Cover Artist: Ian Keltie

Sith Saber Gavar Khai leads Abeloth to Kesh in order to meet with the Sith Council and Grand Lord Darish Vol. Vol realizes the danger that Abeloth represents, but decides to see if he can use her to further his own goals. After a major celebration in honor of her arrival and a meeting with his closest advisors, Vol falls asleep and encounters Abeloth in his dreams. She attempts to kill him, but he uses a technique similar to what Luke Skywalker used to free Callista Ming from Abeloth to cause her pain. In her rage, she destroys the city around her and flees the planet, taking Gavar and his fleet with her. Later, as she observes events in the galaxy, she notices a freedom fighter named Rokari Kem whose people love her dearly, and she makes her plans. On Coruscant, while the government discusses allowing entry to world once known for slavery, the background group led by Senator Haydnat Treen and Moff Drikl Lecerson decide to invite the new senator Kameron Suldar into their group so they can use him to help eventually seize power. On Coruscant, after weeks of being in a coma, Admiral Nek Bwua'tu finally awakens and is brought up to date on events while he was away by his uncle and aide. They contact Acting Chief of State Wynn Dorvan and he suggests they keep Bwua'tu's condition a secret until they can learn who was behind the attack on him. Luke and Ben Skywalker, Jaina Solo and Vestara Khai are one of several Jedi teams searching ancient Sith sites for where the Lost Tribe strike force may have hidden, and Han and Leia Solo are contacted by their old "friends" the Squibs with potential information on the location of Admiral Daala. Luke and his team make their way to Dromund Kaas in their search for Abeloth, but just as they are about to give up and move on, they are confronted by Gavar Khai and a team of Sith. They fight, and Vestara is forced to kill her own father, but just before, she learns that he and his team are now working for Abeloth. With all leads having run dry, they decide to head back to Coruscant, Vestara decides that she would like to change and become a Jedi and Luke agrees to teach her. Han and Leia meet with the Squibs and, after the usual complications, learn that Daala is putting together a plan to become the new Imperial Head of State. Back on Coruscant, Luke greets the Jedi Council after being gone for a year and informs them that he plans for the Jedi Order to move their home off planet somewhere in order to avoid the circumstances that led to the recent problems with Daala. Elsewhere, Natua Wan explains to Jaina, Ben and Vestara that she thinks she's found where Abeloth and the Sith may be, a planet called Upekzar where the ancient Sith would go for secret ceremonies. Later, after the Jedi have left Coruscant, Han and Leia inform Jagged Fel of Lecerson's plot to take over as Emperor, but that plot is in jeopardy when Daala captures Lecerson and informs him that she knows everything and that he can either join her or die. On Coruscant, The senate elects a new Acting Chief of State, and Treen's groupa manipulates it so new Senator Padnel Ovin is elected, but he asks Dorvan to stay on to assist him. Later, as Dorvan and Bwua'tu are talking, they come to the realization that there is a conspiracy, and the recent discreditation of Galactic Alliance Security, and they begin looking into it. General Thaal informs Treen about Lecerson's defection to Daala, and with Suldar ignoring them, they decide it is time to cover their tracks, starting with the death of their co-conspirator Senator Fost Bramsin. With the changes in power happening, someone with an anti-Jedi bias has Leia arrested on trumped up charges. Luke and his team are informed of what happened, and Vestara is surprised to see that Senator Suldar is actually Sith High Lord Ivaar Workan. Luke explains that the Jedi leaving Coruscant was an elaborate trap to find the Sith while they deal with Ship and hopefully Abeloth. While Sith forces explore the Jedi Temple and are systematically killed by something deep inside, Senator Bramsin is discovered dead, apparently in his sleep, and Treen tenders her resignation and returns to Kuat as Rokari Kem finally arrives and Grand Lord Vol decides to make his journey as well. Bwua'tu and his team uncover some of Treen's conspiracy and take Admiral Parova prisoner to learn more. They lock her in a cell in the Jedi Temple, where she is quickly killed by Sith, and her death is blamed on Tahiri Veila, who is currently on the other side of the galaxy with Jagged Fel, fighting Daala's forces for control of the Imperial Remnant. When Vol arrives, he brought up to date by Workan, who wakens the next morning to a call from Roki Kem, where she reveals Vol's severed head and warns him that he needs to join her instead of fighting her. At Upekzar, the Jedi team has gathered to root out Ship. As they spread out to search the ancient Sith city, Luke sends Ben, Vestara and Natua to explore the caves. In the caves, they find a creature that has been mutated by Sith energies, and Ben loses his protection during the fight. Vestara realizes that the creature will kill Ben and feed on him if it doesn't get someone else, so she turns on Natua, serving her up in Ben's place. In the city, Luke finds the Sith Tola Annax, but she has been changed into a bomb by Abeloth, a trap to kill the Jedi. They run from her with enough time to avoid the explosion and subsequent volcanic eruption and escape, relatively unharmed. On Coruscant, General Jaxton is worried about the fate of his co-conspirators and so contacts Thaal who meets with him and forces him to commit suicide to protect himself. This event causes Ovin to address the Senate to correct some of the wrongs that have happened. While Workan, in disguise, brings up a motion to replace Ovin with Roki Kem, Ovin begins a speech that is simply designed to allow Leia to be rescued while he stalls for time. Roki Kem loses patience and uses the Force to kill Ovin where he stands, and the vote is called, declaring her the new Chief of State. She declares that she will use the Jedi Temple as her base of operations and Wynn Dorvan, who helped with Leia's escape, is captured and brought to her, where she reveals herself to him as Abeloth.