*So, Jori actually gets convicted of ship theft and sent to a hard labor camp. This seems kind of extreme. I mean, the fact that her brother has disappeared and she did come back to the Republic and her story seems remotely plausible, at least plausible enough to cause reasonable doubt. But who knows what the legal system really is here.
*Plus, just for ship theft, she gets sent to this really extreme labor camp. I mean, she’s frigging swinging the sledgehammer, you know?
*Third implausible fact about Jori’s imprisonment? She actually escapes! From a lockup where some hardcore criminals are obviously kept. Well, whatever.
*Oh, Ssk Kahor shows back up here. He gets the Starbreaker 12 when Jori’s convicted. I like this guy.
*Oh my God. Fourth implausible fact? Jori is able to sneak into the Empress Teta’s private chambers! This woman is like just a few years removed from a massive rebellion under her rule and her security is already so lax that a frigging ESCAPED FELON can get into her private rooms.
*Luckily, Odan-Urr is with the Empress, telling her about a horrible vision he had about a huge threat from outer space blah blah, so Empress Teta actually believes Jori.
*Everyone swings into action to prepare for attack; meanwhile, back on Korriban, Naga Sadow’s fleet heads for the Republic at record speeds.
*The story has, to this point, been, frankly, pretty low-energy. I mean, we got to see Ludo Kressh blow up again. But a trial for ship theft isn’t totally riveting or anything. But at this point, things to start to pick up.
*CANONICAL STATUS: Mostly fabricated. At this point, The Fall of the Sith Empire does begin to bring in the historical narrative by engaging directly with Odan-Urr, Empress Teta, etc. But again the most likely fictional Jori Daragon drives and dominates the plot. Whether this is good historical fiction is up for debate; that is indeed historical fiction simply isn’t. This work is NOT RECOMMENDED for use as a historical resource.
* ½ out of **** stars.
Kevin J. Anderson
*Okay, next time, we’ll move on to the next issue of this series, The Fall of the Sith Empire 3: First Encounter!