The mysterious leader of the Cloud-Riders swoop gang, Enfys Nest is a ferocious warrior, decimating opponents with a furious blitz of martial-arts moves and strikes from melee weapons. Nest’s mask and armor hides all clues about the Cloud-Rider chief’s identity and background. Nest’s motives are also a riddle.

Swoops are repulsorlift vehicles that are more powerful (and dangerous) than speeder bikes. Swoop racing is a popular spectator sport on many planets, with fans loving the sport’s excitement as well as its outlaw image. During his search for his mother on Tatooine, Anakin Skywalker borrowed a swoop from Owen Lars. Later, Hondo Ohnaka’s pirates used swoops to patrol their territory on Florrum.

A conveyex is an imposing sight: a long train of armored cargo cars strung between a drive engine and a caboose with a turret cannon. A conveyex is two-tiered, with cargo cars arrayed on each side of the track in an over-under configuration. On Vandor, the Beckett gang launches a bold plan to steal a shipment of valuable coaxium from an Imperial conveyex.

One of the galaxy’s emerging crime syndicates, Crimson Dawn has quickly established a reputation for both ruthlessness and efficiency. The cultured gangster Dryden Vos is the organization’s most visible representative, but underworld figures have begun to take notice of Vos’s capable lieutenant and protégé, Qi’ra.

Coaxium is a rare form of hypermatter that is essential for faster-than-light travel. Starships’ hyperdrive reaction chambers are coated with a thin layer of coaxium, which is energized to allow passage into hyperspace. Unrefined coaxium is mined on worlds such as Kessel, but is dangerous to transport. Highly volatile, it explodes if jostled or allowed to get too hot.

An unspoiled frontier world with soaring mountains and endless plains, Vandor is sparsely settled and lacking the technological infrastructure common on other planets. But Vandor’s days as a refuge from the hurly-burly of galactic civilization are numbered: the Empire has a growing presence on the planet.