless curiosity), the courageous Tooqui expressed his desire to join the Jedi on their quest. Following a brief discussion, they decided to allow the boisterous little warrior to accompany them on their mission.

Soon after, the group spotted a wandering caravan on the horizon, which Kyakhta and Bulgan identified as the Qulun, a non-traditional trading clan. A patrol of Qulun riders approached to greet them, and after learning of their ongoing search for the Borokii, the clan's chief trader, Baiuntu, invited the group to their camp to dine with them and sample their goods. However, as they conversed within one of the clan's portable, self-erecting trade rooms, Baiuntu had the strangers drugged and imprisoned (except for Tooqui, who managed to escape the camp and his pursuers by fleeing down a kholot hole). The portly clan trader later confessed to his captives (before meeting his demise at the hands of a pack of ferocious shanhs) that his deception was motivated by the promise of a reward from Soergg to anyone who prevented the Jedi from returning to Cuipernam before the Ansionian secession vote.

Despite the disruptive delay and setback caused by the Jedi company's capture, the valiant Tooqui (through a lorqual stampede) returned to liberate them all. Soon after a brief skirmish, they journeyed north and caught up with the ruling Borokii overclan, encamped in a valley. They were finally able to present their proposal to the clan's tribal leaders, aided by a tuft of fur from an albino surepp. The Borokii elders accepted the proposal, but only on the condition that the Jedi resolve a conflict between the Borokii and their long-time rivals, the Januul, another overclan. The Jedi agreed to "deal" with the Januul and ultimately succeeded in settling the conflict through diplomacy. They returned to Cuipernam, but were once again delayed by Soergg, who had hired mercenary thugs and snipers to eliminate them. Rescued from the Hutt's minions by the Bayaar-led Alwari honor guard (comprising elite warriors from both the Situng Borokii and Hovsgol Januul subclans), the Jedi managed to reach the municipal-hall gathering of the planet's Unity Council, which was in the process of voting on the secession issue. Because the Jedi had effectively resolved the border dispute by achieving the desired agreement with the Alwari overclans, the duly impressed Unity voted to remain within the Republic.

Ansion continued its membership in the Galactic Republic, and the planet's Alwari ruling councils unified under the Council of Alwari Elders. Furthermore, the Separatists' plan to issue demands to the Republic was postponed (they had intended to issue demands upon Ansion's declaration of secession). However, Count Dooku viewed the Ansion failure as merely a minor setback. The Sith Lord assured Shu Mai that their ultimate success was inevitable and that, for the time being, the Separatists would wait.

Almost immediately after their return to Coruscant following the mission to Ansion, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker were reassigned to protect Senator Amidala of Naboo, whose life was once again threatened by an assassination attempt orchestrated by the re-emergent Sith overlord.