Imperial Commando : 501st Imperial Commando : 501st is a novel by Karen Traviss . It is a continuation of the " Republic Commando " series . The book also contains a preview of " " . Publisher ' s summary . The Clone Wars are over , but for those with reason to run from the new galactic Empire , the battle to survive has only just begun … . " The Jedi have been decimated in the Great Purge , and the Republic has fallen . Now the former Republic Commandos - - the galaxy ' s finest special forces troops , cloned from Jango Fett - - find themselves on opposing sides and in very different armor . Some have deserted and fled to Mandalore with the mercenaries , renegade clone troopers , and rogue Jedi who make up Kal Skirata ' s ragtag resistance to Imperial occupation . Others - - including men from Delta and Omega squads - - now serve as Imperial Commandos , a black ops unit within Vader ' s own 501st Legion , tasked to hunt down fugitive Jedi and clone deserters . " " For Darman , grieving for his Jedi wife and separated from his son , it ' s an agonizing test of loyalty . But he ' s not the only one who ' ll be forced to test the ties of brotherhood . On Mandalore , clone deserters and the planet ' s own natives , who have no love for the Jedi , will have their most cherished beliefs challenged . In the savage new galactic order , old feuds may have to be set aside to unite against a far bigger threat , and nobody can take old loyalties for granted . " Plot summary . The book starts off three weeks after the end of the Clone Wars and the declaration of the new Galactic Empire under the new Emperor Palpatine ' s rule . Darman and his brother Niner , who has healed from his spinal injury on the night of Order 66 , are now under the rule of Darth Vader ' s 501st Legion . The purpose of Vader ' s organization of clones , remaining loyal to the Empire after the Clone Wars , is to hunt down and kill any remaining Jedi , especially Masters and maybe Knights , but also to bring back Padawans for the Emperor ' s Hand to train as dark side users . Along with this Jedi - hunting objective is to hunt down for any Jedi sympathizers and clone stragglers whom have left Palpatine ' s rule , such as the clone members of Clan Skirata . Darman is having an inner struggle with himself as he tries to pull himself together from his wife Etain Tur - Mukan ' s death . Initially , the squad that Darman and Niner are recruited in incorporate two clones trained by Corellian Sergeants , Bry and Ennen , and Bry is killed in the first mission in hunting Jedi . Bry is soon replaced by a Spaarti - grown clone , Rede , and after Ennen terminates a thug suspected to be a Jedi , he commits suicide . Not looking for any replacements for Ennen , the squad decides to be a three - man deal , and Rede is granted respect by Darman and Niner when he single - handedly kills a Jedi named Borik Yelgo aboard a space station somewhere in the Outer Rim . Meanwhile , Darman and Niner are introduced to Roly Melusar , who gains great respect from the clones in the 501st Legion , including Darman and Niner , for his no - nonsense attitude , his deep sympathy for the clones as people and soldiers , and his deep hatred of Jedi and all Force - users in general , including members of the Emperor ' s Hand . Meanwhile , on the planet Mandalore , Kal Skirata sends most of his Null clone sons , Nyreen Vollen and Bardan Jusik , who Skirata just adopted as another son , to extract Darman and Niner from Imperial Center . However , just as Darman and Niner head down to meet with Ordo , Mereel , Prudii , Jaing , Vollen and Jusik , Darman has second thoughts as he thinks over that if one of the 501st Legion ' s purpose was to hunt down for members to be trained as a member of the Emperor ' s Hand , then his son Kad would be in danger . Seeing how he has the entire Clan Skirata watching over Kad , Darman decides to stay in the 501st Legion in order to monitor , and maybe even sabotage , certain activities within the Empire that might compromise Kad ' s safety . Being as one of Darman ' s closest brothers , Niner decides to stay , too , which brings Jusik , now recently adopted as one of Skirata ' s sons , Vollen and the Nulls back to Mandalore empty - handed . Nevertheless , Ordo has promised Niner to have comlinks installed both of his and Darman ' s helmets that allows them to communicate to Clan Skirata over on Mandalore . Jaing even manages to get some dirt on Melusar , and reveals that Melusar came from a planet that was erased from the Republic star charts because it was ruled over by a Sith cult that killed his father , thus triggering Melusar ' s hatred of all Force - users . This hatred of all Force - users , including all of the members in the Emperor ' s Hand who serve as intelligence for the Empire , allows Melusar to have Darman and Niner , as well as Rede , skim around Imperial Intel to handle out anti - Jedi operations without the Emperor ' s Hand ' s knowledge . Skirata ' s plan to reverse the aging in his clone sons ' DNA by Dr . Ovolot Qail Uthan is compromised when Uthan ' s home planet of Gibad is attacked by the Empire because of their reluctance to join the Imperials . Most , if not all , of Gibad ' s citizens were exterminated by a toxin created by Uthan herself - a bitter irony - while the actual structures of the planet remain intact . Uthan decides to put a halt on the reverse - aging process for revenge on the Empire for what they ' ve done to Gibad by developing another virus she plans to unleash to the Imperials on Imperial Center . Working with Mij Gilamar , who she has a budding romance with , Uthan receives the supplies she needs to create the virus from the clones , but first develops an antiviral that would render whoever would receive the antiviral immune to the virus Uthan is creating . Skirata , Gilamar , the clones and Jusik go into Keldabe to spread the antiviral around so that the citizens of Mandalore wouldn ' t be affected by Uthan ' s virus that she plans to unleash unto the Empire . During Clan Skirata ' s visit to Keldabe , they spot Dred Priest . Priest happens to be a hated Mandalorian , who is an avid member of the Death Watch , a Mandalorian society that wants Mandalore to return to its old imperial days . Priest was also part of the Cuy ' val Dar , and on Kamino , he set up a fight club that clones had been involved in , where they were either brutally wounded or killed . For what Priest did on Kamino , Gilamar and Ordo lead Priest down into an underground chasm where Gilamar kills Priest by stabbing him in a vital artery in the leg . Priest dies from severe blood loss , and Gilamar and Ordo toss his corpse into a churning river . Also as part of Skirata ' s plan to reverse the clones ' accelerated aging , Ny Vollen ships in the ancient Kaminoan Jedi Kina Ha , who was engineered by the ancient Kaminoans to cheat death via old age . With Kina Ha is Tallisibeth Enwandung - Esterhazy , or Scout for short . Kina Ha ' s gracious and pleasant persona happens to almost change Skirata ' s view of Kaminoans , and Scout shows Skirata that the late Etain Tur - Mukan or Bardan Jusik weren ' t the only " sensible " Jedi he felt good to be around . Unfortunately , Clan Skirata comes to struggle with an inner turmoil over what would happen after Kina Ha ' s genetic material was used to reverse the clones ' accelerated aging . Since the Empire is hunting down for Jedi , keeping Kina Ha and Scout for any longer than is needed would compromise Clan Skirata ' s safety . One alternative is to simply kill the two Jedi so they wouldn ' t reveal any information about Clan Skirata ' s location , willingly or otherwise , or they trade them off with maverick Jedi Master Djinn Altis . The Jedi problem merely gets worse for Skirata when Jusik and Vollen pick up renegade clone trooper Maze , and he has Master Arligan Zey with him , whom Ordo believed to be dead under Maze ' s hands on the night of Order 66 . Zey figures out about Kad ' s nature , his Force abilities and his parents , and Zey finds out about the Jedi Order ' s flaws , such as how they are viewed as child stealers . Nevertheless , Skirata , against his better judgment and Vau ' s logic to simply kill the Jedi , decides to deal with Djinn Altis to trade the three Jedi , as well as wiping out their memories of Clan Skirata ' s location in case the Empire ever caught them and interrogated them about Skirata and his clanmates . Darman realizes about the Jedi being under the same roof as Kad via Fi , and regrets his decision about not going with the Nulls , Jusik and Vollen back to Mandalore , believing Zey , Kina Ha and Scout a threat to Kad ' s well being as a free Mandalorian instead of an orthodox Jedi under Palpatine ' s rule . He also figures out about Skirata ' s deal with Djinn Altis , who is viewed as a threat to the Empire of reestablishing the Jedi Order , and Darman decides that he will hunt down and kill as many Jedi as possible , notably under Altis ' s rule , for Kad ' s sake , which would compromise Skirata ' s deal . Behind the scenes . On page 46 , Jilka Zan Zentis ' s first name is misspelled as " Juka " . On page 226 , Besany Wennen ' s name is erroneously spelled " Besamy " . This novel originally was to have a sequel , but it was cancelled due to Karen Traviss ' departure from Star Wars writing . The book derived its name from the fan group 501st Legion founded in 1997 . Cover gallery . This is a gallery of the different cover variations of " Imperial Commando : 501st " .