Dark Empire II Dark Empire II was a series of comic books written by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy , the sequel to " Dark Empire " . It was originally released by Dark Horse Comics in 1994 and 1995 as a six - issue monthly series , then in August 1995 as a trade paperback . In 1995 , Time Warner Audio Publishing presented an audio dramatization of the comics known as the " Dark Empire II " audio drama on cassette . Like the earlier NPR radio dramas , it featured a full cast of actors , parts of John Williams ' classic score and authentic stereo sound effects . Publisher ' s summary . " The Empire in retreat , Luke Skywalker is on a quest to rebuild the Jedi . But before he can revive that elite corps of protectors , he must first rebuild himself ! He has spent time as the Emperor ' s thrall , and the taint of the dark side still tugs at his subconscious . Can he pull together the Jedi , can he pull himself together , before the New Republic loses the upper hand , or will the Empire take root once more ? " Plot summary . With the defeat and " death " of Emperor Palpatine , and with the demise of Operation Shadow Hand , the Empire has retreated and lies quiescent . In this period of relative peace , Luke Skywalker has begun the preliminary operations to restore the Jedi Order . With the recently redeemed Dark Jedi Kam Solusar , Luke returns to Pinnacle Base . However , the Empire ' s new leading general , Executor Sedriss , leads an attack force on Balmorra . Balmorra had been independent after the Battle of Endor , but following Palpatine ' s reappearance had become the Empire ' s main producer of AT - STs . With the Emperor ' s apparent death , they have rebelled . In order to salvage Balmorra ' s factories , Sedriss lands AT - STs , stormtroopers and Umak Leth ' s SD - 9s on the planet . Governor Beltane sends out SD - 10 s with all the SD - 9s ' attack strategies in their databanks . In response , Sedriss unleashes Shadow Droid s , starfighters with the brains of fallen Imperial aces empowered by the dark side of the Force . After the SD - 10s are destroyed , Beltane sends out his hidden project , the X - 1 Viper Automadon : droids with the molecular shield capable of absorbing enemy fire and redirecting it through the droid ' s turbolasers . At Pinnacle Base , Mon Mothma holds a meeting and reveals that Beltane has arranged for the Rebel Alliance to intercept the shipment of his droids en route to Byss . Wedge suggests that the shipment go through to Byss , but controlled by Rebels , while Luke advises that the droids be used to liberate worlds controlled by the Empire . Everyone decides to go with Wedge ' s plan . Mothma tells Luke to focus on restoring the Jedi Knights while the Alliance deals with the Empire . Luke ' s Holocron reveals the location of Ossus , a world where Jedi artifacts may be found . Solo and Leia depart for Nar Shaddaa , where they hope to track down Vima - Da - Boda and draw upon her ancient knowledge . On Byss , the Executor Sedriss discovers that Dark Side adepts Nefta and Sa - Di are killing the remaining clones of Palpatine and plan to seize control of the Empire for themselves . Slaying them for their treason , Sedriss discovers that Palpatine is already reborn , exceeding everyone ' s expectations . Upon his return , the Emperor ordered Operation Shadow Hand re - commenced . On Nar Shaddaa , Salla Zend , Han ' s former girlfriend , managed to guide the " Millennium Falcon " through the Duro sector in order to escape an Imperial Star Destroyer . Meanwhile , Boba Fett escapes from two Dark Side Elite , Zasm Katth and Baddon Fass . As the " Falcon " arrives , Salla ' s hidden repair center , run by Shug Ninx , is overrun by stormtroopers . After an intense fight , one of Shug ' s " prized cruisers " was destroyed . With only a space truck left , Salla and Shrug plan to head off to Byss to recover the " Starlight Intruder " . After being confronted by an array of bounty hunters , including a clan of Gank killers , and the news that the Hutt clans had doubled the bounty on them , they had little choice but to head into the lowest levels of the city where Vima - Da - Boda lived . When they arrive back at the garage , they discover a brigade of stormtroopers on the " Falcon " and a droid message telling them Salla and Shrug have " left the moon for good " . Using the garage ' s secret access chute , the " Falcon " flies down to the heart of the city , unfortunately where Boba Fett had patiently waited for the " Millennium Falcon " to take off . In the ensuing battle , Han managed to shatter a stabilizer on " Slave I " , causing Fett to veer out of control . After an hour and seven wrong turns , their second attempt at penetrating the depths had greater luck ; they had just found Vima - Da - Boda when Fett attacked again . His assault was defeated when Chewbacca ignited his jet - pack ( a repeat of Fett ' s earlier undoing ) , and the Falcon soon took off again . However , their immediate departure was sabotaged by Mako Spince who from his perch in the Traffic Control spire forwarded their location to the waiting darksiders aboard the Star Destroyer . The Destroyer locked on with a tractor beam , and the " Millennium Falcon " was about to be caught in its firm grip . Taunted by Spince , Han figured out a clever dodge : he piloted the Falcon under the spire and the beams inexorably ripped off the spire and pulled it into the Star Destroyer itself , killing Spince and destroying the engines and engineers of the ISD . Lacking engineers , and in a decaying orbit , the Destroyer plunged into the surface of Nar Shaddaa , killing all hands aboard , as well as millions of Nar Shaddaa residents . Palpatine dispatches Sedriss and Vill Goir to capture Skywalker and Solusar , who had journeyed to Ossus in a search for ancient Jedi artifacts . There , they found two young Force - sensitive children , Rayf and Jem Ysanna , tied to a tree . When Luke sets them free , the youths continue to think that Luke plans to kill them and run to the rest of their tribe . The Ysanna use concussion arrows and the Force in an attempt to defeat the two Jedi , but their inexperienced and clumsy attacks proved easy for the Jedi to hold off . Seeing they ' ve met their match , the Ysanna Chief Okko gives Luke a " Ysanna bear hug . " Suddenly , an Imperial Long - range hunter lands and dispatches stormtroopers led by Goir and Sedriss . Solusar quickly kills Goir , but Sedriss , outmatched by Skywalker , takes Jem hostage , backing against a tree . When he felt her trying to use the Force against him , he plans to make a darksider out of her . To all the combatants ' immense surprise , the tree turned out to be a millennium - old Jedi Master named Ood Bnar . Sedriss and Bnar faced off . The two perished in the ensuing explosion of Force energy which Bnar created . However , even in his death , Bnar had protected his cache of ancient lightsabers — a gift to the would - be Jedi and a future Neti in his place . With the aid of the Ysanna , Luke discovered precisely what he had hoped for : an intact Jedi library . Elsewhere , Lando Calrissian and a team of Rebel commandos were hiding aboard a shipment of War Droids space - bound for Byss . Meanwhile , the Emperor was impressed by the new superweapon at his disposal , the Galaxy Gun . This weapon , kept near the protection of Byss could allow him to obliterate anything in the galaxy . When he received word of Sedriss ' and Goir ' s deaths , he replaced them with Xecr Nist and Tedryn - Sha , empowering the two with the dark side of the Force . However , the War Droid shipment arrives , and the Rebel commandos use them to attack the Emperor ' s Citadel . Initially , the Rebel assault is successful , as the droids prove to be superior to the Citadel defenses , but their success is halted when Palpatine unleashes the Chrysalide s ; Rancors mutated by Sith alchemy into crazed , nigh - invulnerable dervishes of destruction . The Rebel force is decimated , and only rescued at the last moment by a force of smugglers led by Salla Zend and Shug Ninx . They were allowed to escape by the Emperor , who was secretly tracking them , planning to destroy their destination with the now ready Galaxy Gun . Da Soocha V was ultimately destroyed by the weapon . Luke Skywalker and the other Jedi in Luke ' s Jedi Explorer narrowly avoided being killed , as they would have landed had they not seen the projectile . Meanwhile , the " Millennium Falcon " was still trying to escape the bounty hunters . Unable to effectively fight back , as Boba Fett destroyed one of the " Falcon " missile launchers , the " Falcon " flies through a radioactive gas cloud , stumbling upon the forgotten and nebula - hidden world of Ganath . There , they meet its ruler , a Jedi Knight named Empatojayos Brand . They repair the " Millennium Falcon " , equipping it with an antique weapon called the Lightning gun , hopefully sufficient to defeat " Slave I " , which still lurked outside the cloud . The Lightning Gun proves to be enough , and they defeat Fett yet again , who tumbles into the gas cloud and fakes his death . Han Solo and Princess Leia then take refuge with their infant twins on the planet New Alderaan . There , Luke explains about a great Jedi power known as battle meditation . They plan to regroup with Lando and Wedge . . . if they were still alive . Han and Chewbacca left the planet to search for them . During the night , Luke had a terrible nightmare that he and Darth Vader were one . Little did he know that robotic bugs were injecting poison into his veins . He woke up and saw two darksiders ready to kill him . Jem Ysanna and Leia defeated the two darksiders , but Jem was killed . Vima saw what happened and saved Luke . Meanwhile , three other darksiders were kidnapping Leia ' s twins . Luckily , Brand , Kam and Rayf were on the scene and engaged them . After the fighting was over , Jem joined the Force as Rayf cried over her lost form . Suddenly , a bunch of AT - ATs attacked and began destroying the settlement . Thankfully , Han arrived with Salla , Shug and an X - wing battle group based in a nearby system . Destroying the AT - ATs and evacuating the village , the four freighters and three X - wings jumped into hyperspace . The Rebels had relocated to the space stations above Nespis VIII , where Luke and Kam have their confrontation and find out that the Alliance evacuated Pinnacle Base before it was destroyed . There Anakin Solo is born and the Alliance plots to bring about the final destruction of the Empire . Continuity . No mention of the New Republic exists in this entire series , the writers still calling it the Rebel Alliance , even though it disbanded approximately 7 years before .