Skirmish at Sinkhole Station

Following the trial and subsequent exile of Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker from Coruscant in 43.5 ABY for neglecting his duties, he and his son, Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker, set out on a mission to uncover the reasons behind the transformation of Jedi Knight Jacen Solo into a Sith Lord two years prior. Their journey involved spending time with the Hidden Ones on Dorin and the Aing-Tii on their homeworld within the Kathol Rift, ultimately leading them to seek out the Mind Walkers located in the Maw. The Jedi discovered the Mind Walkers residing at Sinkhole Station, which bore a striking resemblance to a miniature version of Centerpoint Station. At this location, the Mind Walkers initiated the process of teaching the Skywalkers how to transcend "beyond shadows" by detaching their minds from their physical bodies.

In a parallel development, Ship, a Sith Meditation Sphere, unexpectedly departed from the planet of Kesh, where it had spent the previous two years assisting the Lost Tribe of Sith in developing a new Sith armada. The Tribe, having recently sensed Luke Skywalker's presence in the Force when he interacted with the Codex artifact in the Kathol Rift, dispatched a strike team led by Lady Olaris Rhea with the dual mission of recovering Ship and eliminating the Grand Master. The team tracked Ship to a planet within the Maw, where they eventually encountered Abeloth, a female entity of considerable power in the Force. The planet's flora and fauna proved to be lethal to the Sith, gradually reducing their numbers until only fifteen remained. Abeloth feigned assistance to the Sith in their search for Ship and efforts to remain safe, while secretly preventing Ship from returning to the Tribe. However, Abeloth was also present beyond shadows, and upon discovering the Skywalkers' location in the Maw, she permitted the Sith to depart the planet for Sinkhole Station, stipulating that the Tribe capture the Jedi and bring them back to Kesh, rather than killing them.

Upon their return from beyond shadows, the Skywalkers began to revitalize their weakened bodies in the station's control room. They then proceeded to question one of the Mind Walkers, Rhondi Tremaine, regarding the validity of their experience. They also contemplated theories concerning the mental illness affecting Jedi Knights back on Coruscant. During their discussion, they heard an explosion originating from the room where Ben had confined Tremaine's brother, Rolund Tremaine—a precautionary measure he had taken before venturing beyond shadows to ensure Rhondi's cooperation in their safe return. As Ben moved to check on Rolund, a crimson lightsaber pierced through the entry hatch, impaling Rhondi Tremaine in the back of the head.

Four red lightsabers began to cut through the hatchway, prompting Luke to create an escape route through the control room's viewport. The Grand Master decided to attempt to take one of the ambushers hostage to ascertain their identity and the identity of their sender. Eventually, the intruders breached the hatchway and engaged the Skywalkers in combat. One of the Sith, a Keshiri female, hurled a parang at Luke, who narrowly avoided the weapon. Ben retaliated by attacking the female Sith, severing her hand and stabbing her with his lightsaber. However, her companions quickly charged them, forcing the Skywalkers to retreat through the hatch, with Luke providing covering blaster fire. As Ben exited the control room, he tossed in a canister of azetal gas before he and Luke opened fire with their blasters. Three of the attacking Sith were killed, but the others escaped through the hole Luke had created in the viewport. Meanwhile, the Skywalkers fled down the corridor, attempting to reach their Horizon-class star yacht, the Jade Shadow.

Upon arriving at the station, Rhea reversed the mission's objective, prioritizing the elimination of the Skywalkers over their capture. She also instructed her apprentice, Vestara Khai, and a Sith Saber, Baad Walusari, to closely monitor Sith Master Yuvar Xal and his apprentice, Ahri Raas, as she suspected they would attempt to betray her during the battle and seize command of the strike team. Xal, Raas, Khai, and Walusari concealed themselves behind hatches at a junction chamber that the Skywalkers would need to traverse to reach the Jade Shadow, intending to attack them with grenades. Shortly after the Skywalkers escaped the initial confrontation, Rhea contacted the four ambushers to warn them of the Skywalkers' approach. As they observed their targets approaching with lightsaber and blaster in hand, Khai and Walusari opened their hatches and launched their grenades at the Skywalkers. However, Xal and Raas swiftly pushed the explosives back at them before launching their own stun grenades at the Jedi. Rhea had anticipated this move, however, and had provided Khai and Walusari with decoy grenades for their initial attack. Meanwhile, one of the Skywalkers—both of whom had evaded the effects of the grenades—feigned incapacitation from the stun blast, prompting Raas to move forward to apprehend him. However, before Xal could join him, Khai drew her shikkar and plunged the blade into the Sith Master's solar plexus, then used the Force to break off the hilt and watched Xal die. The Sith Master's agonizing scream distracted Raas long enough for the Skywalker he had been attempting to subdue to slice him down the spine with his lightsaber, killing him.

Walusari then prepared to launch his fragmentation grenades at the Skywalkers, but the Jedi used the Force to hurl the grenades back at him and slam his hatch shut on his arm. Luke then seized Khai's wrist and quickly tossed her fragmentation grenades away down the corridor. Enraged, Khai used the Force to strike out with her parang, managing to cut him across the cheek and nose. Unbeknownst to her, however, Luke had deliberately allowed her to wound him so that he could track her using a blood trail. Luke then incapacitated her with a blow to the face and took her with him as he and Ben continued toward the Jade Shadow.

As the Skywalkers passed by a detention center containing Killik carapaces, they were attacked by more Sith from the corridor behind them. The Jedi shoved their captive aside as Sith began unleashing blaster fire at them, which Luke countered by shooting the entrance through which the intruders had come—a membranous door. While the shot struck one of the beings still behind the door, the membrane itself ruptured, and the resulting decompression explosion sent several of the Sith flying down the corridor. The Skywalkers continued firing on the Sith, quickly eliminating four of them. However, the intruders eventually regained their composure, igniting their lightsabers and charging toward the Jedi. The Skywalkers, who had been retreating down the corridor to the hangar the entire time, were suddenly attacked by Khai, who—though still bound—had regained consciousness. She Force-pushed Luke into Ben, knocking them both into the wall. Luke, however, urged Ben to let the girl escape, and the Jedi Knight fired a few blaster shots after Khai, sending her running down the corridor.

As the Skywalkers reached the hangar, Ben sensed Ship's presence searching for them and realized that their attackers must be Sith, recognizing the vessel as a Sith ship he had encountered during the Second Galactic Civil War. He shared his concerns with his father, and Luke instructed him to prepare the Jade Shadow for launch. Luke then returned inside the station on a lift and was immediately confronted by four Sith. He shot one of them in the chest three times and then ignited his lightsaber through the face of a second. As the lift headed back down, the last two Sith—Khai and Rhea—dove in with him. The three engaged in a duel, and the Sith managed to inflict several glancing blows on Skywalker, tearing holes in his vac suit. As Skywalker began to lose pressure in the suit, the Sith pressed their advantage, with Khai firing on him with her blaster. Luke deflected the bolts back at her, sending one into her boot. Skywalker proceeded to duel one-on-one with Rhea, all the while using the Force to prevent Khai from attacking him from behind. The exit panel on the lift opened behind Luke, and Ben opened fire on Ship from the Jade Shadow. The Sith were distracted by the sudden light of the lasers, and Luke seized the opportunity by severing Rhea's leg and arm and quickly decapitating her. Upon killing the elder Sith, Luke immediately anticipated a counterattack from Khai. The apprentice, however, had realized she was outmatched and had retreated over to a SoroSuub StarTripper. She saluted Luke with her scarlet lightsaber—to which Luke responded with a nod—and fled.

With the blood trail on Khai, the Skywalkers allowed her to retreat to give Luke time to recover from his injuries. As they prepared to begin tracking the Sith apprentice, Ben began to worry that—while his father would recover from his physical wounds—he might never fully recover from his time beyond shadows. When Khai finally left the station, she knew that the Skywalkers would be tracking her and decided to head for the planet of Dathomir, where she sent a hypercomm message to the Tribe on Kesh to retrieve her. However, the Skywalkers found and dueled with the Sith Lord sent to retrieve her, defeating him and capturing Khai.

The Skirmish at Sinkhole Station was created by author Troy Denning for the third novel in the nine-part Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi series, Fate of the Jedi: Abyss, released in 2009.