[New Jedi Order] - 09 - Star By Star (Troy Denning), Star Wars - Books And Short Stories
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Star WarsThe New Jedi OrderStar By Starby Troy Denning###############################################################################To Andria For advice, encouragement, and moreACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people helped make this book possible. I would like to thank them all, especially Curtis Smith for introducing me to Star Wars writing all those years ago; Mary Kirchoff, who drew my attention to the possibility; and Matthew Caviness, Kevin McConnell, and Ross Marton, three special Star Wars fans who were never far from my thoughts during the writing. Thanks are also due to: Mike Friedman and Jenni Smith; fellow NJO writers R. A. Salvatore - what a setup! - Mike Stackpole, Jim Luceno, Kathy Tyers, Greg Keyes, Elaine Cunningham, Aaron Allston, and Matt Stover, who all contributed to this story through endless compromising and brainstorming; Shell Shapiro and all the people at Del Rey, especially Chris Schluep, Kathleen David, and Lisa Collins; to Sue Rosstoni and Lucy Autrey Wilson at Lucasfilm, as well as Chris Cerasi, Leland Chee, Dan Wallace, and everyone else there who made this project such a pleasure. And of course, thanks to George Lucas for letting me play in his galaxy.DRAMATIS PERSONAEAlema Rar; Jedi Knight (female Twi'lek)Anakin Solo; Jedi Knight (male human)Bela Hara; Jedi Knight (female Barabel)Borsk Fey'lya; chief of state (male Bothan)C-3PO; protocol droidCilghal; Jedi Master (female Mon Calamari)Eryl Besa; Jedi Knight (female human)Ganner Rhysode; Jedi Knight (male human)Han Solo; captain, Millennium Falcon (male human)Jacen Solo; Jedi Knight (male human)Jaina Solo; Jedi Knight (female human)Jovan Drark; Jedi Knight (male Rodian)Krasov Hara; Jedi Knight (female Barabel)Kyp Durron; Jedi Master (male human)Lando Calrissian; resistance fighter (male human)Leia Organa Solo; former New Republic diplomat (female human)Lowbacca; Jedi Knight (male Wookiee)Luke Skywalker; Jedi Master (male human)Mara Jade Skywalker; Jedi Master (female human)Nom Anor; executor (male Yuuzhan Vong)R2-D2; astromech droidRaynar Thul; Jedi Knight (male human)Saba Sebatyne; Jedi Knight (female Barabel)Tahiri Veila; Jedi Knight (female human)Tekli; Jedi Knight (female Chandra-Fan)Tenel Ka; Jedi Knight (female human)Tesar Sebatyne; Jedi Knight (male Barabel)Tsavong Lah; warmaster (male Yuuzhan Vong)Ulaha Kore; Jedi Knight (female Bith)Vergere; adviser to Tsavong Lah (female Fosh)Viqi Shesh; senator (female human)Zekk; Jedi Knight (male human)They appeared without warning from beyond the edge of galactic space: a warrior race called the Yuuzhan Vong, armed with surprise, treachery, and a bizarre organic technology that proved a match - too often more than a match - for the New Republic and its allies. Even the Jedi, under the leadership of Luke Skywalker, found themselves thrown on the defensive, deprived of their greatest strength. For somehow, inexplicably, the Yuuzhan Vong seemed to be utterly devoid of the Force.The alien assault caught the New Republic unawares. Before they could rally and strike back, several worlds were destroyed and countless beings killed - among them the Wookiee Chewbacca, loyal friend and partner of Han Solo.The New Republic won the day - the first of a series of costly victories. Behind that alien advance fleet came a seemingly endless stream of ships and warriors. The planet Ithor fell to Yuuzhan Vong treachery - a devastating loss for the New Republic and a personal one for Jedi Corran Horn, who took the blame.The New Republic government unraveled a little more with each setback. Even the Jedi Knights began to splinter under the strain. And while Luke Skywalker struggled with the dilemma of how to handle the Jedi, he struggled with a private crisis, as well: His beloved wife, Mara, was ill and possibly dying from a debilitating and utterly mystifying disease, and it was taking much of her energy simply to stay alive. Lacking strong leadership, some of the Jedi fell under the sway of Kyp Durron, who advocated using every available resource to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong - including unbridled aggression, which could lead only to the dark side. Even the Solo children - Jedi Knights all - found themselves on different sides of the argument.Consumed with grief and guilt for Chewbacca's death, Han Solo turned away from his family, seeking expiation in action - and foiled a Yuuzhan Vong plot to eliminate the Jedi. He returned with what seemed to be an antidote to Mara Jade Skywalker's illness, but not even that victory could erase the loss of his dearest friend - or mend his marriage to Leia.Leia, too, was beset by guilt. She had disregarded a vision of the future, and now she blamed herself for the devastation of the Hapan fleet at Fondor - a mass destruction caused by the uncontrollable power of Centerpoint Station, a weapon armed by her younger son, Anakin.The elder Solo son, Jacen, also had a vision, one in which he saw the galaxy moving toward darkness. Afraid of tipping the balance farther, the young Jedi temporarily abandoned the use of the Force altogether. Only the near-loss of his mother, Leia, compelled him to return to the Force.But in saving Leia's life Jacen had bested none other than the great Yuuzhan Vong warmaster Tsavong Lah. In retaliation, the warmaster declared a temporary truce on the condition that all Jedi - and Jacen in particular - be handed over to the Yuuzhan Vong.Now the Jedi were being hunted. When the youngsters at the Jedi academy were threatened, Anakin Solo raced off to help, going undercover among the Yuuzhan Vong lower castes to rescue his friend Tahiri Veila. He ended up a hero - but the Jedi Temple on Yavin 4 was destroyed.Luke and Mara found themselves declared traitors by the New Republic. As a pregnant Mara struggled with the recurrence of her disease, Luke began to assert his leadership over the Jedi. With Jaina Solo's help, Kyp Durron convinced Luke and the military to let him lead a mission to destroy a Yuuzhan Vong superweapon. The mission was successful ... but Jaina learned, too late, that what they had destroyed was not a weapon but a worldship in the making - one filled with civilians and intended for Yuuzhan Vong young. Once again the balance seemed to be tipping toward darkness. The only ray of light was the birth of Luke and Mara's son, Ben Skywalker.Their new worldship destroyed and their attempts to capture the Jedi frustrated, the Yuuzhan Vong have declared the truce broken. Once again worlds will fall, as the alien forces push inexorably Coreward. And the Jedi may be the last hope in a galaxy that no longer wants them ...Chapter 1The dark sliver of a distant starliner crept into view, a blue needle of ion efflux pushing it across the immense sweep of a brilliant orange sun. Like a million such suns in the Core region alone, this one lacked any world with a civilization or even a sapient species, and it was too inconsequential for any name except an obsolete Imperial survey number. With so much emptiness, so many planets untouched, it seemed to Jaina Solo that there should have been no need for fighting, that there should have been room for all. But comfort was always easier to steal than to earn, peace easier to break than to keep - as her mother so often said - and so the Yuuzhan Vong had invaded a galaxy that might have welcomed them with open arms. It was a mistake the aliens had yet to understand, but one day, Jaina knew ... one day the Jedi would teach them.R2-D2 chirped an inquiry from the droid station at the rear of the Jade Shadow's flight deck."Stay connected, Artoo." Jaina did not turn around. "They still haven't sent the signal, and Mara needs her rest."The droid whistled a lengthy objection.Jaina glanced at the interface readout, then threw her hands into the air. "Fine. If that's what she said, go wake her up."R2-D2 unplugged and whirred off toward the passenger cabin, leaving Jaina alone on the flight deck of the Jade Shadow. Even in a standby orbit, with all systems powered down and the ion drives resting cold and quiet, the vessel felt more like a suit of formfitted battle armor than a seventy-ton starship. The flow-form seat, drop-deck helm, and full-view canopy gave her the sense of floating in open space, while a new retinal tracker kept the heads-up status holos centered just below her plane of vision. Communications and countermeasures could be controlled from an array of glide switches on the throttle; a similar set on the stick managed sensors, weapons, and shields. Even the life-support system could be regulated by voice with an astromech unit plugged into the flight deck droid station. It was the perfect cockpit, and when the time came to have her own ship, Jaina intended to duplicate every detail - especially the seating arrangement, with the pilot alone down low in the front and the navigator and copilot seated side by side behind her. She liked that part the best.Jaina's reverie was interrupted by a sudden sense of deep disquiet, an unexpected stirring in the Force that soon built to a strange feeling of frenzy. She opened herself to it further and experienced an instant of terrible longings and ravenous hunger, not quite evil, but dark and feral - and brutal enough to make her gasp and withdraw from its touch.A cold sweat running down her brow, Jaina slid the throttle comm switch to intercom and called Mara to the flight deck. While she waited, she studied the sensors. There was nothing unexpected, but Jaina knew better than to place too much faith in the instruments. They had put the Shadow into orbit around the orange sun's closest planet, a rubble-ringed magma ball little more ...
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