1032 BBY, the Republic and Sith territories are becoming increasingly isolated from one another. No communication. No authorized travel to and from. This doesn’t stop a Jedi splinter group from going into Sith space to do whatever good they can. Unfortunately, their latest mission fails, leaving one survivor. The Errant Jedi Knight: Kerra Holt.
Lord Daimon
Sith Lord of the Daimanate. His own little slice of Sith Space.
He believes that he is the creator of the universe, and those who have memories “older” than him have them because it serves his purpose for them to have them. His dystopian empire serves to advance his goal of conquering the past by placing himself in historical documents and the universe at large.
Anyone not in line are visited by his correctors. The people are kept in a constant state of work and sleep. If they die from exhaustion, they’ll just be replaced.
The Conflict (Darkknell)
Lord Daimon’s most pressing concern is the defeat of his brother, Lord Odion, who believes he will be the destroyer of the universe. He makes a deal with Lord Bactra. The deal is he allows Lord Bactra, a Quermian, to freely travel in his territory in exchange for an arxeum, a mobile university operated by Industrial Heretics.
The plan is to set this university so that it will be an appealing target for Lord Odion. This will be a trap.
Agent Narsk– Working for Lord Odion, he infiltrates Lord Daimon’s research facility to download data on his most recent ship designs and to plant charges to destroy the facility and the ship prototype.
Upon leaving the facility, Narsk is approached from behind by a woman. Thinking she works for Daimon, they engage in a chase, jumping from building to building. Eventually, the woman catches up to him. She approaches him with her green lightsaber. Realizing she’s a Jedi, he tries to appeal to her good nature.
She takes his stealth suit, ties him up, and leaves him in a dumpster.
Jedi Knight Kerra Holt– Using the uncomfortable stealth suit, she enters Lord Daimon’s main facility, looking for a way to take him out. All the while consider what a vacuum of power will do to Daimon’s territory once the other Sith Lords find out he’s dead.
Factory worker by day, Knight Errant by night, the Jedi leaves with Gub Tengo in exchange for tutoring his daughter. A company called Industrial Heuristics, owned by Lord Bactra, sends recruiters to recruit talented individuals for its company. They recruit Tan Tengo, the daughter of Gub Tengo, hoping that his daughter will have a better future than she would at Darkknell. Kerra sees it as trading one evil for another.
Sneaking around in the main headquarters. She is unable to kill Lord Daimon, but encounters the Bothan Agent Narsk strapped to a torture wheel. She frees him by rolling him where the trash is thrown and keeps his suit to follow Daimon to his ship.
Brigadier Jarrow Rusher– Leader of a large artillery mecenery army and lover of history, is recruiting, with permission, in Lord Daimon’s territory. He recruits from better-off families. The exchange is a potentially better future for the young man or woman with resources that are needed.
He, along with other mercenary groups, is contracted by Lord Daimon to surrender the arxeum along the edges of a crater on the planet Gazzari, waiting for Odion to arrive to spring the trap.
The Conflict (Gazzari)
Rusher– Sets up in his assigned location. Lord Odion arrives with a Death Spiral, a cone-shaped machine with devastating power. Rusher loses a lot of his people during this battle.
Preparing to leave to save who can from his army, he is encountered by thousands of students fleeing to his ship for safety. They are being led by the Jedi Kerra Holt. Reluctantly, he takes them all in and leaves the planet.
His concerns are now with rebuilding from his losses, and where to dump the Jedi and her students.
Kerra Holt– After arriving on Gazzari, via Daimon’s ship, she sets out to kill him in his tent. She spies him working on a way to control other beings completely by experimenting on his aide.
Preparing herself to kill him, she is stopped when she sees ships landing near the arxeum and students filing out of them. She sees Tan Tengo among them. Feeling her Jedi duties tugging at her, she leaves Daimon be to rescue them, knowing Odion will be coming soon.
She rounds them up, thwarting force mind tricks from Odion to cause those on the battlefield to harm themselves. Spying a ship large enough for the students, she leads them up the hill and encounters Brigadier Rusher.
Something odd happens as they are leaving the planet. Daimon and Odion stop finding each other and head into space to attack Bactra and his ships, which were observing the battle on the edge of the system.
After escaping the system, Kerra and Rusher argue about where to take the students. It would be difficult for him to make it to Republic space, leaving her with finding a Sith territory safe enough for the students. If one exists, that is.
Narsk– Reports to Odion, leading him to arrive on Gazzari. Here he is kept under watch by Jelcho, a Givin, who is among the most loyal in Odion’s death cult.
Receiving a coded signal in his implant informing him to send a signal of his own, Narsk convinces the Givin to go fight for Odion and find the death he desires.
When finally alone, Narsk sends the signal triggering the halt of Daimon and Odion’s battle, resulting in the cooperation leading to the destruction of Lord Bactra’s forces and the consolidation of his assets.
Leaving the planet in a fighter, Narsk observes the invasion into Bactra’s world, heads to a resort on another planet, and then contacts his true master, who tells him she knows about Kerra and where she is and that he has another mission.
Closing
Why did Daimon and Odion stop fighting and work together? Who is this mysterious master? What will happen to Kerra and her students? The answers to these questions will lead to something bigger happening behind the scenes.
I wanted to mention that this book is not like any other Star Wars book I’ve read. It feels different, owing to the lone Jedi, multiple in-fighting Sith lords, and the emphasis on mind control. I also liked the introduction of the Givin. They look like the ghost face mask.
Have you read this book? What do you think so far?
This book was written by John Jackson Miller.
Stay tuned for
- Elden Ring: The Search for Lost Grace (Sunday)
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: Vol. II, Parts III/IV/V (Thursday)
Digital Archiver signing off.
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