Star Wars: Cataclysm (The High Republic)

Chapter One

THE REPUBLIC EXECUTIVE BUILDING, CORUSCANT

Chancellor Kyong Greylark sat in her spacious chambers. She was facing away from her vast desk, looking out over the skyline. It was near twilight, and the sun s golden light reflected against the spires and domes of shining silver, making them appear gilded.

It was a time of day that usually brought her a sense of peace and calm. But much as she tried to relax, her hands still gripped the edges of her chair as if she were on her ship, the Aurora Sun, crashing. A shiver ran down her spine, and the headdress of jadeite a family heirloom made a twinkling sound.

A door opened to her chambers.

Chancellor Greylark, her aide said. A message is incoming

News about Jedha? Kyong said.

No, Chancellor.

Kyong silenced her with an upraised hand. It was the one time today she could have peace. Or at least seek it out, even if it would not come when she beckoned.

I told you I wanted no interruptions unless it was about the peace accords, Kyong said.

But . . . it s Chancellor Mollo, on Eiram. It s about your son.

Kyong turned around in her chair, mouth in a fixed line, and nodded. This time, the carved jadeite drops dangling in parallel arches over her head made no noise. She pressed a button on her desk, and a holoimage of Chancellor Mollo appeared.

Chancellor Greylark, he said in his baritone voice. The Quarren was situated in a room far less grand than hers. His chancellor s robes were dun-colored and edged in silver, and his facial tentacles swayed with expectation. I trust you are well?

I am fine, Chancellor Mollo. Thank you. She allowed a small nod, but that was all. A smile would say that she was inappropriately well considering her only child was incarcerated and the Greylark family was an embarrassment to the whole Republic. A frown would mean that she was not handling the political fallout well. A chancellor with a murderous son? The truth was unfathomable, yet

Lydia Kang is an author of adult and young adult fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. She is also a doctor and practices internal medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. She became a Star Wars author with the short story “Right-Hand Man” in the 2020 anthology From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back, which describes the critical scene in which 2-1B attaches Luke Skywalker’s prosthetic hand. Her historical fiction includes the bestselling titles Opium and Absinthe, A Beautiful Poison, The Impossible Girl, and The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding. She is the co-author of Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything, an NPR Science Friday Best Science Book of 2017, as well as Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World’s Worst Diseases. She lives with her three kids, physician husband, and two very codependent dogs, one of which looks uncannily like an Ewok.

While part of a larger story, Cataclysm has all the traits of the best Star Wars books courageous Jedi, fearsome villains, and love powerful enough to change the fate of the galaxy. Dork Side of the Force

Lydia Kang delivers a High Republic masterpiece. . . . Happy and sad tears will drip from your face onto the pages, but the heart of Cataclysm is as pure as Star Wars can be. The fight for survival, love, and a future fuels a book that will leave your heart racing. Star Wars News Net

Cataclysm is definitely the must-read climactic finale of this arc. Laughing Place