Star Wars: Knight Errant: Escape constitutes the concluding miniseries, the third, within the Star Wars: Knight Errant comic series. Set during 1032 BBY, amidst the Republic Dark Age in the final century of the New Sith Wars, the narrative is primarily presented from the perspective of Jedi Knight Kerra Holt, a Jedi knight errant operating within Sith-controlled territories. Escape chronicles Kerra's deeply personal mission to locate her parents, long separated from her during the Sith invasion of Aquilaris in 1042 BBY. This pursuit leads her to infiltrate the domain of Sith Lord Odion, known as the Odionate, where she finds herself entangled in a Sith endeavor to unearth the Helm of Ieldis, an ancient Sith artifact. While Kerra's quest edges her closer to uncovering the destiny of her parents, she must also grapple with Odion's nihilistic ambition for galactic dominion.
Escape initially debuted on June 13, 2012, and continued until October 10, 2012. Comprising five individual issues, the script was crafted by John Jackson Miller. Subsequently, Escape was compiled into a trade paperback comic by Dark Horse Comics, and was released on April 10, 2013.
Following the events of the Aquilaris campaign and the Battle of Darkknell, Jedi Knight Kerra Holt established a connection with Sith Lord Daiman. Previously, she had successfully defended the planet Darkknell from the clutches of the Hutt crimelord Zodoh. As a gesture of reciprocity, Daiman pledged to assist her in infiltrating the Odionate, a region within the Grumani sector under the dominion of his estranged elder sibling, Lord Odion. Kerra's objectives included the downfall of Lord Odion, as well as uncovering the fate of her missing parents, Aron and Mercia Holt, following their separation during the invasion of Aquilaris Minor in 1042 BBY. Adopting the guise of a slave laborer named "Mercy" seeking to escape Daiman's war forges on Tergamenion, Kerra successfully engaged with Claimer Wayman, an Odionate recruiter. He furnished her with a signaling device, instructing her to activate it upon her arrival in the Odionate. Despite their adversarial relationship, Daiman's willingness to aid the Jedi woman stemmed from his longstanding sibling rivalry and his premonition of a significant tribulation originating from Odion's domain.
Subsequently, Kerra infiltrated the Odionate, enlisting in the Novitiates, Odion's distinguished corps of Dark Side Adepts. Kerra was assigned to a detachment of Novitiates deployed during an invasion of Skarpos, a planet within the realm of Lord Malakite, known as the Menagerie. During the conflict, Odion's forces suffered substantial losses due to General Beld Yulan's suicide wave tactics. "Mercy" drew Yulan's animosity when she attempted to deter Yulan's forces from charging into burning tar pits filled with starfighter fuel. Mercy's self-preservation clashed with Odion's nihilistic philosophy of embracing death through combat. Following the battle, Mercy's forces were reassigned by Wayman for a new mission and instructed to reconvene with Odion for a debriefing at Jubalene, Odion's recently acquired capital in the former Bactranate.
On Jubalene, "Mercy" and fellow Novitiates bore witness to the violent demise of three Jubalene Duros bankers who had been deceived into confronting an enraged rancor in an arena. Odion harbored an intolerance for the vibrant energy generated by life through the Force due to his heightened Force sensitivities, leading him to seek its extinguishment. Consequently, the death of a living being provided him with relief from this irritation. During the briefing session, Odion articulated his ambition to acquire the Helm of Ieldis, an ancient Sith artifact crafted prior to the Great Hyperspace War with the capacity to drive sentient beings into homicidal madness. Years prior, Odion had initiated a mission known as Project Pandemonium to locate the Helm, but it had stalled at Sarrassia, then under the rule of rival Sith Lord Ayanos Bactra. With the fall of the Bactranate, Odion was now positioned to resume his quest.
He tasked "Mercy" and her team of Novitiates with continuing Project Pandemonium. General Yulan readied his fleet for an invasion of Sarrassia. While Odion and the other Novitiates departed to observe further entertainment at the Sith arena, Kerra seized the opportunity to access information regarding her parents in the data center within the chamber. She discovered that they had been conscripted into Project Pandemonium following the invasion of Aquilaris.
During the journey to Sarrassia, Kerra experienced a flashback to her childhood during the invasion of Aquilaris. Her parents had instructed her to flee to Capital Cay's harbor, where they would escape aboard a Seacropper Submersible with the family of Joad Kreel. However, her parents never materialized, and Kerra returned to their family home only to find them missing. During the invasion of Sarrassia, Odionate forces swiftly eliminated all resistance and rounded up the population as slaves. Children were forcibly separated from their parents. Kerra's commander, Doyan, assigned the Novitiates to a mopping-up operation against Grumani Hierophants on Mount Diligence.
During the conflict, the Sith forces endured significant casualties when friendly fire from Yulan's artillery bombarded the trenches. Having quelled opposition, the Novitiates explored the subterranean caves beneath Mount Diligence. Kerra became separated from her fellow Novitiates and stumbled upon the Great Temple beneath the mountain. There, she encountered her childhood friend, Aunt Zoojoo, who provided her with additional information regarding the Helm of Ieldis and her missing parents. Kerra learned that her parents had visited Sarrassia seven years ago under Project Pandemonium in search of the Helm. However, they were secretly working to conceal the Helm from Odion. Ultimately, the Hierophants agreed to safeguard Mount Diligence at all costs from the Sith, while Kerra's parents would prevent Odion from acquiring the Helm. Her parents had journeyed to Skarpos, the last known location of the Helm, and had not returned since.
Kerra was also aware that her mother, Mercia, was pregnant at the time of their separation. She deduced that she had given birth to a younger sibling in Sith captivity, but Zoojoo was unable to confirm these details. Upon learning that the Helm was on Skarpos, Kerra informed Zoojoo that she had to stop Odion and locate her parents. Zoojoo disagreed and attempted to dissuade Kerra from her plans, arguing that doing so would only lead Odion to the Helm. Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Yulan and several Sith Novitiates. During the ensuing scuffle, Zoojoo took her own life by detonating a remote-rigged bomb, burying the temple under tons of rubble and rocks. "Mercy" survived the explosion and informed Yulan that the Helm was located on Skarpos, feigning allegiance to Odion's cause while secretly desiring to find a lead to her parents.
Sith Lord Odion recalls a flashback to his difficult childhood. His mother, Xelian, openly favored and pampered his infant brother, Daiman, while neglecting and ostracizing him. From a young age, Odion also harbored ambitions of carving out a vast empire, as his grandmother and family matriarch, Vilia Calimondra, had promised to bequeath her extensive interstellar empire to the heir who conquered the most. Since Daiman's birth, Odion had experienced severe and debilitating headaches stemming from his hypersensitivity to the existence of other sentient beings. This, coupled with the hatred from his family, led Odion to embrace inflicting death as a means of alleviating the pain caused by the existence of other sentient beings. In retrospect, these sentiments had driven Odion to establish a death cult that embraced destruction. In the present, Odion had not received word from his hunters seeking the Helm of Ieldis. When an aide inquired if she could dispatch a courier to check on them, Odion responded that he would personally investigate.
General Yulan's fleet made a brief stopover at the moon base of Vanahame to replenish supplies and refuel his flagship, the Gravedigger. Feigning enthusiasm and boredom, Kerra attempted to commandeer a shuttle. This prompted her superior, Doyan, to reiterate that the team of Novitiates would find the Helm together. The Kubaz Novitiate Glenk had also vanished on Sarrassia, leading the others to speculate that he had sought to claim the glory for himself. With the Gravedigger refueled, Kerra was dispatched beneath the spaceport to inform General Yulan. While exploring the basement, Kerra stumbled upon a massive cloister housing all the children within the Odionate. Due to Odion's unhappy childhood experiences and because they burned very brightly through the Force, which irritated him, he kept them confined in a series of planet-sized orphanages. Yulan also explained his reasons for joining Odion's cause, citing his grief stemming from the deaths of his children. For Yulan, the only escape was to embrace nothingness and death, as life was meaningless.
Following the stopover at Vanahame, the Odionate fleet arrived at Skarpos, where the Sith had established a garrison beneath the Morbollon Mesa. As the Novitiates prepared to explore the cave, the Odionate garrison came under attack from rival Menagerie and Daimanate forces. Lord Malakite sought to reclaim Skarpos for himself, while Lord Daiman aimed to capture the Helm. Daiman was accompanied by his double agent, Glenk, who had infiltrated the Novitiates and was tasked with monitoring Kerra's whereabouts. During the fighting, Kerra saved Yulan's life, which led him to view her more favorably. While Yulan's forces held back the invaders, the Novitiates headed for the cave opening near the top of the mesa. Amidst the fighting and chaos, Lord Odion himself arrived on a shuttle.
Kerra and the Novitiates managed to reach the Helm, but Kerra sabotaged their skiff. Kerra entered the Grumani temple chamber and discovered her mother's satchel. She found that the chamber was buried beneath a mound of rubble and rocks. Kerra was then struck with Force lightning by Odion, who had already acquired the Helm for himself. Kerra had merely led Odion to the ancient Sith artifact, and he intended to use it for a test demonstration.
Odion donned the Helm, while Kerra was taken captive and brought to the top of the Morbollon Mesa, where General Yulan's men had begun exploring the collapsed Grumani temple chamber. Despite acquiring Ieldis' vaunted artifact, Odion was unable to activate it, leading Kerra to taunt him. During their subsequent conversation, Odion revealed that he had been fully aware of Kerra's presence since she had entered the Odionate. However, he left her alone because he believed that Kerra and her family were predestined to lead him to the Helm. Odion revealed that he had acquired information about her parents' research on the Helm during a raid on the University of Sanbra. The invasion of Aquilaris Minor in 1042 BBY was merely a cover to capture her parents and the other researchers involved in the Ieldis study for Project Pandemonium.
By then, Yulan and his team of soldiers had finished their excavation of the temple chamber. They had recovered some camping remains and two human skeletons, one of which had a locket containing an image of Kerra's parents. Realizing that her parents had died, Kerra descended into a state of grief, which immediately activated the dark side powers of the Helm. Odion immediately unleashed the Helm's powers on two of Malakite's Mutate soldiers and their dragon steeds, who had stumbled upon Odion's entourage. Odion used the Helm's powers to drive them into a homicidal frenzy. Satisfied with this test demonstration, Odion unleashed the Helm on the three massed armies beneath the mesa. Malakite and Daiman's forces quickly collapsed as all the combatants began killing each other. In the ensuing massacre, Daiman and Malakite barely escaped with their lives. Meanwhile, Odion's entourage evacuated Skarpos on an Odionate planetary gunship.
Despite Odion's victory, the Helm also wiped out his entire garrison on Skarpos, leading General Yulan to raise concerns about the high losses. Odion dismissed Yulan's concerns, arguing that their deaths were inevitable and that the Helm saved them a lot of work. Kerra was subsequently taken to a detention cell, while Odion set the warship Gravedigger on an unknown course. Despite his initial hostility towards Kerra, Beld Yulan had come to grudgingly respect Kerra for risking her life to find her parents. During the meeting, Kerra also revealed that she was also looking for her lost younger brother or sister, whom she believed was incarcerated in one of the Odionate cloisters. Yulan then explained the main reason for his visit; a holorecorder had been recovered from the wrecked mesa chamber. Odion had viewed it privately and had ordered Yulan to bring it to Kerra in person.
It turned out that the holorecording was a message from Kerra's late parents to Vannar Treece or any other Jedi involved in the University of Sanbra on the Ieldis study. Four years after the Massacre of Aquilaris, her parents had finally recovered the Helm of Ieldis on Skarpos. The Holts had intended to bring the Helm to the Jedi and the Galactic Republic for safekeeping but were unable to since the planet was besieged by warring Sith factions. By that stage, the Holts had run out of food and there was a permanent Sith presence outside the Morbollon Mesa. To prevent the Sith from finding the Helm, the couple made the fateful decision to blow themselves and the chamber up, in a last-ditch attempt to deny the Sith access to the Helm.
Following the end of the transmission, Yulan expressed his inability to understand why Kerra's parents had willingly sacrificed their lives for everyone else. Kerra disagreed, but without showing any malice, argued that her parents' sacrifice had made perfect sense. For her, their sacrifice signified that if death could have a meaning, then life must have a meaning as well. Shortly after their meeting, the Gravedigger landed on Vanahame. Kerra asked if Odion had wanted more anguish to feed on, adding that Yulan could tell Odion it did not work. Yulan replied that Odion may have just wanted her to understand the Helm's potential. Upon realizing they had landed on Vanahame, Kerra reached the conclusion that he had come to the Cloister to harness the misery and sadness of the thousands of inmates within the planet-sized orphanage. By using the Helm to tap into these negative emotions, Odion's powers would be unlimited.
Following the events on Skarpos, the Calimondra family matriarch Vilia Calimondra successfully convinces her family to temporarily put aside their differences to stop the threat posed by Odion's nihilistic ambitions. In response, his rivals, including Daiman and Arkadia Calimondra, assembled their fleets in an effort to prevent Odion from destroying the galaxy. Savoring his successful demonstration on Skarpos, Odion now intended to unleash the Helm of Ieldis on a massive scale by drawing dark side energy from the negative emotions of his child captives on Vanahame to cause the entire Grumani sector to collapse into a homicidal frenzy. Odion also planned to eliminate his other Sith family members, ending the stalemated Second Charge Matrica, and then become ruler of the galaxy. For the first time, Odion ordered his staff to plunge the planet-sized orphanage into darkness, causing the inmates much fear and panic. Odion then used the Helm to convert their negative emotions into pure dark side energy, which was then unleashed on the entire sector.
While unleashing his Helm on the galaxy, Odion had his enemy Kerra chained and also used the Helm to drive his Novitiates into a killing frenzy. However, Kerra managed to convince Odion's second-in-command, Yulan, that life had a meaning and that the lives of the children on Vanahame mattered. Disillusioned with Odion's nihilistic doctrine and outlook, Yulan entered the Cloister's control room, where he forced the crew to restore the light within the Cloister and release the children from their bubble prisons. Yulan's actions had the immediate effects of ending the children's anguish, which ended the Helm's homicidal killing spree immediately. Meanwhile, Kerra managed to break free from her bonds and fight Wayman. Initially, Wayman held the upper hand and was about to inflict a death blow on Kerra when his master was overwhelmed by the sudden surge of positive feelings emanating from the relieved children. While Wayman was distracted, Kerra impales him with a lightsaber.
The surge of positive emotions caused the Helm to overload, causing Odion to burn to death. In his last moments, Odion attempted to get Kerra to spare his life by claiming that he could help her find her lost younger sibling. However, Kerra had come to the view that all the captive children were her true brothers and sisters and allowed Odion to die. With Odion's death, his realm descended into anarchy as his rivals, including Daiman, quickly carved up large chunks of territory from the former Odionate. With his humanity and love restored, a redeemed Yulan departed for Republic space with thousands of the former child inmates aboard a fleet of transports. Meanwhile, Kerra vowed to continue her fight to liberate the sector and the children's parents themselves from the Sith.
Pablo Hidalgo's The Essential Reader's Companion, which was released on October 2 2012, mistakenly mentions that Daiman was the leader of the death cult, seeking to recover the Sith artifact known as the Helm of Ieldis.
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