If you ever wanted a clear look at how far Darth Sidious could think ahead, the story of Eneb Ray on Coruscant in Star Wars Annual #1 delivers the perfect example. It plays out like a political thriller with blasters, spies, and one cruel twist after another.
By the end, you see a plan so tight and so cruel that it destroys every Rebel spy on the Imperial capital in one move – and Palpatine steps out untouched, smiling as the smoke rises behind him.
Eneb Ray And The Life He Carried As A Spy On Coruscant
Eneb Ray lived a double life that drained him a little more every day. As Tharius Demo, an Imperial tax officer, he had to be strict, cold, and sharp enough to fool any loyal citizen. When an exporter begged for leniency about his tax increase, Eneb stayed locked into the Demo persona with lines like “Sir, that isn’t my problem.” When the man slipped and mentioned the Rebellion, Eneb warned him with “Don’t say that, sir. If you say that, I’ll have to file a report.” He even delivered a chilling warning that only an Imperial officer would use: “In my experience, having your clothing sold into slavery to cover your losses tends to be an emotionally distressing time.”
Behind that mask, Eneb tried to keep himself steady. He reminded himself, “It would be easy to be a little soft… but that risks the Imperials realizing that I’m not Tharius Demo. I’m Eneb Ray.”
This was his normal rhythm until he contacted Leia through a coded channel and sent her intel. She spoke to him with a light, polite tone, saying things like “You flatter me.” Then she shared the problem: Senator Nadea Tural and other anti-Imperial senators were about to be executed. She wanted Eneb to extract them.
He tried to shut the idea down with “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. That’s impossible.” Leia answered in a way that changed his entire approach: “Not impossible. Merely very difficult.”
Eneb agreed. He always stepped into the hardest missions, and Leia trusted that part of him. This moment opened the path toward the trap Sidious had already prepared.
The Rescue Mission Turns Into Something Bigger
Eneb climbed into the Arrth-Eno Prison Complex with clear focus. He reached the senators’ cell and thought he could proceed as planned. Senator Tural stopped him with one detail that shifted everything: “The Emperor… he’s coming here.”
That line changed the objective. Eneb stormed into the control room and forced the Imperial tech crew to surrender. One crew member pulled off her helmet and stunned him with a reveal: “I’m Coleet.” Another Rebel spy, hiding right under the Empire’s nose.
When he told her he needed to contact Leia, she warned him about exposing the princess, but she stepped up: “I’m a nobody. You’re the mole. You’ve just blown your cover.”
Leia picked up, and Eneb went straight to the point: “The Emperor just walked into our crosshairs. If we get a team here, we have our best chance to end him.”
Leia knew the scale of this choice. “If this fails, we’ll have no agents left on Coruscant. This is an enormous risk.”
He answered her with a single reminder: “So was Yavin.” And that pushed the decision forward.
Leia agreed to send every Rebel agent operating on the capital world, which meant the entire network was now heading into the same location. This was the moment Sidious likely counted on from the beginning.
Seven Spies, One Emperor, And A Plan They Thought Could Work
When the Emperor arrived to speak a final time to the senators, the disguised spies threw off their cloaks and opened fire. These were the Alliance’s most trained infiltrators. They took down stormtroopers fast and even knocked out a Royal Guard. Instead of panic, Palpatine gave them a smooth greeting: “Oh my. Rebels. How unexpected.”
Blaster fire sparked around the room while the Emperor floated upward on a lift. Eneb told the others to move the senators out while he chased the Emperor alone. While climbing, he tried to steady his mind: “At this point you may think this is going to look like heroism… but you’d be wrong. This is cold-blooded murder.”
On the rooftop, Eneb fired at the fleeing figure and hit him directly. The body dropped. He approached and finally saw the result.
Then a voice came from above: “A shame. A good decoy is hard to find.”
The real Palpatine stood inside a Lambda-class shuttle, watching the whole thing.
Eneb didn’t break down from the fact he shot a double. The shock came from realizing Sidious came here fully aware of the danger and allowed the attack to happen.
This was the moment the trap began to show itself.
The One Turn That Crushes Everything
Eneb grabbed onto the shuttle and fired at Sidious again, trying to salvage something from the chaos. The Emperor blocked every shot with the Force. Then he gave Eneb a short command: “Look behind you.”
Eneb turned and saw the Arrth-Eno Prison Complex explode in a massive fireball. Everyone inside – Rebel spies, senators, guards, prisoners – died instantly.
His thoughts came fast and heavy:
“I’m fooling myself. There was never a chance.”
“The only thing we have in common is knowing what’s key to any plan… redundancy.”
Sidious wiped out every piece on the board and removed anyone who could question the story he planned to tell.
Right after that, lightning struck Eneb and sent him falling. He barely saved himself by firing his grappling hook into a passing airspeeder.
The Emperor’s trap had achieved every objective in one move.
The Empire Spins The Broadcast And Locks The Narrative
On the ground, Eneb watched the holovid. Sidious appeared calm and regretful while delivering the next step of his plan:
“The senators were being transported to their long-awaited trial… but the rebels have no interest in truth, justice, or the rule of law. They used these senators up, then discarded them in this act of shocking terrorism.”
He pointed to the destruction:
“A testament to their monstrosity.”
Eneb understood the layers working against him:
“Propaganda… removing the senators… the trap so irresistible it lured all the spies on Coruscant. A total material win. And he came along just to watch us burn.”
His escape contact – the same exporter from earlier – found him and asked, “What went wrong?” Eneb answered, “I was naive. I was a hero pretending to be the man willing to make hard decisions.”
Sidious ended the whole disaster with another broadcast promise:
“Citizens must all rest assured that there will be vengeance for this heinous, unforgivable crime.”
Everything the Emperor wanted – spy elimination, senator removal, and complete control of the story – fell into place.
