Star Wars: Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood is a comic book miniseries, penned by Mike Richardson along with Randy Stradley, and brought to publication by Dark Horse Comics. Its release spanned from November 11, 1998 to April 14, 1999, serving as the follow-up to Crimson Empire and contributing to a larger story arc. A third miniseries was planned with a 2001 release date, and the one-shot comic Hard Currency was launched to preface this new narrative; however, the series faced delays and eventually saw release as Crimson Empire III—Empire Lost in 2011 and 2012.
After the demise of Carnor Jax, the Imperial Guard traitor, at the hands of Kir Kanos, the last of the Guard, the Galactic Empire unexpectedly lacks a leader. An Interim Council is then formed to govern the Empire until a new Emperor is chosen. However, when Council members become assassination targets, Kanos emerges as the primary suspect, finding himself once more in the eye of the storm!
Once Tav had shown up, Kanos departed the planet in an X-wing, and left his Skipray to a young mechanic residing on the planet. Kanos had come to the decision to learn how to pilot the fighter so he could grasp the abilities that Luke Skywalker had, as he viewed him as the true adversary, believing that Skywalker had killed Palpatine. After a number of stops, Kanos made the decision to use his new alias of Kenix Kil to vanish into the criminal world. He made sure his identity was deleted to prevent anyone from discovering his real identity and took careful measures so that no one could see his face while he wore his helmet. Upon hearing that a Hutt by the name of Grappa was seeking bounty hunters, Kanos decided to accept the offer of employment. Kanos piloted his X-wing to Grappa's base located on Genon, and after his meeting with the Hutt, he accepted a task to capture the customs official Tarrant Snil.
Snil was located on the planet G'wenee, specifically in the city of Lay Pa-Sidian, and Kanos immediately set off to seize his target. Upon his arrival, he was quickly confronted by individuals loyal to Snil. Numerous other hunters had been unsuccessful in capturing the customs official, and Snil was sure that Kanos would encounter the same difficulties. However, Kanos's prowess with his double-bladed vibroblade proved too much for Snil's men, and he swiftly eliminated the entire group. Kanos then took Snil as a hostage and presented him to Grappa, which greatly pleased the Hutt. Grappa declared a celebration in Kanos's honor, but it was soon interrupted by a mysterious call over the HoloNet. As Grappa quickly left the celebration, Kanos caught a brief glimpse of the mysterious face of Nom Anor, who was among Grappa the Hutt's enigmatic associates.
While Kanos was employed by Grappa, he noticed that Mirith Sinn and Massimo were also working for the Hutt. He instructed Tav to keep a close watch on Mirith to ensure that she had not uncovered his secret. Updates from Tav eventually verified that Sinn had likely abandoned her vendetta against him, as she was certainly not using her time to search for her friend's killer. Nevertheless, Kanos concluded that he had overstayed his welcome at Grappa's. Someone who was familiar with the battle language used by the guard had deciphered the anagram of Kenix Kil and had traced it back to Kanos. Kanos was long gone by the time Grappa had received word of the new information.
Around the same time, Mirith Sinn had been betrayed by Massimo and handed over to members of the Zanibar race by Grappa. Although Kanos had stated that he felt no regret for having killed the Rebel commander's friend, he felt that he should repay her for causing her so much pain. Kanos commandeered an A-wing from Grappa's base and set out for Xo, which was the Zanibar homeworld, to rescue Sinn. Kanos shadowed the Zanibar transport ship that was carrying Sinn, and he landed on the planet, concealing the ship in the thick undergrowth that was located outside of the primary Zanibar city. Kanos then infiltrated the city and incapacitated a Zanibar priest, assuming his place in one of their ancient ceremonies.
The Zanibar were known for capturing organic beings and subjecting them to barbaric rituals, which seemed to involve cutting up the person and flaying them while they were bound to a large metal hoop. Just as Kanos arrived at the ceremony, the Zanibar were about to cut up Lieutenant Massimo, who was the man who had betrayed Sinn to Grappa, but had been betrayed in turn. While the Zanibar were occupied with Massimo, Kanos made his way deep into the ceremony building, where he finally located Sinn and freed her. However, the Zanibar quickly realized that their other sacrifice had been released, and they sounded the alarm. Kanos opened fire on the Zanibar priests, killing one of them, and inadvertently freeing Massimo from the ceremonial hoop in the process.
Sinn and Kanos fled from the Zanibar village and back to the ship, with the Zanibar pursuing them closely. Since the A-wing was only designed as a single-seater ship, Kanos was forced to stand on the wing of the craft while Sinn piloted the craft through the atmosphere. Regrettably, the atmospheric flight slowed down the craft, and the Zanibar's own craft quickly caught up with the A-wing, crippling it and forcing Sinn to crash-land the ship into a tree. Although the two of them remained unharmed, they were trapped in the dangerous Xo wilderness without any means of escape.
Kanos and Sinn journeyed across the perilous wilderness together. The two of them had to constantly work together to avoid being eaten by the hostile wildlife. They were able to survive the day by constantly watching each other's backs, and they eventually reached an ancient temple that was located in the center of the wilderness by nightfall. As they settled down to spend the night, the attraction that Kanos and Sinn had begun back on Phaeda started to blossom once more. Sinn tried to convince Kanos once again that the Empire was evil, telling the story of how her peaceful husband was killed by the Empire. Kanos slowly started to show a change of heart, and he was finally thinking for himself for the first time in a number of years.
After they had spent the night together, Kanos and Sinn awoke to see a Zanibar raiding party that had come to recapture the Humans for their ceremony. Trapped and outnumbered, Kanos attempted to hold off the Zanibar, using the ancient temple as cover. Luckily for Kanos and Sinn, Tav Kennede arrived in Kanos's X-wing in order to save the day. Unfortunately, as soon as Sinn had climbed aboard, Kanos was wounded by a stray blaster shot and was unable to get to the ship. Kanos ordered Kennede to leave him behind and to get Sinn away, and despite Sinn's protests, Kennede followed the orders. Kanos was taken captive by the closing Zanibar as Kennede took Sinn off-world.
Fortunately for Kanos, even the barbaric Zanibar had heard about the massive bounty that was on the Imperial Guard's head, and they made the decision to turn him in for the reward. The Zanibar brought Kanos back to Grappa and arranged for Grappa to deal with turning Kanos over to the Imperials. Kanos remained in a cell as the Hutt negotiated with the Imperials. However, as Kanos prepared himself in incarceration, a New Republic taskforce that was led by Mirith Sinn infiltrated Grappa's headquarters and rescued Kanos. The Royal Guard was brought back with Sinn to New Republic space in time to witness the Battle of Ord Cantrell.
The Battle of Ord Cantrell was a conflict that took place between ex-Imperial Baron Ragez D'Asta and self-proclaimed Galactic Emperor Xandel Carivus, which was precipitated when Carivus ordered the arrest of D'Asta's daughter Feena for treason. With a large portion of the Imperial Starfleet dispatched across the galaxy in the pursuit of Kir Kanos, Ord Cantrell was left poorly defended and vulnerable to Baron D'Asta's large private fleet. The Imperial forces were soundly defeated in space, losing at least one Imperial-class Star Destroyer, and D'Asta's fighters began strafing Carivus's estate. Seeing that defeat was imminent, Carivus offered to release Feena D'Asta. The Baron was reluctant to call off the attack when victory was within reach, but he valued his daughter's life over his own pride and agreed to the ceasefire.
Kanos accompanied Sinn to a meeting with Baron Ragez D'Asta, where she revealed to him that his daughter, Feena D'Asta, had been replaced with a clone. Although D'Asta was shocked by the revelation, Kanos reacted without delay. He declared Feena's clone a traitor to the Empire for being involved on the Imperial Interim Ruling Council and prepared to execute her. However, Sinn convinced Kanos to spare her life, as she had been forced to participate in the plot by Black Sun. Although he decided to spare the woman, Kanos still resolved to execute the rest of the council.
The newly proclaimed Emperor, Xandel Carivus, had holed up inside his throne room on Ord Cantrell, and with the assistance of Sinn, Tav Kennede, and Baron D'Asta, Kanos infiltrated the throne room and engaged Xandel Carivus's Private Guard. They were no match for Kanos's skill, and although they were able to wound Tav, Kanos quickly dispatched all of them. Carivus attempted to escape through the back door, but Kanos cut him off, smashing his face into a bulkhead before accusing him of betrayal to his Emperor. Although Carivus tried to beg for his life, Kanos would hear nothing of it, and he coldly executed the next would-be Emperor.
Even though Carivus was dead, the remaining members of the Imperial Ruling Council had been locked in cells by Carivus. Sinn commented on the fact that they would be easy targets if Kanos wished to have them killed as well. However, Kanos remarked that there had been enough killing for one day, implying that he would leave the judging of the council up to the New Republic. Kanos's change of heart had left him confused, and he prepared to leave New Republic space and Sinn behind. Although Sinn declared her love for him and pleaded with him to stay, Kanos realized that his devotion was still to the Emperor, and he left the scene in his X-wing.