Mission to Upekzar In 44 ABY a mission to the planet of Upekzar was organized by Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker in the hopes of confronting the ancient being known as Abeloth , who was strong in the Dark side of the Force . He led the majority of the New Jedi Order to the planet , only to find that Abeloth had set a trap for them , one the Order barely escaped from . Prelude . Grand Master Luke Skywalker decided that in order for him to destroy Abeloth he needed the force of the majority of the Jedi , so he proclaimed that the New Jedi Order defect from the Galactic Alliance in order for them to stop involving the Jedi in politics . In reality his purpose was searching for Abeloth while at the same time keeping a distance from Coruscant . Luke discovered the Senate was infiltrated by the Lost Tribe of Sith ' s members ; he thought that after he destroyed Abeloth first , it would be easier to eliminate the Sith infiltrators later . So the Jedi departed Coruscant to go to the Sith - associated world of Upekzar . ( which had been discovered through research from Jedi Knight Natua Wan as the original manufacturing place of Ship . It is believed that Ship may have returned to Upekzar to hide . Leia Organa Solo stayed behind in order to help advise in the Galactic Alliance leadership , and Tesar Sebatyne and his fellow Barabel Jedi secretly guarded the Jedi Temple from the caverns they nest in . Mission . Arriving on the planet the Jedi soon discovered that a Dark Side nexus was collocated on the volcanic islands of Circle of Visions , so they began exploring the island dividing in small group ; they rapidly finding an abandoned city . Part of the Jedi strike force entered the abandoned city and found a Keshiri Sith named Tola Annax . Abeloth had infused the woman with dark side energy in an effort to trap and kill the Jedi . If the Jedi had killed Annax upon meeting her , it would have released the pent - up energies inside her body , causing a massive explosion , like a mind - bomb technique . Although the Jedi had stayed their hands , the build - up of dark side energy was tearing Annax apart . Luke fortunately understood that this was a trap and ordered an immediate retreat . As the Jedi escaped from the city , the ground began to shake , and Abeloth ' s laughter could be heard around them . The ground began to shake and crack , causing chasms that the Jedi had to use the Force to leap over . Clouds above the city started to produce Force lightning , which arced out to strike both the Jedi on the ground , as well as those Jedi flying top cover . As they ran , Annax exploded behind them ; the release of dark side energy threw the retreating Jedi into the air , and triggered a dormant volcano that began spewing hot ash and boiling rock . The majority of the Jedi used the Force to cool the superheated air , although a few did not , dying as they tried to inhale . The surviving Jedi exited the city ahead of a pryoclastic surge from the volcano that would turn their bodies to charcoal the moment it made contact , making for either their own ships , or for larger transports . Although several Jedi were lost , most of the ground force survived the trap . Meanwhile Ben , Vestara , and Natua are tasked by Luke to explore the lava tunnels below the planet and were attacked by a mutated Rhak - skuri ; while fighting it , Ben become unconscious with hallucinations and Vestara , seeing no other way to saved his life , incapacitated Natua to feed the beast instead of Ben , rescuing his life . Despite managing to rescue his life , making the choice to kill a Jedi instead of trying to fight the beast some other way made her realized that she might be too much of a Sith to ever truly become a Jedi . Vestara reflected that one day , she will be forced to returned to her Sith roots , and may also be forced to unhappily kill Ben as a result .