Mission to Monastery

"No more, Luke Skywalker! I've thoroughly tested you...Made you perform in a hostile environment...Probed your emotions by placing your friends in jeopardy. I now know your limits...And your limitations."

- Darth Vader, to Luke Skywalker

The Mission to Monastery was a mission carried out by Luke Skywalker in an effort to convince the isolationist Order of the Sacred Circle to join the Rebel Alliance. However, It was soon discovered that the mission was a trap set up by the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader to test Luke's skills. The mission began when leader of the Order, Domina Tagge, under the orders from Darth Vader, asked the Rebellion to send one of its heroes, Luke Skywalker to Monastery as an envoy. General Jan Dodonna agreed and also sent princess Leia Organa, who was later captured by Imperial forces, but managed to escape. Meanwhile, Luke met Vader and was forced to accept a duel with him. However, Leia had brought Domina's brother and former baron of the House of Tagge, Orman Tagge with her, whom Vader used to test Luke's mastery of the Force. Skywalker killed Orman, who was disguised as Vader, and escaped on the Millenium Falcon.

Background
"A Galactic war, such as you have begun, could well sunder the circle of life...With our many followers in many systems, our influence might tip the balance to end such a war swiftly. The order wished to hear from both sides before making a decision."

- Domina Tagge

After learning that the pilot who destroyed the Death Star during the Battle of Yavin was his own son Luke Skywalker, the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader planned to set a trap for him. Vader forced Domina Tagge, a member of the Order of the Sacred Circle located on Monastery, into cooperating with him, promising power and prestige, as well as revenge on Luke Skywalker, for Domina believed her brother, Orman, was killed by him, but he was in fact saved by Vader and has been since kept in hibernation. Not long after, Skywalker saved a civilian vessel from an Imperial attack and escorted it to the Rebel base on Yavin IV. Aboard that vessel was Domina, who informed the Rebels that her homeworld of Monastery, that stayed neutral throughout the course of the war, was willing to join someone. To decide between the Alliance and the Empire, she requested that both sides should send an envoy to Monastery and asked Luke to go there. The Alliance agreed, but to make sure that everything would proceed fine, commander of the Yavin base, Jan Dodonna also sent princess Leia and the former smuggler-turned-Rebel Han Solo, along with his co-pilot Chewbacca, on Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon.

Mission
"What was this thing, sister Domina...? A Nightshrike[...]I can't imagine why it was out during the day...The sunlight must have driven it mad, made it attack. Perhaps it is an omen...A hint of how disruptive to the natural order even one Rebel can be."

- Luke, Domina and Vader

As soon as Luke landed, he was attacked by a Nightshrike, a native Monastery beast. After defeating it, Luke met Darth Vader, who was a representative of the Empire. He wanted to attack him, but remembering his promise to keep the mission peaceful, promised Vader to meet another time after the mission. Meanwhile Leia and Han established a laserwave link with Luke's droid R2-D2 to monitor Skywalker's activities.

However, they were soon captured by captain Wermis, who was informed by Vader that the Alliance would also send princess Organa. Wermis ordered to search the Falcon but didn't find the princess. Nonetheless, he imprisoned Han and his co-pilot Chewbacca, but Leia, who was hiding in the ship’s smuggling compartments decided to rescue them and warn Luke. She contacted him via Artoo, and tried to inform Skywalker that the mission was a trap. However, Luke interrupted the transmission when Domina appeared and told Luke that the Order was ready to make a decision. She then escorted him to the main chambers and said that the Order decided to join the Empire in an effort to eliminate the Alliance. Luke tried to attack Vader, whom he suspected of using the Force to cloud Domina's mind, but she said that this was not a time to fight and proposed a place to settle their dispute.

Meanwhile, aboard the Imperial ship, princess Leia, using her proton grenades to set a distraction, managed to free Han and Chewbacca. However, after they escaped from the ship, they discovered that their long-time enemy and former baron of the House of Tagge, Orman, managed to break free from his hibernation cell, sneaked aboard the Falcon and was willing to rescue Domina, because he believed that she was in danger. By threatening Han and Leia with a blaster, he ordered them to pilot the ship to the surface of Monastery.

Skirmish in the Crystal Valley
As Vader was approaching the ceremonial Crystal Valley to fight Luke, he noticed the Falcon, aboard which Leia and Han were at last able to free themselves, but distracted by the pursuing TIE fighters to notice that Orman escaped and ran into the valley. The valley itself was exceptionally dangerous territory—in a constant state of eruption, people attempting to traverse it could either be crushed by falling pillars of crystal or skewered by new pillars coming up through the ground. One such pillar nearly fell on Tagge, but the former baron was saved by Vader. The Dark Lord explained that killing Tagge would be far too easy and unimaginative, and proceeded to inform the man that his sister was no longer sweet and incorruptible. Distraught, Tagge begged Vader to kill him there and then, but the towering Sith Lord had one final purpose for him. Soon enough Luke fought Vader in the valley, but when he delivered a final blow, he realized that it was in fact an illusion and he had killed Orman. When the real Vader appeared and told his son that the whole mission was meant to test Luke's abilities, Luke decided to run, because he felt that the only way to win that battle was to stop playing Vader's game. While above the valley, Han and Leia informed Domina that Vader was lying to her and all that time Orman had been kept in hibernation. However, when Luke appeared without the Baron and tried to explain what happened, Domina didn't listen and said that despite the fact that the Order won't join the Empire, her wrath would always be against Skywalker. Luke and Vader departed Monastery, each in their own direction and they wouldn't see each other for almost two years until their meeting on Mimban.

Appearances

 * Star Wars 35: Dark Lord's Gambit
 * Star Wars 36: Red Queen Rising
 * Star Wars 37: In Mortal Combat