Darth Vader entered the cantina looking for someone connected to an attempt on Palpatine’s life. He brought two Royal Guards, both fresh from watching him execute members of their own unit. In the Legends comic Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin #2, one of those guards spotted a detail on their suspect that gave the investigation a new direction. Moments later, the man turned himself into a bomb.
The Guards Had Already Seen What Failure Cost
The investigation began with a bomb planted beneath the Emperor’s throne. Vader sensed the danger, pushed Palpatine clear with the Force, and hurled the throne through a window before it exploded.
He then turned on the Royal Guards responsible for protecting his master. Two were thrown out of the window. When more guards arrived, five knelt and offered their lives for their failure. Vader killed the two who remained standing.
The survivors received new orders: two would protect and evacuate Palpatine, one would take charge of concealing the incident, and two would accompany Vader.
That made the pair’s assignment especially tense. They were helping investigate a security breach alongside the man who had just killed their comrades over it.
The attack also raised a troubling question for Vader: how had someone hidden the danger from both Sith Lords? Palpatine told him that a dark, powerful presence was clouding their vision. Finding the bomber’s associates became more than a matter of punishing careless security.
A Guard Spotted the Clue Vader Needed
Days later, Vader tracked a suspect to an off-world cantina. The man had visited the Imperial Palace without delivering cargo, making his unexplained trip worth investigating.
Vader interrupted the drinking and laughter by lifting him into the air with a Force choke. He demanded to know why the man had entered the Palace and who he worked for.
While Vader pressed for answers, one of the Royal Guards drew his attention to the suspect’s exposed chest. Across it was a green, headless snake: the mark of the Heinsnake Cult.
The guard’s useful contribution was paying attention while Vader focused on the interrogation. The prisoner would not talk, but his mark revealed a connection Vader could investigate.
Then the suspect activated an explosive device. Vader hurled him away with the Force, and the blast tore through the cantina, killing patrons. Vader and his guards survived, but their chance to question the man was gone.
The encounter showed the limits of Vader’s usual approach. He could restrain and threaten the suspect, but he could not make him cooperate before the man chose to die. The symbol became the lead that survived him.
Another Assassin Was Waiting in the Same Room
Unknown to the patrons, a separate killer had been watching the confrontation. The ninth assassin had been hired to murder Vader and was waiting for an opportunity to strike.
The cultist’s explosion disrupted that approach. The assassin survived, but lost his opportunity to close in on Vader. An attack meant to silence a prisoner had also interrupted another attempt on the Sith Lord’s life.
Back aboard his shuttle, Vader reported the headless-snake mark to Palpatine. The Emperor recognized it as the emblem of an ancient cult associated with powerful dark magic, supposedly gone for ages. He knew of a temple on a moon abandoned thousands of years earlier because of strange abnormalities.
Vader now had a destination, and the two guards continued with him. The cantina interrogation had ended without a confession, but one guard’s observation had preserved a trail to follow.