Out of a feeling of obligation for a Jedi Knight he turned in to protect his own connection to the Force, Cade Skywalker makes his way back to Coruscant, the current seat of the Sith Empire's government, to free the Bothan Jedi. He sneaks his way into the new Sith Temple, which was built on top of the former Jedi Temple before locating the Bothan, only to fall into the hands of Darth Krayt and his Sith minions.

Fortunately for Cade, he is not completely on his own. His former smuggling partners Jariah Syn and Deliah Blue have rushed in to come to the rescue. Unfortunately, their luck proves to be just as good as Cade's, and Darth Krayt decides to use them to get Cade to cooperate. The Sith emperor infects them with Vong biotechnology not unlike the one he is infected with in the hopes that Cade will use the Force to save them, providing evidence of his skill and bringing him closer to the Dark Side. After some debate, Cade does in fact save his friends after Krayt promises to free them. In trade, Cade promises to train with the Sith.

While Cade is spending weeks training at the Sith Temple, his friends are not sitting idly by. They end up connecting with other smugglers and a federal agent with a personal interest in Cade to work on a rescue mission. The question is what will they find when they get to the Temple to enact the rescue. Will Cade want to return with them or stay with his new Sith brethren?

As all of this is going on, the Grand Moffs of the Empire are trying to figure out where they went wrong with the Sith. They had brought the Sith into the war against the Galactic Alliance to strengthen their side only to find the Force-connected Sith taking over. They are starting to question the ties and discuss what they might be able to do as a result. This is particularly true of Chief of Intelligence Nyna Calixte. She had played a crucial role in building the alliance with the Sith with the hopes of promoting her lover and fellow Moff (Morlish Veed) into the leadership of the Empire. As with everyone connected to Intell, she has secrets from the past that seem to be playing even more into events than anyone realizes.

This volume read very quickly. It easily fit the plot pattern of the original Star Wars movies, filled with action and adventure. It really plays up the idea of a legacy for the various characters and what that means for them, a theme that seems to be threading through the whole series to date. Sometimes a legacy is just as much a bane as it is a boon.