Lumiya

"My true name is Shira Brie.''" "But you're better known as Lumiya." "''Yes."

- Lumiya reveals herself to Jacen Solo

Shira Elan Colla Brie was a Force-sensitive Human female born on Imperial Center during the height of Galactic Emperor Palpatine's reign over the majority of the galaxy. Brie's dedication to the tenets of Palpatine's New Order garnered the interest of his chief enforcer, the Sith Lord Darth Vader, who oversaw the young woman's advancement in various Imperial-sponsored programs before abetting her enrollment into the Imperial Intelligence Academy of Carida. After graduating with top honors and being promoted to the rank of major by Vader himself, Brie embarked on a number of missions designed to destabilize the Rebel Alliance war movement. Her primary objective was to infiltrate the Alliance as an undercover agent and either cause the death of or facilitate the ostracization of Rebel champion Luke Skywalker amongst his peers, the latter of which Brie successfully achieved. However, the events that resulted in Skywalker's expatriation also had serious consequences for Brie; after her TIE/ln starfighter was shot down by Skywalker, her body was nearly destroyed and, while she drifted in space on the brink of death, Darth Vader found and rescued her. Subsequent rehabilitation included the fitting of more than half of her body with cybernetic enhancements. Brie then began training in earnest to use the dark side of the Force at the feet of Darth Vader, and assumed the identity of Lumiya, Dark Lady of the Sith.

While Lumiya studied in secret as Darth Vader's Sith apprentice, she also served as an Emperor's Hand, answering only to Palpatine himself. During that time, Lumiya went on a pilgrimage encouraged by Lord Vader to the world of Ziost, where she crafted her infamous lightwhip. It was while on that sojourn, however, that both Palpatine and Darth Vader perished in the Battle of Endor. Effectively bereaved of a Sith Master to complete her dark side indoctrination, Lumiya proclaimed herself Dark Lady of the Sith, and set out to avenge the deaths of her Masters by waging a one-woman crusade against the Rebel Alliance. She confronted and defeated another of Vader's pupils, a Belderonian native named Flint, whom she took as her first Sith apprentice, before joining the extra-galactic Nagai species in their invasion of the galaxy. The Sith Lady suffered a critical defeat early on in her campaign against the Alliance which resulted in the creation of a new set of armor, and the debut of a triangular headdress that, along with her lightwhip, was thenceforth regarded as her trademark. She continued to aid the Nagai, during which time she faced her sworn enemy, Luke Skywalker, in combat on the planet Kinooine. She defeated and captured him in their initial altercation but was beaten later when Skywalker stripped much of her armor and exposed the identity of his former lover, Shira Brie. As the newly-arrived Nagai invasion fleet descended upon and the planet, however, Skywalker was forced to abandon the Dark Lady, which allowed her to disappear and continue preparations for the Nagai war effort while also promising mayhem for Skywalker should they ever meet again. Lumiya subsequently ended her partnership with the Nagai in favor of one with their sworn enemies, the Tofs, but was bested by the combined efforts of the Alliance, the Empire, and the Nagai during the final battle of the Nagai-Tof War. She again eluded capture by her enemies, and retreated from the forefront of galactic activity to plot retribution against Luke Skywalker and his Rebel cohorts.

Although the majority of the galaxy was under the misconception that Lumiya had perished in the fallout of the Nagai-Tof War, such was not the case. On the contrary, the Dark Lady of the Sith was indeed alive, and had gone underground to consolidate her resources in preparation for a strike against the New Republic, the successor government to the Rebel Alliance. She began to again work closely with Imperial Intelligence and also took the second of her Sith apprentices, former Imperial Royal Guardsman Carnor Jax, after the mysterious death of her first, Flint. After giving him limited training, Lumiya and Jax embarked on several missions, including the elimination of the last vestiges of Palpatine's Prophets of the Dark Side cult. She then charged Jax with the infiltration of the upper echelons of the Empire in anticipation of a threat to her Sith Order, while she herself undertook a mission on behalf of Imperial stewardess Ysanne Isard. However, Jax's own nascent ambitions led him in an attempt to betray Lumiya, albeit unsuccessfully; he was murdered by another former Royal Guardsman, leaving the Dark Lady without an apprentice yet again. With no other options left but to rethink her strategies, the Dark Lady of the Sith retreated to Korriban where, with possession of the ancient Sith oracle stone, she continued to monitor galactic events from afar.

25 ABY marked the beginning of another tumultuous time period for Lumiya. She found and took up new residence in the former asteroid home of an ancient Sith Lord known as Darth Vectivus, where she mastered the creation of dark-side empowered Force phantoms. That same year, she was contacted by a new order of Sith on Korriban, who sought to bring the Dark Lady into their fold. Lumiya agreed to meet with them but was delayed en route by advance scouts of the Yuuzhan Vong on the eve of their galactic invasion. She eluded capture and attempted to undermine the Yuuzhan Vong offensive in her own way, only to be thwarted by the unexpected interference of the enemy. As the galaxy descended further into strife and conflict, Lumiya came to believe that order and stability could only be imposed through the will of a Sith Lord. It was while cultivating those axioms that she met Vergere, an ex-Jedi-turned-Sith who had also studied under Palpatine. Lumiya convinced Vergere, who had at one point been of the same contention as those on Korriban, to forsake the idea of Sith in abundance in favor of the traditional paradigm that was the cornerstone of the Order to which Vader and Palpatine had belonged: one Sith Master to embody the power of the dark side, and a single Sith apprentice to crave it. Lumiya's training was completed by Vergere and together they conspired to restore peace and order in the galaxy through the creation and ascension of the next Dark Lord of the Sith.

Ignoring a second overture on behalf of the Korriban Sith to once again ally, Lumiya and Vergere planned to bring the Skywalker family's Sith legacy full circle through Jacen Solo, the nephew and son of Lumiya's former enemies, Luke Skywalker and his sister Leia Organa Solo, respectively. She and Vergere facilitated Solo's capture by the Yuuzhan Vong, to whom Vergere had ingratiated herself, thus allowing the Fosh to begin the Sith training that Lumiya would eventually complete. Though Vergere died three years into the Yuuzhan Vong War during the Battle of Ebaq 9, she had completed her role in Jacen Solo's tutelage. Twelve years passed before Lumiya was ready to uphold her end of the bargain, whereupon she planned to manipulate Solo against the backdrop of yet another war, one that was the result of her clandestine instigation. In 40 ABY, Lumiya began to aggravate the already tepid relationship between the Galactic Alliance and the Corellian system. Capitalizing on Solo's desire to unify the galaxy regardless of the cost, Lumiya orchestrated a series of events that led to a meeting with Solo at her home, and resulted in his agreement to take up the way of the Sith as her apprentice. She continued to secretly manipulate the secession movement spearheaded by Corellia, and also enlisted the services of the Twi'lek Dark Jedi Alema Rar in the process. Lumiya then revealed herself to the Jedi and, with the Order now alerted to her shadowy machinations, Lumiya used their determination to eliminate her as a distraction from Jacen Solo's descent into the dark side. After ensuring the completion of Solo's fall, which effectively cemented her revenge against his family, Lumiya resigned herself to death in mortal combat against her one-time lover-turned nemesis, Luke Skywalker.

Early life
"Born in Empire capitol. Raised in palace of Emperor Palpatine as part of experiment in adolescent indoctrination. Experiment totally successful."

- Excerpt of Brie's Imperial dossier from the Krake Data Vault



Shira Elan Colla Brie was a Human female born on Coruscant, then known as Imperial Center, at the height of the Galactic Empire. A Force-sensitive, Brie's childhood was spent in the Imperial Palace of Emperor Palpatine. Brie was chosen for adolescent indoctrination via the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order where she quickly became COMPNOR's premier inductee, and her success there saw her fast-tracked into another similar Imperial program by her superiors. Brie's impressive achievements fell under the notice of the Emperor's foremost servant, Darth Vader, who recommended Brie for training in the Empire's Imperial Intelligence division. She had few memories of her life before her time with Imperial Intelligence; the young woman soon excelled in all aspects of her training, becoming proficient in nearly all exotic martial arts, from Echani to Noghri Stava. Brie's body was also biologically enhanced with accelerated healing and a maximum increase in her pain threshold; furthermore, her mental faculties were improved by means of mnemonic drug training.

As part of her training in Imperial Intelligence, Shira Brie was enrolled in the Coruscanti Pilot Institute in 2.5 BBY. Holding the rank of cadet, the young woman underwent training under Commandant Mogurk. Brie struck up a friendship her fellow trainee and bunk-mate Cadet Myrette Davani, and soon rose to the top of the class. Throughout her three years of training, Brie's also received instruction under Darth Vader which occurred at night and in utmost secrecy. Although the Sith Lord's tutelage wearied Brie, she was able to maintain her position as the Institute's best cadet. Her time in Imperial training became one of the few times in the young Force-sensitive's life that she felt that others truly cared for her well-being. She swore an oath of loyalty to the Emperor, to which she attached great importance.

Training on Carida
"Shira still hasn't discussed the bug walker incident, and I've stopped pressing her. Nothing like it has happened since. She still spends a lot of time in "private tutoring" that she won't tell me about, though. Frankly, I think she's heading into intelligence. It would explain why more of a stink wasn't made about the accidental deaths of six students, and it would explain her mysterious private training, which always happens at night. Yet in many ways, she's still the same woman I've known for years. Same sense of humor, same brilliant mind, and the same love of practical jokes. But that darkness inside her keeps growing."

- Myrette Davani, who trained alongside Brie



Circa 0.5 ABY, Brie's flight school class transferred from Coruscant to Carida for one last year of study at the Imperial Military Academy. There, Brie and her fellow flight school classmates would undergo one term of stormtrooper boot camp, followed by a further two terms of strategy, survival and tactics. As the school's finest pilot, the role of flying the personnel shuttle from Coruscant to the academy fell to Brie. The cadet refused, however, and her superiors instead selected Davani. The class arrived safely at Carida, a high-gravity world, and settled in to prepare for boot camp. The training began with two days of arduous physical conditioning in the barracks, before the cadets were dispatched on a 200 kilometer hike across one of Carida's deserts on the third day. Brie and her fellow classmates were told by the instructors that they could pack however many supplies they wished, but the young woman perceived the exercise's true purpose. She explained to Davani that the instructors were waiting to see if the cadets would foolishly weigh themselves down with extra water and other supplies; any cadet who did would perish on the hike due to the world's high gravity. Taking only the standard supplies, Brie and Davani completed the hike together&mdash;two of twenty trainees to survive out of two hundred.

The hikes proved to be a staple of the boot camp training, along with war games and long hours honing their pilot skills in the simulator. Together with Davani, Brie also used simulators to put in extra practice, especially for one upcoming war game against Bantha Squad, in which the two cadets would be operating the new Mountain Terrain Scout Transports&mdash;the war games at the academy often served as field tests for new technology. Brie's training under Darth Vader, however, continued to take a toll on the young woman's mental state. In 1 ABY, six months into the final year of the military training, the Mountain Terrain Scout Transport war game was carried out. Brie and her fellow cadets were dropped into a mountainous area known as Tarkin's Teeth, some 300 kilometers outside the academy proper. There, they boarded their MT-STs and began the exercise. While the rest of the squad formed a perimeter, Brie and Davani undertook separate reconnaissance missions in their individual walkers. Brie soon encountered the Bantha Squad walkers and opened fire&mdash;her vehicle, however, had been fitted with live weapons rather than the training lasers employed by the other cadets.

In moments, Brie had destroyed twelve MT-STs and killed six cadets. The Force-sensitive woman was laughing when Davani arrived. Due to pressure from above, the live weapons were blamed on "instructor error" and the deaths passed off as training casualties. Although Davani pressured her to discuss the incident, Brie refused to do so. She trained at the academy during the day and with Vader at night, earning consistent high marks from her military superiors and developing new powers under the Sith Lord's tutelage, which continued to affect her psyche. A short time before circa 1.5 ABY, to celebrate their upcoming graduation ceremony, Brie and Davani headed out into the local Caridan district on their two-day leave passes. The two cadets began a cantina crawl, heading through several establishments in short order and drinking at each one. At the first bar, Brie used the Force to exert influence over the Caridan bartender so that she and Davani could enjoy certain perks unavailable to regular customers, such as discounted drinks. Four bars later, when a group of Caridans offered to buy the two women a drink, Brie once again made use of her abilities. She used the Force to immobilize one of the Caridans and then telekinetically flattened him to the floor.

Soon after, Shira Brie graduated from the Imperial Academy with top honors, an accolade which had been achieved by no other student as of 3 ABY. Lord Vader granted Brie the rank of a major in Imperial Intelligence. Following Brie's graduation, Darth Vader and Director Ysanne Isard of Imperial Intelligence arranged for the young Force-sensitive to be dispatched on a solo mission. Brie proved herself able, encouraging Vader to field her as an operative personally in his attempts to rid himself of the threat of the Rebel Alliance.

Joining the Rebellion
"I found that the nomads had told the Empire that my tribe was in league with the Rebel Alliance. My drunken friend said that was why they had killed them all: men&hellip;women&hellip;children. And so I joined the rebellion."

- Shira Brie



Following the Empire's devastating loss to the Rebel Alliance during the Battle of Yavin which saw the destruction of their first Death Star superweapon, Shira Brie was given a new assignment by Darth Vader. She was to be installed a counterspy within the Rebel Alliance with instructions either to cause the death of the individual directly responsible for the Death Star's destruction, Rebel hero Luke Skywalker, or to so severely tarnish his reputation that he would be discredited in the eyes of his fellow rebels. To this end, a plausible back story was fabricated for Brie which stated that she was from the city of Chinshassa on Shalyvane. Though the planet was home to the native Em'liy species, Brie's cover story falsely identified Humans as the domestic race. The Em'liy were instead cast as oppressors to the Humans who warred with them and destroyed the society to which Brie supposedly belonged, killing her family in the process. This pseudo war between the Humans and the Em'liy lasted for years until they two species cast their differences aside to make peace with one another. All of Shalyvane's natives then gathered together at a shrine called the Circle of Kavaan to solidify their new conciliation under the guidance of alien ambassadors contracted by the Em'liy, but they were instead attacked by these offworlders, who proceeded to massacre all those present. Brie, a little girl, managed to escape the slaughter and was left to survive into adulthood by her own faculties. Many years passed before she learned the "truth" of Shalyvane's destruction from an intoxicated ex-fighter pilot; the Em'liy had allied with the Empire and also lied to them, claiming that Brie's people were members of the Rebel Alliance. Enraged by the revelation, Brie sought out the Alliance and decided to enlist. The verisimilitude of her cover story was bolstered when Darth Vader ordered the razing of Chinshassa, which had previously displayed resistance to Imperial rule. Shalyvane would also serve as the secret location by which Brie would report her progress to Vader; a personal means of contact was furnished by the Dark Lord that was activated when her unique blood chemistry came into contact with a transmitter embedded within the Circle of Kavaan.

Lieutenant Brie
"Wasn't it nice of Shira, asking to help like that? She's such a thoughtful person.''" "Yes. Isn't she." "''And cute, too&mdash;for a Human."

- C-3PO, Leia Organa, and Plif

Brie posed as a Shalyvane refugee and successfully infiltrated the Alliance, due in part to their immediate need for fighter pilots following the Battle of Hoth. Eventually earning the rank of lieutenant, Brie engaged in several rebellion sorties, including work alongside fellow Force-sensitives Kyle Katarn, Corwin Shelvay, and Erling Tredway on a mission to D'rinba IV to disable the superlaser of the second Death Star.



Shira was next assigned to Rogue starfighter squadron and was stationed at Haven Base on Arbra, during which time she met and befriended her superior, flight commander Luke Skywalker. When lieutenant Brie volunteered to accompany Skywalker on a mission to Bespin's Cloud City in search of Lando Calrissian, her congenial demeanor and obvious affection for him spurred contemptuous feelings from Princess Leia Organa&mdash;who had been denied Skywalker's companionship on a reconnaissance drill around Haven Base. Oblivious to Organa's scorn, Brie left with Skywalker for Bespin, flying her X-wing starfighter as his wingmate. Upon their arrival Lieutenant Brie noted that Cloud City seemed deserted, and an investigation by Commander Skywalker's astromech droid R2-D2, determined that the planting of a series of bombs within Cloud City's infrastructure resulted in the evacuation of the populace, though they were soon thereafter neutralized by a lobot and a Human, which Skywalker surmised was probably Lando Calrissian. Before their investigation could take them any further they were attacked by Hugo Treece, an Imperial governor stationed on Bespin by Darth Vader. They remained pinned under fire from Treece and his squad of stormtroopers until Calrissian's arrival served to distract the Imperial's attention away from his allies. Brie stood by while Commander Skywalker reactivated the bombs through the Force, and the resulting explosion was enough to scare the Imperials into swiftly evacuating Cloud City.

After returning to Arbra, Lieutenant Brie stayed behind while Commander Skywalker ventured to the Bazarre space station in the Cademimu sector with Lando Calrissian and the Wookiee Chewbacca to negotiate the sale of four disabled TIE Fighters with weapons dealer Orion Ferret. Brie instead took part in an experiment of Princess Organa's that involved hiding a portion of the Rebel fleet within the primary star of the Arbran system. The expressed reservations of Organa's protocol droid C-3P0 about carrying out such a hazardous plan without the presence of Luke Skywalker led Brie to volunteer to act in his stead&mdash;a request that was reluctantly granted by the Princess.

Alliance heroine
"In recognition of your recent acts of heroism on the planet Shalyvane, you are herewith awarded the Burdine Cluster, along with the traditional advancement in rank&mdash;Captain Brie."

- Princess Leia Organa

The deal with Orion Ferret had been successful, and Lieutenant Brie was selected with Luke Skywalker and two others to test the newly-acquired TIE Fighters as part of the Flying Bantha Squadron in actual combat during an assault on the Imperial Spindrift Station on the planet of the same name. The the forces stationed there mistakenly identified Brie's team as friendlies which ultimately resulted in capture for the Imperials, as well as the seizure of the specific location coordinates of a secret armada being assembled by the Empire. Mission accomplished, Brie and her companions traveled back to Haven Base.

In the interim between the time it took the Rebel forces on Arbra to decipher the codes retrieved during the Spindrift mission and when they planned to execute their attack on the secret armada, Lieutenant Brie requested permission to return to her pseudo-homeworld of Shalyvane for personal reasons. In truth, the time had come to submit her annual progress report to Darth Vader. Brie was initially refused by Princess Organa when she requested the specific spatial coordinates of Arbra, Organa's reason being that such knowledge was privy only to the principle and most trusted among the Rebel Alliance leadership. However, when Commander Skywalker, who knew the map specs of Arbra, offered to accompany Brie on her pilgrimage, Organa grudgingly granted them permission. They arrived in Brie's false hometown of Chinshassa, and the Lieutenant led Skywalker and fellow Rogue pilots Wald and Hanc Thorben to the Circle of Kavaan, a place of great importance to the Shalyvane natives, but also the means by which Brie was to secretly communicate with Darth Vader. Feigning an expressed need to perform a sacred ritual in private, Brie approached the monument and knelt at its foundation. Much to Skywalker's astonishment, she pierced herself and let her blood trickle onto the alter, which triggered the embedded communications transmitter. Brie's message to Vader was interrupted, however, when Shalyvane's Em'liy natives ambushed the Rebels and forced them to take cover. While fighting against the Em'liy warriors, Lieutenant Brie revealed several elements of her cover story; that it had been these same natives who destroyed both her family and childhood home of Chinshassa in allegiance to the Empire which led her to pursue membership with the Rebel Alliance, and that she returned annually to Chinshassa in remembrance of her people's massacre.

The Rebels were forced to give quarter under the relentless advance of the Em'liy warriors until Commander Skywalker's astromech R2-D2 discovered the location of a series of underground tunnels previously spoken of by Lieutenant Brie that could potentially serve as an adequate means of escape. Skywalker volunteered to enter the subterranean labyrinth first but lost the opportunity to do so when Brie, who was already familiar with their existence, jumped in before him. Believing that Brie had been lost to them after the entrance in which she disappeared was sealed following an explosion caused by the Em'liy warriors, the Rebels began to make their final stand against the opposition; but as the natives closed in they were cut off by Lieutenant Brie&mdash;who had successfully sneaked past them through the tunnels to recover her X-Wing and returned to save her comrades. She decimated the Em'liy barbarians in a strafing run and afterward met up with her teammates who&mdash;especially Luke Skywalker&mdash;expressed much relief in knowing that Brie was alive and well. A ceremony was held following their return to Haven Base in the presence of many Rebel Alliance members wherein Lieutenant Shira Brie was recognized for her gallantry during the peril she and her fellow Rogues faced on Shalyvane. The prestigious Burdine Cluster award was presented to the lieutenant along with a promotion to the rank of captain by Princess Organa, who displayed considerable gratitude for the selfless valor of Shira Brie.

Mission accomplished
"&mdash;I had to use the Force to tell me if the blockading TIE was friend or foe! And, Leia&hellip;the Force told me to shoot! It told me to shoot, blast it! But according to the holographs taken by our other surviving fighter, the pilot of the TIE I shot down was Shira! My own wing guard! It's impossible!''" "I believe you, Luke. I don't know what happened, but I believe you. However, I&hellip;I'm afraid I can't support'' you!"

- Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa discuss Shira Brie's death

Shortly after Brie's commendation, the Rebel Alliance finally discovered the location in space of the Empire's secret armada. They also learned that the following the Battle of Hoth, the Empire had captured a teezl; a non-sentient creature with a natural ability to act as a hyperspace communications amplifier. Believed to be extinct, the teezl was under escort of the Imperial armada to Coruscant where it would be installed and made to serve the Empire as a limitless source of communications energy. The Rebel Alliance was aware of this, and was determined to thwart the Imperials at all costs. To this end, Captain Brie again joined Flying Bantha Squadron alongside Commander Skywalker and two additional pilots, Alph and Hanc Thorben, to partake in a mission which involved sabotaging the Imperial armada by infiltrating the fleet disguised as TIE pilots by means of the TIE fighters that had been previously obtained on Bazarre station. Just prior to their departure, Captain Brie related to Skywalker her apprehension in undertaking the task set before her, as well as making obvious her deep affection for him by kissing him passionately&mdash;much to Skywalker's surprise.

The preliminary phase of the Rebel mission involved the Flying Banthas intercepting a pair of TIE fighters patrolling the route in which the Imperial armada was to travel. After shooting down the two TIEs and confiscating the armada's recognition codes, the Rebels donned their own recently acquired TIEs and prepared to infiltrate the armada. The successful transmission of the recognition codes allowed for a seamless and unsuspecting insertion of Brie's team into the ranks of the Imperial fleet, and once each of the Flying Banthas had assumed an adequate vantage point, the attacks commenced. The Imperials were confused by what seemed to be friendly fighters engaging in wanton destruction and quickly deduced that Rebel forces had penetrated their ranks with fraudulent TIE fighters. In response, Admiral Mils Giel ordered for the teezl to cause interference on all communication frequencies except the Imperial war band with a psychic shriek in an attempt to expose the enemy forces. With no other means of communication between herself and her team, Shira Brie seized an opportunity to complete the assignment she was originally given by Darth Vader. Capitalizing on the forced comm silence, Brie maneuvered her TIE fighter directly into Luke Skywalker's line of fire; with only the Force to guide him in determining friend from foe, Skywalker landed a direct and crippling hit on Brie's fighter. His assault also resulted in the destruction of the teezl as well as effectively ending the Battle of the secret armada. Skywalker's return to Haven Base was met with somber greetings; he was immediately debriefed by Princess Organa and a holocam recording from Hanc Thorben's TIE revealed that the fighter which Skywalker had shot down was not one of an enemy, but that of Captain Shira Brie. Though she had been unable to kill him, Brie's Imperial mission was a total success; Skywalker had been absolutely disgraced in the eyes of his fellow Rebels for "killing" her, and riddled with guilt over being responsible for the "death" of both an Alliance champion and the woman for whom he had developed strong feelings. He was initially stripped of his Alliance commission, but would later be exonerated after infiltrating the Empire-operated Krake Data Vault on Krake's Planet and discovering the nature of Shira Brie's deception.

Emperor's Hand
"Come Lumiya. You will be an extension of my will&hellip;"

- Darth Sidious

No longer a captain in the Rebel Alliance, Major Shira Brie of Imperial Intelligence had completed her assignment. However, the consequences of her success were grievous; she had suffered extensive physical injuries and her ruined TIE fighter had been left drifting through space while she struggled for life. The Force-sensitive was certain she would die alone in the starfighter, but the modifications made to her body during her Imperial training as well as being able to enter a healing trance afforded her the ability to survive the hard vacuum of space. Darth Vader discovered his badly scarred and wounded protégé and decided to return Brie to the Executor for medical treatment where it was determined that the young woman's injuries would require the installation of cybernetics to ensure her survival. The mechanical implants further enhanced Brie's body, though ultimately she was left more machine than human. After Brie's body had been restored, she began to receive training in more than just the dark side of the Force from Darth Vader, but also in the ways of the Sith. She fully embraced her new life as a student of the Dark Lord and, eschewing the yoke of all that she had once been, cast aside her former identity as Shira Brie and became Lumiya.

In the year 4 ABY, Darth Vader, fully aware that any deviation from the Rule of Two principle was forbidden while he was a constituent of the Order of the Sith Lords, decided bring Lumiya before his own Master, Emperor Palpatine. When Lumiya arrived at the Imperial Palace with Vader, they interrupted a meeting between Palpatine and another of his personal assassins, Mara Jade. As Lumiya crossed Jade's path the two immediately exchanged feelings of intense animosity with one another; the young woman recognized Lumiya as the cyborg female with whom she had engaged in a duel after a chance meeting not long ago. Jade then departed and Lumiya was ushered into Palpatine's presence, presented by Darth Vader for consideration as an Emperor's Hand&mdash;secret agents of the Emperor whose sole purpose was to bring his will to fruition. Palpatine accepted Lumiya into his service, and allowed her to continue training under Darth Vader.

Lumiya was soon thereafter sequestered by Darth Vader on Ziost, the ancient homeworld of the Sith species. There she discovered an archaic Sith tome which detailed the process required to craft a lightwhip; a unique weapon similar to though more difficult to master than the traditional lightsaber, which possessed a flexible energy beam instead of a steady blade. With this ancient knowledge she created a device like no other; one which included a hilt of nearly indestructible Mandalorian iron from which many extensions spewed forth. Shards of Kaiburr crystal given to her by Darth Vader provided the power source for the strands of energy, while tendrils of metal and others of studded leather complimented the pliant beams of plasma to make a one-of-a-kind and deadly flail. Her final test as the Dark Lord's pupil was finally complete; however, she was still on Ziost when the Empire suffered a staggering defeat over Endor at the hands of the Rebel Alliance. She returned to Imperial space from the Outer Rim only to find that the Alliance had successfully toppled the Emperor, and that both he and Darth Vader had perished in the destruction of the second Death Star.

Ascension
"Lumiya? Queen of the stanging Sith?"

- Mara Jade Skywalker

With no one left to further her Sith knowledge, Lumiya proclaimed herself Dark Lady of the Sith, and embarked on a quest of her own volition to progress in dark side wisdom, first by seeking out an organization with a historic allegiance to the ways of the Sith: the esoteric Mecrosa Order. Known to be in possession of many ancient secrets and artifacts, the Order's members felt a sense of obligation to the woman who arrived at their fortress on the planet Nyssa bearing an unnerving resemblance to the late Darth Vader. Lumiya was given access to all of the Mecrosa's relics, and was even allowed to take from them custody of the oldest of Sith holocrons&mdash;that of the legendary King Adas.

Following the Battle of Endor, Lumiya amassed a naval fleet of Imperial starships as she began to consolidate her power in preparation for retaliation against the Rebel Alliance. Her armada included three Imperial-class Star Destroyers, two EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigates, and four CR90 Corellian Corvettes. More than two hundred TIE/ln starfighters and TIE/sa bombers were divided in several squads amongst the Star Destroyers, Frigates and one Corvette, which completed the fleet. The details surrounding the fragmenting of the Empire were still unclear to many Imperial servicemen, and Lumiya sought to keep the truth hidden by depriving her subordinates of certain information, thus ensuring their complete loyalty to her and the endeavors she undertook.

It was during this time that while in Sith space, Lumiya's fleet came into contact with an attack group representing a race of extra-galactic spacefarers known as the Nagai. The commander of the Nagai force hailed her flagship, the escort frigate Revenant, fully expecting to contact an officer of the Imperial Navy; instead, Lumiya answered. The Dark Lady of the Sith shared a common enemy with the Nagai in the form of the Rebel Alliance, and promised the support of her resources to them when they proposed an alliance with her.

Events on Herdessa
"Run back to your friends, little Leia&hellip;but you have worse things to worry about than stormtroopers. Before long, you and everyone you hold dear will learn just how 'pretty dangerous' a foe I can be."

- Lumiya

Under instruction from the Nagai, Lumiya set out to take action against the Alliance of Free Planets, the fledgling successor state of the Rebel Alliance. She went to the Mid Rim world of Herdessa where she installed herself as the head of planetary security on behalf of the planet's oppressive leadership, the Herdessan Guild. Lumiya organized a Guild-sanctioned slaving ring which targeted the planet's lower-class citizens for transport off world. However, the arrival on Herdessa of Alliance delegates Mon Mothma and Leia Organa with promises of guaranteed civil rights for the planet's citizens under the new galactic government threatened to become problematic for Lumiya's covert operation. Wearing the face of benevolence, the Dark Lady and a squad of Herdessan shocktroopers apprehended several hecklers after Organa was pummeled with mud. Lumiya located the culprit, a woman named Suzu, in Guild sector three and aggressively arrested her, but was interrupted by Princess Organa&mdash;whose intervention on Suzu's behalf resulted in the woman's escape. Enraged, Lumiya attacked the Princess but was betrayed by her own cumbersome cybernetic enhancements, which saw her quickly bested and slammed to the ground by Organa. As the Princess fled after Suzu, the humiliated Lumiya vowed to deal with both the naysayer, and the off-worlder who interceded on her behalf.

Lumiya and her shocktroopers tracked Organa to the insurgent's hideout and forcefully demanded their surrender. Organa managed to escape the firefight that ensued, and Lumiya chased her for a time before abandoning pursuit, instead choosing to round up all the Herdessan rebels in the city center and made a public declaration that unless Organa was turned over to the custody of the Herdessan Guild, executions would commence. Imperial stormtroopers assisted the Herdessan shocktroopers in Lumiya's tyranny, even apprehending Organa's companion, Mon Mothma, and counting her among the nonconformists. An altercation erupted between one of the prisoners and a stormtrooper, and Lumiya decided that he would be the first to die. Suzu then conceded to Lumyia's demands and betrayed Organa's whereabouts to the authorities, but it was all a ruse; Organa instead appeared behind Lumiya and incapacitated her with several blaster shots before eliminating the shocktroopers, freeing the captives, and leading them in a successful revolt against the Herdessan Guild. With her sinister benefactors overthrown and her slave trade dissolved, Lumiya quietly retreated, but not without promising to take revenge on the Alliance&mdash;namely Princess Leia Organa&mdash;for thwarting her efforts on Herdessa.

Upholding tradition
"In terms of the classic Master–and–apprentice Sith structure, there can be only two&hellip;"

- Lumiya

Lumiya's cybernetic enhancements had been irreparably damaged on Herdessa and required extensive repairs. Upon completion, she emerged sporting new armor, and donned for the first time a triangular cloth headdress that, along with her lightwhip, became thenceforth synonymous with her name. Lumiya fully intended to resume her campaign against the Alliance of Free Planets; however, a matter of greater importance manifested itself, and presented a considerable problem; the perpetuation of the Sith. Lumiya reorganized the Order in her own image but maintained the core ideals of patience, cunning, and secrecy that were fundamental to the previous Order's survival. The ancient "Rule of Two" doctrine of Darth Bane, the one to which Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader adhered, stated that the power of the dark side could only be divided between two individuals in the entire galaxy at any given time: one Sith Master to personify its power, and a single Sith apprentice to covet it. Lumiya thus began to search for being who was in her eyes worthy of the Sith teachings.

Though exceptionally strong in the Force in her own right, Lumiya had not been Darth Vader's only pupil. The Dark Lord had several students and intended to eventually pit them against one another for the right to become his Shadow Hand, or Sith apprentice. After Vader's death Lumiya sought out one of these pupils, a young Force-sensitive stormtrooper named Flint. While he was still alive, Vader had planned for Lumiya and Flint to contend with one another, but his premature death at Endor left them both without their Master. Lumiya located Flint in Vader's abandoned citadel on the planet Vjun, where she confronted him for the position of Sith Master. The Dark Lady's superior strength resulted in the sound defeat of Flint, and she took the Belderone native as her first apprentice.

Plans were immediately set in motion by the new Sith to undermine all that the Alliance of Free Planets had achieved in the wake of Emperor Palpatine's death. Lumiya tasked her new apprentice with both conquering the Phelleem sector as well as exacting vengeance upon Luke Skywalker for the death of Darth Vader. Styling himself as the Dark Lord of Belderone, Flint's exploits led him to the planet Naldar where he was confronted by Skywalker and persuaded to forsake his devotion to the dark side of the Force. Lumiya learned of Flint's abdication and promised fatal reprisals when the opportunity presented itself. The Dark Lady had more pressing matters to attend though, which involved the continued preparation of the Nagai for war with the Alliance of Free Planets.

Laying foundations
"We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. But it won't change a thing. Because, sooner or later, you are going to tell me what I want to know."

- Lumiya threatens Faron Tolis

As stipulated by the partnership Lumiya had previously formed with the Nagai, an attache was sent to her in the form of Den Siva, with whom she rendezvoused and established an underground base of operations on the desolate planet Kinooine. An Alliance scouting party had recently been dispatched to Kinooine after life-forms had been detected on the otherwise unoccupied world. Lumiya ambushed them and killed nineteen of the team's twenty members, leaving one, a man named Faron Tolis, alive for interrogation. She accused Tolis of being a member of the former Rebel Alliance, and attempted to torture him into disclosing the whereabouts of Princess Leia Organa, something of which he held no knowledge. Under penalty of death, Faron surprised Lumiya when he revealed that Organa had nothing to do with his team's mission; it had instead been Lumiya's sworn nemesis, Luke Skywalker, who had dispatched them to survey the Outer Rim planetoid.

Lumiya's abduction of Tolis and company caused Skywalker himself, along with a female Zeltron named Dani and her Chuhkyvi lover Kiro, to journey to Kinooine in search of his missing reconnaissance team. The Dark Lady caught Dani and Kiro unawares while they explored the area surrounding their camp, and brutally attacked them with her lightwhip. Knowing that Skywalker would come for his comrades, Lumiya took Dani captive and, after smashing the faceplate of Kiro's rebreather helmet, left him for dead. Skywalker found Kiro and did not have to search far for the Chuhkyvi's assailant; Lumiya had been waiting for him on a nearby precipice. Silence preceded a vicious duel where Lumiya unleashed the full fury of her hatred upon Skywalker, whose unfamiliarity with the dual nature of her lightwhip saw him repeatedly lashed, quickly disarmed, and eventually defeated. Triumphant, Lumiya refrained from killing her enemy and instead took him as a prisoner to her underground fortress.

Identity revealed
"I was Shira Elan Colla Brie. Now I am Lumiya. And someday, little fish man, I will spit on your grave&hellip;as I will spit on your friend, Skywalker's, after I have seen him bereft of hope, of even the will to live&hellip;''" "Lumiya&hellip;the man who made you feel this way used you as a tool&hellip;but he's dead now and he wouldn't want you to go on like this&hellip;at the end&hellip;he reconciled to the good in himself. As'' you can. I know it&hellip;"

- Lumiya and Luke Skywalker

Meanwhile, several of Den Siva's cohorts, under command of the Nagai warrior Ozrei "Knife" N'takkilomandrife, intercepted a gathering of Alliance statesmen who were scheduled to meet with Princess Organa and General Han Solo in the Mid Rim on the world of Kabray. Lumiya received word of their defeat by Organa's Zeltron escorts, was more concerned with the progress of the main invasion fleet, and left to further prepare for their arrival. In her absence, Kiro infiltrated her underground lair and rescued Luke Skywalker. Lumiya, who had taken up position above ground on a cliff edge, was completely surprised when Skywalker appeared on the crag behind her. She was unable to prevent him from telekinetically reclaiming his lightsaber from her possession. Not to be deterred, Lumiya prepared to face him in combat yet again, but in this rematch the circumstances had changed; in addition to his usual weapon, Skywalker had armed himself with a lightsaber of shorter blade-length known as a shoto. Lumiya's weapon was no match for the conjunct assault of Skywalker's two sabers, which were successfully able to counter the duality of her lightwhip's tendrils. She charged her opponent in a fit of rage after being disarmed, only to be stripped of enough armor that her face was exposed and her true identity as Shira Brie was revealed.

The humiliated Sith Lady begged for death while also blaming Skywalker for all the tragedies that had befallen her; even in defeat, she vowed that her satisfaction would only be realized when Skywalker himself was dead. The Jedi attempted to reconcile the differences between them but was cut short when the Nagai fleet&mdash;for whom Lumiya had been waiting&mdash;dropped out of hyperspace into the Kinooine atmosphere. While Nagai forces descended to the planet's surface, Lumiya was bound by Luke Skywalker and Kiro, who held her captive as they prepared themselves to rescue Kiro's lover, Dani. The rescue mission was successful, and Lumiya was abandoned by Skywalker and his companions who were forced to flee Kinooine as the Nagai continued to swarm the planet.

Second battle of Endor
"Ah, revenge is sweet! I wonder how many of those fools will die before they realize the truth&mdash;that thy were betrayed before we ever arrived here."

- Lumiya, over Endor

After the Nagai established a sufficient operational platform on Kinooine, they installed a double-agent among the Alliance forces in the form of the Human-Nagai hybrid Bey, who provided Alliance logistics, battle schematics, and ship formations to his kinsmen. Armed with this knowledge, Lumiya reemerged as flight leader of the Nagai's Twelfth Squadron in battle over the forest moon of Endor, the same location where both Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader had perished nearly a month ago. The Nagai also gave Lumiya one of their unique starfighters for her own personal use; she dubbed the craft Screamer after the teezl which had perished during battle with the secret Imperial armada. With the intelligence provided by Bey, the Dark Lady led Twelfth Squadron in a dogfight against the Alliance's Gold Squadron under leadership of her former Rebel comrade Lando Calrissian, and Mandalore Fenn Shysa's Resurrector Squadron. Severe damage was dealt to the Alliance forces over Endor, and members of their wardroom began to contemplate retreat. Under command of Bey's half-brother Knife and Lieutenant Hol B'shaki, the Nagai prepared to execute coordinated strikes against several Alliance installations on Endor's surface while Twelfth Squadron made short work of the Alliance's Gold and Resurrector starfighter groups. However, Bey's duplicity was soon discovered by his childhood friend Han Solo who was also on Endor. The Alliance fought and ultimately defeated the ground-side opposition's ambush while ordering Gold and Resurrector Squadrons to forsake their original battle strategies; this change in tactics had a detrimental impact on what seemed like Lumiya's precognitive advantage and the tide was no longer in her favor. With the battle of Endor effectively lost to the Nagai on both fronts, Lumiya ordered a full retreat of her forces.

Changing sides
"Lady Lumiya&hellip;truly, we cannot adequately express our gratification&hellip;at your having forsaken your Nagai comrades and joined yourself to our cause.''" "''No thanks are necessary, Prince Sereno. I vowed to Darth Vader, my old Master, that I would lay down my life for the destruction of Luke Skywalker and the Alliance of Free Planets. The Nagai were only useful to me so long as they seemed likely to fulfill that end. Now that they've allied themselves with Skywalker, well&hellip;"

- Prince Sereno and Lumiya

The Nagai defeat over Endor was the beginning of a turning point in both the war, and in Lumiya's relationship with them. The Tofs, enemies of the Nagai from their native Companion Besh galaxy, followed and defeated them in battle on the planet Trenwyth. What began as a Nagai invasion of Zeltros during a diplomatic rendezvous with the Alliance quickly turned into another battle that saw the Nagai join forces with the Alliance to face their new common foe, the Tofs. Because of this, Lumiya renounced her partnership with the Nagai in favor of the Tofs. She met with their leader, Prince Sereno, at the Tof stronghold on Saijo to discuss the terms of their partnership. Unbeknownst to them was the presence of the Nagai-Alliance coalition on Saijo, which ambushed Lumiya and Sereno as they conversed. Lumiya quickly shot down the leader of the attack, Knife, but was prevented from killing him by Leia Organa. The Dark Lady's attention turned to the princess, but she was shot and completely incapacitated by Bey, who had infiltrated the Tof ranks by posing as one of them. The battle of Saijo soon came to an end with the capture of Prince Sereno. Lumiya survived the injuries she suffered during the altercation, and managed to slip away unnoticed in the midst of the commotion.

Epsilon Nine
"I am Lumiya. You were charged with developing new spy satellites for Imperial Intelligence. I am here to remind you of your loyalties to the Empire, and will overlook consorting with the enemy just this once."

- Lumiya

Despite her best efforts, Lumiya's plan to manipulate the Nagai-Tof war as a weapon against the Alliance of Free Planets resulted in utter failure. She recovered from the injuries received during the battle on Saijo, but her fleet had been left in shambles. To this end, the Dark Lady sought her former Imperial Intelligence superior Ysanne Isard, who now maintained stewardship over the remnants of the Galactic Empire, with for sufficient resources with which she could replenish her depleted forces. Lumiya was considered a threat by Isard to her authority, and the Imperial stewardess surmised that compliance with the Lady of the Sith's demands would eliminate any potential problems that might arise between them. Two TIE fighter squadrons, Alpha and Theta, were allocated for Lumiya, as well as four platoons of stormtroopers&mdash;two of which were elite red-armored Royal Guards who had personally served in the defense of the late Emperor Palpatine. Isard's succor was not without conditions, however; in exchange for support, Lumiya was asked to inspect several top-secret Imperial research installations hidden within the Cron Drift.

The Nebulon-B escort frigate Revenant served as Lumiya's command ship as she led her fleet to the to the Auril sector. Upon their arrival, it was discovered that those working on the asteroid-based Epsilon Nine Communications Research Station were attempting to deny their Imperial mandate in favor of joining the recently-reorganized New Republic as evidenced by the reconfiguration of the station's comlink system to transmit on New Republic wavelengths. The emergence of nine T-65 X-Wing starfighters from Epsilon Nine served to excite the Revenant's crew, who wondered how the New Republic had become aware of the installation's secret location within the Cron Drift; however, Lumiya was aware of all these facts before hand, and ordered her fleet to engage the Republic forces as her own approached the asteroid base.

Assault shuttles launched from Lumiya's CR90 corvette Wolf-Pack and landed on the surface of Epsilon Nine's asteroid location to pave an opening into the base while the remainder of the fleet made short work of the X-Wings and base defenses. Lumiya then went from the Revenant to the asteroid in her personal Lambda-class T-4a shuttle and entered the base, prepared to make an example of the traitors inside. Her stormtroopers rounded up all the scientists for interrogation, and one indignant individual was immediately executed by the Dark Lady&mdash;having his throat Force-crushed in response to a snide remark. Lumiya then made certain that they recommitted themselves to Imperial service, and stated that a garrison would occupy the station to further ensure their cooperation. Before departing the Cron Drift with the remainder of her fleet, Lumiya vowed to return in eight weeks to make certain her will remained uncontested.

Return of the Emperor
"I'm not sure I even count the Emperor's clones as Sith. After all, they didn't earn their Sith knowledge, didn't acquire it through sweat and sacrifice; they inherited it like a package of downloaded computer programming. I think that the last Sith were gone when the Emperor and your grandfather died on the same day. But plenty of Sith legacy survived. Individuals who were candidates to become Sith and failed for some reason to achieve full apprenticeship. They knew enough to survive, enough to continue learning. One may have learned enough to become a Master."

- Lumiya

The Sith had become imperiled in the wake of Flint's treachery and subsequent desertion. A new prospect arose, however, in the form of a Force-sensitive Royal Guard named Carnor Jax, one whom Lumiya had come across amongst those allotted to her by Ysanne Isard. The Dark Lady took Jax as her new apprentice and, though his training was abbreviated, Sith order lived on. One of their first missions together was to the planet Bosthirda, where they completed the sterilization of the remaining Prophets of the Dark Side cult, a massacre first enacted by the dejected Dark Jedi Azrakel.

With her mission to Epsilon Nine complete, Lumiya began fulfillment of Isard's second request: locating and returning rogue-Emperor's Hand Mara Jade to service under Isard. While she readied herself to hunt Jade, Lumiya ordered Carnor Jax to infiltrate the upper echelons of the Galactic Empire in preparation for any rising threats to the Sith. She meanwhile journeyed to the planet Caprioril, where she learned that Jade, under the assumed identity of "Marellis", had gone underground as a Come-Up Flector for a swoop gang. Lumiya located Jade and attempted to persuade her to come back into the Imperial fold, a petition that Jade refused. A duel resulted in which Mara escaped, leaving Lumiya unsuccessful in the task set before her by Ysanne Isard. The Dark Lady chose not to report her failure to Isard, which led the Empire to believe that her confrontation with Jade on Caprioril had somehow resulted in Lumiya's demise, a position that the New Republic had also maintained following the end of the Nagai-Tof conflict.

Through his own machinations, the Dark Lady's apprentice began to secretly manipulate the Empire's ruling council. During this time, Lumiya received word from Jax that he had been approached by a mysterious individual known as Nom Anor, who represented an extra-galactic race of wayfarers interested by the possibility of an alliance with her against their common enemy, the New Republic. The threat to the Sith of which Lumiya spoke also manifested itself at this time, in the form of the return of Emperor Palpatine. However, his resumed reign was brief; the clone bodies he was using to facilitate his resurrection had been sabotaged by Imperial physicians, which was the catalyst for his final death on the planet Onderon less than a year later. Carnor Jax immediately attempted to install himself as the new Emperor, but his dynasty was also short-lived. After requesting audience with Lumiya in an attempt to lure her into a trap, Jax was killed in a duel by another one of Palpatine's former Royal Guardsmen, Kir Kanos. Jax's links to Nom Anor were lost upon his death on Yinchorr, leaving Lumiya unable to respond to the individual's advances. Three years after Jax's death, Lumiya's original apprentice, Flint, was found dead on his homeworld of Belderone. Deciding to withdraw from the forefront of galactic events, Lumiya retreated to Korriban and took up residence there, where she began plotting her next course of action. She continued to study Adas' holocron, and used the ancient Sith oracle stone to keep an eye on the galaxy from a distance.

Invitation to the New Order
"Our apologies for the brevity of your journey. Had we foreseen the speed of the invaders' advance, we would have sent a more sizable escort. Should you survive and care to reach us on your own, the navigation string attached to this message will guide you&hellip;once."

- White Eyes invites Lumiya to parley with the One Sith

In 25 ABY, the galaxy was invaded by the extra-galactic invaders who, by means of the advance agent Nom Anor, had attempted to make overtures to Lumiya through Carnor Jax fourteen years previously. Known as the Yuuzhan Vong, the species intended to eradicate all technology and either convert the inhabitants to their own religion or annihilate those who stood in their way. The New Republic suffered heavy losses in the opening months of the war. That same year, Lumiya learned that though she was without an apprentice to perpetuate the legacy of the dark side, she was not alone in its practice. A former Jedi of the Old Republic named A'Sharad Hett had been exposed to the Sith teachings prior to being captured by Yuuzhan Vong scouts in the Unknown Regions. While in captivity, he was approached by a Yuuzhan Vong agent named Vergere who, like Hett, was also a pre-Imperial Jedi-turned-Sith. The Fosh ex-Jedi imparted her own knowledge to Hett, who believed that in order to restore stability in the galaxy, the Sith needed to abandon the Rule of Two and instead adopt a Rule of One&mdash;a new axiom of many Sith who operated as a single unit.

Vergere, a staunch adherent to Darth Bane's ancient principle, rejected Hett's idea and left him to the mercy of the Yuuzhan Vong. Hett eventually escaped captivity and returned to Korriban, where he assumed the mantle of Dark Lord as Darth Krayt, and founded his One Sith. The attention of the One Sith had fallen upon Lumiya, and she was invited by Krayt to consort with them on their namesake's ancestral homeworld of Korriban. An escort for the Dark Lady was sent in the form of the Sith Master Lomi Plo and her apprentice Welk, but on the return journey, they were forestalled by the Yuuzhan Vong. Though her chaperons were captured by the extra-galactic invaders, Lumiya eluded them and escaped to plot her next course of action.

Lumiya then decided to strike against the Yuuzhan Vong. The New Republic suffered a defeat at Ithor in 25.3 ABY when Yuuzhan Vong forces laid waste to the planet. It had been discovered that the pollen of Ithor's native Bafforr trees was lethal to the living armor worn by Yuuzhan Vong warriors. The New Republic had allied with the Imperial Remnant to defend the world and its valuable military asset, but to no avail. Determined to secure a sample of the now rare Bafforr pollen, Lumiya elected to strike at Yaga Minor, a fortified Imperial Remnant world that housed some of the last pollen in the galaxy. The Sith Lady went planetside and sneaked into the laboratory where the samples were located, but was confronted there by a band of Yuuzhan Vong who had infiltrated the facility themselves and destroyed its large munitions dump.

A plan for the galaxy
"There is a plan&mdash;a plan that will be carried out whether or not I survive."

- Lumiya

Several months later, Lumiya met Vergere. The Fosh explained her own Sith origins under Darth Sidious, and how she had encountered A'Sharad Hett&mdash;now Darth Krayt&mdash;who favored an Order of many Sith unified in the power of the dark side of the Force. She also completed the Sith training which had begun so long ago under Darth Vader during this time by Vergere, and Lumiya finally achieved full status as Dark Lady of the Sith in both name and wisdom. Not long afterward, Lumiya received another invitation from Krayt's agents to ally herself with their Order. The message from the spokesman of the One Sith&mdash;a man with glowing white eyes&mdash;stated that another escort had not been arranged, but directions were provided on the navigation string included with the message should Lumiya decide to answer their summons. Lumiya had come to believe, however, that the One Sith's methods were too slow; the Dark Lady felt that by the time Krayt's Order had moved beyond its fledgling status, Skywalker's Jedi would be too powerful. Unwilling to deviate from the Rule of Two, Lumiya rejected Krayt's idea and convinced Vergere to realize the folly of Krayt's long-term affair, to which the Fosh relented.

Given a new purpose through the teachings of Vergere, Lumiya retired her own desires in service of a Sith destiny. However, both women knew that neither could restore peace to the galaxy themselves; Lumiya's cybernetic implants limited her Force potential, while Vergere had become tainted by her collaboration with the Yuuzhan Vong. Together they conspired to select a new Sith champion, one who would reign as a benign dictator and impose peace and stability over a tumultuous galaxy so often plagued by war. The question of who would be chosen as the new Sith Lord was one of great importance; many candidates were considered, and many discarded. Kyp Durron, a powerful Jedi Master, was considered too volatile and obstinate, while Lumiya's old rival Mara Jade Skywalker was felt to possess too many attachments. Jaina, the daughter of Leia and Han Solo, was dismissed as too emotional, while Leia herself was bypassed as too fearful of her father Darth Vader's legacy. Even Luke Skywalker was considered, but Lumiya declaimed him as too bound in the dogma of Jedi philosophy.

It was Jacen Solo, the brother of Jaina, who fell under observation. In 25.7 ABY, Solo had proven his ability to wield power responsibly when he had refused to fire Centerpoint Station, an ancient space facility capable of unleashing devastating energy beams through hyperspace, against the Yuuzhan Vong, due to his belief that it would be an overly aggressive action. At the beginning of the war's second year, during the Battle of Duro, Solo defeated Warmaster Tsavong Lah of the Yuuzhan Vong in personal combat, which demonstrated to Lumiya and Vergere that the young Jedi could dispense power when necessary. Thus, Jacen Solo was thus selected as the best possible choice; his close relationship with his uncle Luke Skywalker, however, posed problems. It was therefore decided that Vergere would return to the Yuuzhan Vong and facilitate Solo's capture by the aliens, whereupon she could begin his training without interference. The Fosh Sith made her way back to the Yuuzhan Vong, mid-year, whereupon she inveigled her way into the confidence of Tsavong Lah himself. Vergere abducted Solo during a Jedi mission to Myrkr, and exploited the young Jedi's isolation in Yuuzhan Vong captivity to begin his training.

Vergere returned with Solo to the New Republic in 28 ABY, where he was re-united with his family. Solo's attachment to his sister Jaina was such, however, that when during a pitched battle Jaina was endangered by the forces of Warmaster Tsavong Lah, Vergere's trainee rushed to defend his sister at the risk of his own life. Fearful that Solo would die on his mission, the Fosh sacrificed herself to preserve Solo's destiny, killing the Yuuzhan Vong warriors threatening Jaina and ensuring her protégé's survival. With Vergere dead, the duty of enacting the Sith plan fell entirely to Lumiya. A year after Vergere's death, the Yuuzhan Vong were defeated at Coruscant and the galactic capital was reclaimed by the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances&mdash;the successor government to the New Republic. The Yuuzhan Vong War had cost Lumiya both her battle fleet and her Sith companion; though the moment to approach Solo was a decade away, the cyborg woman had the time and freedom to make preparations for that day.

Long preparations
"Don't put it past Lumiya to engineer events to serve her purposes."

- Luke Skywalker

By 40 ABY, Lumiya had taken up residence on an asteroid in the MZX32905 system near the planet Bimmiel. Formerly the abode of an ancient Dark Lord of the Sith named Darth Vectivus, "the Home"&mdash;as it was called by a sapient mynock-like indigenous species that had once lived there but had since gone extinct&mdash;was an opulent mansion built directly over a network of defunct mining caverns. Lumiya discovered upon further exploration that the dark side was exceptionally strong in mines; in fact, it pooled within the bowels of the asteroid, and Lumiya frequently basked in its power. It was in those tunnels where Lumiya encountered the spirit of Vectivus himself. The Dark Lady learned from her Sith predecessor how to tap into the dark side reservoir for the creation of Force phantoms; malevolent manifestations that could interact with and influence the physical realm.

Lumiya also decided that year that the time to convert Jacen Solo into a Sith Lord had finally arrived. Aware that she would have to find a way to lure Solo to a location of her choosing, Lumiya alighted upon the idea of a riddle or a puzzle that the Jedi would have to unravel. Drawing on a variety of different cultures, Sith ideals, perversions of Jedi precepts and Solo's own past, Lumiya set about constructing a small piece of beadcraft, an artifact made up of a series of intricately designed colored tassels. Each section was unique and carried its own message. Lumiya ordered the creation of lines from the Tahu'ip culture of the Twi'lek people; the Bith Aalagar race of Clak'dor VII; the language of the Firrerreo; the prison dialect of Kessel; and numerous other sources, wishing to create an item that would attract Solo's attention and encourage him to study its meaning. Several lines, such as the Tahu'up tassel, referred to Solo's own life and how he had learned to strengthen himself through pain while in Yuuzhan Vong captivity.

Others referred to the trials he would endure as he ascended to Sith mastery&mdash;the sacrifice of love, which Lumiya presumed would be carried out by means of the murder of a relative or friend&mdash;the ruination of those who defied justice, and the balance of peace and conflict. While several of the tassels' elements were contrived, others, such as the sacrifice Solo would have to make, were the province of the Force itself. The final line, which pertained to Solo being drawn from peace into conflict, was constructed from a language from the Sith world of Ziost and imbued with the Force, in a last attempt to capture Solo's attention. Although Lumiya was operating in the realms of Sith prophecy, she was far from omniscient in what needed to be done.

Initiating a war
"To Thrackan Sal-Solo, Chief of State, Corellia, all greetings and respects. Let me begin this communication by offering you a gift, the gift of knowledge: The impending meeting between representatives of the Corellian and Galactic Alliance governments will take place on Toryaz Station, Kuat System. But, sadly, this gift is incomplete by itself, as security at the station will be formidable. Fortunately, I have information on that matter, too&mdash;I can provide exact details on the locations of all delegates at all times, as well as the security measures guarding them, for the duration of their stay here. Should this information be of interest to you, please contact me on the HoloNet frequency indicated below, at the times shown. Standard encryption, using the contents of my next message as the encryption key."

- Lumiya's secret message to Thrackan Sal-Solo

The Dark Lady was aware that Solo's rise to power would have to occurr against the backdrop of war and instability. Since the end of the Swarm War several years prior, the galaxy had remained at relative peace. The Galactic Federation of Free Alliances and its Chief of State, the Alderaanian Cal Omas, maintained close ties with Skywalker's Jedi Order and operated alongside them to keep order and stability. Nevertheless, tensions were arising between the Galactic Alliance and the world of Corellia, a planet with a people known for their independence and pride. The Corellian government, headed by Five World Prime Minister Aidel Saxan, wished to enjoy the benefits of Galactic Alliance membership while flouting the government's regulations. It was the subsequent secession movement for which the Five Worlds confederacy began to muster support that Lumiya decided to enlarge in order to plunge the galaxy into conflict and enable the rise of Jacen Solo. Employing Darth Vectivus' Force phantom technique, she projected the image of Edela, the late wife of Galactic Alliance Defense Fleet Admiral Matric Klauskin, and began to subtly coerce him to engage in a series of actions designed to further agitate the already strained relations between the Galactic Alliance and the Corellians. The first of these was interwoven within the highly-classified Operation Roundabout, with Klauskin's role being that of commander over the Alliance Second Fleet's ill-fated attempt to place Corellia itself under siege. When that action failed, Lumiya influenced Klauskin to attack and occupy the nearby world of Tralus, further agitating an already volatile situation. With both parties wishing to bring an end to what was quickly degenerating into yet another war, the Alliance and the Confederacy sent delegates to meet on the Toryaz space station near Kuat in attempt to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Lumiya decided to partake in the negotiations as well, though not as an advocate of either party, but rather as a spy and saboteur. She started by sending an anonymous message to Corellian Head of State and Minister of War Thrackan Sal-Solo, alerting him to the secret meeting and enticing him with an opportunity to eliminate several of their mutual rivals in one fell swoop. Sal-Solo obliged and provided Lumiya with support for her mission: twenty commandos, most of Corellian origin, all Human, and all expendable; each was terminally ill, afflicted with various diseases that could not be cured by any known means. To hinder any interrogation attempts should any of the commandos be captured, each was also injected with a powerful alkaloid poison, one that would guarantee death shortly after being administered.

While in disguise as a Kuati mercantile princess, the Dark Lady infiltrated Toryaz station's Narsacc Habitat and accosted station captain Siron Tawaler, whom she mentally seduced through the Force into doing her bidding. She convinced the security captain that he was under consideration to be chosen as her consort, while also presenting him with documents that, among other things, verified her pseudo-identity. She also claimed that one of the Jedi on the station was determined to kill her, and that Tawaler had to do everything in his power to prevent such an act from taking place. Under the pretense of being selected for such a prestigious Kuati honor, and determined to thwart any assassination attempts on part of the "rogue Jedi," Captain Tawaler was compelled to help Lumiya. He provided her with detailed schematics of the habitat, including the lodgings of each of the delegates. They then proceeded to Narsacc Habitat's docking bay to rendezvous with Sal-Solo's recently-arrived commandos. After briefing her assassins on their mission, Lumiya used a Force suggestion that caused Captain Tawaler to enter an airlock, himself under the impression that he was supposed to board the commandos' Sentinel-class shuttle and return to Kuat. This, however, was a deception on Lumiya's part; the shuttle had already disengaged from the hangar. Tawaler nonetheless initiated the depressurization sequence, and died soon afterward&mdash;the victim of explosive decompression.

Meeting Jacen Solo
"Hello. Jedi Solo, Jedi Dinn, young Skywalker.''" "You know us." "Of course. I've been meddling in your business for some time." "You admit it." "''I admit to that, yes."

- Brisha Syo, upon meeting the Jedi on Lorrd

Lumiya's commandos were partially successful in their mission, as they were only able to assassinate one of the delegates, Five Worlds Prime Minister Aidel Saxon. As planned, each one died before they could be interrogated by the Jedi or anyone else. Knowing that Jacen Solo was among those on Toryaz station, Lumiya left the tassels&mdash;the lure through which she intended ensnare the young Jedi&mdash;by the airlock where Captain Tawaler committed suicide, under the pretense that subsequent scrutiny into the botched attack would lead investigators there. She then left Narsacc Habitat and pursued the commandos' shuttle to the Coronet City Spaceport in Coronet City, Corellia, where she killed the pilot, commandeered the vessel for herself, and re-registered it under the alias "Brisha Syo;" styled by Lumiya as a Human Commenori woman with short, curly, dark hair, and an attractive yet personable appearance. She took the shuttle to Lorrd, a planet in the Kanz sector with a culture that had a history of non-verbal communication, where she waited for Jacen Solo. The Dark Lady believed that Solo's attempts to understand the mysterious tassels would lead him to Lorrd, where he would find an expert on the subject: Doctor Heilan Rotham. Paying for a week's worth of parking, Lumiya left the shuttle at the Lorrd spaceport and waited for the inevitable arrival of the Jedi. Jacen Solo soon arrived on Lorrd, accompanied by Ben Skywalker, and the watchman of the system, a female Jedi named Nelani Dinn. While they met with Dr. Rotham, Lumiya secretly incited several random acts of terrorism around Lorrd City, the first of which involved a man threatening to fire concussion missiles into the most heavily populated of the city unless he was given audience with a Jedi. Although that crisis abated following the intervention of Solo and his companions, subsequent Force-influenced catastrophes plagued Lorrd City in the days that followed, all at the instigation of Lumiya. Meanwhile, Ben Skywalker had ventured out into Lorrd City on his own, where he discovered the shuttle that had escaped from Toryaz station docked in the city spaceport. He placed a homing beacon on the vessel and advised Security lieutenant Neav Samran to contact him if and when the pilot returned. Satisfied that her actions had guaranteed the continued presence of the Jedi on Lorrd, Lumiya went back to the vessel and was immediately detained by Samran. She was then taken to the security station, until which time the Jedi arrived to interrogate her.

She did not have to wait long for the Jedi, who arrived soon afterward with a number of questions. She greeted them all by name, something which startled them, and admitted to having interfered in their affairs for some time before actually meeting them face to face. When asked if she had anything to do with the recent string of unusual events in Lorrd City, however, she denied any explicit culpability for the actions of several seemingly mentally unstable Lorrdians. She instead claimed that she heard them in her dreams planning to commit heinous acts, and how through her dreams she suggested to them that they somehow involve the Jedi. Unable to discern truth from lies, Solo continued the interrogation by asking what Syo's connection to the events on Toryaz station was. Her response was that she was on the space station observing Jacen Solo specifically, using her Force abilities to remain hidden while doing so. It was then, according to her, that the situation began to then unravel. She claimed to have witnessed the death of Security Captain Tawaler at the hands of a hooded invidual by uncontrolled decompression, and decided at that point to flee, though not before leaving her tassel artifact behind in the same airlock through which Tawaler had spaced, fully intending and expecting it to end up in the possession of Jacen Solo. Upon her departure from Toryaz station, Syo claimed that she tracked the assassin's shuttle to Coronet City Spaceport, killed its pilot with her bare hands, and then acquired legal ownership of it. Knowing that the tassels would eventually lead Solo to Dr. Rotham on Lorrd for decipherment, Syo traveled there, and waited. Solo was skeptical about Syo's purported omniscience, citing the fact that his sister Jaina had originally been assigned to discover the origin of the tassels, but Syo related her certainty that Jacen would be the one to investigate them further. In an attempt to piece the entire puzzle together, Solo petitioned Syo to tell her story from the beginning, a request to which she agreed, only if the Jedi joined her at her home near Bimmiel. Solo initially declined, prompting Syo to refrain from sharing anymore information. She was threatened with several different punishments by an exasperated Solo, even death, but nothing he said was able to sway her. She waited patiently as Solo then consulted his comrades, and finally agreed to join Syo at her home.

Seducing a Jedi
"The galaxy is dissolving into chaos. Its leadership can't save it; they're the leftovers of what failed fifteen years ago during the Yuuzhan Vong war. The Jedi can't step in and fix things&mdash;you know their methods, the way they think. What has Luke Skywalker told you? Have his tactics, his recommendations fixed anything? No. As good a man as he is, he and his order are just tools of the Galactic Alliance. Vergere sacrificed herself so you could assume the Sith mantle she wanted for you. That's the kind of self-sacrifice no Jedi would admit is possible for the Sith, but it's the truth. Take what I have to teach you, Jacen. Take this place and the dark side power it contains. Take the knowledge that rests in its tombs on the world of Ziost. And use them against the forces that are trying to tear this galaxy apart. Restore order. Give your cousin, give the children in your family and your life the chance to grow up in a galaxy without war."

- Lumiya's temptation of Jacen Solo

Still under the guise of Brisha Syo, Lumiya joined the Jedi on their shuttle during the ride to her home. Upon their arrival, she assured Jacen Solo that all the answers he sought would be found within. After docking, Syo led them inside and began explaining the history of the mining habitat as they ventured deeper into the asteroid. The Jedi recognized the facility as centuries-old mining station, one which would have been rather expensive to just abandon as it apparently had been. Syo agreed, but remarked that such things were well within the capabilities of the habitat's administrator, who also happened to have been a Sith Lord. She dismissed any further questions and led them to a turbolift, which took them up four floors to a chamber lined with artwork and educational materials. As she lay down on the nearest sofa, Nelani Dinn surmised that Syo was some type of Sith adept, which she initially denied. She also took notice of Solo's preoccupation with the dark side resonance he felt from the asteroid, and stated that the power of both the light and dark sides of the Force suffused the habitat. Syo then admitted to being a student of all aspects of the Force, one who focused primarily on how to utilize the Sith teachings without for the benefit of other beings. Scoffing at Dinn's subsequent accusations of naïveté, Syo continued to explain her beliefs about the differences between the light and dark sides of the Force, as well as the history of the Home and the semi-sentient mynock-like species that had once resided there. It was during that conversation where she also presented her example of a benevolent darksider in the form of Darth Vectivus, an ancient Sith Master who had occupied the Home after the mynock-like species and had learned to weild the dark side without malice. She further explained that while many Sith Lords of yesteryear&mdash;Solo's grandfather, Darth Vader included&mdash;were already corrupt individuals prior to becoming Sith, Vectivus had been a man of solid moral stature long before his affirmation of the dark side, and was thus able to ignore temptations of malevolence and softheartedness. She next spoke of her personal relationship with Lord Vader, causing Solo to express his exasperation with the fact that he stil knew nothing about Syo, nor why she had truly brought them to her home. Admitting that she had yet give them her true name, Syo claimed that the real reason she brought the Jedi to her home was because an actual Sith Lord resided in its lowest levels, and she was reluctant to face him alone.

They then returned to the turbolift and together rode to the habitat's lowest level. The Jedi inquired as to the identity of the resident Sith, and Syo feigned joked that it was probably "Darth" something. Solo was under the impression that the Sith had been eradicated with the death of Emperor Palpatine's final clone, but Syo stated that while the last of their Order had died with Vader and the Emperor, individuals with the propensity for continuing the Sith legacy had indeed survived. They exited the turbolift at that point and entered a room with a rail system that led into the mine proper, and Syo cautioned that Ben Skywalker should remain behind, citing his inability to face a Sith Lord. Solo refused to leave his cousin, so Syo and the three Jedi boarded the railcar and descended into the depths of the mine. Shortly into their ride, Syo used the Force to hurl Skywalker and Dinn from the railcar, before sending hundreds of mynock Force-phantoms to harry them. The ride ended soon afterward, and Solo asked Syo about what she had just done, to which she explained that she had separated them for their own good, because the danger in the mines would have overwhelmed them. With Solo effectively isolated from his companions, they began to discuss the Sith Lord that Syo claimed resided in the mine. A phantasmal man of her creation then appeared before them who, although obscured by the hood of his cloak, admitted to being the being in question. The illusion engaged in a brief exchange with Solo before it disappeared and was replaced by an apparation of Luke Skywalker. While the illusory Luke entered into lightsaber combat with Solo, Syo also created a phantom of Mara Jade Skywalker that simultaneously attacked Ben, and another of Darth Vectivus to waylay Nelani Dinn. When Syo determined that Solo and the Skywalker phantom's duel was at an impasse, she called it to an end. Despite her exhaustion from the concerted projection of multiple Force apparitions, Syo explained that the test she had just conducted would have ended with Solo's failure, because he refused to tap into the abundant dark side energy of the asteroid. When he demanded a full explanation from her, Syo acquiesced, and led him to a door made of ebony stone&mdash;immovable, save by an exertion through the dark side. The door opened upon Solo's command and he followed behind Syo as she entered and brought him before her estate. While he was taken aback by the expanse of his surroundings, Syo confessed that she too was a Sith, one who had been trained by Solo's grandfather, Darth Vader; how her she had been born Shira Brie, and the fateful confrontation with Luke Skywalker that preceded her rebirth as the Sith Lady Lumiya. As she spoke, Solo realized that she desired for him to become the next Dark Lord of the Sith, the training for which she explained had begun years ago during Solo's time with Vergere. Her persuasions were interruped by the arrival of a lone, deactivated lightsaber-brandishing Nelani Dinn. She also told Jacen that Vergere had sacrificed herself in an attempt to pass the Sith philosophies through him, should he choose to accept that fact. Denying at first what his instincts told him to be true, Lumiya questioned Jacen's purpose, forcing him to acknowledge his disillusionment with his life as a Jedi. Accepting his destiny, Jacen killed Nelani when she tried to arrest Lumiya—receiving a premonition that her survival would inevitably lead to a fatal confrontation with his former master Luke Skywalker—allowing the Dark Lady to go free. He agreed to Lumiya's suggestion that he needed an apprentice who, unlike Ben, could be molded to Sith teachings.

Training the grandson of Darth Vader
After their original encounter, Jacen summoned Lumiya to Coruscant in order to both answer his questions and test her for her true intentions, bringing her into the Jedi Temple on Coruscant in proximity of her enemy Luke Skywalker. Though disguised, Lumiya proved to him her intentions, passing on an easy attempt to attack and kill Skywalker. Little did Lumiya know that Luke felt her presence and was intent on rooting her out. Lumiya also suggested to Jacen that one part of his training required him to become a Jedi Master, albeit to his surprise. It was only later that she explained one of the lines of the prophecy to him; he will immortalize his love. Lumiya did not know of Solo's relationship with the Hapan Queen Tenel Ka, nor of his child with her, Allana. When she told him that he would have to prove his selflessness by sacrificing one he loved for the good of his destiny, Jacen assumed that he would have to kill his lover and daughter. In reality, Lumiya herself had no idea who Jacen had to kill, as she was only following the will of the Force.

Lumiya did not know of all Jacen's enemies, however. When the Dark Jedi Alema Rar attempted to assassinate him in the depths of Coruscant, she was only barely able to save him, although Alema was successful in killing the World Brain. In order to foment discontent among the Galactic Alliance and Bothawui, she agreed with Jacen to assassinate members of the Bothan True Victory Party, including the Bothan ambassador. In truth, Lumiya kept all records of the killings. They would come in useful later. However, her presence on Coruscant had not gone unnoticed; Luke recognized her presence and warned Jacen.

At another meeting with Jacen, during which his apprentice Ben Skywalker was also present, Lumiya was startled when Alema Rar leapt out of the darkness to assault Jedi Master Tresina Lobi, who had eavesdropped on their conversation in accordance to her instructions from Luke. Alema, who was operating on her agenda to cause grief to Leia Organa Solo, wished Jacen's Sith nature to remain hidden, and thus had attacked Lobi before she could warn Luke. Lumiya joined in the fight, but lost her cybernetic arm to the skillful Lobi. Eventually the two women overpowered her, and Rar decapitated the Jedi Master. Alema agreed to partner with Lumiya, to help Jacen become a Sith and preserve the Balance. Jacen furbished Lumiya with a GAG apartment safehouse and access to various GAG resources, which she quickly covered with traps to kill any infiltrators. She then departed for Hapes with Jacen, who was traveling there in order to investigate an assassination attempt on Tenel Ka. Luke and Mara Skywalker discovered the location of her safehouse and drew the link between her and GAG, but it did not occur to them that she was in league with Jacen.

Hapes and the Duel on Roqoo Depot
She met with Jacen frequently on the Anakin Solo to discuss their plans. Lumiya knowingly agreed to go to the Roqoo Depot in the Hapes Cluster in order to collect Ben. In fact Jacen was setting up a duel between his mentor and Luke Skywalker, as it would benefit him for at least one to be taken out of the equation. Lumiya recognized it as a trap, and rigged a proton bomb on her chest to explode when her life signs terminated. Working with Alema, who was also present, Lumiya strapped a detonator onto the Twi'lek girl as well. Lumiya's hope was that if she did die at Luke's hands, her death would also bring about his. In the hangar bay, Lumiya also revealed to Alema that there was a plan in place to ensure Jacen became a true Sith Lord and implied that there were some Sith still active in the Galaxy other than herself.

At the Roqoo Depot Lumiya did engage Luke and Mara Skywalker, drawing them out by attacking patrons in a cantina. Lumiya's actions at this point are somewhat unclear; her violent demeanour towards Luke was in contrast to her later actions at the Battle of Gilatter VIII. Perhaps the best answer was Lumiya intended to make Luke believe she was a vengeful former lover out to hurt the Skywalkers. Whatever the case, her duel with Luke was ferocious; as Alema and Mara battled in the corridor, Lumiya used Luke's inherent good to distract him with the fates of the cantina patrons, whom she utilized as Human shields. In the face of Luke's use of the Jar'Kai style of shoto and lightsaber to combat her lightwhip, Lumiya was lucky enough to see a distraction as Mara's life was threatened by the poison darts of Alema Rar. She struck swiftly and ensnared Luke with her lightwhip, burning his chest and severing his artificial hand. Luke continued to fight by drawing heavily on the Force, but was disarmed by Lumiya. She began to insinuate that it had been his son Ben who was her connection in the Galactic Alliance Guard. Luke was now at her mercy, but, fearing a trap, Lumiya hesitated long enough for him to grab a blaster from one of her victims and use the Force to guide his hand, shooting her five times in the chest. Mara stopped him from finishing her as she had realized what Alema had been attempting with the proton bomb. Luke left her on the cantina floor, and approximately two minutes after the Jedi fled, the bomb detonated.

Survival and Subversion
"You're stalling. You don't know whether he will be fit to become a Sith apprentice. The time to learn that is now, not when you reveal yourself. You must test him."

- Lumiya tells Jacen Solo to test Ben Skywalker

Lumiya survived the Duel on Roqoo Depot, as many of Luke's shots had hit cybernetic parts. She went into a long healing trance however, as her injuries were still severe. As she healed, Lumiya began more machinations to keep the war flowing. She once again approached the now thoroughly insane Matric Klauskin in the guise as his wife and used him to bring Commenor, his homeworld, onto Corellia's side in the war, but not before she furnished Commenor's president Fyor Rodan that the Galactic Alliance were planning an attack on his world by means of the ambiguous Chasin Document. She also posed as a Hapan, using her knowledge of the murders of the Bothans on Coruscant to tip the already Corellia-sympathetic Bothawui fully onto Corellia's side. The planets, allied with Corellia, were able to break the Galactic Alliance's blockade of Corellia.

She again told Jacen that he needed to choose his Sith apprentice, but only after he revealed himself to be a Sith Lord and made his sacrifice. Jacen, who after oscillating somewhat between Ben and other candidates, decided on Ben as his apprentice. Lumiya was somewhat skeptical on the subject, although she agreed and decided to test Ben. Now acting as Jacen, she sent Ben on a mission to recover the Amulet of Kalara on Drewwa, observed by her contact, the pirate captain Byalfin Dyur. Lumiya tricked Ben into going to Ziost, and continued to manipulate the entirety of his mission. Her fears were soon justified; disgusted with Ben's choice to save the young girl Kiara, she ordered Dyur to kill Ben. To her surprise the young Jedi survived, returned with the amulet and a Sith Meditation Sphere which Jacen would later give to Lumiya. Before this, however, Lumiya traveled with Jacen undercover on a GA mission to the Gilatter system, in order to ambush the supposed Corellian military summit there. Instead they were ambushed. In the resulting chaos, Lumiya again teamed up with Alema Rar to combat the Masters Skywalker, and Han and Leia Solo, who had arrived to help Jacen. Lumiya and Luke entered into another duel as Mara fought off the Corellian guards, and Alema kept both Leia and Han occupied. In the course of the duel, Lumiya told Luke that she didn't hate him and offered him her hand as a peace offering, which he accepted, feeling no ill from her. Her motives were unclear, but she would later tell him again that she didn't hate him at all. In fact, she was rather disappointed by the fact that he presumed her motive to be that of a jealous former lover.

Her and Luke's reunion proved baffling for Mara, who could not understand their actions. Whatever the case, it was cut short when Alema crashed the Duracrud into the resort satellite they were on. Lumiya escaped in the frantic struggle to get out. After the ensuing Battle of Gilatter VIII, Jacen told Lumiya that he was to make his parents his Sith sacrifice. Lumiya questioned if they would leave a hole in his heart, and told Jacen that they might not be a suitable sacrifice. When he made his final choice for his sacrifice, Lumiya said she'd be waiting.

The Sacrifice
"My work and my life are done, Jacen. I'd really welcome a rest."

- Lumiya's admittance to Jacen before she set off to her final duel.

Lumiya was still unsure, however, over the choice Jacen would have to make, and offered to stall Mara Jade Skywalker as her former colleague began to interfere in Ben's tutelage under Jacen. Lumiya flew with the Sith Meditation Sphere Ben had brought back from Ziost, developing a bond with it, even though it only perceived her as an apprentice herself. She left a pair of Ben's boots as a threat outside the Skywalker apartment, fully earning the wrath of her former lover and his wife. Luke allowed Mara to pursue Lumiya, however. Followed by Jade to the Coruscant moon of Hesperidium, Lumiya was seriously injured by her opponent, saved only by the timely actions of the sentient ship, who perceived the darkness in Mara and did not see it as conducive for two apprentices to duel. Meanwhile, Lumiya grew worried by Jacen's constant obsession with securing his hold over the Galactic Alliance, although she did aid him in passing the legislature which would allow him to do so.

However there were developments which were unpredicted by both Jacen and Lumiya. Ben overheard one of their conversations and informed his mother. Mara Jade Skywalker confronted Jacen over his Sith training, and following their meeting Jacen traveled to Hapes in order to meet Tenel Ka and Allana. Lumiya in turn followed him, and was shocked to discover that her pupil had kept his secret hidden for so long. It was not a secret her student was willing to have made public knowledge. He fired on Lumiya in the Sith Meditation Sphere, after she had helped him to disable Jade's StealthX. Jacen left quickly to pursue his persistent aunt to the surface of Kavan. Lumiya survived, but soon had to contend with Ben Skywalker, who had followed her to Hapes using his link with the Sith Sphere as a lead. In fact, Skywalker's bond with the Sith ship was so strong that the ship refused to fire on him. She was forced to follow Jacen down to Kavan, shadowed by Skywalker. Thus at the same time as Jacen killed his aunt in the tunnels, Lumiya and Ben landed side by side on the planet.

Following a short discussion with Jacen on Ziost, Lumiya made plans to admit to Luke Skywalker that she had killed his wife, in order to buy Jacen enough time to complete his destiny and shift attention away from his involvement in the murder. After a short dogfight above Terephon, Lumiya was forced down by her former flame. The two left their respective craft and faced each other on a mesa overlooking a Hapan city. Lumiya professed her murder of Mara, citing the oath she had sworn to the Emperor so long ago as the reason for her actions. Luke came at her, with only his lightsaber. It is unclear as to whether Lumiya took her willingness to die so far as to not fight to her full and dangerous ability. Regardless, the duel was brief; Skywalker had soon forced her back to the edge of the plateau, and her signature lightwhip tumbled off the precipice. As she herself fell, Luke took her hand, straining with all his might to lift her back onto solid ground. Lumiya's gaze was still locked with that of her old love, as he brought his lightsaber blade around to decapitate her.

Final revenge
"Oaths matter, Luke. They're all you're left with in the end."

- Lumiya's last words.

To Luke's horror, his son Ben revealed that Lumiya could not have murdered Mara, as she had been alongside him as he felt his mother's death. Not only did Luke have to deal with the grief over his beloved wife's death, but now he had to live with the thought that he killed the wrong person. The emotional toll from both were enough to push Luke over the edge. However, Lumiya was in a way responsible for Mara's death &mdash; not in combat, but through her pupil.

Shortly after her death, Lumiya's final apprentice, Jacen Solo, took up the title of Sith Lord like his grandfather and named himself Darth Caedus. Not too long after, Caedus himself would take Tahiri Veila as his Sith apprentice.

Caedus eventually noted that he missed her. However, Lumiya's long laid plans for the newly named Darth Caedus proved futile, for in 41 ABY he was killed in a duel with his twin sister, the Sword of the Jedi, Jaina Solo, ending the Second Galactic Civil War. Subsequently, Caedus's own Sith apprentice Tahiri Veila was redeemed during a duel with Ben Skywalker and delivered into Jedi custody; Lumiya's Sith Order was no more.

Personality and traits
Starting her career as a double agent, Lumiya was often manipulative and deceitful, leaving her true personality difficult to know. Her indoctrination at an early age left her completely loyal to the Empire. After joining the Alliance as Shira Brie, her gregarious personality and sharp, sarcastic wit made her popular with the Rebels. Her fearless attitude made her a skilled pilot and soldier. Shira was aggressive and outgoing, and made no secret of her romantic interest in Luke Skywalker. However, much of this identity was likely of Shira's own construction. She also seemed to secretly enjoy trying to create a rift in Skywalker and Princess Leia's friendship.

Upon her return as a self-styled Sith after the death of Vader and Palpatine, Lumiya was bitter and angry, plotting revenge against the Rebels, especially Luke Skywalker. While working with the Nagai she was cold and cruel, finding pleasure in others' pain. Her need for revenge outweighed any loyalties as evidenced by her sudden alliance with the Tofs once the Nagai made peace with the Alliance.

After continuing her work with the remnants of the Empire, years of isolation followed. When she reemerged in 40 ABY, Lumiya claimed that she was no longer full of hatred and out for revenge, though Jacen Solo often questioned her motives. Lumiya showed none of the cruel sadism of the past, instead displaying some shadows of her previous love whenever in Luke Skywalker's presence. Working behind the scenes, she remained as manipulative as ever, but said that her only goal was to serve the cause of the Sith by making Jacen the next Dark Lord. After Jacen agreed to being Lumiya's apprentice, she placed his welfare above her own without hesitation when Jacen's life was at risk. She even went so far as to take Luke Skywalker's hand and claim that she no longer hated him.

Throughout her time with Jacen, Lumiya revealed the extent of her drastic alteration in personality and idealism. By her own acknowledgment, she viewed Jacen Solo as the best candidate (out of several others) who could bring peace to the Galaxy by embracing the Dark Side of the Force. Lumiya had also come to believe that true lasting order and stability could only be achieved through strictly adhering to the "Sith way." In this case, she had become disillusioned with the last of the true Sith Lords - the Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious) and Jacen's own grandfather, Darth Vader. Lumiya believed that by embracing the Dark Side, the Sith have a responsibility to use their power to create and preserve order and security - both of which when combined eventually create peace. Hence, Lumiya reasoned that the downfall of Palpatine was due to his devotion to his own personal power and not the ways of the Sith. To that end, Lumiya saw her latest apprentice as the Dark Lord of the Sith that neither Sidious or Vader could become. That Dark Lord which she envisioned would manifest itself into Darth Caedus, someone who actually saw himself as a totally separate person from Jacen Solo.

Lumiya eventually sacrificed her own life, allowing Luke to think she had killed his wife, Mara. While this may prove her interest in the Sith Order over her own life, her final lie to Skywalker led him to kill her for the wrong reasons and left him devastated when he learned the truth. Shortly before her death, Lumiya confided in Jacen Solo that she welcomed it. Lumiya's true intentions may never be known.

Powers and abilities
"I've hidden for decades. I can hide indefinitely&hellip;anywhere."

- Lumiya

Shira Brie was trained at the Coruscanti Pilot Institute and became one of the program's best starfighter pilots. She was skilled enough to join Rogue Squadron once she infiltrated the Alliance. She was also trained in many combat forms, including Echani and Noghri Stava. Biological alterations enhanced her strength, rate of healing and pain threshold. Darth Vader had sensed Shira's Force potential early in her career. Though the extent of the Force powers she may have had at the time is unknown, she once used the Force to knock a man unconscious. Both her altered physiology and ability to enter a Force healing trance allowed Shira to survive her near-death during the teezl mission.

Lumiya displayed many typical Force powers such as telekinesis and Force Grip. Cybernetic enhancements gave her the ability to fire energy bolts from her hands. During her training of Jacen Solo she was able to mask her identity in the Force (with assistance from Jacen) so that even Luke Skywalker could not recognize her, though he did vaguely sense her presence. Lumiya was also able to cloud minds, as when she appeared to Admiral Matric Klauskin in the guise of his dead wife. Lumiya was also skilled in the creation of Force Phantoms, which she used against Luke, Ben, and Mara Jade Skywalker, as well as her apprentice Jacen and his former apprentice Nelani Dinn. She was one of the few individuals to use the rare Sith weapon, the lightwhip, one of which she herself built.

In addition to speaking Basic, Lumiya had the ability to speak Bothan, Calamarian and Huttese.

Origins
Shira Brie first appeared in the Marvel Star Wars run as an Imperial agent masquerading as a Rebel pilot. She would later reappear after an apparent "death" as the masked Sith Lumiya.

Shira is a Hebrew name which means 'song'. Shira's last name was spelled "Brei" in her first appearance. In all subsequent appearances "Brie" was used.

Lumiya is taken from "luminous" (light), which is ironic for a Dark Lady of the Sith.

Legacy of the Force
In the early stages of planning for the Legacy of the Force series, Lumiya was not included. However, after early drafts had a character similar to her (titled simply "The Wizard"), Lucasfilm Ltd. decided to make her into Lumiya.

The name Brisha is an anagram of Shira B. When the Dramatis Personae for Betrayal was revealed, this led to fans correctly predicting that Brisha Syo was Lumiya, who was known to feature in the series but did not appear on the Dramatis Personae. Lumiya has been listed in the subsequent books in the series.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Interactive Video Board Game
 * Star Wars 56: Coffin in the Clouds
 * Star Wars 57: Hello, Bespin, Goodbye
 * Star Wars 58: Sundown
 * Star Wars 59: Bazarre
 * Star Wars 60: Shira's Story
 * Star Wars 61: Screams in the Void
 * Star Wars 62: Pariah
 * Star Wars 63: The Mind Spider
 * Star Wars 65: Golrath Never Forgets
 * The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars 88: Figurehead
 * Star Wars 95: No Zeltrons
 * Star Wars 96: Duel With a Dark Lady
 * Star Wars 97: Escape
 * Star Wars 100: First Strike
 * Star Wars 107: All Together Now
 * A New Hope: The Life of Luke Skywalker
 * Betrayal
 * Bloodlines
 * Tempest
 * Exile
 * Sacrifice
 * Inferno
 * Fury
 * Revelation
 * Invincible
 * Crosscurrent
 * Outcast
 * Backlash
 * Allies
 * Star Wars: Legacy 18: Claws of the Dragon, Part 5
 * Star Wars: Legacy 18: Claws of the Dragon, Part 5