The High Republic Adventures (2021) 7

With the Republic Fair on the horizon, Qort and Farzala embark on a diplomatic endeavor to negotiate terms with the Hutts, who have joined forces against the Drengir. However, tensions escalate, demanding every ounce of their training to navigate the situation!

Daniel José Older, the acclaimed author of Star Wars: Last Shot, and artist Harvey Tolibao, bring IDW into The High Republic, a sprawling publishing initiative encompassing both comics and prose!

Farzala Tarabal recalls how his childhood hero, Jedi Master Tal Bota, single-handedly confronted entire armies – at least according to the holos that he, Lula Talisola, and Qort enjoyed as younglings, when their Masters thought they should be studying. The stories depicted Tal Bota as fearless, even in the face of death, instilling a sense of fearlessness in the children's visions of their future as Jedi. However, Farzala now understands that their understanding of the galaxy was limited back then. He and pilot Leox Gyasi have been imprisoned in a dungeon within Bilbousa on Nal Hutta for at least a day; Farzala has lost all sense of time. Qort and the others were on their starship, but something must have occurred, given that it attacked the Hutt palace while Farzala and Leox were engaged in peace talks. Farzala's Master, Obratuk Glii, is with them, but he's in a state of hibernation, leaving Farzala to his own devices.

Below his cell, Farzala detects multiple presences lurking in the shadows, sensing their hunger and ferocity. The rustling and gnashing of their teeth fill him with fear, which troubles him because Jedi are not supposed to be afraid. In recent months, numerous Jedi have vanished or died fighting the Nihil and Drengir: Jora Malli and Rah Barocci are dead, and Grand Master Yoda and Master Loden Greatstorm have disappeared without a trace. Loden is presumed dead, but Yoda's fate remains unknown. Farzala simply misses them, especially Yoda. He realizes that he should seek guidance from his memories of the Masters, not a holodrama, and recalls a past conversation with his master about fear. Elsewhere, the Parwan Jedi Master Obratuk Glii acknowledges his apprentice's fear, telling Farzala that fear itself is not the enemy, which leaves Farzala perplexed.

Aboard the Vessel, as it nears Nal Hutta, Torvor, the leader of the thugs who hijacked the ship, orders a search for the escaped "girl" and "little Jedi." Gargo emphasizes the importance of finding the rock, while Y-99's peculiar statement prompts Kvar to question the droid's condition. Torvor angrily agrees about the rock before snapping that they need to round them all up, return to Bilbousa and make sure the Jedi don't help Skarabda fight the Drengir, reminding the team that Jabba gave them clear instructions and will feed them to his rancors if they fail, before ordering them to split up. As Affie Hollow and Qort hide, Torvor searches the Vessel, demanding that the "little jerks" reveal themselves, while specifically instructing the rock to remain still. Affie and Qort accidentally create a sound, but they manage to relocate before Torvor checks their previous hiding spot and finds nothing.

Later, Torvor vents his frustration with kids and Jedi when he spots a pair of boots sticking out from behind a curtain. He fires his blaster at the hiding figure, but upon pulling the curtain aside, he discovers only empty boots as a sock-clad Affie ambushes him from behind with a pipe.

In the past, Farzala tells Obratuk that he believed fear to be the enemy, as it led to the dark side. Obratuk agrees that this is true, but adds that fear is also one of the great teachers. Farzala expresses his confusion, and Obratuk explains that one cannot expect to overcome something they have never experienced or learn about something they have never felt, saying they cannot let fear rule them but are fools if they think they will never feel it. Obratuk explains that each time they feel fear, it is an opportunity to become better at overcoming it. In the present, Farzala reaches out of his cage and calls on the Force as the hanging prison begins to swing, leading Leox to ask him what he's doing.

Farzala remembers Obratuk asking him if he knows why the Parwan Jedi carries so many lightsabers. Young Farzala says he figured it was because of Obratuk's many arms, but Obratuk laughs and explains that each one was constructed in the memory of a Jedi Knight who was once one of his Padawans. Farzala is alarmed, but Obratuk says that when one lives to be a thousand, that comes with learning to watch those you care about grow old and die, adding that part of being a Jedi is meaning that they see the bigger picture. When the Padawan asks what that means, Obratuk reminds him that the statement that those who die become one with the Force is not just a saying, but that death makes people part of the Cosmic Force from which the Living Force springs.

Obratuk reminds Farzala that as they can feel the Force all around them, he misses his past apprentices but cannot be sad at their deaths, because they have become part of the greatest power in the galaxy and are still present, and so he will not fear the moment it happens to him. In the present, Farzala swings his cage in the Hutt dungeon. As he knocks it loose, he says that he understands what his Master meant and will not fear death when it comes for him, but today will not be that day. Breaking free of the cage, he lands on the vine-covered ground.

Onboard the Vessel, Kvar is searching and grumbling about "inanimate mineral matter aggregates" when the thug is ambushed by Qort, who reclaims his lightsaber from the intruder and forces him to surrender. In the cockpit, Gargo panics when the ship begins moving back towards Nal Hutta, only to find Geode at the controls. An attempt to hold the Vintian at blaster-point gets Gargo ambushed by Affie, but she in turn finds herself ambushed by Y-99.

In the lower levels of Skarabda's palace, Ishnar and her forces fight Drengir, the Kajain'sa'Nikto giving orders for assistance after one fighter, Talzar, is ensnared by vines. Just then, Farzala and Leox enter riding a blixus. Confused, Ishnar snaps that Farzala keeps saving her life even though she's done nothing but chase and imprison him, and he quips about how "confounding" it is before ordering Blixy to attack the Drengir. Farzala asks Ishnar for his lightsaber, easily reclaiming it with telekinesis when she asks what happens if she refuses to return it. The Zygerrian tells Ishnar that they're going to see her master, figuring that if they put their heads together they can get to the bottom of what is going on. Frustrated, Ishnar begrudgingly agrees, and Leox tells her that the kid has definitely got spunk.

On the Vessel, Y-99 makes a flowery speech as it prepares to shoot Affie, only for the droid to find itself run through from behind by a lightsaber. As the droid states that it must have miscalculated, more lightsabers ignite, and an awakened Master Obratuk uses the weapons to reduce Y-99 to scraps, before asking what exactly he missed.

In her throne room, Skarabda is meeting with Jabba, who suggests that given her inability to stem the Drengir in the Hutts' own capital city, it might be wise for him to bring in some of his own forces to reinforce the palace. The Hutt diplomat retorts to give it time, stating that she thought she could lure some Jedi in to help them but they attacked instead. Arriving in the throne room, Farzala swears that the Jedi had nothing to do with the attack on her palace. Jabba demands to know the meaning of this since this is the alleged saboteur, and Skarabda notes that he was accused of that, but he is with her head of security, and she asks Ishnar if she believes him. Exchanging a glance with Farzala, Ishnar says that she does, and Farzala asks to track down his companions' ship, so he and Ishnar can solve the problem together.

However, Skarabda says that will not be necessary, as the Vessel has just contacted them. Greeting Skarabda, Obratuk says they have some prisoners that might be of interest to them. Recognizing the prisoners as some of Jabba's thugs, Skarabda furiously rounds on her fellow Hutt, accusing him of sabotaging the negotiations with the Jedi so they could not help with the Drengir and saying she should have known he was behind it. Jabba claims it is a lie, but Obratuk agrees with Skarabda's assessment, telling her it appears he wanted to force her out of power and drive a wedge into the Hutt/Jedi alliance.

Stating they will be arriving shortly, Obratuk says that his Padawan is more than capable of speaking to the Jedi in his stead. Farzala thinks to himself that truthfully, the Tal Bota stories have it all wrong: Jedi become masters by facing their fear, not pretending they don't feel it, and the only way to do that is by realizing that a true Jedi is never truly alone. He tells Skarabda that the Jedi contingent there will certainly help her deal with the Drengir infestation, and that the next time she wants their help, she should just ask.

The Nikto leading the thugs who commandeered the Vessel is initially called "Torvor" by Y-99, but Skarabda later refers to him as "Torgor."

• UPC TBA; August 18 , 2021 ; IDW Publishing ; First printing [3] JUN210483; Cover A; Harvey Tolibao JUN210484; Cover B; Ilias Kyriazis[4]