Rebellion on Akiva

Akiva was a backwater Outer Rim world that was ruled by the Galactic Empire. The planet's aristocratic elites, the Satrapy of Myrra collaborated with the Empire and enforced the Empire's rules and policies. Some Akivans like Brentin Lore Wexley supported the Rebel Alliance by carrying messages and were imprisoned by the Imperial authorities. His wife Norra Wexley left Akiva to find her husband no subsequently became a starfighter pilot in the Rebel fleet. Their son Temmin Wexley became an independent junk dealer in the capital city Myrra.

The Battle of Endor was a catastrophic defeat for the Galactic Empire. With the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, the Empire was bereft of its leadership, and rebellion broke out throughout the galaxy. The Rebel Alliance reorganized themselves into a new galactic government called the New Republic, which established a Galactic Senate on Chandrila. The New Republic scored several victories against the Empire and was boosted by defecting Imperials and planets.

While scouting the Outer Rim for Imperial activity, the New Republic Captain Wedge Antilles spotted two Imperial Star Destroyers above Akiva. Before he could report their presence to the Republic, he was captured by Admiral Rae Sloane. Despite his capture, Antilles managed to send out a distress transmission to Akiva. Admiral Sloane had traveled to Akiva to organize an emergency summit to discuss the future of the Empire. Shortly thereafter, she was joined by several other Imperial officials and commanders including the financier and slaver Arsin Crassus, Grand Moff Valco Pandion, General Jylia Shale, and the Imperial Adviser Yupe Tashu. This group became known as the Imperial Future Council and met at Satrap Isstra Dirus's palace.

Captain Antilles's signal was picked up by Norra, who had returned to Myrra to find her son and bring him off world. However, Temmin refused to leave and sabotaged his mother's attempt to escape off world in a freighter. Mother and son subsequently fled their Imperial pursuers on a stolen speeder bike. Not trusting his mother, Temmin told his mother to meet him at his Aunt Esmelle's house before jumping off the bike. Shortly thereafter, Temmin was captured by the crime lord Surat Nuat, who wanted to settle a score with the boy for stealing a shipment of data cubes. Surat attempted to rip out Temmin's tongue but was thwarted by the bounty hunter Jas Emari and her fellow inmate Sinjir Rath Velus, a former Imperial loyalty officer.

Jas had traveled to Akiva to collect a bounty on the Imperial slaver Arsin Crassus but had been captured by Surat. After joining forces with Sinjir and rescuing Temmin, they fled on Norra's Bala-bala speeder. They then fled to Esmelle's house where they were joined by Temmin's modified B1-series battle droid "Mister Bones." Jas wanted to rescue Wedge and collect the bounties on the Imperial officials from the Imperial Future Council. However, Norra believed that she was outmatched and wanted to leave Akiva with Temmin. Norra changed her mind after Temmin agreed to help Jas and Sinjir assured everyone that he had genuinely defected from the Empire.

Having formed an informal team, Norra then put her plan into action. Temmin, Sinjir, and Mister Bones forced their way into a local Imperial communications station and uploaded a propaganda broadcast urging the people of Akiva to rise up. The broadcast consisted of faux footage of an "Imperial officer" (actually Sinjir) shooting dead a youth followed by short speeches from Norra and Princess Leia Organa. This had the effect of sparking a riot in Myrra which turned into an uprising. Meanwhile, Norra killed two TIE fighter pilots and stole a TIE fighter. She destroyed four TIE fighters and several parked Lambda-class shuttles outside the Satrap's palace before being shot down by a turbolaser emplacement.

Meanwhile, the New Republic Admiral Gial Ackbar received intelligence from a mysterious Imperial source known as the Operator about the Imperial emergency summit taking place on Akiva. After conferring with several other Republic officers and Chancellor Mon Mothma, Ackbar dispatched a six-member suborbital landing squad of New Republic Special Forces soldiers led by Sergeant major Jom Barell. The Republic officers delayed sending a fleet to Akiva in order to avoid raising tensions. While Captain Saff Melor opined that Akiva held little strategic value, Mon Mothma insisted on liberating the Akivan people. As a compromise, a small landing squad was dispatched to investigate the situation on Akiva.

Ackbar oversaw Sergeant Major Barell's team as it was deployed to Akiva on a transport. The landing squad was equipped with parawings that would allow them to glide down to the planet's surface. However, the transport and most of the soldiers were killed by Imperial turbolasers. The sole survivor was Barell, who landed safely in the streets of Myrra. After killing three stormtroopers, Barell hid in the city. Despite the attempted Republic landing, Admiral Sloane decided to proceed with the Imperial summit. The Imperial Future Council failed to produce a consensus due to bickering and infighting among the delegates. The summit was complicated by Wedge's escape attempt and Norra's propaganda broadcast pointing out the meeting's location.

With the Imperial summit exposed, Admiral Rae was forced to end the Imperial Future Council's proceedings. However, the Imperials' departure plans were complicated by the destruction of their shuttles at the hands of Norra. The Imperials' predicament was further complicated when an Akivan crowd tried to storm the Satrap's palace. Akivans even had a scarecrow that looked like the dark Imperial enforcer Darth Vader, which was set on fire as a protest. Meanwhile, Norra bailed out of her derelict TIE fighter and reunited with her comrades at a bar called Pok's Place. Norra's rebel then retreated to Temmin's shop, where the youth went to his "hidey-hike-nook-and-cubby" to fetch several maps of the catacombs beneath Myrra. The rebel band planned to use the catacombs to infiltrate the palace, rescue Wedge, and capture the Imperials.

In secret, Temmin contacted Surat and negotiated a deal to get himself, Norra, and Mister Bones safe passage off Akiva in return for selling Sinjir and Jas Emari to the Empire. Surat accepted the deal but secretly negotiated another deal with Admiral Sloane to capture Norra as well. Norra's rebel band traveled through the catacombs and narrowly escaped a horde of Uugteen primitives that had taken over a former Separatist droid factory. They reached the Satrap's palace but were captured by Sloane and her stormtroopers. With Surat corresponding via hologram, Sloane agreed to release Temmin but took the others into custody.

When Temmin protested, Sloane and her troops disintegrated Mister Bones with their blasters. After instructing her men to throw Temmin off a rooftop, Sloane ordered her stormtroopers to take the captives and Wedge aboard Arsin's yacht, the Golden Harp. From the street a few rocks, thrown by the yelling crowd, fruitlessly pelted the underside of the yacht, and stormtroopers stood over the edge of the roof to fire their blasters down indiscriminately into the crowd. However, Temmin survived his fall after being rescued by the crowd. Climbing up the palace's wall, Temmin managed to infiltrate the Golden Harp, which was carrying the departing Imperial officials and their rebel prisoners. Prior to the Imperial departure, Satrap Isstra begged Admiral Sloane to take him with them in order to avoid the raging mob. Rae rejected his pleas since the Satrap had outlived his usefulness, and her stormtroopers killed two of his guards when they tried to intervene.

Meanwhile, Jom Barrel made his way to the turbolaser emplacement outside of the Satrap's Palace. After killing four stormtroopers, Barrel confronted a young gunnery officer, a mere boy who had graduated from the Imperial Academy. Barrel attempted to convince the officer to surrender, but the officer tried to shoot him with his blaster. Despite sustaining a broken arm, Jom overpowered the boy and locked him in a footlocker trunk. Taking control of the turbolaser, Jom used the cannon to shoot a hole in Arsin's yacht. This did not bring down the ship but killed several stormtroopers and Royal Guards who had been cornering Temmin.

After freeing the yacht's captain, Temmin entered the maintenance hatch which led to the compartment where his mother, Sinjir, and Jas were being held by Grand Moff Pandion and several Imperials. While Sinjir remonstrated with Pandion, Temmin freed Jas and Norra from their restraints. As Admiral Rae and her pilot Morna Kee brought the shuttle into space, they found the Imperial ships including their home ship Vigilance under attack from a New Republic fleet led by Commander Kyrsta Agate on board of the Alderaanian frigate Sunspire. Under enemy fire, Sloane decided to land their yacht on the Vigilance and escape onto a shuttle there.

Back in the passenger section, Jas broke free and held Pandion at gunpoint. Before a firefight could break out, the Golden Harp crash-landed in the Vigilances hangar bay. The rebels survived the landing, but Arsin and several stormtroopers were killed. Jas stuned and captured General Shale and Adviser Tashu. While the other rebels evacuated Wedge, Sloane's aide Adea Rite, and the other Imperial prisoners, Norra took a TIE fighter and pursued Admiral Sloane, Morna, and Pandion, who had escaped aboard a shuttle. Meanwhile, the New Republic fleet destroyed the Star Destroyers Vigilance and Ascent.

Rae and Morna took their shuttle to Grand Moff Pandion's Star Destroyer Vanquish. On the way, Pandion attempted to force Sloane to relinquish her Super Star Destroyer Ravager. Following a scuffle, Sloane threw Pandion out of the cockpit and jettisoned the main compartment, which collided with Norra's starfighter. She then took control of the Vanquish and retreated into hyperspace. Meanwhile, the New Republic fleet wiped out the remaining Imperial forces on Akiva.

Following the rebellion on Akiva, the planet became the first Outer Rim world to join the New Republic. Realizing that the Empire had abandoned them and the public anger, the satraps of Akiva ceded part of their power to the New Republic. The Republic then launched a crackdown on organized crime including Surat Nuat's gang. Surat fled but most of his gang was imprisoned. Others died in a final stand against the new authorities. Using Temmin's stolen data cubes, the New Republic uncovered intelligence detailing the Empire's dealings with crime syndicates including the Hutts. Their activities included operating black site prisons for the Empire.

After recovering from her injuries on Chandrila, Norra and her son Temmin reconciled and rebuilt Mister Bones as a family project. They then joined forces with Jom Barell, Sinjir, and Jas Emari to hunt down Imperial fugitives across the galaxy. Norra and Temmin hoped to find Brentin again.

The rebellion on Akiva first appeared in Chuck Wendig's novel Aftermath, which was first released on September 4, 2015 as part of the multimedia Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The Akiva arc forms the main storyline of the novel and is told through the points of view of Norra Wexley, Temmin Wexley, Rae Sloane, Sinjir, Jas Emari, and Jom Barell. The battle was officially named in Wendig's sequel Aftermath: Life Debt, which debuted on July 12, 2016. The battle was indirectly mentioned in the Dorling Kindersley reference book Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary, which was released in December 2015.

• Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary
• Star Wars Helmet Collection 3
• Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded
• Star Wars: On the Front Lines
• Star Wars Helmet Collection 67
• Star Wars Helmet Collection 71
• Star Wars: Timelines
• "After Endor" — Star Wars Insider 222
• Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire