With the destruction of its Death Star battle station, the Galactic Empire has been shaken to the core by the ever-growing Rebel Alliance. Its iron-fisted order challenged, the Empire quickly finds an increasing number of systems slipping through its fingers.

In one of those systems, the remote desert planet of Jabiim held promise for Luke Skywalker and the Rebellion. But a well-intentioned diplomatic mission turned tragic when the Rebels' presence alerted Darth Vader and led to the complete subjugation of Jabiim's immense slave population.

Seeking to rescue one of their own left behind on Jabiim—an Alliance mathematician called Jorin Sol—the rebels mounted a daring and covert mission against an Imperial stronghold on Kalist VI. An operation that brought Luke Skywalker into direct and heartbreaking conflict with his childhood friend "Tank", now known to the Empire as Lieutenant Janek Sunber ...