Dark Days II: Periapsis

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Dark Days II: Periapsis
Author: Astrid Meadows
Series: Dark Days
Length: TBD
Source: AO3
Publication Date: 2025
Timeline Placement: 1998 BBY
Preceding: Following:
Dark Days I: Zenith by Astrid Meadows Dark Days III: Horizon by Astrid Meadows


Dark Days II: Periapsis is the second novel in the Dark Days pentalogy by Astrid Meadows.

Back Cover

Darth Cinder must wrangle the remnants of her master's Sith Order while battling her own inner demons. The chill winds of Rhen Var cut deep; distrust cuts deeper. Can Cinder, in her first test as Dark Lady of the Sith, ensure her followers make it off Rhen Var alive? Or will Sith instinct prevail?

Meanwhile, on the smuggler's moon of Nar Shaddaa, the wayward scoundrel Lynora Feldt entertains an interesting proposition at the behest of a former Assassin's Guild agent. How hard could stealing from the Hutt Cartel be, anyway?

Synopsis

Cinder's Sith

After killing Darth Ruin and meeting the enigmatic Cronos, Darth Cinder and Darth Fell return to The Ashen One to begin making preparations to leave Rhen Var. Cinder begins spending time with Darth Bestia in an attempt to cope with her unresolved trauma; it quickly spirals into actual romance. Meanwhile, Marcus Kregg and Xira Morr are dealing with the fallout of their relationship following their botched attempt at desertion. Fell is tasked with supervising Cronos. While Fell hates the "three-eyed freak", Cronos takes a keen interest in Fell's future as a Sith Lord. Aboard The Ashen One, he whisks Fell into a vision of the past, depicting the arrival of Ajunta Pall and his fellow exiles on Korriban.

Cinder makes a plan to rally the survivors still aboard Ruin's docked flagship, Solipsis. Aboard, she meets Gunnery Sergeant Axos Pavan, the sole surviving officer of the Sith Army, and the surviving members of Ruin's military high command: First Captain Varsh Myrm, Vice Admiral Karlo Norith, and Admiral Eddward Yaris. However, before she can properly inform them of her plans, Cinder falls ill and faints. In the ensuing chaos, Fell and Bestia are forced to take up roles as leaders. When Cronos boards the Solipsis, he starts meditating next to Cinder's body. Incensed, Fell recruits Pavan and his surviving troopers to get rid of Cronos. At the same time, Myrm lures Bestia into his confidence and goads her into killing Norith and Yaris so that he can seize control of the Sith fleet.

While trapped in her coma, Cinder battles with Darth Phobos, who has set her sights on possessing Cinder's mind and body. While Cinder ultimately triumphs, it is Cronos' intervention that causes Phobos to back down. Fell, with Pavan's forces, makes an attempt to oust Cronos. Bestia intervenes, and she and Fell duel. During the fight, Fell manages to inflame Bestia's past trauma. She nearly kills him in response, and is stopped only by Cinder waking up. Livid, Cinder attempts to deal with the aftermath of the infighting by politicking: she scolds her Shadow Hands, promotes Pavan and Myrm to General and High Admiral, respectively, and forces Cronos to give her more information about Phobos.

As Fell convalesces from his wounds, Cronos presents him with a vision of the present, this time giving him guidance on where to go by showing him a keep on Ziost. Cronos also heals Fell by using the bodies of Norith and Yaris. The next day, Fell suggests to Cinder that they should go to Ziost. While she agrees, she counters that Fell will need to go to Ord Mantell to scout potential shipwrights for the Sith fleet. Meanwhile, Pavan approaches both Kregg and Morr about brokering an arms deal with the Hutts. Both tell him in no uncertain terms that they have no interest, albeit for different reasons. Whereas Kregg has found contentment in Cinder's service, Morr harbors feelings of returning to her homeworld of Nagi to put an imminent succession crisis to rest.

The Ashen One, carrying Cinder's forces, arrives at Ziost after the Sith use Solipsis as a battering ram to breach the Stygian Caldera. There, Cronos and his cult provide the Sith with tombships so that Cinder can set them to their tasks: Fell is released as Cinder's apprentice and made a Darth; Morr, Kregg, and HK-47 are dispatched to Nar Shaddaa to entreat with the Hutts; Bestia is to go to Coruscant as a spy; and Cinder herself plans to go to Wayland.

Lynora

After meeting at the Frisky Dug and entering a professional partnership, Lynora Feldt and the Gand Midge plan a heist to steal Mandalore the Unassailable's armor from the palace of the recently-killed Durgulla the Fat. The Hutt Cartel's reconquest of Nar Shaddaa—led by Urga Masidii the Elder and his clan—has led to heightened security and martial law. After being accosted by several belligerent Evocii soldiers, Lynora and Midge go to the Viridian Slug to plan their next move.

Lynora is sent by a Zabrak to a crumbling tenement block in Nar Shaddaa's residential district and tasked with acquiring a set of climbing tools from a former member of Durgulla's court. She is nearly killed by Bes, the now-destitute former chief of Durgulla's guards, when she enters his apartment, and is only spared when he recognizes her from the Frisky Dug the day before. Bes gladly supplies the climbing tools with one stipulation: he asks Lynora to kill Shana, who betrayed Durgulla for Urga.

That night, Lynora and Midge scale the palace walls and enter via the rafters while the Hutts discuss what to do with the unruly king of Toydaria. The Hutts' discussion soon turns to the Sith who were present at Durgulla's court during his ouster. However, while Lynora is distracted, Shana sneaks up on both her and Midge, who complies with Shana's orders to incapacitate Lynora.

After Lynora is imprisoned on the upper levels, Midge decides to give up her role in the Assassins Guild and set Lynora free. The pair make their way to the treasury, where they find Mandalore's armor—and Shana. A brawl ensues, leaving Shana dead and Lynora and Midge wounded. After reaching Midge's ship, Diptera, with the armor, Midge succumbs to her wounds. Lynora goes to Concord Dawn with the intent of burying Midge's body and returning the armor to the Mandalorians. She is instead reunited with the deserter Marsh Crayn, who convinces her to stay the course and take up the mantle of Mandal'or.

Appearances

Characters

Viewpoint characters

Other characters

Events

Locations

Organizations and titles

Sentient species

Vehicles and vessels

Weapons and technology

Miscellanea and cosmology

Development

Dark Days II began as an attempt by Meadows to create a "coda" for Dark Days I: Zenith. The series had been conceived as a trilogy; as plot threads and characters developed during the writing of Zenith, Meadows determined that two additional stories were needed to fill storytelling gaps between Zenith and Dark Days III: Horizon and, likewise, between Horizon and Nadir.

The story was titled Perihelion for the majority of its development. Upon feedback from alpha and beta readers, the title was adjusted to use the more neutral suffix -apsis, as -helion refers explicitly to the star Sol in the real-world Milky Way galaxy.

Continuity

Behind the Scenes

Sources

References


v · d · eStar Wars: Dark Days
Main series
Zenith (2024) ⸱ Periapsis (2025) ⸱ Horizon ⸱ Apoapsis ⸱ Nadir
Other stories
Major characters
Factions
Related works
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