Elaine Cunningham 2002 – Del Rey 27 years after The Battle of Yavin Site Rating =  Buy Now From Amazon.Com

SPOILER ALERT: This Will Spoil The Plot of the Book!

Orbiting the planet Myrkr, Harrar, a Yuuzhan Vong priest, and Khalee Lah, Tsavong Lah’s son, look over the battle.  The battle is not going as well as Nom Anor has been reporting to them.  Anor tells them of the death of the Voxyn Queen and her spawn at the hands of several Jedi who are fleeing the planet and the approaching ship.  He reports that Jason Solo has been captured, Anakin Solo has been killed, and Jaina Solo is flying the stolen ship.

Jaina Solo is in a waking nightmare.  The Yuuzhan Vong ships are not trying to kill her, but instead they want to capture her.  With Jaina at the controls of the stolen Vong ship, the surviving Jedi discuss where to make their hyperspace jump as Lowbacca tries to figure out how to actually make it happen.  They jump to Coruscant and right into the battle that is overwhelming the planet.  Knowing they can’t fire on New Republic ships or Yuuzhan Vong ships because they will be destroyed, Jaina reaches out and realizes that the planet has been lost.

Han and Leia are fighting alongside Kyp Durron in the battle over Coruscant.  Leia senses Jaina’s cry for help and, using a battle tactic that Han had taught her, they realize that Jaina is flying the Vong ship. Leia tells the other New Republic ships the avoid destroying Jaina’s frigate, and allows her to jump away from the scene.

Baron Fel reprimands Colonel Jagged Fell for his recklessness in helping the New Republic and losing several Chiss ships in these worthless battles.  Baron tells him once a weakness for the Vong has been discovered the Chiss will join the battle in full force. Or the general tells them that once he is learned how to destroy the use Hong Kong.  Then they will go ahead and grant him more time and more men to go to battle.  He also informs them about the death of Anakin Solo and Coruscant’s fall.  Jagged is concerned about Jaina’s well being.  The baron sends his son off to learn more about the threat, and does not expect his son to survive.

The Millennium Falcon is in need of repairs…again.  The Solos decide to take the ship to Hapes as perhaps that may be where Jaina ended up.  Jedi Tenel Ka is from Hapes and is with Jaina so the choice seems logical.

Ta’a Chume, the former Queen of Hapes, explains that she is displeased with her son Isolder’s choice for a wife and hopes that she will be able to find him a new wife that is more suitable for her to mold into an appropriate Queen Mother.

After the use Hong Kong for it comes out of hyperspace they’re attacked by several Hapan ships and a motley crew of other ships that have been put together to attack any on comers.  Although they tried to destroy any ships, one is damaged and the salvage its radio and make contact with the planet.  The former Queen herself instructs Jaina to land and come immediately to the palace.

Jaina and Lowbacca discuss whether Lowbacca could have similar results with the yammosk that Danni Quee was able to have.  The villip on the ship awakens and Tsavong Lah, thinking he is speaking to Nom Anor, asks about the mission status.  Lah realizes he is speaking to Jaina and mocks her.  Hoping to hatch a plan of their own, Jaina agrees to surrender and meet Jacen in a duel as willed by the Vong gods.  Harrar contacts her and says they have control of her ship.  The other Jedi are skeptical of this plan, but Jaina tells them Lowbacca has figured out a way to block their ship’s signal back to the Vong.

The other Jedi feel through the Force that Jacen has been killed.  Jaina, however, does not sense this.  As they head to the surface, Kyp and Jag are also there.

When Jaina finally meets up with her parents again, she tries to explain away that Jacen is dead.  Jaina meets with Chume and invites her to attend a diplomatic meeting that evening and wants to get her all dressed up.

Chume encourages Jaina to keep an open mind about her prospects for the future and Jaina decides to play along in hopes of being able to get ships and fuel she’ll need for her journey.

During the ceremony Tenel Ka watches as a strange old woman with a large basket heads towards the front stage.  Just as Isolder, Tenel Ka’s father, makes his entrance the old woman pulls a blaster from the basket and attempt to assassinate him, Tenel Ka throws a tile file from the roof of the building she is waiting on and it strikes the assassin’s hand.  The assassin turns out to be a relative of the royal family.

Isolder tells his daughter that he has been doing much research on the Vong over the last year.  She tells him of Jacen’s supposed death and what’ll happen with Jaina if she’s captured.  Tenel is worried about Jaina’s path by inciting the Vong.  Isolder wants her to stay on Hapes, but she tells him she is a warrior not a ruler, but does point out that her grandmother has been paying too much attention to Jaina.  She worries that Jaina does not know the real story.

After flirting across the dining table, Jaina and Jag Fel share a moment together.  Despite the temporary happy moment for Jaina they are interrupted by the former Queen, who wishes to speak with her.  She explains to Jaina that Isoldar’s current wife, Teneniel Djo, is not in good health and is unable to lead them properly and she wishes he would divorce her and find a new wife.  Jaina says she doesn’t think that Leia is interested and returns to find Jag.  Instead she finds Kyp waiting to take her to Anakin’s funeral.  He takes her to the gathering where Anakin’s funeral pyre is waiting along with many of her friends and family.  After Tahiri and others, including Kyp step forward and offer words about Anakin, Luke lights the fire.

Lowbacca has changed the villip to the point where it will reflect Jaina’s face when communicating.  She then goes back to meet with Ta’a Chume.  After a brief etiquette lesson from a young man, she decides to bring up the matter of various pirates that have been brought to Hapes with them.  Jaina asks if she can meet the refugees because she wants to see if they have any implants that are similar to the ones that they’ve seen on slaves in other parts of the galaxy.  She wants to see if she can modify them for good instead of Vong purposes.  Jaina wants to use the scientists at Gallinore to help her learn the answers.  When considering who to take along with her on this mission that may be dangerous and probably not sanctioned, her only choice is Kyp Durron.

After a Jaina and Kyp have left for their mission, Jag heads to the refugee camp and encounters Han Solo in the midst of a huge fight.  Eventually after the brawl subsides Han is unconscious and bleeding on the ground.  Leia approaches them and uses the force to help him recover.  A medical droid comes to take the still unconscious Han into the medical bay.  Leia wonders aloud if this was an assassination attempt to remove Han so she can marry Isolder and become the queen.  Fearing for their safety, Leia decides to Han back to Luke and tells Jag that when he is contact with Jaina that they’ve gone to see Luke and she trusts her to find her way back.

Jaina, Tenel Ka, Lowbacca, and Kyp arrive on Gallinore and are greeted warmly because of their letter of recommendation from Chume.  They immediately began looking through the information they happen to see if something will be useful.

They meet with one of the head scientists and he takes some samples that they brought with them.  He discovers some interesting things and eventually they are able to alter them.  Before they leave the planet, Jaina also begins to tap into new areas of the Force, similar to what Anakin had learned on Yavin.

Jaina and Lowbacca take some of the new samples back in hopes that they will be able to implant these new hybrids into other Vong ships.  Kyp is the perfect pilot to go head-to-head with Yuuzhan Vong ships.

When Jaina returns to Hapes, Jag tells her what is been going on since she left.  Jaina wants to talk to the Queen Mother about the incident with Han, but Jag tells her that she may want to wait on that.  After telling Jaina that he doesn’t trust Chume, he notices that Tenel Ka overheard the conversation.  Afterwards, Jag and Tenel Ka talk and she tells him that she doesn’t particularly trust the former Queen Mother anymore than he does.  She leads him to a darkened empty room where her mother, Teneniel Djo, sits staring out the window.  She talks to the current Queen Mother who does not ever respond to her daughter.  Afterwards, she tells Jag that Chume is not after Leia, she wants Jaina to be Queen.

Harrar and Khalee Lah are able to isolate where they believe Anor’s stolen ship has been taken and they summon many ships to help in its return.  The ship is by itself with just one small escort, and that disappoints them as they were hoping for a larger battle.

Jaina and Kyp engage the Vong ships and are able to implant the hybrid seeds into one of them.

As Harrar and Khalee Lah open the captured ship, they quickly realized that it is not the ship they were looking for.  It was a decoy.

After returning from hyperspace, Jaina and Kyp are again followed by a Vong fleet.  Jag and his ships engage the coralskippers as they arrive.  They shoot implants into the coralskippers, and Lowbacca activates a signal that causes the skips to turn around and go the other direction.  With the skips in confusion they began crashing into each other.  Harrar and Lah look on dismayed and make a decision that will probably end Harrar’s career – they retreat.

Everyone is thrilled once they land.  Jag says Jaina should consider being a commander with the attack she just pulled off.  After they return Chume reveals her plan to have Jaina take the throne.  Jaina of course thinks the idea is ludicrous.  After unsuccessfully trying to find Jag, she decides to meditate.  She has a vision of having to face her brother Jacen in battle, but this time she kills him.  Kyp awakens her from the trance.  The two of them discuss the lines they are each willing to cross for the greater good.  Jaina realizes she can sense were Jag is and that he may be in some trouble.  She finds it strange, but then realizes that the connection she’s grown with him went unnoticed until now.

It seems that Jag was imprisoned for becoming too friendly with the future Hapen Queen.  Jag recounts his troubles and says that it’s most likely Teneniel Djo who is the intended target for the former Queen Mother.  They rush to her room but a too late as Tenel Ka kneels by her mother’s poisoned body.  Almost immediately the attack alarm goes off.  Tenel Ka rises and then tells Jag that she is placing all of the Navy’s fleet under his command.  Jaina realizes that Tenel Ka is actually going to be the next Queen Mother herself.  As they run towards their ships Kyp tells Jag that Jaina would only consider marrying someone who can out fly her.  Jag tells Kyp to take care of Jaina and he agrees.  Kyp runs to try to convince Jaina not to think about sacrificing herself in the Vong ship.  She greets him with a blast of force lightning (which he is able to control) and tricks him off the ship and takes off.

Using the villip Jaina communicates with Tsavong and Khalee Lah and taunts them with the mark of the Trickster goddess she has on her forehead. As the battle begins, Jaina slips deep into the Dark Side and begins taking over total control of the ship.  When the ship is hit by a plasma bolt Jaina feels the pain in her own arms.  She again has the vision of fighting Jacen, but his time she realizes it is Kyp. Jaina realizes all the pain that Kyp has felt from his time spent on the Dark Side.  She realizes it’s quite ironic that Kyp is the one to try to bring her back, but that neither of them will know the true nature of the Force for that path is for someone else.  Kyp comes to her aid in battle, but his ship is destroyed.  She picks up Kyp and returns to the surface, leaving Jag and his crew to successfully defend the planet from the Vong attackers.

Former Queen Mother is under arrest for the death of Teneniel Djo.  After leaving a ranting former Queen, Jaina meets with Tenel Ka and the two share a moment before parting ways.  Jaina knows she has a long way back from the person that she’s become to what she needs to be.  As Jaina and Kyp fly back to meet Luke, Jaina says that she’s probably finished with Rogue Squadron for the time being.  Kyp says he wants to work to establish a new Jedi Council to help bring the Jedi together.  She also agrees to be his apprentice.

Khalee Lah asks Harrar to kill him for his failure.  Lah takes a bomb back to his ship and commits suicide, but Harrar reports that he was killed in battle.  Tsavong Lah wants him to continue the search for Jaina, but Harrah begins to wonder or not Jacen has survived after all.

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