Darth Vader #26 marks the twenty-sixth installment in the 2020 canon Star Wars: Darth Vader comic book series. Greg Pak penned the script for this issue, while Raffaele Ienco and Alex Sinclair provided the illustrations. Marvel Comics released it to the public on August 24, 2022.
ENTERING THE SAND! It is widely known that Anakin Skywalker had a strong dislike for sand. However, what significance does sand hold for the Sith Lord? When Sabé, Vader's unexpected new comrade, disappears, Vader is compelled to confront his inner darkness amidst a fierce sandstorm – all while utilizing a skill from his past in an unforeseen manner!
Darth Vader is plagued by memories of his former life as the Jedi known as Anakin Skywalker. On Naboo, he expresses to Padmé Amidala his aversion to sand but acknowledges the planet's soft and abundant nature. In the present day, ZED-6-7 informs Lord Vader that the sandstorm is interfering with communication signals, hindering the ability to locate Sabé and the other villagers. Vader dismisses ZED, stating that he will request assistance when needed. ZED calculates that the storm will reach them in four minutes and three seconds based on its current speed, advising everyone except Vader to evacuate.
Speaking in Rodese, Wald believes that Lord Vader is destined to fail, suggesting that only Skywalker could navigate the machine through such a storm. He mentions that even its creator, Kitster Banai, struggled to control it. As Vader starts Kitster's podracer, he is flooded with memories of his childhood on Tatooine, where he built his podracer while his friends and mother, Shmi Skywalker Lars, watched. Vader pilots Kitster's podracer through the forest during the storm. Amidst the sandstorm, he recalls walking with his mother through a sandstorm in the deserts of Tatooine, assuring her that he will not abandon her.
In another flashback, Skywalker speaks with his mother, Shmi Skywalker Lars, before departing with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. His mother states that her place is on Tatooine and that it is his time to leave. Skywalker expresses his reluctance to change, but Shmi explains that change is like the setting of the twin suns. She encourages him to be brave and not to look back. The flashback then transitions to Skywalker's meeting with the Jedi High Council, where he confesses that he misses his mother. Master Yoda cautions that fear leads to the dark side, resulting in anger, hate, and suffering.
The flashback then shifts to Skywalker's slaughter of Tusken Raiders in retaliation for his mother's murder. Vader then remembers Amidala falling from their LAAT/infantry gunship during the Battle of Geonosis. He argues with Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who insists that he prioritize his Jedi duties over Amidala's safety.
Returning to the present, Vader encounters Kitster, who is astonished to see Vader piloting his podracer. Kitster reveals that Sabé's speeder was struck by the tank and that she is likely trapped beneath it. Using the Force, Vader lifts the tank, freeing Sabé. The three are then caught in an orbital bombardment wave.
Aboard the Super Star Destroyer Executor, Admiral Firmus Piett receives Vader's orders to use the ship's ventral turbolasers to bombard their location. Piett is concerned that this would incinerate everyone, including Vader. However, Vader uses the Force to Force choke Piett into compliance. Piett obeys and fires the turbolaser at Governor Tauntaza's giant tank. Vader, Kitster, and Sabé seek shelter and survive the bombardment. Vader carries the unconscious Sabé. On Coruscant, Emperor Palpatine taunts Lord Vader for failing to save his mother and Amidala, and for believing he can save Sabé.
The issue script did not contain a description of Kitster's podracer. The artist, Raffaele Ienco, designed its appearance as a "souped up pod motor-cycle," according to Ienco himself.