Summary:
As the war between the Republic and the scattered remnants of the Empire continues, two children--the Jedi twins--will come into their powers in a universe on the brink of vast changes and challenges. In this time of turmoil and discovery, an extraordinary new Star Wars saga begins....
While Luke Skywalker takes the first step toward setting up an academy to train a new order of Jedi Knights, Han Solo and Chewbacca are taken prisoner on the planet Kessel and forced to work in the fathomless depths of a spice mine. But when Han and Chewie break away, they flee desperately to a secret Imperial research laboratory surrounded by a cluster of black holes--and go from one danger to a far greater one....
On Kessel, Luke picks up the trail of his two friends, only to come face-to-face with a weapon so awesome, it can wipe out an entire solar system. It is a death ship called the Sun Crusher, invented by a reclusive genius and piloted by none other than Han himself...
Summary:
As the New Republic takes devastating losses in the ongoingwar with the scattered remnants of the Empire, the galaxy's future depends on three small children -- among them the Jedi twins -- born to incredible powers and perils, as an extraordinary new saga unfolds...
While the New Republic struggles to decide what to do with the deadly Sun Crusher -- a new doomsday weapon stolen from the Empire by Han Solo -- the renegade Imperial Admiral Daala uses her fleet of Star Destroyers to conduct guerrilla warfare on peaceful planets. And now she threatens the watery homeworld of Admiral Ackbar. But as the battle for a planet rages, an even greater danger emerges at Luke Skywalker's Jedi academy. A brilliant student delves dangerously into the dark side of the Force and unleashes the spirit of an ancient master of the evil order that warped Darth Vader himself. Working together, they may become an enemy greater than the New Republic has ever fought... more powerful than even a Jedi Master can face.
Summary:
Suspended helplessly between life and death, Luke Skywalker lies in state at the Jedi academy. But on the spirit plane, Luke fights desperately for survival, reaching out physically to the Jedi twins. At the same time, Leia is on a life-and-death mission of her own, a race against Imperial agents hoping to destroy a third Jedi child -- Leia and Han's baby Anakin -- hidden on the planet Anoth. Meanwhile, Luke's former protÚgÚ Kyp Durron has pirated the deadly Sun Crusher on an apocalyptic mission of mass destruction, convinced he is fighting for a just cause. Hunting down the rogue warrior, Han must persuade Kyp to renounce his dark crusade and regain his lost honor. To do it, Kyp must take the Sun Crusher on a suicide mission against the awesome Death Star prototype -- a battle Han knows they may be unable to win... even with Luke Skywalker at their side!
I originally read this trilogy back in 1994 when it was first published and listened to the abridged audio version many times over the years but it's probably been 10 years since the last listen. One of my favorite moments is from book one, Jedi Search and that's seeing Han and Chewie taken prisoner on Kessel and forced to work the spice mines, considering Han's penchant for bragging "You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?…It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs" it made for an interesting atmosphere to see our heroes in. Kevin J Anderson also created one of my favorite adversaries from the Empire, Imperial renegade, Admiral Natasi Daala. I can't say I want to see her succeed because I am a rebel/New Republic kind of gal but I do love seeing her get one over on her fellow Imperials from time-to-time.
Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy Disney's new timeline but to me they will always be non-canon/alternate timeline and the original SWEU is canon, and Kevin J Anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy is an amazing followup to Timothy Zahn's original Thrawn Trilogy and furthers the adventures of the SWEU most of us diehard fans have come to love. Throw in some new characters, good, bad, indifferent, and somewhere inbetween and what you have is great stories worthy of the SWEU stamp.
RATING:
Jedi Search #1
1
The black hole cluster near Kessel reached out for the Millennium Falcon with jaws of gravity, drawing it close. Even in the mottled blur of hyperspace, Han Solo could see the huge distortion as a bruised whirlpool, trying to suck them down to infinity.
1
The black hole cluster near Kessel reached out for the Millennium Falcon with jaws of gravity, drawing it close. Even in the mottled blur of hyperspace, Han Solo could see the huge distortion as a bruised whirlpool, trying to suck them down to infinity.
“Hey, Chewie! Don’t you think that’s too close?” He stared at the Falcon’s navicomputer, wishing they had chosen a course that would take them a safer distance from the Maw. “What do you think this is, an old smuggling mission? We got nothing to hide this time.”
Beside him, Chewbacca looked disappointed and grunted an excuse, waving his hairy paws in the stifling air of the cockpit.
“Yeah, well we’re on an official mission this time. No more skulking about. Try to act dignified, okay?”
Chewbacca groaned a skeptical reply, then turned to his navigational screens.
Han felt a pang at returning to his old haunts, reminded of when he had been just on the other side of the law, running spice, being chased by Imperial scout ships. When his life had been free and easy.
On one of those frantic missions, he and Chewbacca had practically shaved the bottom plating off the Falcon, taking a shortcut and skimming closer to the Maw cluster of black holes than had ever before been recorded. Sensible pilots avoided the area, using longer paths that kept them clear of the black holes, but the Falcon’s speed had carried them to safety on the other side, making the Kessel run in under twelve parsecs. But that “guaranteed sure thing” mission had ended in disaster anyway; Han had dumped his load of spice just before being boarded by Imperials.
This time, though, Han was returning to Kessel under different circumstances. His wife Leia had appointed him an official representative of the New Republic, an ambassador of sorts, though the title seemed somewhat honorary.
But even an honorary title had its advantages. Han and Chewbacca no longer had to dodge scout ships, or duck under planetary sensor nets, or use the secret compartments under the deck plates. Han Solo found himself in the unlikely, and uncomfortable, position of being respectable. There was no other word for it.
But Han’s new responsibilities weren’t just quaint annoyances. He was married to Leia—who could have imagined that?—and he had three children.
Han leaned back in his flight chair and locked his hands behind his head. He allowed a wistful smile to cross his face. He had visited the kids as often as he could, in their protective isolation on a secret planet, and the twins were due to come home to Coruscant in a week. Anakin, the third little baby, had filled him with wonder as he tickled the tiny ribs, watching an expression of amusement cross the infant’s face.
Han Solo, a father figure? Leia had said a long time ago that she liked “nice men”—and that was exactly what Han was turning into!
He caught Chewbacca looking at him out of the corner of his eye. Embarrassed, Han sat up straight and frowned down at the controls. “Where are we? Shouldn’t it be about time to end this jump?”
Chewie growled an affirmative, then reached out with a furry paw to grasp the hyperspace controls. The Wookiee watched the numbers tick away on his control panel; at the appropriate moment he hauled backward on the lever that dropped them back into normal space. The mottled coloring of hyperspace fanned into starlines with a roar that Han felt more than heard; then they were surrounded by the expected tapestry of stars.
Behind them the spectacle of the Maw looked like a garish finger painting as ionized gas plunged into multiple black holes. Directly in front of the Falcon, Han saw the blue-white glare of Kessel’s sun. As the ship rotated to align them with the ecliptic, Kessel itself came into view, potato-shaped and maned with the tendrils of escaping atmosphere, orbited by a large moon that had once housed a garrison of Imperial troopers.
“Right on target, Chewie,” Han said. “Now let me have the controls.”
Kessel looked like a wraith coasting along its orbit, too small to hold on to its own atmosphere. Huge generating factories constantly processed the raw rocks to release oxygen and carbon dioxide, making it possible for people to survive outside with simple breath masks instead of total environment suits. A good portion of the newly manufactured atmosphere escaped into space, wisping behind the small planet like the tail of a giant comet.
Chewbacca barked a short, nasal comment. Han nodded. “Yeah, it looks great from up here. Too bad it’s so different when you get a closer look. I never liked the place.”
Kessel was a major planet for spice production and seat of heavy smuggling activities, as well as the site for one of the toughest prisons in the galaxy. The Empire had controlled spice production except for what smugglers managed to steal from under Imperial noses. But with the fall of the Emperor, the smugglers and the prisoners in the Imperial Correction Facility took over the planet. Kessel had laid low during the depredations of Grand Admiral Thrawn and the recent resurrection of the Emperor, keeping quiet and trying hard not to be noticed, answering no one’s request for help.
A low growl rumbled in Chewie’s throat. Han sighed and shook his head, “Look, I’m not happy about going back there either, buddy. But things are different now, and we’re the best people to do it.”
With the civil war ended and the New Republic once again firmly seated on Coruscant, leaving scattered groups of Imperial warships to fight each other, it was time to reopen negotiations. Better to get them on our side than to let them sell out wherever they can, Han thought, which is what they’ll probably do anyway. As representative of the new unified smugglers, Luke’s old nemesis Mara Jade had tried to contact Kessel and been flatly rebuffed.
The Millennium Falcon approached Kessel, firing aft thrusters to help them catch up with the planet’s motion, preparing for insertion into orbit. On the helm’s scanner screens, Han checked their approach. “Vectoring in,” he said.
Chewie made a quick comment and pointed at the screens. Han looked down to see blips already in orbit around the planet, emerging from the blanketing clouds of the atmosphere. “I see ’em. Looks like about a half dozen ships. Too far away to determine the types.”
Han brushed aside Chewie’s uneasy growl. “Well, then we’ll just tell them who we are. Don’t worry. Why do you think Leia made such a fuss about getting us proper diplomatic ID signals and everything?”
He switched on the New Republic beacon that automatically pinged out their identification in Basic and several other languages. To his surprise, the orbiting ships changed their vector in unison and increased speed to intercept the Falcon.
“Hey!” Han shouted, then realized he had not switched on the audio pickup. Chewie roared. Han toggled the switch on. “This is Han Solo of the New Republic ship Millennium Falcon. We are on a diplomatic mission.” His mind raced, wondering what words a real diplomat would use. “Uh, please state your intentions.”
The two closest ships raced in, first growing into distinct points of light, then taking on shapes. “Chewie, I think you’d better get our forward deflector shields up. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
He reached for the communications switch as Chewbacca brought up the shields, but then he looked through the front viewport. The two incoming ships roared toward him at unbelievable speed, spreading out on either side. The sight of their squared-off solar panels and central pilot compartments turned Han’s blood to ice water.
TIE fighters.
“Chewie, get over here. I’m taking the laser cannon.”
Before the Wookiee could reply, Han hauled himself up the access tube into the gun well. He grabbed on to the gunner’s chair, trying to reorient himself in the new gravity field.
The TIE fighters came in for a two-pronged attack, spreading above and below the Falcon and firing their lasers. As the ship lurched from the impact, Han managed to throw himself into the gunner’s chair, grabbing for the harness buckle and strapping himself in. One of the attacking ships swooped overhead, and the Falcon’s sensor panels howled with the sound of Twin Ion Engines, from which the TIE fighter took its name. The enemy vessel fired again, but the beams streaked harmlessly through space.
“Chewie, take evasive action! Don’t just fly straight!”
The Wookiee shouted something from below, and Han yelled back. “I don’t know—you’re piloting, you figure it out!” Obviously Kessel had not rolled out the welcome mat for them. Had some vestige of the Empire taken over the planet? If so, Han needed to get that information back to Coruscant.
Other ships were approaching now, and somehow Han didn’t think they were coming to help. Up ahead, the two TIE fighters swooped up in a tight arc, executing a complete one-eighty and roaring back for a second attack on the Falcon.
But this time Han had managed to strap himself in and power up the laser batteries. On his scope the TIE fighter made a digitized target, growing larger. The enemy ship came closer and closer. Han tightened his grip around the firing levers, knowing the TIE pilot would be doing the same. He waited, feeling sweat build up on his neck. He realized he was holding his breath. One more second. One more second. The targeting cross showed dead center on the starboard wing of the fighter.
The instant Han pressed the firing button, Chewbacca threw the Falcon into an evasive roll. The laser blasts went wide, spraying toward the distant stars. The TIE fighter’s shot also missed, streaking in the opposite direction and coming perilously close to striking the second TIE fighter.
Dark Apprentice #2
1
The huge orange sphere of the gas planet Yavin heaved itself over the horizon of its fourth moon. Soft, misty light shone across the ever-stirring jungles and the ancient stone temples.
Luke Skywalker used a Jedi refreshing technique to remove weariness from his body. He had slept soundly—but the future of the New Republic and the fate of the galaxy weighed heavily upon him.
Luke stood atop the squared pyramid of the Great Temple that had been abandoned millennia before by the lost Massassi race. During the Alliance’s early struggles against the Empire, they had built a secret base in the ruins, from which they had launched their desperate attack against the first Death Star. Now, eleven years after the Rebels’ departure, Luke had returned to the fourth moon of Yavin.
Now he was a Jedi. A Jedi Master. He would be the first of a new generation, like those who had protected the Republic for a thousand generations. The old Jedi Knights had been respected and powerful, until Darth Vader and the Emperor had hunted and slaughtered virtually all of them.
Luke had received support from Mon Mothma, the New Republic’s Chief of State, to seek others who had a potential to use the Force—trainees who might become part of a new order of Jedi. Luke had managed to bring a dozen students to his “academy” on Yavin 4, but he felt uncertain about the best way to train them.
His own instruction by Obi-Wan and Yoda had been abbreviated, and Luke had since discovered facets of Jedi lore that made him realize just how much he still did not know. Even a great Jedi like Obi-Wan Kenobi had failed with his student and had let Anakin Skywalker become a monster named Darth Vader. Now Luke was expected to instruct others and make no mistakes.
Do or do not, Yoda had said, there is no try.
Luke stood on the smooth, cool stones of the rooftop and looked out across the awakening jungle, smelling the myriad sharp and sweet scents as the air warmed in the morning light. The spicy tang of blueleaf shrub and the perfume of lush orchids drifted up to him.
Luke closed his eyes and let his hands hang at his side, his fingers spread. He let his mind open and relax; he drew strength from the Force, touching ripples made by the life-forms crowding the jungles below. With heightened senses he could hear the rustle of millions of leaves, twigs scraping, small animals scurrying through the underbrush.
Letting out a yelp of pain and terror, a rodent thrashed and died as a predator crushed it in its jaws. Flying creatures sang mating songs to each other through the dense treetops. Large grazing mammals fed on leaves, tearing tender shoots from high branches or grubbing for fungi in the forest debris.
A wide warm river, sapphire-blue overlaid with muddy swirls of brown, flowed past the Great Temple, barely visible under the thick trees. The river bifurcated to send a tributary past the old Rebel power-generating station, which Luke and Artoo-Detoo had repaired during their preparation for the Jedi academy. Where the river sloshed around a submerged, half-rotted tree, Luke could sense a large aquatic predator lurking in the shadows, waiting for smaller fishlike creatures to swim by.
The plants grew. The animals flourished. The moon awakened to a new day. Yavin 4 was alive—and Luke Skywalker felt energized.
Listening intently, he heard two people approaching from far off in the dense foliage. They moved quietly, without speaking, but he could sense the change in the jungle as two of his Jedi candidates made a path through the undergrowth.
Luke’s introspective moment had ended. He smiled and decided to go down and meet them.
As he turned to go back into the echoing stone halls of the temple, Luke looked up at the sky to see the streaking trails of a shuttlecraft descending through the humid atmosphere. He realized with a start that they were due for another delivery of supplies.
Luke had been so focused on training new Jedi that he had lost touch with galactic politics. Upon seeing the shuttle, he felt a deep longing to know about Leia and Han and their children. He hoped the pilot would bring news.
He shrugged down the hood of his brown Jedi cloak. The garment was too warm for the jungle humidity, but Luke had stopped noticing minor physical discomfort. He had walked across fire on Eol Sha and gone to the spice mines of Kessel, and he could not be bothered by a little perspiration.
When the Rebels had first set up their hidden base in the Massassi temple, they had scoured the thick plant life from the chambers. Across the river stood another prominent temple, and according to orbital surveys, more structures lay buried under the implacable vegetation. But the Alliance had been far too wrapped up in its war against the Empire to bother with detailed archaeological inspections. The vanished race of temple builders remained as much a mystery now as when the Rebels had first set foot on Yavin 4.
The temple’s flagstoned corridors were uneven but remarkably unscathed after centuries of exposure to the elements. Luke took a turbolift from the pinnacle down to the third level, where other students slept or meditated in the early morning. As he stepped out of the turbolift, Artoo-Detoo puttered out to greet him. The droid’s wheels hummed along the bumpy flagstones, and his hemispherical head rotated back and forth, chittering at Luke.
“Yes, Artoo, I saw the shuttle coming down. Would you go down to the clearing to meet it for me? Gantoris and Streen are returning from their sojourn in the jungle. I want to greet them and learn what they’ve found.”
Artoo acknowledged with a bleep and trundled over to a stone ramp. Luke continued through the cool confines of the temple, smelling the mustiness of the enclosed air, the powdery tang of crumbling stones. Along the halls, some of the old Alliance banners still hung outside empty quarters.
Luke’s Jedi academy was by no means luxurious; in fact, it was barely even comfortable. But he and his students had concerns that absorbed their energy far more than simple conveniences. Luke had not repaired all of the damage caused by time, but he had refurbished the glowpanels, water systems, and food-prep facilities the Alliance had installed.
When he reached the ground level of the temple, the partially raised hangar-bay doors stood like the dark slit of a mouth. Luke sensed echoes of the past inside the hangar bay, a faint residue of starfighter fuel and coolant, clinging dust and grease in the corners. He stepped outside to the jungle, blinking in the washed-and-faded sunlight as evaporating mists rose from the damp undergrowth.
Luke’s timing was perfect. As he walked through the lush foliage, he heard his two Jedi trainees approach.
As an exercise in resourcefulness and as an opportunity for uninterrupted concentration, Luke sent his students in pairs into the wilderness. Alone, with no other abilities but their own, they worked on powers of concentration, sensing and studying other life-forms, touching the Force.
Luke raised his hand in greeting as the two stepped through feather ferns and thick blueleaf shrubs. Tall, dark Gantoris parted heavy branches and came forward to meet Luke. His high forehead had been shaven clean of eyebrows; his skin looked chapped and weathered. Though Gantoris had calmly lived among geysers and lava flows on Eol Sha, he seemed startled to see the Jedi Master; but he covered his reaction instantly.
On his hellish world, Gantoris had used an innate talent with the Force to keep a small group of forgotten colonists alive. Gantoris had had nightmares of a terrible “dark man” who would tempt him with power and then destroy him. At first he had thought Luke was that man—Luke, who appeared in his dark Jedi robe, striding through a geyser field to ask Gantoris to come to his academy. Gantoris had tested Luke by making him walk across lava and climb through geysers.
Behind Gantoris came Streen, the second candidate Luke had found in his Jedi search. Streen had lived as a gas prospector in an abandoned floating city on the planet Bespin. Streen had been able to predict eruptions of valuable gases from deep within the cloud layers. Luke had tempted him with the ability to shut off the clamoring voices Streen heard in his head whenever he went to populated areas.
As the trainees bowed, Luke clasped their hands. “Welcome back. Tell me what you’ve learned.”
“We found another Massassi temple!” Streen said breathlessly, looking back and forth. His wispy pale hair was tangled, matted with flecks of vegetation.
“Yes,” Gantoris said. The man’s ruddy face and his braided dark hair were smudged with sweat and dirt. “The new temple isn’t as large as this one, but it seems more potent somehow. It’s made of obsidian, sitting out in the middle of a shallow glassy lake, with a tall statue of a great lord.”
“A site of great power!” Streen said.
“I felt the power too,” Gantoris added. He straightened, tossing his thick braid behind him. “We should learn all we can about the Massassi race. They seem to have been very powerful, but they vanished entirely. What happened to them? Is there something we need to fear?”
Luke nodded gravely. He, too, had sensed the power in the temples. The first time he had come to Yavin 4, Luke had been little more than a boy thrust headfirst into the Rebellion against the Empire. He had barely realized the extent of the Force; in fact, he had learned of its existence only days before.
But he returned to the jungle moon a Jedi Master, and he could sense many things that had been hidden to him before. He knew the dark power that Gantoris had detected, and although he told his students they must share what they learned, Luke felt that certain knowledge could be deadly.
Champions of the Force #3
1
The Sun Crusher plunged into the Caridan system like an assassin’s knife into an unsuspecting heart.
Old beyond his years, Kyp Durron sat hunched over the controls with dark eyes blazing, intent on his new target. With the might of the superweapon—as well as powerful techniques his spectral mentor Exar Kun had taught him—Kyp would extinguish all threats against the New Republic.
Only days before, he had annihilated Admiral Daala and her two Star Destroyers in the Cauldron Nebula. On the fringes of the explosion, he had dropped off one of the Sun Crusher’s coffin-sized message pods so that the galaxy would know who was responsible for the victory.
As his next target, Kyp would challenge the Imperial military training center on Carida.
The military planet was a largish world with high gravity to toughen the muscles of potential stormtroopers. Its untamed land masses provided an appropriate range of training environments: arctic wastelands, trackless rain forests, splintered mountain crags, and searing desert hardpan crawling with venomous multilegged reptiles.
Carida seemed the opposite of Kyp’s peaceful homeworld of Deyer, where he and his family had lived in raft colonies on the calm terraformed lakes—but that peace had been shattered years ago when Kyp’s parents had chosen to protest the destruction of Alderaan. Stormtroopers had crushed the colony, whisking Kyp and his parents to the spice mines of Kessel while conscripting his 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 own conscience. Shadows rimmed his eyes. He did not expect to find his brother still alive after so many years—but he intended to learn the truth.
And if Zeth was not there, Kyp had enough power to destroy the whole Caridan solar system.
A week ago he had left Luke Skywalker for dead atop the Great Temple on Yavin 4. He had stolen design parameters of the Sun Crusher from the mind of its naive creator, Qwi Xux. And he had blown up five stars to incinerate Admiral Daala and her two Star Destroyers. At the last moment Daala had tried to flee the exploding stars, but to no avail. The shock waves had been intense enough to blank the Sun Crusher’s viewscreens even as fire overtook Daala’s flagship, the Gorgon.
Since that awesome victory Kyp’s obsession had gained momentum, and he had 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 anything stupid. He broadcast on a wide range of frequencies.
“Caridan military academy,” he said, trying to deepen his voice. “This is the pilot of the Sun Crusher.” His mind searched for the name of the ambassadorial buffoon who had caused a diplomatic incident on Coruscant by tossing his drink in Mon Mothma’s face. “I wish to speak to … Ambassador Furgan to discuss the terms of your surrender.”
The planet below made no response. Kyp stared at the comm system, waiting for noise to burst from the speaker.
His alarm consoles flashed as the Caridans attempted to lock on to the Sun Crusher with a tractor beam, but Kyp worked the controls with Jedi-enhanced speed, oscillating his orbit at random so they could never get a positive lock.
“I am not here to play games.” Kyp’s hand bunched into a fist and slammed down on the comm unit. “Carida, if you do not answer within the next fifteen seconds, I’ll fire a torpedo into the heart of your sun. I think you’re familiar with the capabilities of this weapon. Do you understand?”
He began counting out loud. “One … two … three … four …” He got up to eleven before a brusque voice came through the comm system.
“Intruder, we are transmitting a set of landing coordinates. Follow them precisely or you will be destroyed. Relinquish control of your ship to the stormtroopers immediately upon landing.”
“You don’t seem to understand what’s going on here,” Kyp said before he bothered to stop laughing. “Let me talk to Ambassador Furgan now or your planetary system is going to be the galaxy’s newest bright spot. I’ve already blown up a nebula to wipe out a pair of Imperial battle cruisers—don’t you think I’d destroy one minor star to get rid of a planet full of stormtroopers? Get Furgan, and give me a visual.”
The holo panel flickered, and the wide, flat face of Furgan appeared, shoving aside the comm officer. Kyp recognized the ambassador by his heavy eyebrows and fat purplish lips.
“Why have you come here, Rebel?” Furgan said. “You are in no position to make demands.”
Kyp rolled his eyes, losing patience already. “Listen to me, Furgan. I want to find out what happened to my 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 does not 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 your position 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 the color of fresh bruises. “Check that boy’s words, Lieutenant Dauren. I want to know the capabilities of that weapon.”
A stormtrooper lieutenant marched in with a precise military stride that sent shivers of admiration down Furgan’s spine. “Report,” he said to the captain.
The helmet speaker amplified the stormtrooper’s voice. “Colonel Ardax announces that his assault team is ready to depart for the planet Anoth,” he said. “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. “It seems an extravagant effort to kidnap a baby and overcome a single woman who’s watching him—but this is a Jedi baby, and I will not underestimate the defenses the Rebels may have emplaced. Tell Colonel Ardax to prepare his team for immediate departure. I have a minor irritation that needs to be dealt with here—and then we can go fetch a young, malleable replacement for the Emperor.”
The stormtrooper saluted, whirled on one polished boot, and exited through the chamber doors.
“Ambassador,” the comm officer said, scanning readouts, “we know from our spy network that the Rebels had a stolen Imperial weapon called the Sun Crusher, which can supposedly trigger the explosion of a star. And there was a mysterious multiple supernova in the Cauldron Nebula less than a week ago—just as the intruder claims.”
Furgan felt a thrill of anticipation as his suspicions were confirmed. If he could get his hands on the Sun Crusher and the Jedi baby, he would have more power at his disposal than any of the squabbling warlords in the Core Systems! 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 his brother,” Furgan said, “we shall mount a full-fledged assault to cripple his craft. We can’t let such an opportunity escape us.”
Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. My major new release for 2019 is SPINE OF THE DRAGON, the start of a huge and complicated epic fantasy trilogy. I also love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.
I have written more than 165 books, including 56 national or international bestsellers. I have over 23 million books in print worldwide in thirty languages. I've been nominated for the Nebula Award, Hugo Award, Bram Stoker Award, Shamus Award, and Silver Falchion Award, and I've won the SFX Readers' Choice Award, Golden Duck Award, Scribe Award, and New York Times Notable Book; in 2012 at San Diego Comic Con I received the Faust Grand Master Award for Lifetime Achievement.
I have written numerous bestselling and critically acclaimed novels in the Dune universe with Brian Herbert--the latest ones are TALES OF DUNE and NAVIGATORS OF DUNE--as well as Star Wars and X-Files novels. In my original work, I am best known for my Saga of Seven Suns series, the Terra Incognita trilogy, the Dan Shamble, Zombie PI series, and Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives with Neil Peart. Along with my wife Rebecca Moesta, I am also the publisher of WordFire Press.
Jedi Search #1
Dark Apprentice #2
Champions of the Force #3
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