Mace Windu 2

Mace Windu 2 is the second issue of the 2024 comic miniseries Star Wars: Mace Windu. The issue was written by Marc Bernardin, illustrated by Georges Jeanty, Dexter Vines, and Andrew Dalhouse, and published by Marvel Comics on March 13, 2024.

Publisher's summary[]

INTO THE STORM AGAINST THE BORE WORM! MACE WINDU & AZITA CRUZ [sic] must work together to escape the menace of the BORE WORM! But what else lies in their path and who is following them? And what is COAXIUM ULTRA?

Opening crawl[]

UNDERGROUND

In the time before the fall of the Republic and rise of the Galactic Empire, Jedi Knights are
keepers of the peace. Before joining the Jedi Council, one brave Jedi travels the galaxy on a
daring mission. He's known as….

Following a daring undersea mission, Mace Windu returned to the Jedi Temple only to learn of yet another danger on the horizon: A formula
for a special type of coaxium, a rare and valuable material used for fuel, has fallen into the hands of pirate AZITA CRUUZ.
Mace found his way to the refinery moon of Ro Mira, where, after a brief chase, he confronted Azita….

Plot summary[]

"Would it have been easier to kill them? Yes. But they are animals, acting with no ill intent. A Jedi doesn't kill because it's convenient. A Jedi takes a life when there is no other course of action. We may call this a lightsaber, but in truth, it's a shield. A means of protection. And to answer your question: No, I didn't choose to join the Jedi Order."
"Do you ever wonder what your life would've been like had that decision not been taken away?"
"A pointless exercise. We are who we are, and we are where we are on life's path. Giving air to what ifs is futile at best, dangerous at worst."

―Mace Windu and Azita Cruuz^[3]

In an abandoned warehouse on Ro Mira, Jedi Master Mace Windu uses the Force to move a broken piece of speeder left from the Coaxium refinery authorities. Upon moving the broken piece of speeder, a crack in the warehouse road is uncovered, Windu and Azita Cruuz both enter inside. Azita suggests that it would be best to cover the entrance back over so the authorities wouldn't get a head start at tracking them down. Encased in darkness, Mace suggests that this whole situation would have been a lot easier had she just contacted the Jedi, but Cruuz defends her choice as she is an entrepreneur and should search for multiple offers. The two of them arrive at a cave, deep below the ice planet's surface, and cross a river of blue lava. Cruuz believes that this lava was the reason Doctor Bishop chose this planet for the refinery, as it would yield a much purer product. However, Mace is unsure where Azita fits into this whole situation. Anita explains that she hears all sorts of information, some good, some bad, so when she heard about a scientist doing experiments she decided to get involved. Having created Coaxium ultra, Azita sought after Bishop, seeing if she could profit from someone playing with fire.

Windu asks if she killed Bishop, but she decrees she is not an assassin, but instead gave him the worst drug she could find from the worst bar on the worst level of Coruscant that would make him forget the last six months of his life, making Coaxium Ultra a very scarce material. Windu finds her actions to be immoral, but Azita defends her actions, stating that random things happen to good and bad people all the time. She questions whether Mace volunteered to become a Jedi, but he is unable to answer when a deafening scream is heard in the distance. Behind the two, a Bore worm appears, prompting them to run away. Mace Windu ignites his lightsaber and attacks the worms, but his attack does nothing to the creature. In response, Windu uses the force to calm one of the creatures and put it into an unconscious state. The other surprises the two, and Azita fires her Blaster to lure the creature away, telling Windu that the lava engorges the creatures as well as harden their skin. Finally, Windu uses the force to bring the worm's face into the icy floor, knocking it out. Azita continues to lead Windu through the caves to where she has stashed more Coaxium Ultra, explaining that her last run to the refinery was to take formula for herself.

Meanwhile, at the Palace of Jabba the Hutt, on Tatooine, Cuthus secretly initiates a bounty from his master for Coaxium Ultra. He decides to keep it secret to ensure that if things go sideways, it would never reach Jabba. Cuthus gives the bounty to the Anzellan Yaya Shram to carry out.

Back on Ro Mira, the two fugitives are at a dead end above a chasm, behind them, the Bore Worms have awoken and slowly catching up to them. Windu suggests that he could use the force to put an ice stalactite across the chasm if there was a loose one. Azita pours a drop of Coaxium Ultra onto a knife and launches the drop at a shard of ice, causing it to explode. Mace places the ice shard across the opening, and they cross swiftly, as the worms begin to catch up, Windu uses his lightsaber to cut through the bridge stopping the worms from crossing. Windu educates Azita that killing is always a last call for a Jedi, and a Lightsaber is a shield to protect. Mace also answers her earlier question about him volunteering to be a Jedi, which he didn't. She also questions if he ever wonders what life had been like if he had had the decision, but he chooses not to answer that question, decreeing that dwelling on what ifs are futile and potentially dangerous for a person. Azita is unsure who she should sell the formula to, but suggests that she could sell it to their home world, Haruun Kal. Mace is surprised by her knowing that he is from Haruun Kal, but she shows a scar that their people give to everyone, which she saw on the Jedi when he fought the worms. Mace climbs a wall of ice with a Grappling hook and Azita uses her daggers, atop the wall, the two are witnessed by two mysterious people, who choose to inform The Shroud that a Jedi is involved in the Coaxium Ultra race. The two people, Muro and Diya, are a part of the Dusk Weavers of the Had'le Path who are against the advancements of science. They decide to wait for them to lead them to the Coaxium Ultra and then purify the galaxy with fire.