Aftermath (novel)

Aftermath is a novel within the canon of Star Wars, penned by Chuck Wendig and brought to publication by Del Rey. Its narrative unfolds in the time period bridging Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. Serving as the inaugural installment in the Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy, this novel also forms a component of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens publishing initiative. The storyline of Aftermath explores the nascent stages of a fresh governing body in the aftermath of the Empire's setbacks during the Battle of Endor, and notably incorporates at least one beloved character familiar from the Star Wars cinematic universe. Its release occurred on September 4, 2015. The audio version is voiced by Marc Thompson. ## Publisher's summary ### Back cover A group of rebels, in dire straits and marooned on an isolated world, represents the sole defense against the Empire's overwhelming might, standing as the last bastion of hope for the galaxy's liberation. ### Internal flap The second Death Star has been obliterated, the Emperor has met his demise, and Darth Vader has been defeated – these are monumental blows inflicted upon the Empire, resulting in significant triumphs for the Rebel Alliance. However, the struggle for freedom remains far from resolved. As the Empire staggers from the crippling defeats it suffered at the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance – now transitioning into the nascent New Republic – aggressively capitalizes on its newfound advantage by relentlessly pursuing the scattered remnants of the enemy forces, aiming to prevent their regrouping and subsequent retaliation. Yet, above the desolate planet Akiva, a foreboding display of the enemy's power is taking shape. While on a solitary reconnaissance mission, pilot Wedge Antilles witnesses Imperial Star Destroyers converging, resembling predatory birds circling in anticipation of a kill, only to be captured before he can relay this crucial information back to the New Republic leaders. Concurrently, on the planet's surface, former Rebel fighter Norra Wexley returns to her homeworld – battle-weary and yearning to reconnect with her estranged son, with aspirations of forging a new life in a faraway location. However, upon intercepting Wedge Antilles's urgent distress signal, Norra realizes that her days as a freedom fighter are not yet behind her. Unbeknownst to her, the enemy's presence is closer than she anticipates – and the stakes of her impending mission are exceptionally high. Driven by a determination to safeguard the Empire's dominion, the surviving Imperial elite are convening on Akiva for a highly confidential emergency summit – with the objective of consolidating their forces and orchestrating a counteroffensive. However, they have underestimated Norra and her newfound allies – her technically gifted son, a Zabrak bounty hunter, and a disaffected Imperial defector – all of whom are prepared to take whatever measures are necessary to bring an end to the Empire's oppressive rule once and for all. ## Plot summary ### Part One The narrative commences on Coruscant, the former hub of the Galactic Empire. A sizable assembly of individuals has congregated in Monument Plaza to witness the dismantling of the iconic statue of Emperor Palpatine. Initially, the statue resists toppling, but through the utilization of a speeder connected to chains encircling it, it ultimately succumbs. The throng erupts in jubilant applause. Suddenly, three Imperial policemen materialize on speeders, unleashing gunfire into the crowd. Incensed, the crowd retaliates, hurling stones. A man within the crowd entrusts his young son, Jak, with a stone to throw, recognizing that this marks merely the commencement of yet another conflict. Deep within the Outer Rim, Captain Wedge Antilles emerges from hyperspace in proximity to the planet Akiva. He is engaged in discreet reconnaissance on behalf of the New Republic, scrutinizing Outer Rim worlds for indications of Imperial presence, surmising that they will seek refuge in the Outer Rim to evade the Republic. His communications are disrupted, and two Imperial Star Destroyers materialize from hyperspace, hailing his vessel. He furnishes them with a fictitious identity, but aboard the Vigilance, Admiral Rae Sloane discerns his deception and activates the tractor beam, drawing his diminutive Starhopper toward the Star Destroyer. As his ship nears landing, Wedge detonates it and ejects, sustaining injuries but successfully infiltrating the ducts. Norra Wexley also approaches Akiva, her planet of origin. Having served the Rebel Alliance for an extended period, she now desires to return home to her son as the war draws to a close. The two Imperial Star Destroyers deploy TIE fighters to thwart her ship's passage through the blockade, but in collaboration with smuggler Owerto Naiucho, they successfully navigate to the planet's surface, eliminating the TIEs. On Akiva's surface, Sinjir Rath Velus, a former Imperial Loyalty officer, frequents a bar, indulging in daily drinking. A male Twi'lek named Orgadomo Dokura approaches and presents Sinjir with the latest propaganda disseminated by the New Republic: a holovid featuring Princess Leia discussing the fall of the Galactic Empire and the destruction of the second Death Star. Sinjir witnessed the Death Star's destruction firsthand; he was present on Endor during the event. An Imperial officer and two stormtroopers enter and observe them viewing the propaganda. Despite Sinjir's attempt to remain inconspicuous, the Twi'lek voices opposition to them. The Imperial initiates a confrontation, and before Sinjir can fully comprehend the situation, he subdues the officer and his stormtroopers, departing the bar with his newfound companion. Also present on Akiva is Temmin Wexley, engaged in a game of Galactic Expansion with a repurposed interrogator droid. Three thugs, affiliated with Surat Nuat, a Sullustan gangster on Akiva, enter. They threaten him for pilfering something of considerable value from Surat, prompting him to deceive them into inspecting his highly modified B1-series battle droid, Mister Bones. Temmin activates Mister Bones, who confronts all three thugs. Gunfire erupts from the main entrance, and Temmin is astonished to see his mother, Norra Wexley. By this juncture, a third Imperial Star Destroyer has arrived above Akiva. These Imperial Star Destroyers have transported Grand Moff Valco Pandion, General Jylia Shale, slaver Arsin Crassus, and Yupe Tashu, a Sith cultist and former advisor to the Emperor. Meanwhile, Wedge navigates the ventilation shafts of the Vigilance, with Admiral Rae Sloane conducting an extensive search for him. He reaches the comm station and attempts to transmit a message to the New Republic, but as soon as he requests assistance, Sloane shoots him in the shoulder from behind. She escorts him aboard her shuttle down to the planet to meet the other Imperial leaders. Back on Akiva, Norra and Temmin share a brief embrace, during which she observes that he has matured into a man during her three-year absence. Temmin dispatches Mister Bones to dispose of the bodies and guides his mother around his shop, constructed within his family's former residence. He discloses that he sells commonplace items upstairs, but through a concealed passage, he vends genuine treasures below, including blasters, detonators, and books. She is taken aback and endeavors to persuade him to cease, but he expresses resentment toward her for abandoning him, choosing the Rebel Alliance over him. Realizing that he will not heed her, she apologizes and injects a needle into his neck, rendering him unconscious and carrying him away, with the intention of evacuating him from the planet. In a flashback sequence, a father on Saleucami and his two sons are sharing a meal. The two sons are Dav, a former soldier for the Rebel Alliance, and Webb, a staunch supporter of the Empire and former student at the Imperial Academy. The father delivers an anti-war discourse and alludes to Old Cut, a soldier who opted to abstain from combat. This is a reference to Cut Lawquane: a clone trooper who deserted the Clone Army. Imperial TIEs materialize and open fire, and Dav realizes that Webb betrayed him to the Empire. Dav's father bestows his speeder upon Dav, and Dav flees. Back on Akiva, Jas Emari observes the arrival of Arsin Crassus' opulent yacht, the Golden Harp, on the planet, awaiting an opportunity to assassinate him and claim the substantial bounty on his head. Just before she takes the shot, she witnesses the landing of additional ships, carrying the remaining Imperial leaders. She deduces that if she can capture or eliminate them all, she will secure an even greater bounty, as they are all wanted individuals. As she is transported to the planet's surface by her pilot, Morna Kee, Admiral Sloane spots the bounty hunter and shoots her down from her perch. Sloane introduces the Imperials to each other within the satrap's palace in Myrra, the capital of Akiva, and after being inundated with inquiries regarding the gunfire outside the palace, she reveals that she has taken Wedge Antilles prisoner. She perceives a palpable tension with Grand Moff Pandion, who evidently views her as a threat to his aspirations of leadership. On the planet of Naalol, Chancellor Mon Mothma visits the site of a recent battle, the town still engulfed in flames and prisoners being led away. Her two principal advisors, Hostis and Auxi, engage in a debate with her concerning the merits of downsizing the military. After witnessing how a single battle can irrevocably alter the lives of the inhabitants of this planet, Mon Mothma concludes that war must not be a perpetual state of existence and resolves to proceed with the vote to demilitarize. Upon regaining consciousness from her fall, Jas Emari discovers Surat, the gangster, and a contingent of his thugs encircling her. He suspects her of colluding with his primary rival, Temmin, and takes her into custody. He harbors apprehension toward the New Republic, anticipating that they will crack down on his illicit operations. When Surat returns to his shop, he encounters Sinjir, who is seeking a means to depart the planet before additional Imperials arrive and uncover his treachery. Upon seeing Jas, Sinjir experiences a flashback to Endor, where, following the rebels' destruction of the shield generator, he observed a female Zabrak bounty hunter fleeing the scene. He now recognizes that the woman before him is the same individual. When he attempts to converse with Surat in an effort to free her, Surat suspects him of betrayal and instructs his thugs to open fire upon him. Sinjir evades the gunfire but is soon rendered unconscious. Admiral Ackbar is aboard his flagship Home One, honing his skills with a kar-shak when he is interrupted by Ensign Deltura, who informs him that Captain Antilles is no longer responding to communications and has not checked in recently. Ackbar dispatches search teams to locate the missing Captain. ### Part Two When Temmin awakens from the effects of the drugs that induced his sleep, he finds himself with his mother aboard an Imperial vessel. She requires his assistance to reach one of the freighters so that they can escape the planet, but he initiates an argument, asserting that he cannot abandon his entire life. Proclaiming that he has a plan, he commandeers a speeder, attracting the attention of an entire squadron of stormtroopers. Two speeders pursue closely behind, unleashing laser fire with the explicit intention of eliminating him. Instead of seeking refuge in the forest to elude them, as his mother suggests, Temmin ventures into the city, where the streets are scarcely wide enough for navigation. After disabling one of the stormtroopers' speeders, Temmin leaps from his speeder, landing atop the other Imperial's speeder and incapacitating the driver. Norra is left with no alternative but to accelerate onward, once again losing her son. Within the satrap's palace, the meeting between the leaders of the Empire commences. The assembled group constitutes the Imperial Future Council, IFC, tasked with formulating the Empire's future strategy. With the revelation that two Rebel A-Wing fighters were shot down by the Vigilance before they could escape to report their findings, the meeting descends into disarray. There is minimal trust among the individuals present, and a constant jockeying for power. Pandion insists that Sloane deploy the entire Imperial fleet concealed in hiding to surprise the New Republic with an armada, but ultimately, Sloane's proposal to dispatch the Imperial Star Destroyers to prevent their ships from being detected prevails, and the airspace above Akiva is once again clear. Norra speeds toward the residence of her sister, Esmelle. Instead of finding Temmin there, as he promised, she is alone. Temmin was back at his shop, monitoring the thugs who were ransacking it. They had yet to discover the secret entrance to the lower level of his shop. However, he falls from the roof due to its slipperiness, and the noise attracts the attention of one of the thugs, who captures Temmin. Shortly thereafter, Norra arrives, seeking her son, and shoots the sole remaining thug after he attempts to shoot her first. Sinjir awakens in a cage, suspended from the ceiling in a darkened room, after someone pelted him with several stones. Upon inspecting his surroundings, he discerns that Jas was the one who threw the stones. She employs a lockpick concealed within a false horn on her head to unlock her lock, then proceeds to release him. They proceed to Surat's establishment and discover him poised to sever Temmin's tongue before killing him. Jas propels Sinjir forward, and he overcomes one of Surat's thugs and absconds with Temmin. However, as they are about to exit the cantina above Surat's prison, a quartet of stormtroopers arrives. They slip out the side door, eliminating one of Surat's thugs, but are soon pursued into a dead end. Jas drops her blaster in surrender, but then, through the lightning, Temmin spots Mister Bones behind the Imperials and thugs, who plunges into the fray. Jas, Temmin, and Sinjir flee, and Norra arrives in a speeder, escorting them to safety. As the meeting progresses among the Empire's leaders, Rae Sloane gradually realizes that nothing of consequence will emerge from this gathering. Pandion advocates for direct confrontation, the very strategy that led to their defeat thus far, whereas Tashu urges retreat to the Outer Rim, where they should delve into the ways of the dark side of the Force. Arguments ensue, and no resolutions are reached. On Chandrila, during a news broadcast, an irate citizen hurls rotten food at Olia Choko, a New Republic public relations representative. Instead of apprehending the citizen, Olio summons him forward, requests to hear his grievances, and then proposes that he become a member of the new Senate to voice those concerns and have them addressed. The citizen is astonished but readily accepts the opportunity. Jas and Sinjir are gathered around a table, scrutinizing a makeshift map to strategize their capture of the Imperials. Norra enters, followed by Temmin, and they deliberate on how to address the clandestine meeting occurring within the palace. They collectively decide to collaborate, dividing the bounty, and more importantly for Norra, fulfilling her duty to the New Republic. After receiving no response from the search teams, Admiral Ackbar dispatches a probe droid into the Akivan system to gather additional information. His utmost desire is to avoid falling into another Imperial trap. The probe droid detects traces of the destroyed ships and relays the information back. Ackbar then resolves that it would be prudent to dispatch a small strike force of commandos to Akiva to obtain a ground report on the unfolding events. Jom Barell is in the atmosphere above Akiva. He and his five fellow commandos execute a jump from a shuttle into the air, and as they jump, the shuttle from which they jumped explodes. Then comes the bright flash of a turbolaser, and one of his fellow commandos is shot down. Soon, Barell is the sole survivor, and he endures a very rough crash landing on the planet surface below. On the planet Sevarcos, a site where the Empire utilized slaves to mine spice, a battle between the New Republic and the Empire rages. Three slaves are huddled away from the battle, torn about what to do. One of them suggests they flee before the Empire prevails and consigns them back to the mines. However, the Wookiee among them proposes they charge into battle, believing they should assist the Republic soldiers in defeating the Imperials. He rushes out, evading laser fire, to release some rancors held captive by the slavers, and unleashes them onto the battlefield. The tide of the battle shifts, and the New Republic emerges victorious. The three slaves resolve to explore the galaxy independently, now free to pursue their own destinies. ### Part Three The downing of the commandos has plunged the meeting of the Imperial Future Council into even greater chaos. Pandion suggests they confront the New Republic head-on, anticipating the imminent arrival of their fleet, but Shale believes this will only precipitate the Empire's ultimate defeat. Sloane endeavors to pacify everyone and feign that nothing untoward is transpiring, and they ultimately concur to resume the meeting once more. Meanwhile, Jom Barell awakens from his crash landing to find three stormtroopers standing before him, whom he promptly dispatches despite his pain. Norra and Jas traverse together through Myrra, the capital of Akiva. They observe a random citizen hurl a rotten fruit at a pair of stormtroopers, a promising indication that the populace is weary of the Imperial occupation. Jas proceeds to Temmin's shop, where she eliminates the thugs who were attempting to drill their way to the lower level of his shop, where the genuine merchandise is located. They then ascend to the rooftops, where two TIEs are parked. While Norra distracted the pilots, Jas employed her sniper to take them down. Norra then commandeers one of the TIEs. Concurrently, Sinjir approaches an Imperial communications station, informing the stormtroopers that he is an Imperial and demanding to see their officer. Reluctantly, they summon their officer, and when the scans confirm that he is indeed Sinjir Rath Velus, who is presumed to be deceased, they grant him entry. Inside, Sinjir steals the officer's pistol, shooting him in the back, and Mister Bones intervenes, taking care of the two stormtroopers. Once inside the comm station, they create a holovid depicting a purported stormtrooper shooting an innocent child in the back and laughing. They then broadcast this across Myrra, sowing the seeds for an uprising. On the planet Taris, three Acolytes of the Beyond, Sith worshippers, procure a lightsaber from a dealer who asserts that the lightsaber belonged to Darth Vader before his death. They state their intention to destroy it, so that it can return to its master in death. However, while the lightsaber's blade is red, there is no assurance it was actually Vader's. At the comm station, Temmin, Sinjir, and Mister Bones head to the rooftop to escape. On the roof, they hear the distinctive sound of TIE fighters, as two materialize in the sky. They take cover as the TIE's shell the comm station with laser fire, intent on destroying it before more propaganda can be disseminated. Mister Bones leaps into the air as the second TIE passes, shattering its windshield and bringing it to the ground. A third TIE enters the fray and commences firing at the first, blindsiding it and taking it out of the sky: Norra has entered the fray. She takes off for the satraps palace, but is dogged by two more TIE's. Taking down one, she aims for the shuttles that are the Imperials' only lifeline off this planet. Admiral Sloane sees this from the ground and, thinking quickly, fires a turbolaser at Norra from the ground, totally destroying her right wing and sending her into a death spiral. Norra aims for the shuttles as her crash site, with one last wish that they actually put ejector seats in these fighters. Sloane looks out from the palace windows to survey the damage. All three Imperial shuttles have been taken down, but fortunately Crassus' yacht wasn't on the planet and is still functional. She notices a growing crowd outside of the palace; Akivans who are ready for change, creating a dull roar of noise. She returns back to the meeting and tells the rest of them that they will be leaving on Crassus' yacht as soon as it arrives back on the planet. In hyperspace, Han Solo and Chewbacca travel to Dasoor. As soon as they pull out of hyperspace, they receive a transmission from an old friend named Imra. She mentions that she has a job on Kashyyyk, the home of the Wookiees, with a very small window. Han tells Imra to gather everyone they know, and tells Chewbacca to gather some fellow freed Wookiees, so that they can head down to the planet and free their homeworld. After the TIE fighter crashed into the palace, the power went out temporarily, freeing Wedge from his shackles. He sneaks around the palace, narrowly avoiding being caught by stormtroopers looking for him. Once he comes across a secret passage, he uses it to ambush Sloane's personal assistant, Adea Rite, wounding her and stealing her holoscreen, allowing him to send a message to the New Republic calling them to war. Sloane soon finds his body, crumpled up on the ground, with the holoscreen open to a rebel frequency. Meanwhile, the team of Jas, Temmin, Sinjir, and Mister Bones reassemble, one member short. Temmin starts to break down into tears, when the door opens and a cloaked figure sits down at the end of the table. When Norra pulls back the veil and reveals that she is still alive and that TIEs truly do have an ejector seat, Temmin launches himself towards her to embrace her in a huge hug. On Coruscant, Jak walks through the most dangerous underworld levels on the planet. Using a special card, he is allowed entrance to meet the Thorn, where he asks for a weapon, having saved the life of one of Thorn's closest companions. He wants to use it to take out power in Coco-Town with the help of the Anklebiter Brigade, a group of very young kids fighting against the Empire. Back on Akiva, the planet is consumed in turmoil. People burn effigies of the satrap and Darth Vader in the streets, chanting and raging at the Empire and the satrapy. Jas watches it all, proud of herself and her new friends for setting the spark to set Myrra ablaze. Meanwhile, Sinjir tells Norra to trust him, because even though he was an Imperial, it was his job to hunt down other Imperials, to find the weakness in other Imperials, and then punish them accordingly. When Temmin returns from his shop with maps of the catacombs below Myrra, they plan on how to sneak into the palace using the catacombs. However, their plan involves traveling past the old underground droid factory, which is supposedly haunted and nobody has returned from alive. They will use some thermal detonators from Temmin's shop to blow holes into the walls of the palace once they get there. On Naboo, two kids from the Anklebiter Brigade are meeting potential parents, people who could adopt them. One of the kids feels entirely out of comfort with all of the rich nobles around, and decides to run away from it all, hoping to find a transport back to Coruscant where he can rejoin the hot war between the rebels and the Empire. Finally beginning their trek into the catacombs, Jas pulls Temmin back and asks him about his crate. When he says it's a weapon, she tells him that he's wrong, and opens it for him. What's inside are data cubes, and they agree to sift through the information on them and sell them to the right client as soon as this is over. When they near the droid factory, Sinjir begins to probe Temmin, thinking he's hiding something secret from them down here. He throws a stone at the droid factory entrance to prove it isn't haunted, but then a mechanized howling comes from inside, and they all start running. Admiral Ackbar has received Wedge's transmission, a very short message calling for help. He decides now is the time to act, sending a small fleet to Akiva, with more in reserves, ready to arrive at any sign of trouble. In the palace, Sloane is still attempting to calmly control the situation as the others of the IFC grow increasingly restless and angry with her. The shuttle is taking too long to arrive, she thinks, but nothing can be done about that. She decides to call the three Star Destroyers back into the system, ready for battle when it arrives. Jas turns to fire at the oncoming horde. At first they look like droids, with glowing eyes and mechanized wails, running along the walls like spiders. However, as they approach, she realizes they're not droids, but creatures, noseless with a mouth full of sharp teeth, identified by Temmin as Uugteen. They keep getting closer and closer, an entire hive, and she can't stop them. Temmin comes back, tugs on her shoulder, telling her to come along, and she relents. As they start running, he realizes they have a box of detonators. Pulling Mister Bones along, who wants to stand and fight to protect Temmin, he pulls one detonator out of the box, setting it, and then throwing it back into the box. They all sprint for safety. When the tunnel explodes, a huge collapse happens and the Uugteen are blocked off from following them. With no explosives to blow their way into the palace, Sinjir decides that he will head to the surface to contact the palace himself, pretending to be an Imperial once again. His plan is to tell them to open the doors to the catacombs from the inside, telling them it's their only path to safety. On Tatooine, a man named Adwin Charu, a member of a new local mining company, is attempting to buy goods from the Jawas in one of their massive sandcrawlers. Knowing there are real goods hidden in there, he keeps trying to tell them that he doesn't want the junk they have on display, but they won't listen. A local named Cobb Vanth shows up and tells him that he must build rapport with Aftermath, a canon novel crafted by Chuck Wendig and brought to readers by Del Rey, unfolds its narrative tapestry between the events of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. It stands as the inaugural book in the Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy, while also being a key component of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens project. Aftermath delves into the dawning of a new governmental structure in the wake of the Empire's defeats during the Battle of Endor, and notably incorporates at least one fan-adored character from the Star Wars film saga. Its official release date was September 4, 2015. The audio rendition is skillfully performed by Marc Thompson. ## Publisher's summary ### Back cover A group of rebels, cornered on a secluded world, find themselves as the only force capable of preventing the Empire's wrath and securing galactic freedom. ### Internal flap The destruction of the second Death Star, the Emperor's demise, and Darth Vader's fall represent significant blows against the Empire and major victories for the Rebel Alliance. However, the fight for freedom is far from complete. As the Empire reels from the severe blows sustained at the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance, now evolving into the New Republic, seizes the opportunity to relentlessly pursue the Empire's scattered forces, aiming to thwart their regrouping and retaliation. Yet, above the distant planet Akiva, a menacing display of Imperial strength emerges. On a solitary reconnaissance mission, pilot Wedge Antilles observes Imperial Star Destroyers gathering like predators preparing to strike, only to be captured before he can alert the New Republic leaders. Meanwhile, on the planet's surface, former Rebel fighter Norra Wexley returns to her home world, wearied by war and seeking reunion with her estranged son, hoping to build a new life far away. However, intercepting Wedge Antilles's urgent distress call, Norra realizes her time as a freedom fighter is not yet over. Little does she know how close the enemy is, or how crucial and perilous her new mission will be. Determined to maintain the Empire's power, the remaining Imperial elite converge on Akiva for a clandestine emergency summit, aiming to consolidate their forces and plan a counterattack. However, they haven't accounted for Norra and her unexpected allies: her son, a technical prodigy, a Zabrak bounty hunter, and a repentant Imperial defector, all prepared to do whatever it takes to end the Empire's oppressive reign. ## Plot summary ### Part One The story commences on Coruscant, formerly the Galactic Empire's capital. A large crowd has gathered in Monument Plaza to witness the iconic statue of Emperor Palpatine being torn down. Initially, the statue resists, but using a speeder with chains wrapped around it, it finally falls. The crowd erupts in applause. Suddenly, three Imperial policemen on speeders arrive, firing into the crowd. Angered, the crowd fights back, throwing stones. A man in the crowd hands his young son, Jak, a stone to throw, realizing this is only the beginning of another war. In the Outer Rim, Captain Wedge Antilles exits hyperspace near the planet Akiva. He has been conducting low-profile reconnaissance for the New Republic, searching Outer Rim worlds for signs of the Empire, theorizing that they will retreat to the Outer Rim to avoid the Republic. His communications are jammed, and two Imperial Star Destroyers emerge from hyperspace and hail his ship. He provides a fake name, but on the Vigilance, Admiral Rae Sloane sees through his deception and activates the tractor beam, pulling his small Starhopper towards the Star Destroyer. As his ship approaches landing, Wedge destroys it and jumps, injuring himself but escaping into the ducts. Norra Wexley also approaches Akiva, her home planet. She has served the Rebel Alliance for years, and now that the war is nearing its end, she wishes to return home to her son. The two Imperial Star Destroyers launch TIE fighters to prevent her ship from breaking through the blockade, but with the help of smuggler Owerto Naiucho, they fight their way onto the planet safely, destroying the TIEs. On Akiva's surface, Sinjir Rath Velus, a former Imperial Loyalty officer, sits in a bar drinking, as he does every day. A male Twi'lek named Orgadomo Dokura approaches and shows Sinjir the latest New Republic propaganda: a holovid of Princess Leia speaking about the fall of the Galactic Empire and the destruction of the second Death Star. Sinjir witnessed the Death Star's destruction firsthand; he was on Endor when it happened. An Imperial officer and two stormtroopers enter and see them watching the propaganda. Although Sinjir tries to avoid notice, the Twi'lek speaks out against them. The Imperial starts a fight, and before Sinjir realizes it, he takes down the officer and his stormtroopers, leaving the bar with his new companion. Also on Akiva is Temmin Wexley, playing a game of Galactic Expansion with a repurposed interrogator droid. Three thugs walk in, employees of Surat Nuat, a Sullustan gangster on Akiva. When they threaten him for stealing something valuable from Surat, he tricks them into examining his highly modified B1-series battle droid, Mister Bones. Temmin activates Mister Bones, who attacks all three thugs. Shots are fired from the main entrance, and when Temmin looks, he is surprised to see his mother, Norra Wexley. By this time, a third Imperial Star Destroyer has arrived above Akiva. These Imperial Star Destroyers have brought Grand Moff Valco Pandion, General Jylia Shale, slaver Arsin Crassus, and Yupe Tashu, a Sith cultist and former advisor to the Emperor. Meanwhile, Wedge is crawling in the ventilation