Battle of the Floating World

"Where is Darth Wredd? You can't protect him from us! We will have his head!"

- Fanoste

The Battle of the Floating World was the final conflict of Darth Wredd's insurgency which occurred on the floating world known as Mala in 139 ABY. During the battle, the rogue Sith Darth Wredd lured both the Fel Empire and One Sith onto Mala with the intent of using the former to destroy the latter. In addition, Darth Wredd wanted to kill Galactic Empress Marasiah Fel, who was also the leader of the Imperial Knights. However, he was thwarted and killed in combat by the Imperial Knight Jao Assam and the junk dealer Ania Solo.

Background
"Wait, where are we? This place&hellip;" "Surely you're put it together by now. Weren't you listening to my story?"

- Jao Assam and Darth Wredd, shortly after arriving on Mala

Following Ania Solo's rescue and exoneration, the Imperial Knight Jao Assam had been imprisoned for deserting the Imperial Knights and was facing execution. However, Darth Wredd infiltrated the Coruscant prison where Assam was being held and freed the Imperial Knight. Wredd wanted to recruit Assam to his reconstituted Sith Order which would be based on Darth Bane's Rule of Two and sought to turn the young Knight to the dark side of the Force. During their escape attempt, Wredd slew several stormtroopers and escaped aboard a starship. Wredd's escape also caught the attention of One Sith infiltrators based on Coruscant. Darth Wredd had planned to exact revenge against the One Sith for destroying his homeworld Mala, which had been reduced to a lifeless floating world which drifted through space. He intended to lure them to Mala where they would be destroyed by the Imperial Knights.

To put the next stage of his plan into action, Darth Wredd traveled to Mala. He then arranged for his captive Jao Assam to escape his holding cell and to transmit their coordinates to the wider galaxy. As planned, this transmission was intercepted by Jao's friend Ania Solo and her companions AG-37 and Sauk, and the One Sith. Following Jao's escape, Empress Marasiah Fel had assigned Ania with a mission to rescue Jao Assam and provided her with an escort force of Trandoshan stormtroopers. Unknown to Solo, Empress Fel also intended to hunt down Darth Wredd and eliminate him once and for all. After outliving his usefulness, Wredd had Assam imprisoned in a cave for Ania and her companions to come and rescue. As planned, Ania and her companions arrived in AG-37's freighter and freed Jao.

Meanwhile, one of the stormtroopers, Blue Two, hung back and transmitted the coordinates to Empress Fel. Jao sensed something was wrong, a concern verified when the stormtroopers detected a small fleet of incoming civilian vessels. These ships were all carrying One Sith infiltrators who disembarked and proceeded to march on Ania's companions and their stormtrooper escorts. Believing that Ania and her companions were harboring Darth Wredd, the One Sith leader Ambassador Fanoste demanded that they hand over the rogue Sith. Without provocation, Fanoste ordered his forces to attack Ania's company and the Stormtroopers.

The Trap
"All of them&hellip;Sith?"

- Sauk

During the ensuing battle, Ania Solo, her companions and the stormtroopers opened fired on the One Sith army. Outnumbered, they were forced to fall back. In the midst of the fighting Wredd appeared and struck down Fanoste with his lightsaber. He also handed Jao Assam a red Sith lightsaber, allowing the Imperial Knight to join the fray against the One Sith. Despite their efforts, Ania's companions and their unlikely Sith ally Darth Wredd were still heavily outnumbered by the One Sith. At the advice of AG-37, the entire group retreated to the wreckage of Carreras array where they assumed a defensive position. During the fighting, Wredd convinced Assam that fighting against the One Sith was in their mutual interest. Appealing to Jao's commitment to his friends, Wredd convinced Assam to pool their Force powers into pushing a large portion of the wrecked array onto the incoming One Sith army.



This action crushed many One Sith and bought Ania's forces enough time to assume a defensive position within the wrecked Carreras array. While taking refuge in the wrecked Carreras array, an argument broke out between Ania's Mon Calamari companion Sauk and the Trandoshan stormtrooper Blue Two. Sauk accused Blue Two of transmitting their coordinates to the One Sith, which the later vehemently denied. Darth Wredd interrupted their argument to inform him that the One Sith were only after him and added that his own sloppiness had brought the Sith to Mala. Wredd explained that the One Sith had been infiltrating all levels of government and commerce following the end of the Imperial Civil War as part of their strategy of restoring Sith rule to the galaxy. He emphasized that he alone was hunting down and killing these Sith infiltrators while the Galactic Federation Triumvirate was doing nothing to stop them.

Darth Wredd also attempted to recruit Jao into his newly reconstituted Sith Order which would be based on the Rule of Two. However, Jao rejected his offer and reiterated his loyalty to Empress Fel, stating that fate had only made them temporary allies. Ania attempted to break up their argument but was interrupted by the arrival of the One Sith, who had finally caught up with them. Ania's companions and the stormtroopers were quickly surrounded by the One Sith. Before they could be overwhelmed and killed, several Imperial Predator-class fighters appeared and began strafing the One Sith combatants. The Imperial Knights had arrived, having received the coordinates sent by the stormtrooper Blue Two.

Knights versus Sith
"I am no Sith. I will not strike you down in anger." "You must! The Sith have to end here. For the sake of the galaxy&hellip;and for the memory of my family!"

- Jao Assam and Darth Wredd

The Predator starfighters were joined by a Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer and several Imperial landing ships. The Fel Empire offered the One Sith with the chance to lay down their weapons. As expected, the One Sith refused this offer and the landing ships began dropping Imperial Knights onto the battlefield. Prior to the second stage of the battle, Antares Draco advised his superior Empress Fel to remain aboard the ship while he personally lead the ground assault. He emphasized that without her, the Imperial Knights would have nothing to fight for. Empress Fel reluctantly agreed to stay aboard the Star Destroyer but kept a close watch on the battle from the bridge of her Star Destroyer.

A ferocious battle quickly ensued as both One Sith and Imperial Knights fought and killed each other. Within hours, the perimeter around the wrecked Carreras array was littered with the corpses of many slain One Sith and Imperial Knights. By that stage, Empress Fel had called for reinforcements which were scheduled to arrive in three hours. In the midst of the fighting, Master Draco was wounded, struck from behind by a Sith assailant. Sensing the plight of her lover, Empress Fel took Master Thared, the only Imperial Knight who had remained behind with her, and their stormtrooper escorts to the battlefield. Meanwhile, Sauk and Ania stumbled upon the wounded Draco. They were quickly joined by Empress Fel and her stormtroopers who had brought a medical droid with them. Fel expressed her gratitude to Ania for attending to Antares Draco and told her that she was in her debt. After securing Draco, Marasiah Fel returned to the battlefield, urging her troops to vanquish the Sith threat for good.

During the fighting, Ania and Sauk retrieved a heavy blaster rifle from a slain Trandoshan stormtrooper. Using the rifle, Ania succeeded in blowing up a Chadra-Fan Lander, killing several One Sith. Sauk also used Draco's comlink to warn several nearby Imperial Knights to evacuate the vicinity. Meanwhile, Darth Wredd aided the Imperial Knights by hacking away at the One Sith with wild abandon. Wredd's actions were observed by Jao and Marasiah Fel, who concluded that the rogue Sith was solely motivated by hatred and a desire for vengeance against the One Sith who had destroyed his homeworld. They reasoned that he thus could not be trusted as an ally. Ultimately, the Imperial Knights and their allies gained the upper hand over the One Sith and succeeded in destroying much of the insurgent Sith order. However, there was no sign of Darth Wredd with many presuming that he had died.

Empress Marasiah Fel proclaimed victory for the Imperial Knights but stressed that they still needed to root out the surviving Sith. She ordered her crew to bring down the Imperial shuttle Neuer in order to evacuate the wounded onto the Star Destroyer. AG-37 was astonished by the high number of dead Sith and speculated that these might be the last Sith in hiding. While Empress Fel was attending to her wounded lover Antares Draco, Darth Wredd snuck up behind her and stabbed her in the chest with her lightsaber. Wredd then fled onto a nearby cliff and was pursued by the Imperial Knight Jao Assam. The two men fought with their lightsabers on top of the cliff.

Giving into his anger, Jao quickly gained the advantage over Darth Wredd and sliced off both of his hands. Sensing defeat, Darth Wredd attempted to convince Jao to end his life with the intent of completing the young Knight's journey to the dark side. Wredd claimed that he was the last of the Sith and that the Sith had to be destroyed for the sake of the galaxy and his family's memory. However, Jao refused to strike him down in anger because he was not a Sith. Ultiamtely, Jao's dilemma was resolved when his associate Ania Solo shot Darth Wredd in the chest with her heavy blaster rifle, killing him. Darth Wredd's death marked the seeming demise of the Sith Order.

Aftermath
"They are ALL dead, Empress. The Sith are gone from the galaxy. It's&hellip;it's the end of history" "Oh, I don't know. History has a way of&hellip;continuing."

- Yalta Val and Marasiah Fel

With the death of Darth Wredd and the One Sith infiltrators, the Sith threat to the galaxy was presumed to have ended. Following the battle, Empress Marasiah Fel was evacuated from the battlefield in a bacta tank. Due to immediate medical attention, she survived her injuries. Following the battle, Jao Assam reasoned that Darth Wredd had engineered the Battle of Floating World in order to destroy the Sith as revenge for the destruction they had wrought on him, his family, and his howeworld. Having realized that he was the only Sith left, Darth Wredd had deliberately turned on them in order to bring about his own demise. While Darth Wredd succeeded in destroying all of the Sith, he failed to bring Jao over to the Dark Side.

Following the Battle of the Floating World, Empress Fel offered Ania Solo a job as the Captain of her personnel guard to reward her for saving her life and helping to bring about the defeat of the Sith. However, Ania declined that position since she preferred her life of adventure. Still, Ania was able to convince Empress Fel to drop the charges of desertion against Jao and to release him from service in the Imperial Knights. This enabled Jao to join Ania and her companions Sauk and AG-37. They were also joined by Yalta Val's Imperial communications droid. Jao Assam parted company with his mentor Yalta Val on good terms and then headed with Ania's company for parts unknown.

Behind the scenes
The Battle of the Floating World serves as the climax of Star Wars: Legacy Volume 4—Empire of One, the final three-story arc in Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman's Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2 comic series.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2 17
 * Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2 18