Shadow Stalker

Darth Vader has a covert agent to take care of his dirty work: Jix. Vader dispatches Jix to take care of an Imperial governor who has defected to the Rebel Alliance. But Jix finds a different, more important traitor, and winds up in a one-man war against a legion of stormtroopers. This one-shot collects the hit serial from Topps' Star Wars Galaxy magazine.

Former Imperial Gunnery Sergeant Wrenga Jixton (a.k.a. Jix) is called before Darth Vader on Coruscant. He evades Vader's castle's security and meets the Dark Lord of the Sith in his meditation chamber (much like the one that will be aboard the Executor). Vader wants Jix to go to Corulag and assassinate Imperial Governor Torlock, who is supposedly planning to defect to the Rebel Alliance. He wants the kill to look like the work of the Rebels. Jix makes it to Corulag and finds a landspeeder under attack by Rebels. Inside, he finds Frija Torlock and a hologram of the governor. Frija tells him that her father is suspected of treason and in hiding or in prison. Jix realizes that more is up than he believed when he notes the Rebels who attacked the speeder were actually Black Sun operatives. He takes her to relative safety and then heads for the prison where Governor Torlock has supposedly been taken. Upon breaking in, he finds that the Torlock in the prison is actually a human replica droid (HRD) of Torlock. He is captured by Imperial Admiral Droon, who is in league with the real Frija. (The one he saved was another HRD.) They are dropped into a pit with a dragon slug, but manage to survive. The Torlock HRD then tells Jix that the real Torlock had learned that the Rebels would soon attack Corulag, so he built the two HRDs and made an escape plan. He then learned that Droon and Frija had been conspiring to implicate him as a traitor so that Droon could rule Corulag in his place. Jix notes that since Vader wanted Torlock dead or captured (which would've left Droon in power either way), Droon's plan almost succeeded. Jix breaks into Droon's quarters and kills Frija when she tries to kill Droon for saying it was all her idea. He knocks out Droon and notices Droon's collection of lightsabers, taking one with him. Jix reunites the Torlock HRD and Frija HRD and they escape to Coruscant. Jix brings Droon to Vader, where Vader informs Droon of how Jix came to be in the Dark Lord's service. After the mission to Falleen and Jix's subsequent court-martial and escape from Kessel, Vader was on a mission to Aridus when he was nearly killed when a tower he was in exploded. He awoke aboard Jix's craft. Jix had been in hiding on Aridus, and in return for keeping the Empire from Jix's newfound "home" of Aridus, Jix would do whatever the Dark Lord commanded. Knowing that Vader will not let Droon live with this new knowledge, Jix gives Droon the lightsaber from Droon's quarters and walks out of the room as Vader ignites his lightsaber and kills Droon in a very uneven match. Outside, Jix is thanked by the two HRDs and lies when he tells the Frija HRD that Frija survived the encounter on Corulag. The Frija HRD is happy about this, hugs him, and she and her "father" depart from Coruscant.

• Star Wars Omnibus: Early Victories
• Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Rebellion Vol. 5

Star Wars Omnibus: Early Victories places this tale, "Almost three years after the Battle of Yavin...".

• "ComicScan: Coming Full Circle" — Star Wars Galaxy Collector 3
• Star Wars: The Complete Vader