The High Republic: Cataclysm

The High Republic: Cataclysm is a Star Wars: The High Republic novel by Lydia Kang. It was published as part of Phase II of the multimedia project on April 4, 2023.
==Publisher's summary==
After the thrilling events of The High Republic: Convergence, the Jedi race to confront the Path of the Open Hand and end the Forever War.
After five years of conflict, the planets Eiram and E'ronoh are on the cusp of real peace. But when news breaks of a disaster at the treaty signing on Jedha, violence reignites on the beleaguered worlds. Together, the royal heirs of both planets—Phan-tu Zenn and Xiri A'lbaran—working alongside the Jedi, have uncovered evidence that the conflict is being orchestrated by outside forces, and all signs point to the mysterious Path of the Open Hand, whom the Jedi also suspect of causing the disaster on Jedha.
With time—and answers—in short supply, the Jedi must divide their focus between helping quell the renewed violence on Eiram and E'ronoh and investigating the Path. Among them is Gella Nattai, who turns to the one person she believes can unravel the mystery but the last person she wants to trust: Axel Greylark. The chancellor's son, imprisoned for his crimes, has always sought to unburden himself of the weight of his family name. Will he reconcile with the Jedi and aid in their quest for justice and peace, or embrace the Path's promise of true freedom?
As all roads lead to Dalna, Gella and her allies prepare to take on a foe unlike any they've ever faced. And it will take all of their trust in the Force, and in one another, to survive.
==Plot summary==
===Opening crawl===
===Prologues===
Binnot Ullo, a member of the Path of the Open Hand cult, meets with its leader, a woman known as The Mother, in a meeting chamber of the starship Gaze Electric. Ullo spots The Mother's creature she calls the Leveler behind the door she enters through. She is giving him a mission and they discuss the details. Ullo is to pilot a ship full of the bioweapon klytobacter which could destroy an ocean planet like Eiram, into E'ronoh space and blow an engine so that he will be discovered by E'ronoh and eventually Eiram, the klytobacter in theory stirring things up enough to reignite the Eiram and E'ronoh War. But Ullo tells the Mother that the summit on Jedha between the planets failed and that the war will be on again anyway, and asks her to do something more than the redundant mission. She declares the Battle of Jedha over and laments her frustration at the Herald for starting a riot against Force-users and being reckless, insisting that she should be the sole leader of the Path and architect of its vision. The Mother explains that a bioweapon against Eiram turning up after Eiram had just destroyed their powerful airborne poison would not only reignite the war, but bring chaos. Knowing that 'Chaos' is a codename the Mother used to refer to Axel Greylark, Ullo asks if she is also referring to him. She confirms his suspicion and tasks him with freeing Axel from his imprisonment on Pipyyr by taking control of the nearby Communications buoys and corrupting messages. Ullo asks why she is giving Axel another chance considering his failure, but she simply says she does not know why yet but needs him available as a piece to be played if necessary. Goi Ganok, who the Mother tasked with accompanying Binnot to the Eiram system with the klytobacter, enters and says he is ready, chanting 'for the Path' as he leaves. Binnot chants 'for the Mother' and then whispers 'and for me.'
In the Republic Executive Building on Coruscant, Supreme Chancellor Kyong Greylark sits in her chambers eagerly awaiting news about the summit on Jedha. She speaks with her fellow Supreme Chancellor Orlen Mollo, who mentions a downed transport on Eiram and E'ronoh's shared moon called both Eirie and the Timekeeper Moon and expresses his concern about a lack of communication from Jedha. He then speaks to her about her son, Axel Greylark, and reveals he is being considered for a lessened sentence at a rehabilitative facility with less security. After a bit of deliberation, Kyong decides that she will not approve this, believing Axel's sentence to be necessary considering his crimes. Just then they are interrupted by an aide who reveals that the peace talks on Jedha have failed, before even more aides came in and started detailing the horrific battle and outcome to them. When they were finally left alone, Mollo cannot believe that the two planets were fighting each other again after the wedding. Kyong simply tells her aide to alert the Jedi Council.
===The moon between Eiram and E'ronoh===
One hour prior, Captain Plana Van of Eiram notices an explosion on the moon between Eiram and E'ronoh that her people call Erie, surprised due to the cease-fire between the two planets. She reports this to her commanding officer Commander Ailee. When one of Ailee's crew notices that there is an E'roni starfighter on the moon, Ailee orders Van to land there and check for casualties. Though hesitant, she lands on the moon and hails the E'roni starfighter pilot, Lieutenant Gunnaw of Thylefire Squadron who claims they found the transport adrift after they were looted by pirates and brought it to the waystation on the moon for repairs. Gunnaw refuses to let Van speak to the survivors or board their ship, but Ailee orders her too anyway, cautioning not to break the cease-fire and reminding her that peace may have already been secured on Jedha, but also deciding to send Eirami Crescent fighters.
Phan-tu Zenn, the Prince of Eiram, stands in the Orra Lagoon on Eiram while he is commed by his newlywed wife Princess Xiri A'lbaran of E'ronoh, who informs him that there is an unknown disturbance on the moon. She wants him to come to E'ronoh, but he thinks he will do more good advising and comforting the queen, which he does, arriving just as Queen Adrialla is informed of the explosion on the moon and that Commander Ailee wants their people to board the ship. Phant-tu is commed by Xiri, who tells him boarding the ship is a dangerous breach of trust. He tries to convey this to the queens and the counselors, but is not listened to and Plana Van boards the ship.
Binnot Ullo and Goi Ganok give their names to Plana Van, who has boarded their ship. Binnot tells her their cover story of transporting protein concentrates to Shuraden but notices that his story and situation is bizarre. Then Plana smells something and opens a hidden floor compartment to reveal vats of klytobacter. She asks if she is working with E'ronoh, which they deny, and declares that they are never going to leave the moon. She goes outside to argue with Gunnaw, and while Binnot and Goi are alone they receive a message from an E'roni pilot who warns them Eirami are surrounding their ship and asks if she is really carrying klytobacter. The two deny it and the pilot tells them E'roni backup has arrived.
Ailee reports the klytobacter to the queen and her counselors, but Xiri insists that E'ronoh had nothing to do with it. However, one counselor insists that Xiri does not speak for all of E'ronoh and that there may be other E'roni still against them, insisting they perform a maneuver that shows strength in response to the threat. Queen Adrialla agrees despite Phan-tu's dissent as Xiri begs them not to fire.
Ailee comms Plana, who is now back on her ship, and orders her to fire on the cargo ship with the klytobacter, claiming E'ronoh has breached the ceasfire. Plana is not convinced, but just then a series of messages come in informing her that the peace talks on Jedha failed and Eiram and E'ronoh are fighting again. Plana decides to fire on the cargo ship, but another Eiram crescent fight fires on Gunnaw's starfighter before she can. An E'roni devilfighter starts chasing her as she and the rest of the Eiram fighters receive a message from Ailee, who tells them that E'ronoh is trying to send a signal out for reinforcements but they can destroy the communications buoys to prevent the message from getting to them. Plana and the others successfully destroy all the buoys though she discovers that E'roni ships were doing the same thing. She realizes that more people are dying and they were now cut off from help, leaving them alone and at war again.
===Investigation===
====Jedha====
Gella Nattai sits aboard the Eventide, traveling to Jedha City to continue her meditative studies after successfully petitioning the Jedi Council on Coruscant to be a Wayseeker. Jedi Master Orin Darhga enters her room and informs her that a message has just come in from Master Creighton Sun and Aida Forte. He notices that she seems stressed, and he assures her that what happened with Axel on Eiram and E'ronoh was not her fault and despite what she thinks she had good judgment. The two Jedi then join four others to hear Sun and Forte's message, in which the two announce that the peace talks failed and a battle erupted due to a riot they believe was started by the Path of the Open Hand and its Herald. They say that many Jedi are sick due to something unknown, there has been much damage to the city and its people, and the Final Protector Jedi statue is ruined. They say they have no idea if the Jedi Council and the Chancellors know yet but are planning to propose to them that they address the Path directly on Dalna. They also ask for all of their help to bring stability and help the fallen on Jedha, but warn that whatever was making the Jedi ill there could make them ill too. Gella drops the other Jedi off on Jedha but decides to leave to speak with Axel and find out if he knew this would happen and help them investigate if there's more to come. Orin joins her, feeling in the Force that something is coming.
====Coruscant====
In the Republic Executive Building on Coruscant, Jedi Master Yoda meets with Chancellor Greylark, awaiting more information from Jedha. They speak to a holoimage of Creighton Sun and Aida Forte, who confirm that the E'roni ambassador is dead and the Eirami had deployed a droid army. They request performing an investigation on Dalna of the Path of the Open Hand, considering their involvement in the failure of the peace talks, the fact that Jedi Master Silandra Sho felt the same feeling that made the Jedi ill at the Path's almshouse, and that Gella Nattai believed Axel was working with the Path. After much deliberation, Chancellor Greylark eventually agrees to a fact-finding mission accompanied by two of her guards and to send Jedi Master Char-Ryl-Roy and Padawan Enya Keen to Eiram and E'ronoh to try and keep the peace. After the communication ends, Yoda expresses his concern as they receive another message from Jedi Master Yaddle, though the connection of the message is terrible. Yaddle, who is accompanied by a Jedi Initiate named Cippa Tarko, is told by Yoda that they are sending help to Jedha and two Jedi to Dalna and that she is to return to Coruscant, but the message is so choppy they are not sure if she understood. Yoda has an unsettling feeling in the Force that reminds him of the feeling he gets whenever a battle is coming.
After a brief stay on Coruscant, Creighton and Aida rendezvous with the Chancellor's guards on their ship the Lazuli near Hynestia, their names being Lu Sweet and Priv Ittik. Aida says they need to be careful not to start a ruckus again, but Creighton says that they and the rest of the Jedi were not at fault for the battle of Jedha but recognizes that they are being heavily blamed. They enter hyperspace en route to Dalna but Aida worries about how ready for war Creighton looks, and thinks they might get one if she is not careful.
====Dalna====
When Creighton and Aida arrive in the Dalnan sector they receive a message from Master Yaddle, who misunderstood Yoda's message to mean she was needed on Dalna and tells them she will join them there. They land on Dalna near Ferdan and walk to the Path compound which they notice is quite decrepit. They meet up with Yaddle, who assigns the two guards to take care of Cippa. Yaddle rushes the others to search the compound quick, as she knows Cippa will eventually wear the guards down and join them. They eventually discover them pumping some unknown substance out of tanks into wagons. They decide to impersonate Path members to investigate more, Master Yaddle stealing Path garments for them from a laundry house just as Cippa returns with Lu and Priv. Yaddle gives them all the clothes and says it is time for them all to get to work.
===War and deceit===
====Eiram====
Per Yoda's instructions, Master Char-Ryl-Roy and his Padawan Enya Keen travel to the Eiram system, Keen tinkering on a droid called 4VO-TG on the way. Roy explains to her that their mission is to promote peace just as they exit hyperspace and find the system to be a war zone filled with explosions. Xiri, in her starfighter, finds them and escorts them to Eiram, explaining the explosion on the moon that turned out to be on a downed ship filled with klytobacter. Master Roy realizes that this compounds the failed peace talks and might mean no future talks happen again. Xiri starts to leave a message for Phan-tu but stops, Master Roy theorizing they are having relationship issues.
Char-Ryl-Roy and Enya land on Eiram and are escorted by Phan-tu, but the queens decide not to speak with them due to concerns about the Jedi being at fault for Jedha so the Jedi speak with Chancellor Mollo instead. Char-Ryl-Roy finds the timing of the downed ship at the same time as the battle on Jedha to be too coincidental and decides to perform an investigation, though Mollo thinks they should focus on reopening hyperlanes and connecting the planets to the rest of the galaxy as well as establishing a communications buoy. As the Jedi leaves, Mollo advises Phan-tu to not ignore E'ronoh and that he and his wife cannot solve things by splitting the work, but Phan-tu points out the chancellors do something similar.
Phan-tu speaks with Xiri over comm, who still wants him to come to E'ronoh. He denies her and tells her he is going with the Jedi to the moon. He then goes to speak to the queen, and expresses his disappointment that she has returned to a state of war, but she says peace is a fairy tale and war is comfortable. He informs her that he is going with the Jedi to the moon. He asks her about going to E'ronoh, but she tells him not to and that his connection to Xiri is naive, but eventually tells him there's a way he can see her.
====The moon between Eiram and E'ronoh====
Char-Ryl-Roy and Enya watch the two survivors, Binnot and Goi, on the waystation on the moon. They then enter the room with Phan-tu to speak with them, them sticking to their story that they were on their way to Shuraden when they were attacked by pirates and crashed on the moon. They claim they had no idea about the klytobacter and are just trying to feed their families. Enya asks about their families and Goi says his is dead but Binnot says he has a sister with three children. Xiri then arrives there to Phan-tu's delight. Enya thinks Binnot is lying and Xiri suggests giving them a tour of the waystation to loosen them up.
They give Binnot and Goi a tour, but the waystation is mostly unremarkable. While they talk, Binnot suggests that the Jedi must love war to meddle with it, but Enya denies this. She then asks Goi if he needs help with his hurt arm, but he is initially resistant because he says he does not want unnatural Force treatments. Goi notices a toy in the provisions shop that he tells Binnot they used to play with on Dalna. Phan-tu notes they had said they were from near Skye and notes the only people from Dalna who have left recently are the Path of the Open Hand. Binnot keeps trying to interrupt the Jedi and heir's questions and denying all questions, so Enya speaks to Goi directly and tells him that they want to help him, his sister, and her children. Goi agrees with her, but she points out that Binnot had been the one who said he had a sister, not Goi and now he is trying to accuse E'ronoh of planting klytobacter on their ship. Goi calls them filthy Force-users, the nail in the coffin that confirms they are part of the Path of the Open Hand, and eventually Enya asks what the Path as made him do. Goi tries and fails to attack her and says the Path has not made him do anything but is everything. Master Roy realizes that the klytobacter was the Path's backup plan for restarting the war after the battle on Jedha and has Binnot and Goi escorted away by the guards.
The Goi and Binnot are starting to be escorted back to the makeshift cell when they start to fight each other. When Xiri approaches, Binnot throws a clear liquid on Xiri and the guards that turns out to be poison, causing massive pain and leaving horrible blisters. Phan-tu manages to throw down Binnot, though he gets poison on his leg, but Goi's canister of poison explodes all over him, him screaming ‘Long live the Mother' and ‘The Force will be free' just before he dies. Xiri went to grab the canister from Binnot's hand, but Binnot had been faking being unconscious and reaches a knife to her. However, Phan-tu runs into his way to save her and takes the knife in his ribs. Binnot then claims that there are canisters of the poison hidden all over E'ronoh's capital city, and they will explode if he does not return to his people. Even though they are unsure if he is bluffing or not, they all decided that they had to let him go, Binnot stealing Phan-tu's ship and taking off.
====E'ronoh====
Xiri stands outside the E'roni palace hospital in the city The Rook on E'ronoh to visit an unconscious Phan-tu. Monarch A'lbaran and Chancellor Mollo enter the room and announce that Jedi Char-Ryl-Roy and Enya Keen are planning to go to Dalna on a diplomatic mission to speak with the Path of the Open Hand, since it is clear they crafted a biological weapon to continue the war. A'lbaran wants Xiri to go with them and represent E'ronoh, telling her that Phan-tu will be alright, Eiram is sending an ambassador of their own, and that he trusts her. He worries about the Republic, Jedi, and Path all wanting something to do with the planets' fate. In the hangar where the Jedi are waiting, Toworn Chardata from Eiram announces that no Eirami ambassador could be secured in time, meaning Xiri must represent both worlds. They begin to depart E'ronoh without fanfare, Xiri comming the head E'roni physician to confirm Phan-tu is alright. She meets 4VO-TG and then speaks with Master Roy about how much she wished Phan-tu was there with her and her worries that there is so much more going on in the galaxy that she cannot see. She then gets a message from Phan-tu, figuring the comms buoy is back up, who comforts her and tells her not to be aggressive upfront with the diplomacy and find common ground. After, Xiri still worries that the mission will be a disaster, but Enya says it has not been one yet.
In the Rook, Chancellor Mollo speaks with E'ronoh's Monarch A'lbaran. Mollo attempts to convince him to repair and reestablish communications buoy, but A'lbaran is stubborn and refuses to do so unless Eiram is barred from using it. The Monarch questions the Republic and the Jedi's meddling but Mollo insists that they only want peace. Mollo says he will fix the buoy himself despite the monarch saying he has no authority to do so. Mollo tells him that he is so full of anger that he does not know what is best for E'ronoh, and that he should think of listen to Xiri, who has fought for E'ronoh and desperately wants peace. A'lbaran finally agrees to help build the buoy and tells Mollo that his lack of diplomacy skills and inability to hide his feelings makes him a better negotiator than he thinks.
===Pipyyr===
====Republic Correctional Facility====
Meanwhile, Gella Nattai and Orin Dargha had been visiting Axel Greylark in prison. Gella had warned Orin ahead of time that he is charming and charismatic, but also conniving and Jedi-hating, so it is important he does not let Axel trick him. They are let in to the prison when Orin tells the guards they are working in concert with Chancellor Greylark, deciding she is telling the truth after seeing that the Eventide is one of Greylark's fleet, having been a gift to Gella. The guards lead them to Axel, who they could immediately tell did not look well, Axel claiming that the heavy atmospheric pressure of the planet is sickening him. She tells him that a battle erupted on Jedha due to the Path of the Open Hand and its Herald as asked them what he knew. He claims he had not known this would happen but also informs them that the Herald is not their true leader, the Mother is, and also reveals that she had been behind everything he did on Eiram and E'ronoh. He tells them the Path is stationed on Dalna. Axel then shifts the conversation to apologizing to Gella, especially apologizing for his actions and for losing her trust. Trying to ignore her feelings about him, Gella says she will trust him more if he says more about Jedha. Axel says he would like to but then immediately passes out, Gella feeling unwanted pity for him as he is carried away in a stretcher and telling Orin that he had not acted as defensive and manipulative as she thought he would.
Two days later, Gella and Orin are allowed to visit Axel again, who is now in the infirmary. The medic tells them that some people just cannot handle the atmospheric pressure, leading Gella and Orin to believe he should be transferred. Orin wakes Axel up by yelling in his face, who immediately charms Orin with his politeness. Axel says that the planet is not that bad but that he misses Coruscant and wants to take Gella there and show her everything. Gella ignores this and tries to get him to talk about the Path again, but he starts to retch and the medic kicks them out, Axel apologizing again to Gella and telling her he really wants to help as they leave. Outside, Orin comments that Axel seems very sorry, but Gella tells him she does not believe it though Orin notices that she wants to. She says that she obviously wants to believe he is sorry, but that they should not trust what he says. Orin says that they should not condemn him before he can prove himself either.
====Escape====
Meanwhile, Binnot abandons Phan-tu's ship for fear of trackers and boards a pirate cargo ship run by a pirate crew allied with the Mother. Axel directs Grus, the pilot, to the Saaw Moon in the Pipyyr system where they intercept a comms buoy. After waiting for the buoy to receive a message, Binnot intercepts and edits it before resending it and then directing Grus to head to Pipyyr.
After a few hours since their last visit, Gella and Orin go visit Axel again, only to find that he is sleeping. Zoleh Prin, the warden of the facility, then shows them a voice message from Chancellor Greylark saying that Axel is to be transferred to a low-security rehabilitation program. Orin finds the timing suspicious and convenient and is told the communications buoy is down so they cannot reach back out to the Chancellors. Orin continues to say that they should not do it, but Gella cuts him off and says it will allow them to talk to him more about Jedha and make sure everything goes right themselves, telling the warden they will do it.
Gella and Orin bring Axel aboard the Eventide and hook him up to medical equipment in a room for the trip. Axel reunites with his droid QN-1, who Gella got repaired on Coruscant, and apologizes to the droid. He claims he is determined to rehabilitate himself, reminisces with Gella about their time on E'ronoh, and calls her beautiful. They discuss being gifted and Axel's pressure to be perfect put on him by his mother as well as what it means to be a Jedi, though Gella still wo not say she believes he is really sorry. After Axel says he is feeling sick and sits down, Orin asks him if he remembers anyone from the Path being on Eiram or E'ronoh. He says he does not, and Orin pulls Gella out of Axel's room and points out Axel's clearly lying, which Gella had not noticed. The ship receives an alarm, and they realize they have been hit by a Pirate cargo ship. At the same time Pathfinder team 71-B9 comms them and says they have a Republic news message for them, but they decide they cannot listen to it right then and the team is too far away to help them. Gella tells Axel to hide as the pirates board the ship, but he decides to stay and fight. The group fights a team of Klatooinian pirates, Axel stealing one of their blasters and shooting at them while the Jedi take them down, but eventually one of the pirates grabs Axel and holds a blaster to his head. The ship lurches, and knocks the man holding Axel away, so Gella throws her lightsaber to Axel, which he uses it to destroy the pirate's pistol. Seeing that the pathfinder ship is coming, the pirates start to retreat, Gella taking a blaster bolt for Axel when the pirates fire wildly to prevent them from following them. Then Binnot appears in the door to the pirate ship and tells Axel to come with him, Gella now realizing that they are not pirates, but the Path of the Open Hand. Axel, still holding Gella's lightsaber, tells her goodbye and goes with Binnot, who tells them that they really should listen to the Republic news feeds. Orin exclaims that they have been had and they contact the Pathfinder team, who gives them the Republic news. It turns out to be a message from Chancellor Greylark warning that a false message has been sent out as she does not think Axel should be transferred, ordering them to return him to Pipyyr. Gella cannot believe what she has done.
====Aftermath====
Gella and Orin abandon the Eventide for Pathfinder team 71-B9's ship, Gella unsteady and angry with herself. Orin tells her that the message is sent and talks to her about Axel, her angry that he fooled her again and him pointing out that Axel maybe had been sorry and not had a plan because he had seemed surprised when Binnot showed up. The two Jedi speak with the members of the Pathfinder team present, named Kenny and Piti, who tell them that they used a tracker planted in Axel's clothes by the warden to track them to near Jedha. Orin advises Gella not to go after him in her current state, pointing out her immediate desire to fight Axel is only her trying to appease her betrayal. After she recollects herself, she suggests they follow him from a distance to gather information and eventually get her lightsabers back. Orin agrees and decides to keep sending messages out about what has happened, but secretly Gella still wants to fight Axel afterward.
Aboard the pirate cargo ship, Binnot tells Axel that he knows that a Republic Pathfinder ship is following them while they play Shah-tezh. Binnot now wears a poison glove on his right arm. When he flexes his fingers, needles protrude from it and delivered poison from vials in its sleeve. Axel tells Binnot that he is willing to do a lot for the Path for stuff in return. Axel reflects on his relationship with Binnot, and how he is a guardian and a lifelong childhood friend who he would escape being around his mother with, having treated him as a normal person and not Kyong Greylark's son. Binnot reminds Axel that he still failed his task despite his guidance and disappointed both him and the Mother, warning Axel that he will only survive the rescue if he rights his wrongs. Axel asks Binnot for a greater purpose in the Path, telling him that he had proved himself by going to jail and faking an illness that even tricked the Jedi, having learned to make himself ill on cue as a child to escape obligations his mother tried to take him to. Binnot tells him the Mother believes he can be a larger asset to her with even more power than both chancellors combined and asks Axel who he wants to be. Axel recalls a time when his mother had asked him the same thing, when they had visited a pavilion full of sick children to comfort them. During the visit, Axel had loudly said that he was tired and wanted to go home in front of the children, causing his mother to ask him if he had any sympathy and imply that he was a failure. Axel says he is willing to do anything to change his fate, and Binnot tells him his place in the Path is important. Binnot explains that they are going to Jedha to change ships because no one will look for them there, even suggesting that Axel may get the chance to get his ultimate revenge and glory by killing Gella. As Binnot describes more ways the Path will flourish, Axel tries to push the thought of killing Gella from his mind.
At her residence on Coruscant, Chancellor Greylark receives a message from Gella informing her that Axel had escaped with the help of the Path of the Open Hand and someone named Binnot Ullo. She orders her guards to get her Master Yoda and to mobilize anyone they had to try and recapture Axel. Within the hour, she speaks to Yoda, telling him that she does not know who Binnot is and that Axel did not have close childhood friends, waving off the fact that she had never been around him enough to know for sure. She says that she feels like they have all been moving through a fog that has corrupted everything lately and Yoda insists that Axel still has good in him and that the 'fog' is just corrupting him too. However, the Chancellor resolves to make Axel truly feel the consequences of his actions.
===Dalna===
====Yaddle====
After donning their Path of the Open Hand disguises, Yaddle, Creighton, and Aida heed Cippa's suggestion that they split up, Yaddle and Cippa investigating the surface buildings and Creighton and Aida investigating the underground caves. They assign Lu and Priv to guard the Lazuli.
As Yaddle and Cippa travel through the compound, Yaddle worries Cippa will jeopardize their plan because of her outbursts to the Path members. She senses a death in the Force, though knows it is not Crieghton or Aida. They enter one of the buildings and find an elderly man who tells them that the elderly are staying aboveground to act as a shield. He says that the others are gathering for a great work done by the Path and a weapon that will scare the Jedi. The man declares death to Force-users as they leave. In another hut they find a Pantoran woman who gives Cippa a blaster and tells her its never too early to serve the Path, but Yaddle rejects it. The two then realize that the Path has several ground-to-air missile launchers hidden throughout the compound. Yaddle tells Cippa that the reason she brought her on the mission is so that she could truly gain a respect for the Force by gaining a respect for life, Cippa recognizing how awful it is to force children to kill and wanting to protect them. Cippa admits to secretly breaking the blaster with the Force after they left so no child could be forced to use it. When they travel back to the Lazuli to warn others about the missiles they discover that the guards are missing, and then two heavily armed Path members appear and stun Cippa. Yaddle considers whether to hide or fight, deciding to fight and telling the Path members that that is what they get for shooting a child.
====Creighton and Aida====
After splitting up with Yaddle, Creighton and Aida travel towards a hill they suspect could lead to the underground complex. They are approached by a Togruta man who questions their presence there. Creighton mind tricks him into believing they are part of the Path and makes him lead them into the caves. Aida has Creighton pretend to be her grandfather, but they are told that the elderly are meant to stay aboveground in the huts as a shield. They are let in anyway and told to wait to be summoned, noticing that the Path has a lot of munitions as they go into a room where children are practicing fighting and killing. The two see a Teevan man dragged by the entrance by three guards to be punished for being Force-sensitive, and they decide to follow them deeper into the tunnels. The man is eventually brought to a door with two guards that confirm to them that The Mother and the Leveler are inside, the Teevan's guards saying they plan to feed it and the others saying that it could kill hundreds. When the door is opened, Creighton and Aida are struck with a debilitating sensation and horrifying visions that fill them with insurmountable fear, running away and entering a different room. Creighton only recovers when he fills himself with an instinctual and overwhelming rage that reminds him of fighting other children before he became a Jedi. After they finally fully recover they decide to go back out, but are forced to hide as guards approach and throw the Teevan prisoner into the room she is in. He tells the Jedi that he was punished for using the Force as his body becomes a husk, telling them that he was consumed right before he crumbles to dust. His death is the death Yaddle senses in the Force.
With the remains of the man on their hands, Creighton and Aida sit there in shock. Creighton remembers that something similar happened to Silandra Sho on Jedha as had happened to him: the worst feeling they could possibly feel combined with a weakening of their connection to the Force. He says Silandra said that others had been left as husks on Jedha because of it and that both instances were connected back to the Path, leading Creighton to believe that the weapon they have that did this is there on Dalna and they used it to murder the man. Aida also connects that it is a creature because Silandra had felt 'hunger' and the guards had said they were 'feeding' something. Just before they go to leave, the two Jedi discover that the foul smell that has been filling the room is from massive tanks of klytobacter that line the walls, which Aida recognizes could be used against Eiram. They realize that it, along with the mysterious creature or weapon called the Leveler, and the Path's rapid militarization is heralding a massive disaster and plan of theirs that they needed to warn the Jedi and Republic about, deciding they need to regroup with Yaddle. Both feeling incredibly weak and fatigued, the two try to navigate the tunnels but find it to be like a maze. Eventually two guards realize they are not supposed to be in the area they end up in, leaving the two forced to run.
The two see the exit from the cave but realize that they cannot leave without everyone seeing they are being chased and then being attacked by everyone. They turn and fight the Path members chasing them, starting to feel better and more clearheaded. After either killing the attackers or making them flee, a warning siren is activated. Ten path members block their way to the exit and have been warned about Jedi, making Aida think there are other Jedi there, the Path members deciding to kill them. Creighton and Aida fight back to back. Creighton attempts to contact Yaddle and warn her, but does not get a response. They realize that they are in severe trouble and so Aida comes up with a last-ditch plan to utilize the explosives on the Path members' belts to mimic what happens when Alderaan sparkling wine is opened on a hot day.
====Gella and Axel====
Near NaJedha, Axel and Binnot are on the pirate ship being piloted by Grus. Grus enacts a plan to surprise attack and destroy the Pathfinder ship that has been following them. The destruction of the ship leaves Axel distraught at the idea of Gella being dead. However, Gella, Orin, and the crew of the Pathfinder ship had secretly transferred to a different republic ship called the Alliance (starship) and Piti had remote control piloted the Pathfinder ship. Both the pirate ship and the Republic shuttle land on Jedha, and after saying goodbye to Piti and Kenny, Gella and Orin follow Axel and Binnot through the city, hoping that because they thought the Jedi were dead they would be less suspicious about being followed. Using the connection between the two kyber crystals in each of her lightsaber, one of which Axel now has, she is able to find Axel and the transport he is boarding and sneak onboard. Hiding in the cargo hold, the two Jedi realize the ship is headed for Dalna, figuring that the many crates that had been loaded onto the ship from Jedha were food for the Path once they saw they had rice in them.
Axel and Binnot land on Dalna and head for the The Crystal, a knew structure of the Path compound that The Mother frequents. Axel anticipates making a future for himself in the Path as Binnot leads him in, them overhearing an argument about the Herald and his claim that The Mother does not follow the Path. Axel and Binnot sit in another room until the Mother greets them, Axel noticing that she had seemed to have visibly aged. She brings the Leveler in and Binnot immediately seems to feel nauseated and leaves. Axel asks the Mother what his use is to her and why she kept him alive, and she reveals that while his reputation is too sullied to literally become Chancellor he can still achieve that level of power. She plans to have him send a message to his mother, the Chancellor, and tell her that he is in danger and she needs to come there. The Path will then tell her that the only way Axel is saved is if she agrees to allow them to influence her decisions and do things to favor the Path. She tells him that he can get the life he always dreamed and that he can bring greatness to the galaxy away from the Jedi with her. He warns that his mother may not agree to it, but she assures him she will. He also warns that the Jedi and Chancellor Mollo may get in the way, but she says they can take care of both of them. Enticed by the offer and the power it could give him, Axel agrees to get his mother to come there. Before leaving, the Mother warns him that fighting is coming to Dalna and he needs to be on the right side when they win, adding that what he is about to do may be the most important thing he has ever done and he needs to succeed.
After waiting for the Path to leave the area after unloading all the crates, Gella and Orin discover that they are filled with enforcer droids. Knowing they need to get a warning out that a battle is coming but that comms are down and they have no means of doing so, Gella comes up with a plan to try and convince Axel to do the right thing or at least help them get a message out. They disguise themselves as Path members and go through the compound, discovering that the elderly are being evacuated and are warned by a member that 'everyone' was coming soon. Using her lightsabers' connection to find him, Gella finds Axel in the Crystal recording a message for the Chancellor in which he asks her to come there to Dalna. After he finishes he sees Gella and Orin and claims he is happy she is alive. The two Jedi try to get Axel not to send the message he recorded. Gella attempts to convince Axel to be better and to follow his heart instead of his hurt and warns him that the Path is planning a battle on Dalna. Calling Axel 'son', Orin warns Axel that the Path may kill or torture his mother. Binnot then enters, and orders several guards to kill the Jedi. Binnot joins the fight, and after killing two of the guards Gella and Orin knock him out onto the floor. Axel ignites Gella's lightsaber and defends him to Gella's horror. After Gella and Orin make one final appeal, warning him that he keeps making the wrong choices, Axel yells at Orin to stop calling him 'son'. Orin attempts to disarm him, but Binnot, still laying on the floor, grabs Orin with his poison glove and poisons him. Binnot tells Gella to surrender if she wants the antidote as Orin dies, but she says he is lying. Orin tells Gella to think of him when she remembers how to laugh again. Guards come in and bind and grab Gella as she screams for Orin and for the antidote. Axel sends the message he recorded to his mother. Binnot sees that Orin has died and tells her that there had never been any antidote, Gella screaming at him as she is dragged out of the room.
Gella, now left alone in a cell, mourns Orin. She makes herself feel better by imagining him telling her jokes about the situation she is in. Gella meditates and feels the intense anger of the Path members, as well as the hunger of the Leveler, though she does not know what it is. She decides to start acting on her own terms and listen to the Force realizes that the Force is telling her to stay there and not escape because something is coming for her. Meanwhile, Kyong Greylark receives Axel's message and realizes that she needs to go to Dalna.
The Mother approaches Axel in the Crystal, Axel extremely nervous and unwillingly regretful due to the events that have transpired. She announces that they received a message from Chancellor Greylark and Axel has Binnot be called in so they can all listen together. In the message, Kyong announces that in an effort to support her son and make up for not supporting him throughout his life, she is coming to Dalna but is also rescinding her chancellorship effective immediately. The Mother is infuriated and cannot understand why she would give up power, telling Binnot that she did not care about Axel any more and to make him useful, as well as ordering Binnot to kill Kyong on sight when she arrives. After the Mother leaves, Binnot destroys QN-1, and Axel suddenly feels like he has lost everything in his life that matters.
====Xiri and Char-Ryl-Roy====
After readying herself for diplomacy with the Path by speaking with Phan-tu, eventually Xiri, Enya, and Char-Ryl-Roy arrived at Dalna. While above the planet, Xiri sent a message to the Path announcing their arrival, receiving a response from Path Elder Yulon Onning, who refuses to open a dialogue unless they present them with a gift, suggesting they give them a lightsaber. Though the Jedi recognize they cannot give the Path a lightsaber, Enya offers up her kyber crystal, which Onning accepts, telling them they can land. After they do, Enya gives up her crystal to Onning, though Enya and Master Roy sense that there may be other Jedi on Dalna. The Path members lead them from the landing pad and set up chairs in an oval not truly in the compound to speak with them, Xiri, while insulted, explains that who individuals associated with the Path were in the Eiram system with a powerful bioweapon. The Elder does not answer any questions about Binnot and Goi, nor if they suspected sects of the Path perhaps led by the Herald could have done this, Onning instead getting increasingly agitated, especially when he mistakes 4VO-TG for an assassin droid, and Phan-tu surprisingly comms Xiri telling her to watch her back. They all stand up when they her a sharp cry, which the Path guards take as a threat, pointing their weapons towards them.
The scene erupts into chaos as it begins to rain, and Roy notices Path members running in the distance from what seems to be a cave entrance. A message is passed to Onning about Jedi in the compound, confusing him. Once they see Creighton and Aida emerge from the cave entrance after a massive explosion in it that sent many Path members flying, Onning decides that the Jedi are conducting an ambush and orders his guards to kill them. Roy orders Enya to protect the princess and get to the Andesine, attempting to do so as Creighton and Aida catch up to them near the landing pad. Though confused at the sight of them, Creighton and Aida explain that they came to investigate with Yaddle after Jedha and discovered a massive klytobacter laboratory and were witness to some weapon of theirs turning a Force-sensitive to dust like on Jedha, making it seem as though the Path was preparing for war. Creighton tells them that they need to get to their ship to warn Yaddle and the youngling she is with, but before they can enforcer droids rise out of the fields and march toward them. More Path members arrive too, blocking their way to the Andesine one almost killing Xiri before she is saved by Phan-tu, who reveals he had been stowing away in their ship. Just as they take down enough Path members to reach the Andesine, the Path fires ground missiles into it, destroying it. Creighton decides that they need to find Master Yaddle and use her ship to escape, Phan-tu saying they are doomed if they do not make it off of Dalna.
===The Night of Sorrow===
====Fleeing and hiding====
Yaddle cradles Cippa in her arms after defeating the Path members that had attacked her. She hears the explosion that Creighton and Aida set off, and feels Jedi fighting in the Force. She and the Chancellor's guards prepare to defend against Path members, but she eventually sees that a group of Jedi are running towards them. Yaddle instructs Priv and Lu to use the ship to shoot down anyone that was attacking the Jedi, sending Cippa inside with them to protect her. The group arrives and Creighton tells Yaddle that they need to get on their ship and leave. Everyone boards, but as they do, a Path ship attacks and damages it with cannonfire. Lu gets the ship in the air, and Creighton tries to send a message out requesting help. He gets a response from Jedi Master Ela Sutan, who is in the caves of the compound with three other Jedi and some Jedi Temple Guards, but says she cannot help them. Creighton sends the message out again and Yaddle tries to spot her ship, but sees it get destroyed. Lu warns that the ship was going to crash. Seeing that they were going to crash into the middle of the Path compound, Yaddle instructs them to emerge fighting and to split up so that they can scatter and not be overwhelmed. She retrieves Cippa and prepares to take her with her when they split off of from the group, wishing the others good luck.
After the ship crashes, Yaddle and Cippa separate from the others. They locate an underground vegetable storage structure and Yaddle instructs Cippa to hide in it, telling her she will come get her when she is safe. Yaddle uses the Force to sense where she is needed most as she starts to leave, but Cippa asks her what she should do if Yaddle never comes back. Yaddle simply says to trust in the Force and stay out of sight and runs off. Cippa watches from the storage room as the rain falls harder and people fight in the distance. Her species can see much better because they could see the infrared spectrum, so Cippa thought that she had a unique advantage that could help in the battle. Recalling Yaddle's teachings and kindness, and wanting to prove herself to the Jedi Master, Cippa leaves the structure to join the fight.
====Fighter flight====
Xiri and Phan-tu leave the crashed ship by themselves. A fighter flies over them, causing Xiri to remember that she had seen a hangar just north of there. Since Phan-tu was not able to fight well on the ground, she decides they should try to find a ship in the hangar and if there was not one steal one in Ferdan. They start running and Phan-tu trips over 4VO-TG, who they bring with them. They find the hangar and find a fighter inside that Phan-tu considers to be a peice of junk, but that Xiri insists she can fly. They argue over whether they should use it, but eventually Phan-tu agrees to let her try to fly it. After Xiri and 4VO-TG repair the ship, Xiri invites Phan-tu into the rear of it and asks him to man the guns. The ship is able to fly and they take off and leave the hangar just as Path members arrive there. Path captain Jep Gri hails them, and Xiri identifies herself tauntingly. Phan-tu warns that many ships are approaching them and they only have rear guns, but Xiri insists that she is always up for a challenge and warns that things are going to get rough.
Meanwhile, Creighton and Aida, who had jumped out of the Lazuli before it had crashed fight back against Path members and enforcer droids, including a woman who attempts to stab Aida. Xiri flies overhead in her new fighter, and Phan-tu shoots down a ship that was following behind them. A different transport lands in front of Creighton and Aida and Dalnan citizens pour out of it alongside Jedi Master Fliss Woora, who informs Creighton that they got his message and that she managed to gather about a hundred Dalnan citizens from West Platt that were willing to fight. They did not bring any aerial support, however, and so Xiri was all they had. The Jedi spot scavenger ships arriving that shoot at the transports that have landed. Aida figures that the Mother had called them there and Creighton shouts for them to get the transports out so they would not be stranded. Char-Ryl-Roy comms Creighton and asks for backup near the cave system. Master Roy warns that there are children and elderly around so they need to be careful. Creighton promises to spread the message and realizes that if the elders the Path left in the huts get hurt they will be blamed for their slaughter. Creighton suggests that perhaps their message got out farther than Dalna, but Master Woora reveals that it was not because the comms buoys in the system are down. Crieghton comms Xiri and asks her to go get more help beyond Dalna using the ship's hyperdrive. Creighton tells her that if it turns out the ship was not spaceworthy to turn around and help them fight. After shooting down more of the scavenger ships, Xiri took off. Creighton knew that if she could not get help they would be doomed and worries that the battle might never be won.
On the moon between Eiram and E'ronoh, Chancellor Mollo sits in the waystation, the planets having returned to their antagonistic state, worsened by Phan-tu's disappearance on E'ronoh. Mollo receives a message from Kyong Greylark via EX droid in which she reveals that she is stepping down from her chancellorship so that she can meet with her son and the Mother on Dalna without giving them access to her power. She assures him that he will be a successful Chancellor without her, and urges him to try and get Eiram and E'ronoh to come together so they could see the Path for what they truly were and help the Jedi on Dalna with direct action. Realizing that the twin planets would not listen to reason without proof and sure information about what was going on on Dalna, Mollo readies his ship to fix the communications buoy himself.
Before they leave Dalna's atmosphere, Xiri warns Phan-tu of all the risks of what they were about to do, but Phan-tu reminds her that they were the Jedi's only hope and insists that he trusts her and would rather they went down together, trying to save their planets. The two decide to go to Eiram and E'ronoh to get help, but after entering hyperspace they were quickly thrown out of it, leaving their engine fried and them nowhere near their planets with only hours of oxygen left. The two tell each other they love each other, but then 4VO-TG picks up a singular functional Eiram and E'ronoh communications buoy. They try to reach it and receive a response from Chancellor Mollo. Xiri asks for him to ask her father and Eiram's queen for reinforcements on Dalna to help the Jedi, as they had discovered that the Path was behind the klytobacter and manufacturing it in large quantities. Phan-tu adds that Eiram and E'ronoh must finally reunite to be architects of good, and that together nothing could stop them, especially not the Path.
====Orders====
In the caves of the Path compound, Axel is still reeling from his mother's message. Binnot reveals to him that part of the Path had reorganized into the Path of the Closed Fist. The two reach a room filled with weapons, and Binnot said Axel was unskilled with weapons. Axel tried to protest, but Binnot just slaps him and tells him to be thankful before giving him a bludgeon to fight with and tells him that fighting is his only purpose now. Binnot reveals that there is an assault against the Jedi going on both above and below ground. Binnot gives Axel a Path robes and paints the blue symbol of the Path of the Closed Fist on his forehead. Binnot tells him that he is one of the Path and his only job is to do something useful like kill Jedi or die for the Mother. Someone announces that the Jedi ship has been taken down, and Axel is forced outside by a crowd of Path members ready to fight.
Binnot approaches Gella in her cell and gloats by saying that he will keep her lightsabers because they feel good in his hands. Gella says they feel good in his hands because he is Force-sensitive, which made him a hypocrite and someone that the Path would consider to be a traitor. He informs her that Axel's plans to be the Mother's right hand have fallen through, and she asks Binnot why he is there. He tells her that Axel told him she is a Wayseeker and that she does not follow the Jedi Council and is her "own boss." Gella realizes that Binnot no longer wants to take orders from the Mother and the Herald and do what he wants. She tells him that being a Jedi is nothing like being in the Path despite their rules, because if you leave the Jedi they will not try to murder you. He ignites and stabs her lightsabers through the door, but she had sensed his movement and avoids them. She tells Binnot that they are nothing alike and he leaves, Gella knowing that she would not be trapped for long.
In the caves, many Path members look to Binnot for direction on what to do, and though he tries to help them eventually locks himself in a meeting chamber of the Mother's and comms her. He tells her that everyone needs direction from her, but she directs him to lead and guide them. She tells him she cannot be there because she has bigger issues to deal with and ends the transmission. Binnot relishes in being in the spotlight and starts to direct people about areas to protect, encourage them to kill vulnerable Jedi, and prepare to deploy droids in Ferdan, before he runs off to join the fight.
Axel is lead out of the caves and is shocked by the intensity of the battle surrounding him, not wanting to fight. Eventually Binnot, who is traveling with a group of people that includes a young Pantoran Path member, leads them to an area under some trees and tells them to hide there and kill anyone that comes by. The Pantoran boy expresses that he does not want to kill because his own mother had just died, but Binnot tells the boy that he is useless if he does not fight and must step up to glorify the Path and the Mother. When the boy still refuses, Binnot hands Axel a blaster and tells him to kill the boy. Axel is horrified by the idea, but Binnot tells him that this is how he earns his place in the Path. Remembering Gella telling him to follow his heart, he points and shoots at Binnot instead, but the blaster does not fire and Binnot calls Axel predictable. Axel tells Binnot that brothers do not ask each other to kill innocent people, but Binnot says that Axel was never his brother and was meant to be a soldier like him before holding another blaster to Axel's chest. Before Binnot can fire, an explosion rocks the area and throws Axel into the air and away. Someone tells Binnot that the Jedi have brought more friends as reinforcements, and Binnot leaves Axel for dead. Axel desperately tries to stay conscious and decides to find Gella.
====Support====
Sitting alone in her residence, Kyong wonders if Mollo received her message. After sitting in silence for an hour, she has an armored Beta-class shuttle equipped with weapons prepared. Before she can leave, Yoda approaches her and says that since he has not heard back from Masters Sun or Sutan, he will go with her because she was still his friend. Yoda has a Jedi Longbeam cruiser follow them with a contingent of Jedi. While in hyperspace, they receive the distress call from Xiri and Phan-tu. Kyong then receives a message from Mollo who says that the Monarch and Queen heard the heirs' message but are still having petty arguments. Yoda volunteers to rescue the heirs, and Kyong tells Mollo that he does not need her and already knows what to do, suggesting that he would give a speech to the planets' rulers in which he reminded them of what they both had in common: the heirs and their futures. Mollo tells Kyong that he will always need her and that she is his friend, and Kyong signs off by telling him "May the Force be with you."
Axel wakes up from being unconscious and pulls a piece of metal out of his chest. Hoping to find Gella, he runs into the tunnels, eventually finding a guard named Lumbo and ordering him to get the captured Jedi and bring her to the Mother. Lumbo is hesitant, but agrees once Axel encourages him to do it to support the Path and the Mother. They go to the cell and Lumbo opens the door and holds a blaster toward Gella, but she uses the Force to pull his blaster to her and hits him in the head with it, knocking him out. Axel tells Gella he is glad to see her and that he is been through a lot, but she scolds him for making the situation about him when Orin died because of him. Gella grabs him by the throat and pins him to the wall, but he resigns himself to it and prepares to die, which freaks her out. He explains that after Binnot tried to get him to kill someone who could not fight, he decided he did not want to play his game anymore. Gella does not believe him, but Axel explains to her that an all out war is going on between the Jedi and the Path. They escape the tunnels by putting Gella in manacles and pretending she is still captured, and Gella reveals that she wants to find Binnnot to retreive her lightsabers. A ship starts to fire at them. Axel removes his Path robes and then a group of Path members come after him and Gella. The ship fires again and kills the Path members, before it starts to land. Gella and Axel start to fire as soon as the ship's door opens, but then Kyong yells from inside the ship for Axel to start shooting at his mother. Axel reveals to Gella that Kyong is no longer Chancellor, and Kyong says that she is just a citizen now but that she brought friends to help.
Axel is shocked that his mother is there, and she tells him that she knows she does not always keep her promises but that she did this time. She comms Creighton and informs him that she has arrived with a small contingent of Jedi but that more help is on the way. A Jedi named Vaqqi offers to stay and protect her, but she refuses. Axel and Gella get in the ship with Kyong, believing they will be more helpful in the air. Gella asks Axel how bad things are, and Axel tells her that the Jedi are hopelessly outnumbered and that the Path has more weapons that he does not even know about. Recognizing that he may die, but wanting to live on his own terms, Axel grabs the cannon controls and says he is ready to fight.
====Dust and droids====
Enya and Char-Ryl-Roy fight enforcer droids and are quickly tiring, but they are helped by the arrival of Dalnan citizens on their side. The two decide that they need to block off the cave entrances to stop more Path members from joining the fight. The two split up, Roy meeting with the newly arrived Dalnans and Enya going to the cave, but they agree to meet at the cave entrance in fifteen minutes. On her way, Enya is confronted by an Ongree Path of the Open Hand member wielding a green lightsaber. She attempts to fight him and other Path members with him using only her blaster but is quickly knocked down, with the Ongree preparing for a killing blow. She rolls away and pops his knee joint to make him drop his lightsaber, Enya picking it up with the Force and using it to destroy the Path member's weapons. Enya runs through the battlefield, where she sees many Jedi and many Dalnans fighting enforcer droids. She suddenly senses something that fills her with irrational fear, before hearing a growl and the sound of someone screaming and following it to catch a glimpse of a blurred creature in the darkness. The screams intensify, as if a person is being tortured, and Enya is temporarily so overcome with fear that she collapses to her knees. When she is finally able to focus again, she runs toward the direction of the caves and finds a body that has been turned to ash. Master Roy arrives there and recognizes the Jedi as Werla Cayn as the husk becomes dust. Enya tries to explain what she experienced but struggles, and the two realize that they are up against more than they realize. Roy holds Enya's lightsaber and reveals that it belonged to Orin Darhga. Roy senses that there are a lot more Jedi there than they realized, but both decide that they must leave them on their own so they could block the cave entrance.
Eventually Enya and Master Roy had gathered a group of fighters and to defend and block the cave entrance with them. However, they soon realized that dozens of enforcer droids were coming toward them from out in the fields, not from the caves. Roy and Enya run to go fight them and do so successfully, but Roy is called back to the cave entrance because the Path has renewed their attack there, leaving Enya to fight the droids alone. However, she picks up a pair of binocs and spots a line of Path leadership boarding a shuttle to leave at the loading docks. Realizing that they could end the battle, Enya runs toward them.
While running to the loading docks, Enya discovers that the enforcer droids are also killing Path members too, seemingly attacking anyone. When she arrives at the docks a ship with Elder Barbatash is leaving, but she stops Elder Onning from leaving and orders him to call of the droids. He refuses to even when she tells him they are killing his own people, saying if they call them off, they lose. He explains that the Path has now evolved into something beyond his control and he could not call them off even if he wanted to, and tells her that he does not know where the Mother is. When Enya continues to push, Onning secret swipes her lightsaber and holds a blaster to her, leaving her defenseless. However, before he can kill her, a blaster shot goes through his chest and kills him, having been shot by an enforcer droid marching up behind him. She spots her yellow kyber crystal which fell out of Onning's pocket and takes it with her. She decides to heed advice Master Roy had given her before and continue fighting, not stopping no matter what.
===Battle's end===
====Life and death====
Aida and Creighton are being overwhelmed by Path members and feeling the fearful effects of the Nameless creatures running loose. A man knocks Aida down, but Creighton disarms him before he can kill her. The man gloats and claims the Jedi will be defeated as Aida moves closer, but he pulls out another blade and stabs her in her leg. Creighton is now far away fighting, leaving her alone. The man swung his blade to kill her again, but he is pulled back out of sight by Yaddle using the Force. Yaddle fought several Path members with her lightsaber and sent them flying with the Force to get to Aida. She notices Aida is hurt and attempts to calm the pain with the Force. Yaddle urges Aida to her feet as she continues to defend against attackers by sending them flying. Yaddle then notices people in the distance getting lifted into the air and thrown. She reminds Aida that she has the Force on her side and ran away, eventually reaching Cippa, who had been the one throwing people with the Force. Yaddle admonishes her for disobeying and not hiding, insisting it is too dangerous. Aida suggests she stay and help, and Yaddle gave in, assigning Cippa to Aida's side and ordering her to lift everyone she saw high enough to make them unconscious when they fell. Yaddle reignites her lightsaber and declares it will be a long night.
Creighton, who has lost track of Aida, fights enforcer droids while feeling like a failure. He spots one of the Nameless creatures running through the battlefield. Yaddle appears nearby and says everyone is fighting. Creighton warns about the creatures killing off Jedi and turning them to ash. Yaddle warns Creighton that the turmoil is reaching inside him and tells him to trust the Force. He says they are losing badly, but she says they have not lost until there is nothing worth saving. Master Vaqqi comms Creighton and tells him that the comms buoy is no longer under Path control and more help is coming. Cippa runs up and says Aida needed to help someone else, so she wants to go help Lu and Priv. Yaddle instead urged Cippa to stay by her side, and Creighton reminded Cippa that Yaddle knew more than all of them. Inspired by Cippa, Creighton comms Roy, Enya, and Aida and urges them to keep fighting because help is on the way. Yaddle tells Cippa they can go find Lu and Priv and they run off. Creighton goes to support Dalnans being attacked by enforcer droids. 
Yaddle and Cippa make their way through the compound killing droids. Cippa sees one of the Nameless creatures pin down a Jedi and kill them instantly and is instantly overcome with a vision of her greatest fear. Yaddle grabs her hand and urges her to open her eyes, telling her they need to be careful. They find Priv, who is injured, at the wreckage of the Lazuli. Cippa asks her where Lu is, and Priv reluctantly tells her that Lu is dead. Cippa is upset and believes she should have been there to help, but Priv insists that kids should not be in wars and she needed to stay safe. Cippa, now having lost Yaddle, screams the Jedi Master's name as she defends against enforcer droids. A Path member comes up to her flanked by droids and orders her to stop. She throws one of the droids away with the Force. The Path member, realizing she is a Force user, instantly starts shooting at the girl, one hitting her foot. Priv saves her from the other droids and Cippa starts to pass out. Yaddle appears over her and wakes her up before picking her up and pulling her behind a speeder for protection. Cippa sees Priv there with her eyes closed and panics thinking she is dead, but Priv reveals she is still alive. Cippa agrees not to go anywhere without Yaddle's say so and hides under Priv's arm after seeing the dead body of a Weequay. She closes her eyes but she cannot stop seeing images of bodies all around her, including Lu's. She feels pain in her chest as if she has been shot, though she has not, and hopes that she will be lucky enough to see another day.
Creighton finds Aida after fighting his way to the cave entrance. He agrees to help her help Dalnan fighters against approaching droids. They fight the droids, but eventually an elderly woman comes toward Creighton asking for her granddaughter just as enforcer droids come for Aida's back and a speeder comes flying toward him. He pushes down the woman to save her and the speeder hits him and snaps his femur before two blaster shots hit his torso, knocking him to the floor. Seeing Aida still fighting the droids and protecting the Dalnans, he imagines that she is motivated by the same things he is, saving lives and killing the droids. Lying on the ground, Creighton uses the Force to push approaching Path members away from Aida. Aida falls to the ground nearby Creighton and he calls out to her, looking into her eyes. Aida still smiles despite everything as blood leaves her mouth, telling Creighton she is with him and calls him her friend. Then her smile fades and her eyes close.
====For light and life====
In a cave deep underground, Binnot meets with Sevi. After painting three jagged blue lines on his face, Binnot asks for updates. He confirms that the Jedi are losing and the creatures are feeding and growing rapidly. Binnot wishes to see the carnage for himself and they go up to the surface using a hidden door. They see the husk of a Jedi nearby. Binnot spots a Republic ship in the sky getting badly hit and mocks them until it starts to crash toward him. Using binocs, he sees that Kyong Greylark is in the cockpit and dives back into the underground passage.
On the ship, Kyong warns Gella and Axel that they are about to crash. Gella confirms that they are going to hit Binnot. The ship crashes and they all survive. Kyong gives Axel a blaster and tells him to be purposeful in his aim. Kyong says she will contact Creighton soon and let him know she is there. Gella tells Axel to stay behind her and Kyong because he is injured. Kyong says to shoot to kill so they can have quick and merciful deaths, only shooting to maim to get information from someone. Axel realizes his mother is terrifying and is glad to finally be on the same side as her.
Gella, Kyong, and Axel leave the ship, but quickly Gella collapses in pain and screams "No." Axel spots one of the creatures like the one the Mother had nearby and then spots many more running into the caves. After it leaves, Gella tries to get up. In the far distance, she spots Creighton, but then hears the sound of the Speeder and sees him fall over. She runs toward him with Axel behind him and sees Aida laying next to him with her eyes closed. Creighton confirms Aida's not dead and has just lost a lot of blood. Kyong warns that they have no cover and are easy targets and Axel suggests they go back to the ship. Gella grabs Creighton's comlink and yells for help. Master Roy answers but says that he has lost Enya, many of his people have died, and they probably cannot help them. Gella says they will come help soon, but Master Roy says that something is coming and merely says "Tell Enya" before the comlink cuts off. Gella feels Master Roy die and tells Axel. He suggests going after Binnot as Kyong gets shot in the arm. Gella picks up Creighton and Aida's lightsabers and begins to fight with them, urging Axel and Kyong to keep fighting to the end for light and life. Kyong is shot in the gut. Axel runs to her and she points at the sky. Xiri's voice comes from the comlink announcing the arrival of Thylefire Squadron from E'ronoh, before Phan-tu's voice announces the arrival of ground forces from Eiram and Yoda's voice says they will fight together. Xiri flies overhead in a sleek starfighter and droves of E'roni and Eirami troops force the Path members to flee. Kyong says she always thought Mollo would do the dirty work. Gella asks for medics into the comm and Phan-tu tells her some are on the way. She tells Yoda to go to the cave system as there might be many more Path members. Gella tells Creighton to open his eyes and that she is going to win. Creighton says that they got their message and tells Gella he is with her before closing his eyes to rest. Medics arrive to take Creighton, Aida, and Kyong. Axel wants to go with his mother but knows he needs to go after Binnot, Gella agreeing to go with him.
After medics take away Kyong, Thylefire Squadron chases away the pirate and prospector ships. A Pathfinder ship appears, piloted by Kenny and Piti, who announce themselves to Gella. After revealing Dargha's death to them, she asks them to cover her. She and Axel uncover the trap door and go down the passageway. They overhear Binnot kill someone who wants to flee and then walk in to face him. Gella points out that Binnot has been left behind and abandoned. Binnot makes a last ditch attempt to get Axel to join him and run away with him. Axel pretends to go along with it until he brings up that Binnot destroyed QN-1. Binnot ignites Gella's lightsabers and fights Gella and Axel, but she quickly defeats and disarms him. The sound of bombs ringing out throughout the caves startles them and water starts to rush into the room. Binnot grabs Axel and threatens to kill him with his poison glove, leaving Gella unable to stop him. But Axel simply reaches into his anger, strength, and love and punches Binnot in the face. When Binnot stumbles, Axel kicks the man's hand into his chest, the poison needles stabbing Binnot and killing him. The room starts to flood quickly and Gella urges them to leave, but Axel swims down and retrieves her lightsabers for her. They start to swim out, but Axel's chest wound makes him go slow and lag behind. They find a Path member in the water and urge her to come with them, but she refuses because of her hatred and drowns. They manage to get up the passage, but the water rushes in quicker, Axel starts to drown, and the ceiling starts to collapse.
On the surface, Enya fells the last enforcer droid as the Path scatters due to the forces of Eiram and E'ronoh. She suddenly feels Master Roy in the Force. She runs to where she sensed him and finds his lightsaber on the ground before discovering Master Roy's remains, his body turned to ash that is melting in the rain.
Yoda and Yaddle stand together, the latter watching Cippa sleep. Xiri and Phan-tu warn them that explosions have been set off underground. As Yaddle suggests getting help, the ground shakes and they see sections of the caves collapse into sinkholes. She and Yoda sense a Jedi in distress and go to help. Finding the door in the ground, Yaddle and Yoda connect to the force and sense Gella and Axel. Yaddle lifts up the ground, rocks, and soil while Yoda lifts the water to try and rescue them. Enya runs toward them, seeing Gella, and pulls her and Axel from the mud-like water, having been brought to the surface by the two Jedi Masters. Yoda and Yaddle set the water and mud down far away. In the sinkhole, E'roni and Eirami soldiers recover survivors. Yaddle notices that the sounds of battle have faded and the sun is rising. She asks Yoda if the battle is done, and he says it is.
===Epilogues===
On a Republic medical frigate in orbit over Coruscant, Gella wakes up from a medically induced sleep that she was in for multiple days. Axel greets her and confirms that the battle is over. Kyong walks in and greets them. When Gella asks, Kyong says that she is not planning to return to the Chancellorship, but instead open up a school for intergalactic affairs. Axel then announces that he has to leave to go to a detention center on Coruscant and live out his sentence. He apologizes to Gella for all the pain he caused her and thanks her for always giving him a chance to redeem himself, helping him grow beyond his hurt and hate. As he leaves with his mother, Gella senses peace and hope in him. She plans to visit the Kyber Arch at the Jedi Temple and then head to Jedha to begin her Wayseeker journey. She decides that she may visit the detention center before leaving and then takes a nap.
Kyong says goodbye to her son, both of them apologizing to each other and him kissing her on the head before he is taken away. She meets with Mollo and Yoda. Mollo once again asks her to be Chancellor again, but she assures him he does not need her. She does admit that there is much to be done to expand communications and alliances, and Mollo says the galaxy is becoming closer together with every hyperlane made. Yoda says they should speak to the Jedi Council and tell them everything that went wrong, but Kyong also wants to focus all the things that went right, including the help of the Republic and the Jedi. Mollo reveals that the Dalnans are calling the event the Night of Sorrow. Kyong tells Yoda that she will meet him on Coruscant soon to celebrate and remember. All three then imagine the future.
Yoda arrives at the Jedi temple, where the royal families of Eiram and E'ronoh have already gathered. He meets with several Jedi, including Yaddle who is standing with Cippa and Priv. Yaddle has ensured that Cippa will be fully supported after the trauma of the battle. Yoda raises his arm to silence the room and Creighton rises from his chair, walking to the center of the room using a walking stick.
Earlier, Creighton wakes up on a medical frigate. He immediately yells at a droid asking for Aida over and over. The droid confirms that Aida is not on the frigate and Creighton realizes why. After sleeping, he imagines that Aida would have wanted him to look on the bright side, and is determined to carry her with him and believe she is with him. Now, on the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Creighton looks around the room at everyone, including his new Padawan, Enya Keen. greets everyone there and declares that while the Night of Sorrow is over, everyone who was lost will not be forgotten. He says that many bright lights have been lost and that there are similar ceremonies happening all throughout the galaxy. He then reveals that they are there to honor the lives of Jedi Masters Orin Darhga and Char-Ryl-Roy, and Jedi Knight Aida Forte. A youngling presents Orin's crystal to Enya and Aida's to Creighton, who says they will soon place them on the Kyber Arch. Enya begins to sob. The bodies are lowered into the floor and beacons of light shine out of them. Creighton declares that they will never stop fighting for light and life.
After the ceremony, Xiri and Phan-tu speak with Enya and share sympathy for Master Roy's death. The two say goodbye to her and 4VO-TG, who they say they could not have gotten out the message to Eiram and E'ronoh without. Enya gives the droid to them as a belated wedding present, saying that he hopes to be a Thylefire Squadron droid. Phan-tu then asks her why Master Roy's crystal was not given to be put into the Kyber Arch at the ceremony. Enya reveals that she still has his lightsaber and that Yoda is allowing her to use it alongside her yellow one. Enya declares that she will continue her training with Creighton and hopefully find another droid to fix. They laugh together, and their laughter reminds all who hear it of Aida's laughter.
Later, in the Jedi Archives, Creighton speaks with Yoda about the Nameless creatures they encountered on Dalna and the horror they wrought. Yoda confirms that there is a larger danger connected to them, which makes Creighton wonder what Yoda knows. Realizing how catastrophic to the Order it could be if people found out about the creatures, and since they have heard no other reports of their usage, they decide to keep quiet about them and not include them in the Jedi Archive. They agree not to speak of it again and each of them leave.
Two weeks later, on the Timekeeper Moon Eirie, Xiri and Phan-tu celebrate peace between their two planets in a ceremony. They agree to handle the treaty themselves this time. Creighton and Enya are there, alongside Chancellor Mollo, who declares that the people of both Eiram and E'ronoh will now be looking to the future. He reveals that Kenny and Piti's pathfinder team has opened a new hyperspace lane to the Hetzal system. Two ships, one Eirami and one E'roni, fly side by side into the hyperspace lane. Mollo and the heirs give a toast to the future, rebuilding, allies, peace, and to Hetzal.
==Media==
===Editions===
*; April 4, 2023; Random House Worlds; US hardcover
*; April 4, 2023; Random House Worlds; US eBook 
*; January 9, 2024; Random House Worlds; US paperback
===Cover gallery===
File:TheHighRepublicCataclysm-PreliminaryCover.jpg|Preliminary cover 1
File:The_High_Republic_Cataclysm_preliminary_cover_2.png|Preliminary cover 2
File:TheHighRepublic-Cataclysm-cover.jpg|Final cover by Yihyoung Li
File:Cataclysm-textless-cover.png|Textless final cover
File:Cataclysm-test-cover-1.png|The first of four preliminary version of the cover shared by Yihyoung Li
File:Cataclysm-test-cover-2.png|The second of four preliminary versions of the cover
File:Cataclysm-test-cover-3.png|The third of four preliminary versions of the cover
File:Cataclysm-test-cover-4.png|The fourth of four preliminary versions of the cover
==Appearances==
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
==External links==
*
Cataclysm