Darth Vader (2020) 44

Darth Vader 44 is the forty-fourth issue of the 2020 canon comic book series Star Wars: Darth Vader. The issue was written by Greg Pak, illustrated by Adam Gorham, Paul Fry, and Federico Blee, and published by Marvel Comics on March 13, 2024.

Publisher's summary

RISE OF THE MAR CORPS! DARTH VADER is picking up the pieces after the SCOURGE wreaked havoc. But could a REBEL SQUAD of cyborgs bring chaos to the DARK LORD of order?! Who are Vader's new TROOPERS? Find out here!

Opening crawl

SOLDIERS FOR THE SCHISM 
Sly Moore's Schism Imperial, a covert group
of Imperials determined to overthrow the
Emperor, has continued to grow. Darth Vader
has now joined the ranks, returning to an
Outer Rim planet where Kitster's team
continued to assist the Rebel Alliance with
the Death Machine confiscated from
Governor Tauntaza.

All the while, the M.A.R. Corps, a team of
machine-augmented rebels, has been brought
under the control of Darth Vader, to be used
for his dark purposes….

Plot summary

When the mysterious droid scourge arrived to Sector 35 of Imperial capital planet Coruscant, Imperial Security Bureau agent Fabarian defends a group of children from the murderous droids. He calls for backup, but instead hears an order for Protocol 23, resulting in a massive explosion of the city block. Fabarian crawls out of the rubble to see the silhouette of Darth Vader atop a nearby roof.

Later, after Fabarian's demotion and joining Administrator Sly Moore's Schism Imperial, the man walks by a small memorial of the event during a break from his work as a data processor when he receives a call from supervisor informing him that he approved a fine for a Class A speeder he was supposed to erase. Fabarian shrugs off the issue, since he erased four other tickets for that same individual, but his supervisor informs him that the high-ranking individual wants to meet with the data processor in person.

Fabarian heads to the Coruscant office of Baron Slandarv of Slandarvia M-9. The baron mocks Fabarian for his fall from grace, which he attributes to Fabarian poking around in the business of Emperor Palpatine and Lord Vader. When Fabarian attempts to explain his actions, the baron cuts him off and openly talks down to Fabarian before stripping him of his Imperial service. The baron's droids only allow Fabarian to leave with his clothes and his personal comlink before tossing him out of the building. Outside, Fabarian's supervisor recommends he leave the sector and planet entirely.

Fabarian takes a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle to visit Vader and Moore on their ship. Fabarian recounts the incident the day of the Scourge attack seeing Vader, and the Sith informs him about how he allowed the Scourge to enter him, only to find it too weak to influence him.

Vader shows Fabarian his work on the Rebel cyborgs of M.A.R. Corps to bring them into his control. Former Governor of Gabredor III, Tauntaza is also there in her armor, which she has had retrofitted for power cells from the Death Machine. The same has been done for the augmentations of the M.A.R. Corps. The two emphasize the importance of proving one's usefulness in the presence of Lord Vader.

Fabarian shows his usefulness in acquiring key data from Baron Slandarv's office, whom he irritated on purpose to gain access. Fabarian demonstrates that Slandarv is working on a new type of battle droid, which he has been constructing in a factory surrounded by worker housing for protection. In lieu of a blockade, Vader opts to barge in to seize control. This gives Fabarian pause, as he strives to restore order above any supposed loyalty to Vader.

Within the factory, Fabarian and Vader encounter Slandarv. They demand the baron allow ZED-6-7 to reprogram the droids to serve Vader rather than the Emperor. When the baron declares his own loyalty to Palpatine, Vader's forces fight Slandarv's guards as Fabarian chases the Baron to a safe room. With Fabarian's blaster pistol trained at him, Slandarv points out the button that destroys the whole facility, sparing only the safe room, which would leave only the two as survivors. He explains that they could destroy Vader, who is to both incapable of defeating Palpatine and no better. Since the explosion would also destroy the civilian housing surrounding the factory, Fabarian shoots Slandarv, killing him, wishing the Baron would have just paid that ticket.

When Moore enters the safe room, she and Vader both start to feel a splitting pain that incapacitates the Umbaran administrator. Back aboard the ship, she explains to ZED-6-7 that the internal screams of the cyborgs was too straining. Tauntaza becomes confused how it is not affecting Vader, and Moore recognizes that he is feeling much more but is simply uncaring of their excruciating plight.

The next day, Moore meets with the Emperor in his palace. She informs him of Vader's new droid army, but makes it clear that Vader is aware she is there; she knows deceiving either Sith would be her demise. Impressed she understands the Sith so well, Palpatine laments Vader's history of being a Jedi, which makes him bad at deception, aside from deceiving himself. He allows Vader to continue his pursuit of gathering strength. Outside the meeting, Moore is approached by Lieutenant Enric Pryde, whose own respect for Vader leads Moore to invite him into the Schism.

Media

Explore all of Wookieepedia's images from this article subject.

Cover gallery

Collected in

Appearances

Wiki-shrinkable This Appearances list is incomplete. You can help Wookieepedia by expanding it.
By type
Characters Organisms Droid models Events Locations
Organizations and titles Sentient species Vehicles and vessels Weapons and technology Miscellanea

Characters

Droid models

Events

Locations

Organizations and titles

Sentient species

Vehicles and vessels

Weapons and technology

Miscellanea

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Marvel-TemplateLogo Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #44 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)
  2. ↑ The events of Darth Vader (2020) 44 take place after the Escape from Cloud City and before the Rescue of Han Solo, which are dated to 3 ABY and 4 ABY, respectively, by Star Wars: Galactic Atlas.

External links

Star Wars - Darth Vader logo
Dark Heart of the Sith: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5
Into the Fire: 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11
War of the Bounty Hunters: 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17
Crimson Reign: 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25 · 26 · 27
Hidden Empire: 28 · 29 · 30 · 31 · 32
Unbound Force: 33 · 34
Target Aphra: 35 · 36
Dark Droids: 37 · 38 · 39 · 40 · 41
42 · 43 · 44 · 45
The Razing of Exegol: 46 · 47
48 · 49 · 50
Trade paperbacks
1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10
Related media
Darth Vader (2015) · Darth Vader (2017)
In Service to the Empire · Revelations (2022) · Tool of the Empire
The Curse · Phantom Menace Special
[edit]