Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison #2

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison #2 starts with Laurita Tohm kneeling next to his gravely injured friend Shens.  Headmaster Gentis has recruited many of the graduating cadets into his coup against the Emperor, but Tohm was neglected because of his high profile at the academy.  Tohm kills Shens and Darth Vader asks Tohm to follow him.  As they near the Emperor's Palace an explosion occurs releasing a deadly biological virus.  Clone Troopers and Imperial Officers are caught in the gas and quickly succumb to the virus.  Tohm dons a mask as he and Vader enter the palace and the Emperor's chambers.  The Emperor has contracted the virus but uses his Sith magic to keep it at bay.  Moff Trachta enters the chamber and suggest they move the Emperor to a secret location.  At a secret hangar they place the Emperor in a stasis pod on a transport.

On the transport, Vader and Trachta discuss their next steps while Tohm listens.  They all agree the Emperor needs to be moved off Coruscant before Gentis' cadets find him.  Vader enlists Tohm to accompany him to the abandoned Jedi Temple to find a suitable location.  As they enter the temple, they are attacked by training droids, while back on the transport a medical droid assaults Trachta.  The droids were remotely commanded by engineers loyal to Gentis to strike but are quickly defeated.  Vader and Tohm enter the Jedi council chamber where Vader activates a hologram.  The hologram of Anakin Skywalker asks why dozens of captured Dooku's men vanished after Anakin handed them over to the council.

Set just months after the Revenge of the Sith, this story effectively bridges the prequel and original trilogies.  The Ghost Prison, a Jedi facility used during the Clone Wars, should prove to be an interesting location and hopefully will yield more flashbacks to Anakin's involvement in the Clone Wars.  If I had one complaint, it seems too early in the timeline for the Empire to be abusing it's personnel in the nacent Imperial war machine, especially cadets at the Imperial Academies, to the point where some officers are rebelling.  This is just the first graduation class and it is pointed out in the story the Empire is fragile.  We know the Empire will get much, much worse when it has the machinery and manpower to exert dominance over the galaxy.

The cover by Dave Wilkins shows Darth Vader brandishing his lightsaber while Coruscant burns around him.

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison #2a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (June 2012)