Thank you for reading Star Wars: The Sith Orb: Book Four: The Dying Force! I am thrilled to finally be able to share the final story in a series that has been over a decade in the making! Based on what I've written so far and have planned, I am convinced that I have saved my best story for last! Book Three was more of a character drama, with very little occurring that had a direct relation to the overall story arc. That is most decidedly not the case with Book Four! Everything has been building up to this finale, which will contain plenty of action as well as drama. This will almost certainly be the longest book in the series, which is surprising, given that, for a long time, I was expecting it to be the shortest!
Before we continue this journey, there are a few things we need to get out of the way.
Firstly, this story is set in an alternate universe based on the Legends universe (which was still canon at the time I began writing the series). Characters from the New Jedi Order and Legacy of the Force series and my previous fanfics appear in this story, and events from those stories are referenced repeatedly. I have provided the necessary background information within the body of this story, so you do not need to have read any of those stories in order to understand The Sith Orb. However, if you are interested in experiencing the full backstory or want to avoid spoilers, I recommend reading those stories first. In addition, each installment of the series will begin with a detailed recap of the series so far, so you can skip ahead, if you wish. Although, at this point, there's really nowhere to skip ahead to!
Secondly, I do not own the Star Wars universe or anything in it. All events in my story are non-canon and should not be treated as part of the Star Wars universe. A large amount of credit goes to George Lucas for creating Star Wars. Also, special thanks to the creative people who have expanded the universe to create many characters and locations used in this story. Specifically, I would like to thank the authors who have made the Star Wars novels such compelling reads and inspired me to write my own stories!
Thirdly, all of my stories are original works by me. While I have taken inspiration from other works of fiction, I alone came up with the ideas. Official Star Wars media often contains events very similar to events in my stories. This is purely coincidental, at least on my part. I came up with these ideas before the official works were published. Please do not use any elements of my stories without my permission!
Finally, this story is rated T for Teen. The series as a whole delves into darker, more adult themes. You should expect mild language, graphic violence, mild sexuality, descriptive torture and death, depressing and frightening situations, and even parallels to real-life tragedies. However, Book Two was definitely the darkest part of the story.
And now, without further ado...
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
The Story So Far…
Over 850 years prior to the birth of the New Jedi Order, Yoda, then a Jedi Knight, went to Ruusan to explore the site of the battle in which the Sith were destroyed by their own thought bomb. When Yoda found the cave where the bomb had been detonated, he was surprised to find a glowing red orb. He could sense massive amounts of dark Force energy radiating from it, and he decided to bring it back to the Jedi Temple for study. There, he discovered that it was a Sith orb, an ancient weapon that gave its wielder ultimate power, containing the Force essences of the hundreds of Jedi and Sith that had been killed by the thought bomb.
After pitting Yoda against his former Master, N'Kata Del Gormo, the orb was shown to the Jedi Council to decide its fate. While Yoda argued that it was dangerous and should be destroyed, most of the Council did not agree. In the end, a compromise was reached. It would be hidden in a secret location known only to two Jedi at a time. That way, if the need arose, the Jedi could retrieve the orb and use it. Unfortunately, the orb's location was lost when both secret-keepers died during the Jedi Purge.
Forty years after the Battle of Endor, Don Dain was inaugurated as Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Alliance. The ceremony was interrupted, however, by three dark side assassins who defeated the Jedi present, including Grand Master Luke Skywalker, and caused a galaxy-wide panic. Commander Mek Dain, the chancellor's son, argued that the Jedi may have staged the attack as a cover to take over the Alliance. Don, who had always mistrusted the Jedi, decided to watch them for any hint of treachery. Meanwhile, the Jedi were still being blamed for the recent takeover by Sith Lord Darth Caedus, formerly Jedi Knight Jacen Solo, and feared that if they did not catch the assassins, they would completely fall out of favor with the Alliance.
On a deep-space survey mission, Admiral Mo'Ari, a loyal ally of the Jedi, discovered a man in the wreckage of a Separatist cruiser on the Dead Planet. The man was old, comatose, blind, and legless, and he wore a tattered Jedi uniform. He soon became a medical mystery and was sent to the Jedi Temple to be examined by Jedi Master Cilghal, who was equally dumbfounded by his condition. Master Ahsoka Tano, a survivor of the old Jedi Order, identified him as Demood Elppirc, a depressed Jedi Master who had been arrested for carrying out a prison break during the Clone Wars.
The Jedi temporarily revived Elppirc, only to find that he had gone insane. Amidst his mad ramblings, they learned that he was a secret-keeper and deciphered his riddle to discover the Sith orb's location on Mustafar. While Ahsoka led a Jedi strike team to recover the orb, Luke met with one of the Sith assassins, who told him their identities. They were the survivors of a project by the late Emperor Palpatine to clone his Force-sensitive servants. Sinestro, their leader, was a clone of Count Dooku; Volatis was of Mara Jade Skywalker, Luke's deceased wife; and Masculous was a mutated clone of Anakin Skywalker, Luke's father. Sinestro went on to reveal that they had been trained by Darth Caedus and were bent on finishing his work. He also warned Luke against trusting Elppirc or finding the orb.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka and her team, including Jedi Knights Zekk, Tesar Sebatyne, Lowbacca, and Tahiri Veila, went to the Island of Basika on Mustafar and climbed into a volcano to find the orb. However, the orb was missing, and an Imperial flag lay in its place. At that moment, the volcano began to erupt, and the Jedi had to outrun the lava. During the escape, Zekk was severely burned trying to protect the team. The mission's failure affected Tahiri greatly. She had seen her lover, Anakin Solo, die in battle, been shaped into a monstrous Yuuzhan Vong, and briefly served as Caedus' apprentice. As a result, she felt like she did not belong anywhere.
After consulting the Imperial Head of State, Jagged Fel, with whom Jaina Solo was having a secret affair, Luke learned that Darth Vader had recovered the orb long ago, but the Star Destroyer transporting it to the emperor had been attacked by rebels and crashed into the ocean on Kamino. Luke met with Chancellor Dain to requisition underwater exploration equipment, although he neglected to say exactly what they were looking for. Dain eventually agreed to the request, with his only condition being that his Jedi bodyguard, Master Sol Fadré, be sent on the mission. After the meeting, Dain was even more convinced that the Jedi were hiding something from him.
Jaina and Sol went to Kamino to explore the underwater wreckage of the Star Destroyer, but the orb was nowhere to be found. Instead, they found evidence that the ship had been raided by an unknown organization. Before the Jedi could leave, the entire ship unexpectedly tilted on the ocean floor. The room they were in began to collapse, damaging Jaina's scuba helmet and leaving her life in the hands of Sol. Despite losing consciousness, she used her Force abilities to prevent the room from collapsing and stay alive long enough to be rescued.
Returning to the temple, Jaina and Sol investigated the clue they had found on Kamino. They determined that the orb had been salvaged by a group of scavengers formerly under the employ of Jabba the Hutt. Luke was determined to go to Jabba's palace to find the orb, but the rest of the Jedi Council felt that they should give up the search. Angrily, Luke stormed out and went to Tatooine with his son, Ben. It became clear that Luke's mind was unsettled by recent events and the stress of being the Grand Master, even though he refused to admit it.
Beneath Jabba's palace, Luke and Ben discovered that the orb was in the possession of the mysterious B'Omarr monks, who worshipped it as a deity. They reacted violently to Luke's request to take it and locked the Skywalkers away to be left to die. Luke surmised that the orb possessed some form of sentience and had used the Force to influence the monks' minds. The Jedi escaped their prison and recovered the orb, but they soon found themselves surrounded by monks and tried to fight their way out. Then, the orb killed all of the monks with Force energy, apparently deciding to help the Jedi.
Back at the Jedi temple, Luke used the orb to cure Elppirc of his madness and completely heal him. His success backfired, however, when Elppirc revealed himself to have been working with the Sith assassins. At that moment, the Sith infiltrated the temple to extract Elppirc and the orb with the help of Sol Fadré, who had joined them after experiencing a vision of doom. In the ensuing battle, Sol had a change of heart and tried to destroy the orb, but it defended itself by killing him. And then, using the orb, the Sith blew open the doors to the temple and escaped.
As the Jedi reflected on this unfortunate turn of events, Luke admitted that they were right about him allowing stress to cloud his judgment. He vowed that the Jedi would not rest until the assassins, Elppirc, and the orb were hunted down and destroyed.
In the eight months since they had obtained the Sith orb, Demood Elppirc and the Sith assassins gathered powerful allies, including former Imperial Moff Hyke, and established a hidden base on Korriban, from which they silently prepared to take over the galaxy. Meanwhile, Elppirc, having renamed himself Darth Hatus and taken the assassins on as apprentices, had been using the orb to rejuvenate himself and regrow his legs. He and Darth Sinestro soon came at odds over their end goal. Sinestro wanted to impose order on the galaxy so that no one had to suffer the way he had. Hatus, however, wanted to make the entire galaxy understand his own suffering, and he was prepared to torture and kill innocent people to attain that goal.
Back on Coruscant, the Jedi found their first solid lead to the Sith – a holotransmission between the late Sol Fadré and Sinestro. The recording revealed that Sol had tracked the Sith down during an investigation into Jacen Solo, at the behest of Mara Jade Skywalker. Sinestro described how he and his siblings had been recruiting allies since the Yuuzhan Vong War in an attempt to revive the Sith Order. Among them was the Sith acolyte Lumiya, who trained the siblings in the dark side of the Force and recruited Jacen to their cause. The recording ended with Sinestro inviting Sol to the Sith base on Dromund Kaas.
Reacting to this information, the Jedi Council decided to launch an attack against the Sith on Dromund Kaas. However, they could not obtain Chancellor Don Dain's approval without revealing their secrets to him. Luke figured out a way around this by enlisting the aid of Admiral Mo'Ari, who agreed to commit three Star Destroyers to the attack. When Ben Skywalker learned that he would not be allowed on the attack force, he angrily accused his father of being overprotective. Tired of arguing with his son, Luke reluctantly agreed to let him join the battle.
When the Jedi fleet arrived at Dromund Kaas, they sent in their fighter squadrons to where they believed the Sith base to be. However, they were hailed from that location by a man claiming to be the governor of a refugee colony. Believing that they had come to the wrong place, Luke ordered the fighters to return to the cruisers. Suddenly, several fighters were struck by lightning and exploded, including Ben's. No longer able to sense him through the Force, Luke was dismayed to realize that his son was dead.
No one knew that Ben had actually survived and crash-landed on Dromund Kaas. With his lightsaber destroyed, and no way to contact the Jedi, Ben set out toward the refugee colony. When he arrived, however, he discovered that it actually was a Sith base, inhabited by members of the ancient Sith species revived using the Sith orb. He also learned that over a thousand innocent beings from throughout the Outer Rim were being held prisoner and forced to build the Sith's weapons and armor. Mistaken as an escaped slave, Ben was captured and tortured. Knowing he had few options, he decided to play along until he could find an opportunity to escape. He quickly befriended a girl named Nysilla Zabeth, who had been taken from her home along with her mother, Mari. The next day, Darth Volatis arrived to motivate the slaves to work harder. To do this, she made an example of the slaves who performed the worst, including Mari. Unwilling to blow his cover, Ben was forced to stand by and watch the slaves' execution.
Upon returning to Coruscant, the Jedi Council could not decide what to do next. Ahsoka Tano met with Chancellor Dain to try and explain why he had not been informed of the attack beforehand. After she left, Commander Mek Dain convinced his father that the Jedi were getting out of hand and had to be taken down. But, to do that, they needed evidence to convince the Senate to act. So, Don enlisted cyborg bounty hunter AO-327 to spy on the Jedi.
A few weeks later, while investigating several disappearances in the Outer Rim, the Jedi noticed that most of them happened near Dromund Kaas, leading them to believe that they had been deceived by the Sith. They could not prove their theory, however, so Don Dain would not authorize another attack on the planet. After meditating together, the Jedi sensed that the Sith would soon attack Zygerria and decided to set a trap for them there. With Admiral Mo'Ari under probation, Jaina convinced Jagged Fel to send Imperial troops to back them up – in exchange for a chance to continue their secret affair. Unbeknownst to everyone, AO-327 was listening in on both the meeting and Jaina's transmission, and he decided to follow the Jedi to Zygerria to prove that they were betraying the Alliance.
On Dromund Kaas, Ben continued to work for the Sith, witnessing the brutal treatment of the other slaves. When he saw a woman about to be raped, he wanted to save her, but he was powerless. One day, to his horror, he learned that there was a warehouse filled with the rotting corpses of hundreds of slaves, and he was forced to feed those bodies into the furnaces that powered the base. One of the bodies was a young girl who resembled his cousin, Allana Solo, so much so that he feared it could have been her. Afterward, Ben broke down and confessed his hopelessness to Nysilla, who comforted him. They confessed their feelings for each other and kissed for the first time.
After the Jedi rendezvoused with Jagged Fel's fleet on their way to Zygerria, he and Jaina met for a secret rendezvous of their own, during which Jaina explained to Jag everything that had happened. She did not realize that AO-327 was listening. Arriving at Zygerria, the Jedi and Imperial forces assembled outside the capital city, waiting for the Sith to arrive. But Darth Hatus was already inside with the Zygerrian king, threatening to take his people as slaves. Using the Sith orb, he created a fiery tornado that destroyed the royal palace, as well as most of the city. Stunned by the destruction, the Jedi and stormtroopers were ambushed by Sith warriors and force to retreat.
With no evidence of the Sith's presence on Zygerria, the Jedi and the Empire were held responsible for both the destruction of the city and the kidnapping of the survivors. Don Dain announced his plans to have the Jedi barred from the Alliance, shortly before AO-327 showed him all of the evidence he had compiled against the Jedi. Now that he knew all of the Jedi's secrets, Don confronted Luke and threatened to attack the Jedi Temple unless they turned Tahiri Veila over to Alliance custody for the crimes she committed during her brief period as Darth Caedus' apprentice. Luke refused and returned to the temple to prepare the Jedi for war.
After two months of being enslaved on Dromund Kaas, Ben was forced to blow his cover to save Nysilla from the Sith. She was furious to learn that he had been lying about his identity and accused him of letting all of the other slaves die, including her mother. With the entire Sith base now hunting him, Ben was forced into hiding to formulate a plan to contact the Jedi for help. He set the corpse warehouse on fire as a distraction while he snuck into the command center to send a message. Meanwhile, Hatus, having learned of Ben's survival, feared that the boy would ruin his entire plan, so he decided to send an attack force to the Jedi Temple to prevent the boy's message from being received.
Back on Coruscant, Luke revealed everything Dain told him, including Jaina's affair (much to her humiliation), to the Jedi Council. Determined not to give in to Dain, Luke found evidence that the chancellor used to be a Separatist admiral and used it to blackmail him. Dain revealed how he was disgraced in the eyes of General Grievous because he was tricked by Anakin Skywalker and narrowly escaped punishment. He also told the story of how he had been unwillingly roped into a Separatist plot to kidnap Demood Elppirc from prison, and a plot by Darth Maul and AO-327 to recover him. Still, Dain was afraid of what would happen if the truth came out, so he ordered the troops sent to attack the temple to stand down. Mek was furious at the change of plans, especially since he was prepared to fire a baradium missile at the temple, destroying the troublesome Jedi once and for all.
Suddenly, a ship flew over the temple and dropped dozens of highly skilled, lightsaber-wielding assassin droids. Working together, the Jedi and Alliance troops were able to defend the temple from the intruders. Luke, meanwhile, came face-to-face with Emperor Palpatine, who had been resurrected using the Sith orb. Palpatine offered to help Luke defeat Darth Hatus and the New Sith, but the Jedi Master knew better than to trust the Emperor, and a lightsaber duel ensued. Luke seemed to be outmatched until Ahsoka arrived and helped him kill Palpatine. After the battle, Don Dain realized that the Sith really had returned, and agreed that he and the Jedi needed to work together to defeat this threat. At that moment, they received Ben's message summoning them to Dromund Kaas. Luke was overjoyed to learn that his son was alive, and Dain authorized an immediate attack on the Sith base.
Back on Dromund Kaas, Darth Volatis, growing increasingly furious at Ben's sabotage and elusiveness, drew him out of hiding by threatening to kill Nysilla. Using a lightsaber stolen from a Sith Knight, Ben engaged Volatis in a fierce duel, using his anger and hatred to defeat her. Then, in a fit of rage, he used an electrowhip to torture her to death. As he killed her, the Alliance forces arrived and overran the base, killing the Sith and freeing the slaves. Ben was then treated to an emotional reunion with his family. With the Sith exposed as the true culprits of the Outer Rim disappearances and the incident on Zygerria, the Jedi Order and Imperial Remnant were vindicated. However, Jaina and Jagged Fel decided to end their relationship to avoid any future scandals.
At the Sith base on Korriban, Moff Hyke was contacted by Mek Dain, who was angry that the Sith attack on the Jedi Temple had ruined his own plans for the destruction of the Jedi Order. He revealed that he had allied with the Sith so that he could usurp his father's place. Meanwhile, Hatus used the Sith orb to resurrect Volatis, holding her responsible for the loss of Dromund Kaas and warning her not to fail him again. After she left, a Sith laborer delivered Hatus' new lightsaber to him. While practicing with it, Hatus injured himself and discovered that he could infuse the orb's power directly into his bloodstream through direct contact. The process also caused a psychedelic high that Hatus quickly became addicted to.
Having returned to Coruscant with the freed slaves, Ben was hailed as a hero by everyone – except Nysilla. Even though her anger toward him had abated, she still could not cope with the fact that he had lied to her, and decided to return to her home, leaving Ben heartbroken. At the next Jedi Council meeting, Luke requested that Ben be promoted to Jedi Knight as a reward for his heroism. Not everyone shared this view, however, fearing that Ben's experiences on Dromund Kaas might drive him to the dark side. But Luke convinced them that he would seek psychological help for his son, so they accepted the appointment. At a special ceremony, Ben Skywalker was knighted by his father.
One day, six months after the Battle of Dromund Kaas, a Sith Meditation Sphere known as "Ship" arrived at the Sith base on Korriban. It had sensed Darth Hatus' growing power and come to serve him. It also mentioned that it had previously been serving the Lost Tribe, a civilization descended from ancient Sith who had crash-landed on the planet Kesh, in Wild Space, five thousand years prior. Fearing that this "Lost Tribe" could be a threat to his plans, Hatus ordered Ship to bring him to them.
Upon arriving on Kesh, Hatus met with the Circle of Lords, led by Grand Lord Darish Vol, wanting to add the Lost Tribe to his exponentially growing army. At first, Vol refused, believing that Hatus was not a true Sith, but he changed his mind when Hatus revealed the Sith orb. An alliance was made, but there was debate over who should be the singular ruler. Hatus suggested that he and Vol battle for the title. Not wanting to be perceived as weak or cowardly, Vol accepted the challenge. With all Sith bearing witness, they engaged in a duel that ended with Hatus disarming Vol and overpowering him with the Force. Hatus was declared the victor and ruler of the New Sith Alliance. However, Vol could not accept his defeat and tried to kill Hatus with the Force. But Hatus used the power of the orb to turn the attack back on Vol, killing him.
Afterward, Hatus told his apprentices that he would stay on Kesh for a while to evaluate the Lost Tribe and negotiate the terms of the alliance. He also decreed that, after he had left, Darth Volatis would remain to oversee the Lost Tribe. Volatis, furious about this arrangement, accused Hatus of still blaming her for the loss of Dromund Kaas. Darths Sinestro and Masculous were sent back to Korriban to continue the war against the Jedi. Before they left, however, Sinestro noted that the Sith orb had shrunk to half of its original volume.
Ever since he had begun to infuse the dark Force energy of the Sith orb into his bloodstream, Darth Hatus found that he was growing more powerful and able to use the orb's powers without having to physically hold it. Within a year, however, he had begun to feel side effects from the orb, such as hearing voices in his head. He had also begun to notice that the orb was visibly shrinking every time he used it, so he tried to stop before it vanished completely. But he was addicted to the orb's power, and he went into painful withdrawal whenever he went too long without an infusion.
Over a year into the New Sith War, a Sith fleet attacked an Alliance space station over the planet Gederon. An Alliance fleet, commanded by Admiral Mo'Ari aboard the Reliant, arrived to reinforce the station. With the help of Jaina Solo's starfighter squadron, they nearly won the space battle. However, a new Sith battlecruiser called the Leviathan arrived to turn the tide. The Alliance fleet was forced to turn around and try to outrun the new ship's interdiction field so it could jump to hyperspace. However, most of the Star Destroyers were disabled by the warship's ion pulse cannons and then destroyed by its thousands of turbolasers. And the massive contingent of Sith fighters launched from the Leviathan slaughtered all of the Alliance fighters, including Jaina's X-Wing. As she drifted into oblivion, her last thoughts were that she loved Jagged Fel and regretted breaking up with him. The Reliant was the only Alliance ship to escape the massacre, albeit heavy damaged.
By sheer luck, the remains of Jaina's X-Wing drifted into the hangar bay of the Reliant before it fled. Jaina survived but was severely injured and fell into a coma. Back on Coruscant, Tahiri Veila went to visit her in the hospital and was dismayed by her condition. Han, Leia, and Allana Solo were also there, and Tahiri unwittingly offended them by suggesting that Jaina may never wake up.
The Jedi discussed the loss of Gederon and the troubling trend of their recent defeats. They resolved to kill Darth Hatus and destroy the Sith orb as a means of victory. Ben Skywalker emphatically volunteered to carry out an assassination attempt but was shot down. After the meeting, Ahsoka Tano cornered Luke Skywalker and expressed her concerns that Ben might turn to the dark side unless he opened up about his traumatic experiences on Dromund Kaas.
That night, Luke had a dream in which he was his father, Anakin Skywalker, during the Clone Wars. He had just won the Battle of Latru and was negotiating terms of surrender with King Monad Joisûr. During the conversation, Monad revealed that Demood Elppirc had been born on Latru and had lived there for a year as a Jedi. Then, tempers flared, and Anakin killed the king in anger and destroyed the royal palace to cover it up.
When Luke awoke, he was troubled by his father's actions, but excited to have learned a crucial piece of Hatus' past. He told Ahsoka about his dream (intentionally omitting Anakin's misdeeds), after which she confirmed that Latru's resources had been destroyed during the battle, so no one had bothered with the planet since then. Luke believed that the dream had actually been a Force vision and resolved to go to Latru in search of information about Hatus that could aid the Jedi in defeating him. However, he feared that the people of Latru would want revenge for the ruin his father had brought upon them, so he insisted on going alone so as not to put anyone else at risk.
The following morning, Luke explained his plan to the Jedi Council and Chancellor Don Dain, who hesitantly agreed to let him go. Leia, however, insisted that he invite Tahiri to accompany him as extra security and to distract her from Jaina's coma. He complied, although he did tell Tahiri about his full vision and warn her about the animosity that they may face on Latru. She accepted his invitation, nonetheless. The next day, they boarded the Jade Shadow and departed Coruscant.
Meanwhile, the Sith were preparing for an upcoming attack, but Darth Volatis was ordered by Hatus to remain on Kesh as punishment for her failure on Dromund Kaas. She was determined to redeem herself by killing Ben Skywalker, whom she held responsible for ruining her life. She knew, however, that she could not go to Coruscant to kill him herself. But Vestara Khai, a ruthless and versatile Sith apprentice of the Lost Tribe, caught her eye, and Volatis asked her to kill Ben in exchange for the promise of glory and advancement in the Sith ranks. Vestara, who despised the Jedi and had lofty ambitions to one day rule the Sith herself, accepted the mission.
When the Jade Shadow landed on Latru, Luke and Tahiri were brought to the rebuilt royal palace in the capital city of Gratbûr. There, they met King Cresta Joisûr, the grandson of Kind Monad. Following his grandfather's death, Cresta had inherited the throne at the age of nine. Against all expectations, Latru had prospered under his rule, and he became a benevolent and beloved king. Despite never having received visitors since the Clone Wars, he welcomed Luke and Tahiri with open arms and promised to help them with their mission.
At dinner that evening, Cresta introduced Luke and Tahiri to his grandchildren, Ramar and Meilla; and his daughter, Mara Quidden. Luke was shocked and disquieted by the coincidence that she shared her name with his late wife. As they ate, Cresta explained that, although he had once harbored hatred toward the Republic for his planet's ruin, he had learned to forgive and move on, which alleviated his burdens and allowed him to be a better ruler. Tahiri, however, suspected that he was lying to lure his visitors into a false sense of security so that he could kill them more easily.
The next morning, Cresta gave Luke and Tahiri a list of people who may have known Demood Elppirc. Upon questioning these people, they learned that Elppirc had once been happy, compassionate, and loyal to the Jedi Order. However, during his visit, he had announced his intentions to leave the Jedi and stay on Latru. Then he had mysteriously become depressed and withdrawn. Unfortunately, no one Luke and Tahiri spoke to knew what had happened to him to spur that change.
Back on Coruscant, Ben was surprised to run into Nysilla Zabeth. He was even more surprised when she agreed to go out to dinner with him. There, Ben expressed his desire for revenge against the Sith and his frustration with his father, which concerned Nysilla. At the end of the night, she told him that she did not want to be in a relationship with him. She felt she could not trust him again after he hid his identity from her on Dromund Kaas.
Angry about being rejected, Ben went to a nearby nightclub to try to drink his troubles away. He noticed a young woman being harassed by a large, drunk Devaronian and tried to intervene. The alien responded by beating him up. Too drunk to fight back, Ben eventually ended the fight by drawing his lightsaber and scaring his attacker away. The woman then led him to the bathroom to help him clean up his bleeding face. It was Vestara, come to kill him. However, noting that he was drunk and beaten senseless, she realized that there would be no glory in killing an enemy who was unable to fight back. So, she reluctantly held off and offered to meet with him again when he had recovered.
The following morning, Ben visited Vestara in her hotel room, where she planned to kill him. She claimed she was a tourist, so he offered to take her on a tour of the Jedi Temple. Believing that she could possibly gather intel on the Jedi to bring back to the Sith, she accepted. However, the Jedi would not let her in without a visitor's pass, despite Ben's objections. Upon seeing Vestara, Ahsoka sensed that something was not right with her and pulled Ben aside to confront him about it. She was shocked to hear what he had done the previous night and told him to stay away from Vestara. Ben was furious and resolved to continue seeing her in secret. Vestara, observing the conversation, noted how angry Ben was and wondered if she could turn him to the dark side. She figured that if she succeeded in doing that, her glory amongst the Sith would be even greater than if she simply killed him.
The next day, Ben and Vestara met up again at Monument Plaza. Vestara artfully steered their conversation in a direction that brought out the anger in Ben. He told her about what he had experienced on Dromund Kaas, and Vestara was appalled that her people would commit such horrible acts. She was torn between completing her mission and leaving the Sith – neither of which was appealing. Then, by chance, she met Nysilla in the bathroom, who confessed that she was still in love with Ben, despite his lies. Vestara felt threatened by this and decided that she may have to kill Nysilla in order to complete her mission.
Over the next few days, Luke and Tahiri continued to interview people about Elppirc, but learned nothing else of value. At Cresta's invitation, they agreed to stay in Gratbûr for the upcoming winter festival, Latru's biggest and most important holiday. Tahiri had grown enamored of the city and the Latruans' simple lifestyle, but she was also bitter that they had avoided the tragedies that had plagued the rest of the galaxy. The evening before the festival, she noticed Cresta sneaking off into the mountains. Worried that he was up to no good, she decided to follow him. Deep in the forest, the king realized he was being followed and brandished his scepter as a weapon, igniting the lightsaber that formed the tip. Believing her initial suspicions of him to be correct, Tahiri engaged him in a lightsaber duel, eventually disarming him. Cresta revealed that his lightsaber had once belonged to Demood Elppirc, and that King Monad had built it into his scepter. He also stated that he had come into the mountains to visit his wife's grave. Realizing her mistake, Tahiri tried to apologize, but Cresta was too angry to accept it. He forced her to admit her suspicions about him as well as her feelings about Latru not having suffered like the rest of the galaxy. Infuriated, he went into a tirade describing the suffering he and his people were forced to endure after the Clone Wars. Ashamed of herself, Tahiri fled back to the palace.
Noticing Tahiri's absence, Luke was concerned that something had happened to her. While waiting for her to return, he found himself having a candid conversation with Mara Quidden. He shared his concerns about Ben and his guilt about Jacen Solo, and she, in turn, shared her concerns about her own children and how alone she felt since her husband's death. Luke and Mara felt a connection to each other, but they were interrupted by Tahiri's return. She told Luke what had happened in the mountains, much to his anger. An argument ensued in which Luke accidentally revealed that it had been Leia's idea to bring Tahiri to Latru. Tahiri took that to mean that no one wanted her around. She sent Luke away so that she could wallow in self-pity and grief on her own.
Then Cresta came to speak to her. She was afraid that he wanted to punish her for spying on him but was surprised when he apologized for losing his temper. With the incident behind them, they had an open conversation, in which Cresta revealed that he had felt so overwhelmed when he first became king that he considered ending his own life. It was only through the love of his childhood friend and future wife that he found the strength to carry on. Tahiri, in turn, told Cresta of her love for Anakin Solo, his tragic death, and her terrible deeds as Darth Caedus' apprentice. In spite of that, the king comforted her and offered to let her begin a new life on Latru.
On Coruscant, Chancellor Don Dain asked his son, Mek, to be aboard the newly repaired Reliant the following morning to assess Admiral Mo'Ari's mental state following the defeat at Gederon. Realizing that he would be put in danger during the impending Sith attack, Mek tried to protest, but to no avail. During his next meeting with the Sith leaders, he asked them to alter the attack so that he would remain safe, but Hatus refused. The Sith Lord then confronted Volatis about Vestara's secret mission, warning her that she would be held responsible if the girl failed.
The next morning, everyone on Latru set out to enjoy the winter festival. Luke was surprised that Tahiri and Cresta were suddenly getting along so well. When the opportunity arose to speak to her alone, Luke apologized to her for the things he had said the previous evening. Tahiri, in turn, apologized for her recent behavior and told Luke that she had decided to accept Cresta's offer to stay on Latru. After the initial shock wore off, Luke was glad to finally see Tahiri truly happy.
Back on Coruscant, Ben visited Vestara one last time, as she had told him that it was her last day on Coruscant. She continued to erode his faith in the Jedi Order and convinced him to sneak her into the Jedi Temple. Disguising her as a temple worker, Ben led her to his quarters, running into Allana Solo along the way. Upon their arrival, Ben felt exhilarated about breaking the rules and decided he was done being bossed around. Caught up in their emotions, he and Vestara kissed, which led to them having sex. Meanwhile, Allana ran into Ahsoka and told her that she had felt something off about the temple worker Ben was with. Based on the girl's description, Ahsoka realized that it was Vestara and went to confront Ben. He sensed Ahsoka coming, and while he and Vestara scrambled to get dressed, he accidentally knocked over her purse, revealing her lightsaber. With her cover blown, Vestara engaged Ben in a lightsaber duel. Ahsoka arrived in the middle of the duel and incapacitated Vestara just as a Jedi security team came to arrest the girl. As they led Vestara away, Ahsoka berated Ben for his actions and told him that he had committed treason. Unwilling to arrest him, she ordered that he be confined to quarters until she could have a discussion with Luke. She then went to interrogate Vestara, who tried to warn her that the Sith would attack Coruscant in a matter of minutes. She claimed that she loved Ben and had lost her faith in the Sith, but Ahsoka did not believe her.
At that very moment, Obsidian Towers, the hotel where Nysilla was working, suddenly exploded, along with dozens of nearby buildings. Every Jedi on the planet sensed it, including Jaina, who abruptly woke up from her coma. On Latru, Luke sensed it as well and realized that he had to return to Coruscant immediately. Before he could do so, however, the Leviathan descended upon Gratbûr and opened fire on the city.
When the barrage ended, the city was destroyed and so many innocent Latruans were dead, including Mara Quidden. Luke blamed himself for the devastation, believing that he had been the Sith's primary target. Then, Sith warriors arrived to take the survivors, and Luke and Tahiri began to fight them. They were soon joined by Cresta, wielding his scepter-lightsaber, and the Royal Guard. Together, they began to push the Sith back. But then Darth Hatus himself arrived, using his new powers to slaughter Latruans left and right. Luke, Tahiri, and Cresta engaged him in a duel, ensuring he was too busy to use his powers. As a result of their teamwork, Hatus suffered a grievous chest wound and nearly died. However, he managed to save himself by infusing the last vestiges of the Sith orb. But the amount of power flowing through him burned him from the inside, causing intense pain. Tahiri charged to attack him, but he unleashed a Force shockwave that sent everyone flying. Luke landed in the river that ran beneath Gratbûr and managed to swim back to shore. But hypothermia set in, causing him to lose consciousness.
Luke awoke in a cell with Cresta, who informed him that the Sith had enslaved all of his people. Feeling guilty, Luke decided to tell the king the whole truth about the vision that had brought him to Latru. He was surprised to learn from Cresta that Anakin Skywalker had not murdered King Monad, contrary to his vision. It was clear that Hatus had used the power of the Sith orb to create the vision and plant it in Luke's head to lure him away from Coruscant. Knowing that he had fallen for Hatus' trick made Luke feel even worse. Later, Darth Sinestro came to bring Luke before Hatus, leading him through a new Sith base where Latruans were being put to work, just like on Dromund Kaas. Luke called Sinestro out for allowing the atrocities to happen and questioned the reason for his loyalty to Hatus. He quickly deduced that Sinestro wanted to defy his master, but that his programming as a clone prevented him from doing so.
Sinestro led Luke to the ruins of the royal palace, where Hatus was sitting on the king's throne. The Sith Lord revealed that Tahiri had been killed by his Force blast, but he had resurrected her using the orb's power. He planned to turn her to the dark side and make her serve the Sith once more. Luke was dismayed to realize that if the Sith were defeated and the orb destroyed, then Tahiri would die permanently. Hatus then revealed the missing pieces of his backstory.
During his mission to Latru as a Jedi Knight, Demood Elppirc had fallen in love with Shmi Skywalker – Luke's grandmother – who had grown up in Gratbûr. He had planned to leave the Jedi Order and marry her, but then she had become pregnant with Anakin. Elppirc believed that she had cheated on him, leaving him heartbroken. But King Monad had believed that the child was Elppirc's and reported him to the Jedi Council. Elppirc tried to tell them that it was not true, but they did not believe him and punished him for breaking his Jedi vows. All of these betrayals combined left him bitter and depressed, leading him to turn to the dark side.
The destruction of Gratbûr and the enslavement of the Latruans was only one step in Hatus' quest for revenge. He promised Luke that he would destroy the New Jedi Order, Ahsoka, and the rest of Luke's family. Then, he began to broadcast a speech to the entire galaxy, boasting his victory over Luke and promising to make everyone suffer the way Elppirc had. As he spoke, Luke experienced a Force vision in which he saw hundreds of possible futures play out; some were good, some were bad. But he realized that the good outcomes could only be achieved if he died. Even though he questioned it, he decided to put his faith in the Force one last time.
So, he bowed his head and allowed Hatus to execute him.