Legendary Adventures: Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows

Murder on Coruscant! An artist working with lightsaber crystals has been murdered. Hot on the murderer’s trail are Jax Pavan and his gang of proto-Rebels. Meanwhile, an Imperial Moff travels to Coruscant for answers….join the Legendary Adventure as we descend into Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows!

The newly risen Empire reigns, but it hasn’t filled in every gap yet. There are hold-outs that have yet to cave to Sheev Palpatine’s machinations. Street of Shadows shows us that private citizens, victims of genocide, and even Imperial Moffs still operate against the Empire’s wishes.

First, we see both private citizens and even Imperial employees haven’t bought into the Imperial regime. Since the rise of the Empire only months prior, Jedi have been all but extinct. Living Jedi face the wrath of the terrible Darth Vader, enforcer of the Emperor’s will. This doesn’t stop former Jedi Knight Jax Pavan, who now works as a private investigator in the heart of Imperial Center. Working alongside Jax are his almost-sentient droid, I-5YQ, former reporter Den Dhur, and former Imperial officer Haninum Tyk Rhinnan. Rhinann worked closely with Darth Vader, but the Dark Lord’s presence was too terrifying to bear, so he defected to the proto-Rebels. This crew has been living in secret in the heart of the capital for months now, barely scraping by, but doing what they can for whomever they can.

Unfortunately, all cannot be as altruistic as this crew as some use the change in government to line their own pockets. Since the Republic has fallen, crime syndicates are on the rise. Black Sun, leading criminal syndicate, has fared well despite the regime change. They were able to cut profits during the Clone War selling illegal spices (even from planets hotly contested between Republic and Separatist forces). In the last novel, Prince Xizor made a bid for power, resulting in an altercation between him and Jax Pavan, wherein Jax lost his lightsaber. Though they lay rather low, if not working with the Empire directly, they are the first to be blamed when trouble brews on Coruscant.

For instance, Jax runs into trouble with his latest case. A Zeltron named Dejah Dhure contracts Jax and the crew to find out who murdered her Caasi lover, Ves Volette. Volette’s art included lightsaber technology, featuring the same crystals used to power the lightsaber. This makes him an obvious target to be murdered by the crime syndicates, who would sell his technology on the black market.

Unfortunately, Volette’s Camaasi genetics might also bring down the wrath of the Empire. We see here a second way the galaxy is resisting change, and even in the face of genocide! In the few months since Sheev became Emperor, the Camaasi have already gotten on his bad side. They were mostly pacifists, yet rejected Imperial rule on their system. In response, Sheev ordered that the surface of their planet be bombarded, killing most Camaasi people. The few survivors of the genocide went to peaceful planets, like Alderaan, but a brave few traveled to Imperial Center to make a new way of life while criticizing the Empire anyway.

Finally, we see another angle of dissent against the Empire. Jax Pavan is not the only man with a mission. Imperial Moff Gregar Typho – yes, that Captain Typho – also has a mystery to solve. Though the galaxy has seemingly moved on from the Clone War, Typho has not. In fact, his whole life is shaped by the end of the war; specifically, the woman whom he loved, Senator Padmé Amidala, was killed at the very end of the war. Using all of his wits, Typho travels to Coruscant to try and figure out what happened to her. He lies, bribes, trespasses, using all of his abilities only to find out one thing: Darth Vader has something to do with her death.

Now, if you’re familiar with Michael Reeves books, and I hope you are, as we’ve covered a few so far, you’ll know that there are more than two stories operating at once. The third story shows the start of the relationship between the Empire and bounty hunters. Of course, the use of bounty hunters is seen as below the Empire even as late as the Battle of Hoth, but they were quick to utilize their services. Darth Vader personally tasks Aurra Sing with the capture of Jax Pavan.

The bounty hunter has earned her reputation well. Before the fall of the Republic, she dueled Jedi Knights Sharad Hett and Aayla Secura, and has kept lightsabers of Jedi she has killed. She and Typho run into each other in the Jedi Temple, and after a short duel, she is bested by the Moff. Unfortunately, her good rep is killed by being defeated by a somewhat older man who doesn’t have a lightsaber until he steals one of hers.

Typho eventually confronts Darth Vader directly, leading to one of the most underwhelming scenes in recent memory. Vader confirms to Typho that he was indeed the cause of Padmé’s death, and Anakin Skywalker’s as well. Unfortunately, this book speeds up the process by which Vader accepts himself as Vader really quickly. We hardly see the transition at all, let alone as well done as Charles Soule did in his Darth Vader comic series. We watched most of this transition happen in Dark Lord, of course, but I think this would have been a great way to address his transformation from a different angle. Dark Lord did not mentioned Padmé much at all, so I would’ve loved to see what would happen if Vader was confronted with his role in her death. Instead of the anguish we might’ve expected, Vader nonchalantly accepts that he is the cause of her death, which was a real bummer.

Thankfully, before Typho died, he sends Jax Pavan a lightsaber stolen from Aurra Sing, and the Jedi and Dark Lord are sent on a collision course….in our next Adventure, Coruscant Nights III: Patterns of Force!

Legendary Travel Tips:
-This book is preceded by book one of this trilogy, Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight and will be followed by Coruscant Nights III: Patterns of Force.
-This book insinuates that Aurra Sing is killed in action, but she appears very, very frequently, after this book, especially in the upcoming Legacy era.

You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor!

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