Rogue Planet

The Legends tale, Rogue Planet, was penned by Greg Bear. The story unfolds in 29 BBY, centering on the exploits of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi as they embark on a mission to Zonama Sekot. Del Rey initially released the novel on May 2, 2000. ## Publisher's summary MASTER AND APPRENTICE. You've experienced the film, The Phantom Menace. You've devoured the #1 New York Times bestseller adapted from George Lucas's masterpiece. Now, preceding the highly anticipated premiere of Episode II, comes a remarkable new Star Wars novel crafted by one of science fiction's most prominent figures, an author universally lauded for his profound understanding of cutting-edge science and the captivating nature of his narratives: Greg Bear, a multiple recipient of Hugo and Nebula Awards. The outcome is pure exhilaration, an unforgettable odyssey that spans from the farthest expanses of known space to the inner turmoil of a young boy's spirit, where a clandestine battle is being waged to determine the destiny of billions. That boy is twelve-year-old Anakin Skywalker. The Force resonates powerfully within Anakin…so powerfully that the Jedi Council, despite harboring reservations, entrusted the young Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi with the task of guiding him to become a Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan, echoing the sentiments of his deceased Master, Qui-Gon, believes Anakin may be the chosen one, the Jedi destined to restore equilibrium to the Force. However, Obi-Wan must first assist his unruly, idealistic apprentice, who still carries the emotional wounds of slavery, in achieving his own inner harmony. Assigned to the enigmatic planet of Zonama Sekot, the origin of the galaxy's swiftest vessels, Obi-Wan and Anakin find themselves entangled in a web of perilous intrigue and treachery. For there exist others who yearn for the power that such superfast ships could bestow. Raith Sienar, a brilliant yet unscrupulous designer of weapons and ships, possesses the intellect to decipher the Zonama Sekot ship design. Commander Wilhuff Tarkin commands the forces of the formidable Trade Federation, which he intends to employ to extract the secret. Together, they constitute a formidable adversary, one that a small and underdeveloped planet can scarcely hope to resist. Yet, as Tarkin's fleet unleashes its full brutal force, Obi-Wan and Anakin detect a disturbance in the Force unlike any they have previously encountered. It appears that Zonama Sekot harbors secrets that extend far beyond the surface. The quest for these secrets will jeopardize the bond between Obi-Wan and Anakin…and confront the troubled young apprentice with his deepest anxieties—and his most somber fate. ## Plot summary The twelve-year-old Anakin Skywalker is devising a plan to participate in an illegal race located in the garbage tunnels beneath Coruscant. Prior to the race's commencement, a fellow competitor, a Blood Carver identified as Ke Daiv, attempts to assassinate Anakin. Obi-Wan Kenobi arrives just in the nick of time to save his young Padawan, and together they manage to escape the garbage pit. Subsequently, they return to the Jedi Temple to face the Council. Mace Windu, one of the four Jedi Masters present on the Council, presides over the interrogation. During the meeting, Thracia Cho Leem enters and assists Anakin in persuading the Council and Obi-Wan that he requires a mission. The mission assigned to Obi-Wan and Anakin takes them to a peculiar and mysterious planet in the Gardaji Rift known as Zonama Sekot. Their objective is to locate Thracia's former apprentice, Vergere, whose last mission was on this very planet, and to procure a Sekotan spacecraft. The vessel they use to travel to Zonama Sekot, the Star Sea Flower, is the same one Vergere used approximately three years prior when she embarked on her mission. On both occasions, it was piloted by a male Priapulin, Charza Kwinn, who had been assisting the Jedi for over a century. Simultaneously, Raith Sienar and Commander Wilhuff Tarkin of the Republic Outland Regions Security Force have been formulating plans. Tarkin aids Sienar in becoming commander of the Admiral Korvin, which carries three landing craft, one hundred Trade Federation troops, and over three thousand droids. Sienar's task is to utilize this ship, along with three smaller vessels, to conquer Zonama Sekot. After dispatching Sienar, Tarkin heads to Coruscant to provide political support for their endeavor. Before the Admiral Korvin reaches Zonama Sekot, the Star Sea Flower emerges from hyperspace near its destination. Obi-Wan and Anakin are treated to a view of the stunning, swirling red and purple pinwheel created by the red giant and the white dwarf that dominate Zonama Sekot's skies. The planet's northern hemisphere is blanketed in unusual tree-like foliage known as boras, while the southern hemisphere is covered in a shimmering cloud layer. The Star Sea Flower lands in the far north of the planet, as directed by Orbital Control of Zonama Sekot, and the two Jedi disembark amidst a flurry of snow. Obi-Wan then instructs Charza Kwinn to keep the Star Sea Flower nearby in case they require it. Anakin and Obi-Wan are transported to a verdant region of the planet located in the Middle Distance. They are greeted by Gann, a Ferroan, who provides them with some information about Zonama Sekot and its inhabitants, and leads them to their accommodations for the night. The following morning, Obi-Wan and Anakin encounter Sheekla Farrs, who informs them that they will be meeting their seed-partners that day. She also reveals that the seed-partners originate from a Potentium. Anakin is unfamiliar with the concept of a Potentium, but Obi-Wan has some knowledge of it and is curious to understand why it is believed in this location. During their conversation, they travel to Far Distance in a gondola suspended beneath a large airship. Upon arrival, they participate in a ceremony that culminates in their entering a door in a massive stone, leading to a vast, open spherical chamber. Inside, they observe thousands of living, spike-covered balls hovering around the edges of the chamber. The spikeballs (seed-partners) soon begin to descend, and Anakin (who has been listening to them through the Force) warns Obi-Wan, "This is going to be bad! But whatever you do, don't be afraid!" As the massive stone doors swing open, Sheekla Farrs calls out to Obi-Wan and Anakin. Obi-Wan rises first, with three spikeballs clinging to him. Anakin, however, is buried beneath a large pile of shed spikes and shells, and Obi-Wan and Gann must assist him in getting up and carrying him out. In total, Anakin has twelve seed-partners attached to him, more than anyone has ever had, Farrs informs them. Farrs and Gann then remove the seed-partners from Obi-Wan and Anakin and place each one in a Lamina box. Farrs explains that three of the seed-partners, one of Obi-Wan's and two of Anakin's, had previously chosen a client, but the client did not remain long enough to cultivate a ship. Obi-Wan and Anakin are left alone to eat, but after only ten minutes, Gann returns and informs them that before they can design and forge their ship, they must meet with the Magister, whom they will visit at his convenience. While the Admiral Korvin is still in hyperspace, Sienar orders a Baktoid E-5 battle droid to his quarters and replaces its verbobrain with one of his own design, effectively imbuing it with his own programs. He takes this precaution in case Tarkin has instructed Ke Daiv to assassinate him. Once this is done, he summons Ke Daiv to his quarters to gather more information about him and to instruct him to take a smaller ship and approach Zonama Sekot to observe it. Sienar then proceeds to the navigation deck of the Admiral Korvin and orders Captain Kett to load some programs of Sienar's creation into the ship's manufactory and into all the Battle droids. Obi-Wan and Anakin are transported to the Magister in a Sekotan air transport. En route, they pass over a vast brown scar on the landscape that resembles a battle scar. Upon arriving at the Magister's Palace, they are greeted by a girl named Wind, who identifies herself as the Magister's daughter. The Magister appears to be aware that his two clients are Jedi, but he informs them that they can proceed with building their ship before departing. Both Anakin and Obi-Wan sense that something is amiss, but they are unable to pinpoint the exact cause. That night, the two Jedi struggle to sleep due to the presence of their seed-partners, with whom they must share their sleeping quarters. They endure it, however, and the following morning, they are each given a red and black client robe and access to the library. Soon, they are transported to Shappa Farrs's design shop, where they begin drafting and designing their ship. Later, after completing the design process, they are transported again, this time en route to forge their ship. Along the way, Anakin encounters a girl who resembles the Magister's daughter they had previously seen, but she seems much more real. She introduces herself as Jabitha Hal and confirms that she is indeed the Magister's daughter, but she states that she has never met the young Padawan before. She explains that her father often projects holograms of her in various locations, which is likely how Anakin saw her. She then proceeds to tell him about the different types of boras and how they function in the wild. Eventually, the gondola lands, and they disembark, ready to commence the next phase of their journey. Ke Daiv, having returned from his scouting mission, delivers his report to Raith Sienar. He states that they managed to approach the planet and retreat without being detected by scans, and then he proceeds to share his observations with Sienar. Once Ke Daiv has finished, Sienar informs him of his plan to acquire a Sekotan spacecraft and sends him down in a conspicuous starship to execute the plan. Soon after, Sienar receives a message from Ke Daiv indicating that he has landed his ship on the northern plateau and is awaiting transport to Middle Distance. Upon receiving this news, Sienar becomes confident that he will soon conquer Zonama Sekot. Obi-Wan and Anakin discover that they have further to travel before they can forge their ship. Together with Jabitha and Gann, they descend steep steps into a cavern with a low ceiling. After walking for twenty minutes, they reach an underground river and board a boat, which they travel downstream on for several hours. Finally, they dock and disembark, and after a long climb, they reach the head of the factory valley. There, Gann and Jabitha leave them. Soon, their forgers arrive riding Carapods. The leader of the forgers, Vagno, takes their seed-partners and places them on the back of a carapod, and then they head to the forging pits. Again, Sienar receives a message from Ke Daiv, but this time it is not good news. Ke Daiv has been rejected because the seed-partners have taken a dislike to him. Sienar decides to give Ke Daiv one more day. Tarkin has also sent a message expressing his impatience, so Sienar also considers that he might have to resort to force soon. Sienar sends Tarkin a false message in reply that he is sure would have Tarkin running in as fast as he can, but he will take a few days to get to Zonama Sekot. Anakin and Obi-Wan watch as Vagno and his crew toss the seed-partners into a deep pit and dump boras foliage and branches on them. Then the forgers pour red pellets on top of that, and after a rather mysterious ceremony, orange bolts of lightning tumble down into the pit, and soon after, the seeds pop. Finally, they are ready to gather the seeds from the pit. Obi-Wan and Anakin are transported once more, this time on the backs of carapods, to the shapers. The chief of the shapers, Vidge, places pieces of a special fruit on each of the white seed-disks that the seed-partners had created when they exploded. Once this is done, Vidge instructs Obi-Wan and Anakin to each sit in one of the frames that will form their ship as they travel to the Jentari. Upon reaching the Jentari, the seed-disks are slapped around the frames and begin to grow, mold, and fuse together until the ship is nearly complete and only requires a few minor adjustments. Raith Sienar's E-5 battle droid, into which he had loaded his programs, is vibrating and struggling to remain upright. Sienar is unable to determine the cause of the droid's malfunction, but Captain Kett reports that five other battle droids have unexpectedly departed, and he has been forced to lock down the remaining droids to prevent similar occurrences. Sienar orders a comprehensive scan of the entire system using active sensors and then sets about trying to determine why the droids had malfunctioned. By the time the new Sekotan starship reaches the end of the factory valley, it is early morning. Workers assist Anakin and Obi-Wan in exiting their new ship. One of the workers, Fitch, informs them that over the next few hours, the workers will add a few things to the ship to bring it up to Republic standards and then they will work on learning the ship. But before the ship is finished Shappa, Sheekla, Gann, and Jabitha arrive with news that there are four fighters coming in. Before they can even decide what to do about it, starfighters arrive and start shooting at them. Obi-Wan is disabled while trying to protect his Padawan and separated from him. Anakin is confronted by the Blood Carver who threw him in the ship and climbed in after him. Jabitha had hid in the ship and is discovered by the Blood Carver who tosses her in the back seat. The Blood Carver orders Anakin to fly under the threat of killing Jabitha. Raith Sienar watches Tarkin arrive with two converted midsized Hoersch-Kessel Drive, Inc. cargo haulers and ten Corellian Engineering light cruisers. Sienar had figured out that Tarkin had hidden a code in the battle droids so that when he activates it the droids will do what he wants. Captain Kett informs Sienar that Tarkin's orders are to put Sienar under arrest and that Tarkin now controls the Admiral Korvin. Sienar heads back to his quarters to await Tarkin there but on the way he is confronted by Republic troops who made a path for Tarkin to reach Sienar. Tarkin takes Sienar to his own ship to talk with him. Obi-Wan is badly hurt, but not too badly for a Jedi Knight. Shappa tells him that Sheekla was injured and that Gann was in shock, so Shappa would help the Jedi however he could. Obi-Wan asks for a spacecraft to follow Anakin. Shappa says he wills fly Obi-Wan in his own ship. While they are chasing Anakin, Obi-Wan tells Shappa why they are here and in return Shappa tells Obi-Wan all he knows about Vergere. Obi-Wan then establishes a com-link channel with the Star Sea Flower so he can ask Charza Kwinn for help. Tarkin tells Sienar he has already given orders to invade the planet. While this is happening they both watch the race between three ships, two they do not recognize and a YZ-1150. They also observe as many spacecraft rise from the Sekotan jungles. Tarkin then orders Captain Mignay of the Rim Merchant Einem to release the first rank of starfighters. Anakin flies his new ship with ease. It would have been a joyful moment if Obi-Wan was with him. As easy as it is to fly, he has a hard time concentrating because a misting ghost kept floating around the cabin of the ship. Then the wraith takes on form, but Anakin takes his hands off the controls of the ship and it disappears. While his hands are up there, he tries a bit of Jedi persuasion and is doing pretty good when Ke Daiv notices the ships that are following them and tenses up. He orders Anakin to go faster to the Magister's mountain. When Anakin puts his hands back on the controls the image appears again, this time crystalline, and Anakin now recognizes her as Vergere. She had left a message in the seed-partners and they are now delivering it to Anakin. At the end of it, Anakin realizes he must defeat Ke Daiv and anyone else who tried to stop him; the life of the Jedi is at stake. Shappa recognizes the sky-mines above them as Republic vessels and thinks maybe Obi-Wan does not know something after all. But Obi-Wan is just as troubled about why they would be here. Shappa mentions the Potentium and Obi-Wan starts asking a few questions to try to finally get some answers. Shappa is reluctant to answer but eventually complies. Obi-Wan finds out that the original Magister had been given Jedi training and that his name had been Leor Hal. He also finds out that the people of Zonama Sekot had begun building weapons under the leadership of the second Magister. Obi-Wan now realizes that the Magister is dead and that what they had seen was just a holo-image, but Shappa will not accept this. Anakin brings his ship in a low arc around the mountain, but he does not see the Magister's palace. Anakin circles again and again, higher this time. The third time both he and Ke Daiv sees sky-miners above them. Anakin tells Ke Daiv that they will have to land somewhere to avoid them. Jabitha, desperate in her need to find her father, points out the ruins of a huge complex of buildings buried under a massive landslide. Anakin put down on a little portion of the old landing field next to the ruins. Shappa is forced to put down his ship about one-hundred kilometers form the Magister's mountain because of the sky-mines. Obi-Wan is becoming increasingly troubled; he sees though the Force that Anakin's future is mixed in a big knot with so many other futures in the next few hours. Everything depends on his Padawan. Jabitha, having a hard time breathing because of the altitude, enters a small door in the rubble. Ke Daiv motions for Anakin to go in after her, but he refuses. He is trying to control the banked anger that threatens to spill over and fill him. His eyes turn pitch-black and he cries out to anyone who will listen "Stop it, please! I can't hold it back any longer!" Tarkin is surprised; Zonama Sekot had many more ships than he had thought. Tarkin was sure all the Sekotan ships would soon be destroyed anyway, but he is troubled by another thing. Rectangular bulges in the jungle that they had noticed earlier had begun to rise out of the ground. As he is observing this, he also sees a beautiful Sekotan ship, different from any of the others. He orders all sky mines away from the mountain and instead to go against the YT-1150. He is determined to capture the abandoned ship on the mountain. Shappa and Obi-Wan, still pinned down, watch through the ships sensors as the sky-mines abandon the Magister's mountain and go after the Star Sea Flower. They decide that they will attempt a rescue of Anakin and Jabitha. Jabitha watches as Ke Daiv emerges from the shadow in which he and Anakin had fought. She looks at him and shrieks. His eyes are white and he is bleeding profusely. She calls Anakin and the young sand-haired boy also emerges from the shadow. When Ke Daiv sees the Padawan he falls to his knees. Anakin hopes that Ke Daiv is not dying; he does not want to kill him this way. Jabitha leaves to find her father, but Anakin stays with the Blood Carver as he slowly dies. Then the boy who had killed him rises, turns around, and screams. Anakin knows he needs to get Jabitha to safety before he can wrestle with what had just happened. He enters the small door that Jabitha had entered a little while before. He makes his way down the dark corridor inside until he ends up in the chamber where he and Obi-Wan had first met the Magister. While he is going there the ceiling shudders and rocks starts falling. Jabitha is on her knees beside one of the piles of rubble in the circular chamber under the pile of rubble the Magister is buried. Again, Anakin sees a vision of Vergere appear, but then she turns into the Magister. Anakin puts Jabitha asleep using the Force and then asks the image who he is. It replies "A friend of Vergere. I think my name, to some, is Sekot." Anakin and Sekot talk for a while and Anakin learns more about Zonama Sekot. When the roof of the chamber starts falling in Sekot shores up the hallways as Anakin carries Jabitha out. As they exit the last door Jabitha wakes up and sees a sky-mine delivery ship land beside them. A bulky soldier pulls Anakin away from Jabitha though he tries to stay with her. An officer tells Anakin that his name is Tarkin and they enter the ship just as Jabitha cries out. Anakin is brought to the bay where his ship had been hoisted and leaves there with some guards. Shappa maneuvers his ship well and soon they are at the mountain. Shappa lands and Obi-Wan jumps out, drops a kicking and screaming Jabitha in through the hatch and tells Shappa to leave him there. Shappa hesitates but leaves him and Obi-Wan prepares to fight the incoming starfighters. Before the fight starts Obi-Wan investigates the Blood Carver's body; something about it troubles him but he has no time to contemplate it. The starfighters had just started firing, one of them hitting Ke Daiv, when out of nowhere the Star Sea Flower comes in and destroys the two starfighters before they can even think of retaliating. Then Charza Kwinn directs his old YT-1150 to land beside Obi-Wan and soon the Jedi is in the cabin with Charza. "They have your Padawan," The Priapulin informs him, "Sit down and buckle up." Tarkin is beside himself with pride, but his enthusiasm is banked when he sees that Zonama Sekot is still not subdued. He decides to interview the boy before they dock with the Rim Merchant Einem When he goes in and tries to talk with Anakin the young boy refuses to help him. When Tarkin touches Anakin's shoulder his hand is burnt. Suddenly alarms ring out around the ship. The bay doors break through and when the air pressure drops Tarkin and Sienar leaves without a thought of the boy. Through the smoke and hot metal Anakin sees a hooded figure reflecting laser fire from the guards with a brilliant green lightsaber. Anakin cries out with joy but there is no time and he sets to work getting their ship ready to leave. They have three minutes before a delay bomb that Charza Kwinn had put on the bay doors went off. In those minutes they had to load their ship up with fuel. Obi-Wan jumps in their Sekotan ship seconds before the explosion that propelled their ship out of the doors. The ship makes it out with only a couple scrapes which quickly heal themselves. The path through space to Zonama Sekot's atmosphere is dangerous and filled with mines but Anakin makes it to the upper layers of the atmosphere and on the way he tells his Master about everything that had happened since they had been separated, especially about Sekot and Vergere's message. Tarkin, who had escaped in an escape pod with Sienar, is purple with rage. He orders the captain of the Einem to destroy the cargo ship, all that remains on the planet, and Obi-Wan and Anakin. Soon the two Jedi find themselves surrounded by sky mines and starfighters and they decide they would have to go lower into the factory valley. Then the ship, which was connected to Sekot, tells them that if they don't want to go with the people of Zonama Sekot then they better find some way to get into a solar orbit, and fast. Obi-Wan tells Anakin to do his best at getting them into free space and Anakin, expecting to die at any moment, drives them straight through the boiling atmosphere full of debris and flaming fuel. They break through the atmosphere's outer edges but starfighters are still pursuing them until Charza Kwinn pushes up from behind them and lure most of the fighters away. Then the Einem hits them with a concentrated bolt of turbolaser fire. It catches their ship broadside and Anakin feels the ship's scream of pain. While Anakin is still lost in the pain the ship felt, Obi-Wan sees huge engines flare to life on Zonama Sekot; pushing the planet out of its orbit. All the ships around her are having a hard time compensating and are running into each other. "She's leaving!" Obi-Wan cries and indeed the planet of Zonama Sekot disappears into hyperspace with only a faint, far-reaching tendril of farewell lingering behind. Anakin and the ship work together to take themselves into hyperspace; the ship teaching him how to navigate the dimensions of space and he is giving all the skills he possessed in return. The ship is giving all it had but it would not be able to get them to their destination; Its injures were too great. While Anakin is sleeping, Obi-Wan finds a closer station, on the planet of Seline, that Jedi sometimes use. He set its coordinates as their new destination and the ship's display affirms that they could make it there. Obi-Wan also sends out a message to the Jedi Temple asking Mace Windu or Tharacia Cho Leem to meet them at the outpost to council Anakin. When Anakin wakes up, he tells Obi-Wan he is going to give their ship a name; the Jabitha. Then Anakin asks, "Our ship is dying, isn't she?" "Yes" Obi-Wan replies. Anakin's face goes blank and Obi-Wan thinks, "The boy loses everything he loves, and yet still he is strong." The Jabitha, in a hangar on Seline, is rapidly losing its color as Anakin sits before it and watches. Thracia and Obi-Wan entered; Thracia approaches Anakin and starts her counseling and healing while Obi-Wan waits outside. "Self-knowledge is the most difficult of our many journeys."" Thracia tells the apprentice before they start. He simply replies, "I know." ## Continuity Rogue Planet established numerous recurring Legends characters and locations, including [Raith

Sienar](/article/raith_sienar-legends), Vergere, and Zonama Sekot are also featured. A young readers' adaptation titled Anakin: Apprentice, authored by Marc Cerasini, was created from sections of the novel and released in 2002.