Anakin Skywalkerthe Chosen Oneis dead. In his place rises Darth Vader, who now hunts what Jedi survived the desctruction of their temple on Coruscant. From the site of Anakin Skywalkers last standon the molten surface of the planet Mustafar, where he sought to destroy his friend and former master, Obi-Wan Kenobia fearsome specter in black has risen. Once the most powerful Knight ever known to the Jedi Order, he is now a disciple of the dark side, a lord of the dreaded Sith, and the avenging right hand of the galaxys ruthless new Emperor. Seduced, deranged, and destroyed by the machinations of the Dark Lord Sidious, Anakin Skywalker is dead . . . and Darth Vader lives.Word of the events that created himthe Jedi Councils failed mutiny against Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the self-crowned Emperors retaliatory command to exterminate the Jedi Order, and Anakins massacre of his comrades and Masters in the Jedi Templehas yet to reach all quarters. On the Outer Rim world of Murkhana, Jedi Masters Roan Shryne and Bol Chatak and Padawan Olee Starstone are leading a charge on a Separatist stronghold, unaware that the tide, red with Jedi blood, has turned suddenly against them.When the three narrowly elude executionand become the desperate prey in a hunt across spaceits neither clone soldiers, nor the newly deployed stormtroopers, nor even the wrath of the power-hungry Emperor himself they must fear most. The deadliest threat rests in the hideously swift and lethal crimson lightsaber of Darth Vaderbehind whose brooding mask lies a shattered heart, a poisoned soul, and a cunning, twisted mind hell-bent on vengeance.For the handful of scattered Jedi, survival is imperative if the light side of the Force is to be protected and the galaxy somehow, someday reclaimed. Yet more important still is the well-being of the twin infants, Leia and Luke Skywalker, the children of Anakin and his doomed bride, Padm Amidala. Separated after Padms death, they must be made safe at all costs, lest the hope they represent for the future be turned to horror by the new Sith regimeand the unspeakable power of the dark side.