Summary:
This graphic novel seems to pick up as if beginning in mid-story. Immediately we learn about Operation Shadow Hand, which is a plan consisting of seven “Dark Jedi” empowered with the dark side of the Force by the Emperor long before the events of the previous Dark Empire Story. One such Dark Jedi is Executor Sedriss, who has taken it upon himself to take a more lead role in the Empire until the Emperor makes his return. Kam Solusar, a former Jedi turned Dark Jedi, is brought back to the light by Luke Skywalker and agrees to help him revive the Jedi Knights.
The story really begins with Executor Sedriss’ attack on the planet of Balmorra. Balmorra is a factory world that has been a major supplier of various weapons to the Empire, but has recently decided to openly sell to the New Republic forces as well. The Empire discovers in their battle with Balmorra that they’ve developed a new war machine, the X-1 Viper Automadon that Sedriss now feels the Empire must have. The Empire releases a new threat into the battle that they call Shadow Droids, which are a ship of some sort built around the brains of fallen fighter pliots. These Shadow Droids are also empowered with a touch of dark side energies. Sedriss agree to give the representative of Balmorra anything he wants, which in this case is a contract for free enterprise, in return for their new war machines.
Meanwhile, Governor Beltane of Balmorra has leaked the information of the shipment of Viper Automadon war droids to the New Republic in hopes of sabotaging the Empire. Wedge Antilles suggests the old “Trojan Horse” idea of intercepting the cargo and replacing it with Republic troops in order to pull a fast one on their enemy. Luke Skywalker doesn’t like the idea and appears to get all whiney when no one cares what he thinks. Luke and Kam decide to go to Ossus as the Jedi Holocron (introduced in the last graphic novel) has hinted that some Jedi artifacts may be there. Leia decides that she and Han will go back to Nar Shadda to find the mysterious Vima-Da-Boda (also introduced in the last graphic novel) as the Holocron has also indicated that Vima may be helpful as well.
Two of the Emperor’s “Dark Jedi” or “Dark-Side Warriors”, Zasm Katth and Baddon Fass, cause a little problem for the Solo’s. But these dark-siders are eventually destroyed when their obsession with capturing the Solo’s brings their Star Destroyer crashing down to the planet’s surface. Han also has another run in with Boba Fett, but eventually the Solo’s successfully escape Nar Shadda with Vima despite having such a huge bounty on their heads. Meanwhile, Shug Ninx and Salla Zend (introduced in the previous graphic novel) go back to the Emperor’s throne world of Byss in an effort to retrieve Salla’s ship, the Starlight Intruder, that was left there during the events of Dark Empire I.
When Luke and Kam land on Ossus they quickly discover the planet is inhabited by the Ysanna. The Ysanna are a tribe of warrior-shaman who came to Ossus after the Great Jedi-Sith War more than 4,000 years ago. Two of the Ysanna youth, Rayf and Jem,(who are also brother and sister), now join Luke and Kam in their quest to revive the Jedi. They also encounter Ood Bnar, an ancient Jedi from the war who has rooted himself into the planet of Ossus as a living tree of sorts in order to protect valuable Jedi artifacts. Ood sacrifices himself in one burst of Force energy and destroys himself and Executor Sedriss. The ancient Jedi did this in order to protect the ancient artifacts, lightsabers, and to provide a sign of hope to Luke Skywalker and the Jedi of the future.
When the Emperor discovers his Dark Jedi have fallen to the Solo’s and to Luke and Kam, he simply gives his other servants extentions of his own powers and makes them Dar Jedi as well. The reader also discovers the Emperor has been busy building a new weapon of destruction called “the Galaxy Gun”. This weapon is capable of hitting any target from virtually anywhere in the galaxy, which seems a bit farfetched.
When leaving the planet of Nar Shadda, the Solo’s are followed by numerous bounty hunters waiting in orbit. One such hunter, Boba Fett, lands a telling blow to the Millenium Falcon that causes Han Solo to take drastic action and fly into an interstellar gas cloud. This is a very dangerous maneuver considering such clouds can be radioactive, one’s line of sight is gone, and such oddities in space can span for light years. However, the Solo’s seem to lose Fett and come out in a sector of space called the Ganth system, which is cut off from the rest of the galaxy. A king by the name of Empatojayos Brand, who was once hunted and nearly destroyed by Darth Vader, rules Ganth. This king, who was once a Jedi, now appears more machine than man given the attempted purge of the Jedi by Lord Vader.
Meanwhile on Byss, the Rebels have unleashed the Viper Automadons on the Empire and are heading towards the planet’s citadel. The Emperor seems rather unconcerned and orders his men to unleash the darkside monsters known as the Chrysalis Beasts. The beasts pick apart the Rebellion, who are saved at the last possible moment by Shug and Salla who’ve recruited a number of smugglers to help aid their friends in the Rebellion.
The Solo’s leave the Ganth system with King Empatojayos after the Millenium Falcon is repaired. Their destination is New Alderaan where the Solo children anxiously await their return. Meanwhile, the Emperor has allowed the Rebels to escape Byss because he has bigger things in mind for them in the form of his Galaxy Gun. The weapon was fired upon the Rebel base located on the Pinnacle Moon and actually destroyed the entire moon. Luke Skywalker and company decide to rendezvous with the Solo’s on New Alderaan to make sure everyone is safe. However, the Emperor has uncovered the location of this hidden Rebel base, but wants his enemy alive this time. Thus, the Dark Jedi are sent in to capture Skyaler and or the Solo twins. The Jedi turn back the challenge of the darksiders but suffer a great loss when Jem is killed by one of the Dark Jedi. The Empire then sends numerous AT-AT’s to destroy what’s left of the Rebel Alliance. Han Solo arrives at that exact moment with Shug, Salla, and the smugglers who saved the Rebels on Byss. The remaining Rebels are evacuated from New Alderaan and end up on Nespis VIII in the Auril system. It’s here at this new location that Skywalker and company realize that the Rebel Alliance was able to able to escape the Pinnacle Moon before it was destroyed.
At this point the story pretty much ends with the birth of Leia Solo’s third child, Anakin Solo. Luke Skywalker and the Jedi dream dream of a future where Leia’s children will lead a new generation of Jedi into a world free from the oppression of the Empire. However, the story never finalized quite as well as its predecessor. Meaning, the Emperor is still out there and his Galaxy Gun exists as a very real threat to the Rebel Alliance and their future.
Jedi Archive Opinions:
I’m not sure this story was quite as good as Dark Empire I, but I’d still say it’s worthy of adding to your collection of Star Wars literature. The inability to adequately end the story weighed a little heavy on our decision, but there was one thing in particular that we could’ve done without. The fact that Luke Skywalker has this little “love thing” going on with the Ysanna girl named Jem seems completely lost and or unnecessary to this story. Another complaint (similar to the one we had with Dark Empire I) was the ease at which the Rebels and the Jedi disposed of certain aspects of the Empire’s forces. This seems completely foolish to downgrade an enemy you’ve spent years building up. However, we understand that there are certain limitations that exist in this genre (graphic novels) of literature. That being said, Star Wars fans should be grateful to see stories like this come to life in a different form of literature. We would definitely recommend this book to any fan. However, a definite prerequisite would be to read Dark Empire I of course.