WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: Darth Vader #13, by Greg Pak, Raffaele Ienco, Jason Keith, and Joe Caramanga, on sale now.
It's not easy to get on the Dark Lord of the Sith's good side. Even before his turn to the Dark Side, Anakin's headstrong nature proved to be too much for some of his allies. While Vader has taken apprentices since his turn to the Dark Side, none have stuck or grown enough to become the Sith's partner. Even Doctor Aphra assisted Vader at one point, but the job became too dangerous for her. Star Wars has now revealed that Vader found another partner while operating for the Empire and they compliment each other in nearly every way.
Darth Vader's failure at turning Luke to the dark side led Palpatine to challenge his apprentice. Palpatine nearly destroyed all of Vader's equipment and tasked him with rebuilding himself before sending Ochi of Bestoon, the Sith assassin after the Dark Lord. Fortunately, Vader was able to rebuild himself before his initial encounter with Ochi.
The two battled above a fire pit on Mustafar, but Vader's tenacity proved to be too much for the assassin. Continually throughout the battle, Ochi attempted to discredit Vader through quips about Vader's abilities and relation to Palpatine. While they were battling, Ochi subtly dropped a hint that Palpatine was building a stronger power which Vader picked up on. Ochi was able to snag Vader's lightsaber before leaving the Sith Lord stranded in the caves.
When Vader exited the cave, he was greeted by Ochi and the full force of a droid army. Vader made quick work of the droids which led their leader to confront Ochi about their mission. As the commander was going to kill Ochi, the assassin was saved by Vader who needed him to explain how the Sith Wayfinder works. Since Ochi was Palpatine's favorite assassin, he had more knowledge about the Emperor's secret plans than anyone else. Vader then started his mission to Exegol with Ochi in a damaged escape pod below Vader's fighter.
As they traveled to Exegol, the pair were faced with an army of TIE-fighters as well as a horrifying space creature. Ochi became terrified and believed they were knocking on death's door but Vader's flight skills proved effective and they were able to escape unharmed. Upon seeing the Emperor on Exegol, Ochi threw himself to his knees and pleaded for forgiveness. Vader continued his assault on Palpatine's Exegol base and Ochi followed him inside, explaining many of Palpatine's future plans. As the pair stumbled into a room possessing a mountainous Kyber crystal, the power of the Force became too strong and burned Ochi's eyes from their sockets.
Vader left Exegol with new knowledge of his place within Palpatine's galaxy. After Palpatine patched Vader back up, he was granted free reign to do as he saw fit. Vader requested Ochi at his side, and the duo traveled towards the Outer Rim where they confronted Bokku the Hutt. Bokku had knowledge that Boba Fett had lost Han Solo and Vader wanted to recapture the smuggler. The Sith Lord then simply observes as his new sidekick interrogates the Hutt.
The pair put on their own version of good cop/bad cop with Ochi being the good cop. Bokku initially decided not to listen to the agents of the Empire and dispatched a group of Gammorean guards who were swiftly cut down by Vader. This convinced Bokku to help the Sith track Solo, who learned after another failed attempt to attack the Dark Lord that Vader could not be defeated.
Ochi and Vader's relationship has come a long way. Ochi was originally tasked with destroying the Dark Lord of the Sith but learned of his power through their battles. This taught Ochi that Vader was too powerful and the assassin stopped trying to kill him. The pair's encounters with the giant space creature as well as the mountainous Kyber crystal helped bring them even closer together.
Ochi has proven that he can be the voice for Vader when their approach does not need to be violent. Ochi has a way of getting information from people as he quickly learned knowledge of Solo from Bokku and got more information about Palpatine's future plans than Vader received. The Sith Lord has learned how valuable Ochi can be to him, and will surely continue to use the assassin to the best of his abilities.
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