Servants of the Empire : Edge of the Galaxy Servants of the Empire : Edge of the Galaxy is a " Star Wars Rebels " junior novel . Written by Jason Fry , it was released on October 21 , 2014 . Its title was first announced on March 31 , 2014 . Publisher ' s summary . " Zare Leonis seems destined to become a poster boy for the Empire . His sister Dhara has been accepted into the esteemed Imperial Academy on Lothal and Zare is confident he ’ ll join her in a year ’ s time . But a year can bring plenty of unwelcome changes . Not only does he begin to uncover the Empire ’ s destructive plans for Lothal and the livelihood of its people , but his unease hits home when Dhara goes mysteriously missing . Zare is forced to question everything and rethink what it means to be a good servant of the Empire . " Development . " Servants of the Empire : Edge of the Galaxy " is written by Jason Fry . The events of the book are concurrent with the events of the animated television series " Star Wars Rebels " but take place prior to the first episode involving Zare Leonis , the main character of the book . Because the book is a prequel to Leonis ' first episode , Fry was given the freedom to write the character ' s backstory and how he becomes the character that will be depicted on screen . The book will also give insight into Lothal , the primary planet of " Star Wars Rebels " , and what kind of impact the Galactic Empire has had on it . In writing the book , Fry collaborated with the Lucasfilm Story Group , as well as " Rebels " executive producer Greg Weisman . Fry felt that Weisman ' s feedback in particular made " Edge of the Galaxy " " a stronger story and a better book . " Plot summary . Zare Leonis , the fourteen - year - old human son of two agricultural scientists , is on track to enter the Imperial Academy on Lothal . Before submitting his application on his fifteenth birthday , he must spend one year preparing at the nearby Junior Academy of Applied Sciences preparatory school . A man named Janus Fhurek controls everything at the school , despite only being the athletic director , and he is not fond of the alien races being accepted at the school . At AppSci , Zare befriends a girl named Merei Spanjaf , and the two join the school ' s grav - ball team , the SaberCats . Zare is made captain and placed in charge of the team . One of the other team members is Beck Ollet , the human son of local jogan fruit farmers . When the Imperials arrived on the planet , they bought up all the farms in the area with the stated goal of managing and improving production . Beck , Zare , and Merei decide to visit the farms one day , only to learn that the harvest of the delicate fruits is being handled by clumsy droids which are destroying the plants and the harvest . They report the incident to the Imperials , but nothing is done to rectify the situation . Zare shares his worries with his older sister Dhara who has already entered the Academy . They communicate via datapad and she sympathizes with his plight , but tells him he should keep his head down as he only needs to get through the one year at AppSci . Months later , Beck and Zare head back to the farm only to see that it is no longer a farm and instead the area has been turned into strip mines . To make matters worse , the Imperials are using old equipment and not repairing the earth which will cause long - term ecological destruction . Near the mines are displaced farmers awaiting a meeting with the Imperials to protest their treatment . Beck and Zare watch from afar as the Imperials arrive , but rather than hearing the refugees ' problems the Imperials open fire on them . The two race back home , and the next morning Zare hears on the HoloNet reports that the refugees instigated a fight forcing the Imperials to respond in kind . The SaberCats make it through the season to the grand finals . One week before the match , Janus Fhurek has the two alien children on the team transferred to another school . Zare protests , but is forced to use backups from the practice team in the final match . To get back at Fhurek , Merei hacks into the school ' s network and learns that Fhurek has a bet on the final game that the SaberCats will win without alien help and by at least 8 points . When the final match arrives , Zare carefully guides the team to a victory of only 6 points . Merei received a message from Beck thanking her for being his friend . Zare goes out to see what Beck has planned , and picks up a bag of detonators near Beck ' s old orchard . He spots Beck being chased by an Imperial transport and uses one of the detonators to knock the transport off the trail . Beck escapes but was spotted by the Imperials and goes into hiding . When Zare tries contacting his sister , he and his family learn that Dhara has supposedly run away from the Academy and can not be found . Zare is fed up with the Imperials on the planet , but sees no better options for himself and applies to the Academy . Months later while at a market , he watches horrified as a group of Imperials break into a building and cart off Beck and two accomplices . Zare resolves to himself to work as a rebel from within the Academy , and that it will be the best place for him to learn what happened to his sister .