[Jedi Academy] - 03 - Champions Of The Force (Kevin Anderson), Star Wars - Books And Short Stories
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Star WarsThe Jedi Academy Trilogy3CHAMPIONS OF THE FORCEby Kevin J. AndersonDedication To my stepson and "research buddy" JONATHAN MACGREGOR COWAN,who helped me see "a galaxy far, far away" through a child's sense of wonderAcknowledgments Much of this novel was written at the Montecito SequoiaLodge in the redwood forests of California. Lillie Mitchell, my typist,somehow kept up with all the microcassettes I dumped on her and egged me togreater speed by asking "What happens next?" My wife, Rebecca Moesta Anderson,provided brainstorming and late-night walks to help iron out plot problems, aswell as giving her personal support and love. Tom Veitch helped me work outthe background of Exar Kun and the Dark Lords of the Sith, which we've writteninto a twelve-issue saga for Dark Horse Comics. My editor, Tom Dupree, trustedme to deliver everything on time and in good shape (and he even enjoyed thestory!); his assistant, Heather McConnell, kept a million things under controlat once and refrained from hanging up on me whenever I called to pester her.Lucy Wilson at Lucasfilm helped make this and all of my other Star Warsstories possible, and her assistant, Sue Rostoni, managed to keep thedifferent projects from crashing headlong into each other. In our manydiscussions Ralph McQuarrie provided a lot more inspiration than he willadmit, including designing the temple of Exar Kun and other parts of the Jediacademy. West End Games, as usual, provided an enormous amount of valuablereference material on all aspects of the Star Wars universe. Most of all, Iowe thanks to George Lucas for creating such a wonderful universe and forletting me play in it.CHAMPIONS OF THE FORCEThe Sun Crusher plunged into the Caridan system like an assassin's knifeinto an unsuspecting heart.Old beyond his years, Kyp Durron sat hunched over the controls with darkeyes blazing, intent on his new target. With the might of the superweapon-aswell as powerful techniques his spectral mentor Exar Kun had taught him-Kypwould extinguish all threats against the New Republic.Only days before, he had annihilated Admiral Daala and her two StarDestroyers in the Cauldron Nebula. On the fringes of the explosion, he haddropped off one of the Sun Crusher's coffin-sized message pods so that thegalaxy would know who was responsible for the victory.As his next target, Kyp would challenge the Imperial military trainingcenter on Carida. The military planet was a largish world with high gravity totoughen the muscles of potential stormtroopers. Its untamed land massesprovided an appropriate range of training environments: arctic wastelands,trackless rain forests, splintered mountain crags, and searing desert hardpancrawling with venomous multilegged reptiles.Carida seemed the opposite of Kyp's peaceful homeworld of Deyer, where heand his family had lived in raft colonies on the calm terraformed lakes-butthat peace had been shattered years ago when Kyp's parents had chosen toprotest the destruction of Alderaan. Stormtroopers had crushed the colony,whisking Kyp and his parents to the spice mines of Kessel while conscriptinghis brother Zeth for the stormtrooper training center.Now, as he orbited the military planet, Kyp's face bore the tight,hardened look of a person who has been through the raging fire of his ownconscience. Shadows rimmed his eyes. He did not expect to find his brotherstill alive after so many years-but he intended to learn the truth. And ifZeth was not there, Kyp had enough power to destroy the whole Caridan solarsystem.A week ago he had left Luke Skywalker for dead atop the Great Temple onYavin 4. He had stolen design parameters of the Sun Crusher from the mind ofits naive creator, Qwi Xux. And he had blown up five stars to incinerateAdmiral Daala and her two Star Destroyers. At the last moment Daala had triedto flee the exploding stars, but to no avail. The shock waves had been intenseenough to blank the Sun Crusher's viewscreens even as fire overtook Daala'sflagship, the Gorgon.Since that awesome victory Kyp's obsession had gained momentum, and hehad set out on a hyperspeed course toward annihilating the Empire....The Caridan defense network spotted the Sun Crusher as Kyp entered orbit.He decided to transmit his ultimatum before the Imperial forces tried anythingstupid. He broadcast on a wide range of frequencies."Caridan military academy," he said, trying to deepen his voice. "This isthe pilot of the Sun Crusher." His mind searched for the name of theambassadorial buffoon who had caused a diplomatic incident on Coruscant bytossing his drink in Mon Mothma's face. "I wish to speak to... AmbassadorFurgan to discuss the terms of your surrender."The planet below made no response. Kyp stared at the comm system, waitingfor noise to burst from the speaker.His alarm consoles flashed as the Caridans attempted to lock on to theSun Crusher with a tractor beam, but Kyp worked the controls with Jedi-enhanced speed, oscillating his orbit at random so they could never get apositive lock."I am not here to play games." Kyp's hand bunched into a fist and slammeddown on the comm unit. "Carida, if you do not answer within the next fifteenseconds, I'll fire a torpedo into the heart of your sun. I think you'refamiliar with the capabilities of this weapon. Do you understand?"He began counting out loud. "One... two... three... four..." He got up toeleven before a brusque voice came through the comm system."Intruder, we are transmitting a set of landing coordinates. Follow themprecisely or you will be destroyed. Relinquish control of your ship to thestormtroopers immediately upon landing.""You don't seem to understand what's going on here," Kyp said before hebothered to stop laughing."Let me talk to Ambassador Furgan now or your planetary system is goingto be the galaxy's newest bright spot. I've already blown up a nebula to wipeout a pair of Imperial battle cruisers-don't you think I'd destroy one minorstar to get rid of a planet full of stormtroopers? Get Furgan, and give me avisual."The holo panel flickered, and the wide, flat face of Furgan appeared,shoving aside the comm officer. Kyp recognized the ambassador by his heavyeyebrows and fat purplish lips."Why have you come here, Rebel?" Furgan said."You are in no position to make demands." Kyp rolled his eyes, losingpatience already. "Listen to me, Furgan. I want to find out what happened tomy brother, Zeth. He was conscripted on the planet Deyer about ten years ago,and he was brought here. Once you have that information, we'll discuss terms."Furgan stared at him, knitting his heavy spiked brows. "The Empire doesnot negotiate with terrorists.""You don't have any choice in the matter."Furgan fidgeted and finally backed down."It will take some time to access information that old. Maintain yourposition in orbit, and we'll check.""You have one hour," Kyp said, then signed off.On Carida, in the main citadel of the Imperial military training center,Ambassador Furgan looked down at his comm officer, frowning with lips thecolor of fresh bruises. "Check that boy's words, Lieutenant Dauren. I want toknow the capabilities of that weapon."A stormtrooper lieutenant marched in with a precise military stride thatsent shivers of admiration down Furgan's spine. "Report," he said to thecaptain.The helmet speaker amplified the stormtrooper's voice. "Colonel Ardaxannounces that his assault team is ready to depart for the planet Anoth," hesaid. "We have eight MT-AT vehicles loaded into the Dreadnaught Vendetta,along with a full compliment of troops and weaponry."Furgan tapped his fingers on the polished console in front of him. "Itseems an extravagant effort to kidnap a baby and overcome a single woman who'swatching him-but this is a Jedi baby, and I will not underestimate thedefenses the Rebels may have emplaced. Tell Colonel Ardax to prepare his teamfor immediate departure. I have a minor irritation that needs to be dealt withhere-and then we can go fetch a young, malleable replacement for the Emperor."The stormtrooper saluted, whirled on one polished boot, and exitedthrough the chamber doors."Ambassador," the comm officer said, scanning readouts, "we know from ourspy network that the Rebels had a stolen Imperial weapon called the SunCrusher, which can supposedly trigger the explosion of a star. And there was amysterious multiple supernova in the Cauldron Nebula less than a week ago-justas the intruder claims."Furgan felt a thrill of anticipation as his suspicions were confirmed. Ifhe could get his hands on the Sun Crusher and the Jedi baby, he would havemore power at his disposal than any of the squabbling warlords in the CoreSystems! Carida could perhaps become the center of a blossoming new Empire-with Furgan at its helm as regent."While the Sun Crusher pilot is distracted and awaiting news of hisbrother," Furgan said, "we shall mount a full-fledged assault to cripple hiscraft. We can't let such an opportunity escape us."Kyp stared at the Sun Crusher's chronometer, growing angrier with eachticking interval. If it weren't for the hope of learning news about Zeth, Kypwould hav...
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