Sean Williams & Shane Dix 2003 – Del Rey 28 years after The Battle of Yavin Site Rating =  Buy Now From Amazon.Com

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

Tahiri is in the midst of a mental battle between her real self and Riina Kwaad.

While waiting to be contacted by a Ryn, Han gets into a brief struggle over a sabacc game.  Afterwards, he contacts Leia gives her the news that he didn’t come up with any information.

Inside the unknown regions, Luke, Mara, along with their companions, are having difficulty making the final jump to in their search for Zonama Sekot as they are continually pulled from hyperspace.

Jagged Fel is taking his shift at Tahiri’s side when he is interrupted by a communication between Leia, Han, and Jaina.  Jaina says something is definitely strange about the search for the Ryn.   A large brawl engulfs the area, and Jaina tells them she’ll head to the nearest ship for safety.

Jacen is expressing his concern about not being able to contact Mon Calamari for sometime.  Each Jedi on board to begins to feel a huge concentration of life force splitting through them.  Jacen and Saba are convinced it’s Zonama Sekot, but the others aren’t as sure.  They decide to Force meld their minds so Mara can more easily follow this disturbance.  They finally end their hyperspace jump and are greeted by the sight of Zonama Sekot.  To their dismay they realize that it is under attack by the Yuuzhan Vong, but it isn’t going down without a fight!  As they watch the battle, the planet finally notices them and they are slammed by a wall of energy.

Han and Leia begin to wonder whether the Ryn that Goure sent them looking for is ever going to show up.  There is a banging underneath the Falcon.  Han goes to check it out and lets the alien on board!

On Yuuzhan’tar, Nom Anor’s plans are progressing better than expected.  He learns from his spy that the legendary Zonama Sekot has been found!  Shimrra has put a death sentence on any suspected heretics, which means all of Anor’s rivals will eventually be killed, clearing the way for his continued rise to power.

Luke comes to and realizes that many are still unconscious.  When he finds Mara at the controls she tells him that Jacen was the first awake and he received coordinates from someone on the surface on where to land on the planet.  She plays back a recording of the battle and they watch as the planet and its ships destroy all the Vong attackers.  They safely land and Luke and Mara exit to meet with two individuals that come to greet them.  They learned that the visitors, known as Ferroans, are not pleased to see them as they are the first ship allowed to land in fifty years!  They also learn that Sekot is the planet’s mind and Zonama is the planet itself.  Another woman approaches and greets them more warmly as the Magister.  Luke tells her that they witness their battle with the Vong, or as they call them the far outsiders.  The Magister, whose name is Jabitha, is surprised that Luke knows that term, but he tell her it was learned from Vergere.  Jabitha remembers her.  She wishes is to talk to Jason about his experiences with Vergere.  Luke hopes that they can talk about the Vong and the magister expresses her deep concern about their appearance again as she had hoped to continue to live in peace as they have for many years.  As they prepare to go elsewhere to talk, Mara looks back and realizes that the planet has enveloped the Jade Shadow, and it is no longer fit to fly.

Jaina makes it back to the ship safely just before the mob gets to her. Jag greets her warmly and they here from the Falcon that they did pick up a Ryn, but not the one they were expecting.  It was their old friend Droma!

Han asks Droma if he can contact the Ryn network.  Commonly a sweet aroma amounts, whether he can contact the Ryn network they’re looking for Erie.  He says he may be able to be of some assistance and figures they are on their way to Esfandia.  Han wonders why and he tells them that Esfandia is the only remaining communications station on the outer rim that can reach the unknown regions as the Yuuzhan Vong had already destroyed the other one.

Jaina sits by Tahiri’s side, and although she looks from the outside as if her medical condition is stable, Jaina believes there is still an ongoing mental battle that is getting worse by the moment.  She tries to meld with Tahiri to give her that little extra strength and help her recover.

Tahiri is indeed literally battling with Riina.  The two sides can here Jaina’s voice in the wind and Riina runs away with Tahiri following.

Han and Leia along with Twin Suns reach Esfandia and find it is under Yuuzhan Vong attack.  An Imperial fleet jumps into the area as well and Pellaeon tells them that they’ve been chasing this batch of Vong out of the Imperial space.  They decide to join forces to stop them.

Han takes the Falcon closer to the surface where they encounter a large object on their screen, but it disappears before they get a look at it.  The intercept some sort of digital signal, but they also run into a few squadrons of Vong dipping into the fog.

On Zonama, the visitors along with their welcoming committee arrive at a village where they are left to make themselves at home for the time being.  Jason encounters a young girl and the two talk, but she’s scared of this lightsaber.  She tells him that she’d seen lightsabers used in bad ways when Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi visited the planet.

At Esfandia, Pellaeon orders Jag to take his wing mates and destroy the yammosk.  Perturbed at this new mission, which seems nearly impossible, Jag decides to think like Jaina and comes up with a radical plan.

Jaina is still trying to help Tahiri, but the mind meld becoming so overwhelming that she attempts to break free but is unable to.

Luke is stunned by the news that his father had once murdered someone on this planet.  Thoughts are swirling in his head as they go to meet the Jabitha.  She points out that they’ve had to defend themselves three times in their history and all three times Jedi were in the vicinity.  Luke recounts the history of the current Vong invasion.  Jabitha recounts that while they were able to hold off the Vong the planet had received severe damage.  They’ve been attacked twice by Vong and once by a group lead by a man named Tarkin.

Tahiri and Riina continue their physical and mental battle and Tahiri cuts Riina’s hand, but the pain is also hers.

3PO translates the digital signal as it is actually series of conversations from the beings living in the planet.  He is able to communicate with them, but they say they will not tell them where the communications signal is because they murdered their friends!  It seems that the large object they had encountered was actually many small living creatures and the Falcon’s engines had killed them.

Jag uses a fancy, seemingly suicide maneuver, but it pays off and the Twin Suns and the Imperials begin to gain the upper hand.

The aliens, known as Brrbrlpp, had surrounded the Falcon and thus they were not able to start the engines without killing them.  They devise a plan that will draw all the Vong ships to their location so as to present a nice big target for the Alliance and Imperial capital ships while the Falcon and the aliens nearby are safely hidden under the Falcon’s shields.

During the night, Saba and a few others are attack by several Ferroans in masks.  One brandishes a weapon with a crystal that can blast lightening, but Saba is able to fend them off and they go back to find the others.  They find Luke, Mara, and Jason arguing with some other Ferroans as they had also been attacked.  Danni Quee has been kidnapped and Jacen and Saba going after her.

After Jag finishes off several ships using a decoy ship as a weapon, he receives a word of congratulations from Pellaeon for being able to surprise even him with that feat.  His happiness is short lived as he hears from his own capital ship that Jaina is in a coma and they’ve also lost contact with the Falcon.

Jacen and Saba track the kidnappers to a clearing.  While the kidnappers think about fighting, Jacen assures them that they will probably die trying and instead he suggests that they take he and Saba with them back to their camp so they can talk about this with those in charge.  Reluctantly, the group agrees.

Inside Tahiri’s mind, Jaina finally realizes that Tahiri and Riina are one and if one dies, both die.

Things are getting tense for the Falcon as the bombardment continues to hit very near them.  The Brrbrlpp take them to their underground lair where they hope to be safe for the duration of the battle.  They look on in surprise as a large pit opens in front of them and swallows the ship!

Tahiri and Riina talk about what they should do since they both realize that one cannot exist without the other.  Tahiri senses that Jaina is searching for her and Riina convinces her to join forces and face the next step together truly as one.

Luke and Mara convinced the others to wake the Magister to see if she can help them, but they return with bad news.  Kidnapping Danni may have been a ploy as the magister has disappeared as well!

The group finally reaches the kidnappers’ village where they learn that the Magister has also been kidnapped.  The leader, Senshi, say she’s been taken because she allowed the outsiders to land, and he says she must have forgotten how terrible it was the last time that happened.  Jacen scolds him saying that if the Vong destroy the rest of the galaxy no one will be around to help them when the time comes.  He says, however, he doesn’t need to convince them, but rather he wishes to convince Sekot.

With Jaina watch, Tahiri and Riina join hands and their bodies literally begin to melt into one another, joining their minds and their beliefs into one form.

Despite the temporary bout of terror, Han and Leia realize that the thing swallowing them it is actually the relay base they’d been looking for. Ashpidar, the base commander, apologizes for taking so long to reach them.

The space battle is at a lull as the Vong regroup after Jag’s attack.  Pellaeon discuss their next move.  He also tells them that a Vong vessel has also landed on the surface is probably looking for the same thing as the Falcon.

Jason is awoken by the sounds of Senshi and Jabitha arguing.  Jason reminds them that if they do not help the Galactic Alliance, the far outsiders will eventually destroy them as well.  Senshi tells him that the Jedi are free to leave or they can continue on, but the Magister must be blindfolded as they take her to a new location.

As he waits by the bedside, Jag is jolted as both Jaina and Tahiri wake up.  While Jaina appears to be okay, Tahiri has definitely changed, but the effects cannot yet be determined.

Having not received any news on the search, Luke does hear from Yage in orbit and she tells him that they’ve detected something on one of the nearby moons.  The Ferroans say they will investigate it themselves and the Yage should stand down.

While being given a tour in the relay base, the Ashpidar reveals that they discovered a villip, and therefore must have a Vong spy in their midst.  They are all a bit suspicious of the base head of Security named Eniknar.  Han sends them a message letting them know that they’ll be having some Vong company very soon.  Both Droma and Leia are uneasy about the situation, Leia has a plan.  She communicates the plan with Pellaeon, and he hopes to create a diversion that will force the Vong ground troops to hurry their search and return to more pressing matters.  Tahiri thinks she can help them.  Using the villip, she’s able to talk directly to the Vong commander and convinces him the she is a traitor among the infidels and will allow herself to be sacrificed if he follows her instructions.

Tahiri and Leia head out on speeder bikes and encounter Han and Droma.  They find a transponder and load the area with mines.  Tahiri then contacts the Vong and sends them coordinates right into the trap.

The kidnappers along with Jacen and Saba reach forbidding area full of boras plants.  The plants are touched by evil and have a tendency to become violent to those around them.  Senshi prepares to throw Jabitha to her death.

The Ferroans tell Luke that they found nothing on the moon, but Luke does not believe them and sends Yage to investigate.  The tie fighters do uncover a coralskipper making a break for it.  The Ferroans say the Sekot will determine its fate.  Luke tells them that Sekot should not destroy the ship for fear of the consequences it may bring.

At loss for how to handle the situation Jacen goes deep into the Force.  Not wanting to use violence, he reaches into the boras plants until he finds the angry spirits and convinces them they are friends.  After this feat was accomplished, Vergere appears next to Jacen.  The Vergere he sees is actually Sekot.  Jacen now understands that this entire episode was a test for him to see how he would react in this situation.  Sekot responds that he took the middle ground so both sides could be fortunate in the outcome.  Jason believes there should be a way to end the conflict without fighting although he admits he has yet to find that solution.

Pellaeon orders an all out assault on the Vong force that is heading and towards Tahiri’s signal.  After dealing with a Vong craft that had crashed, the group notices that Eniknar is no longer with them and they believe that he may be the traitor.  Tahiri attempts to blow up the tower, but the detonator is not working.  Tahiri and Jag go back to do the job themselves.  Just as Jag is typing in the final keystroke two Vong warriors destroys the device.  A badly injured Eniknar returns and tells them that there is an override but there will be no delay to the explosion.  He’s says that he will do since he is already in bad shape.  Despite Jag’s feelings that Eniknar could be a spy, Tahiri trusts him and says to let him do it.  As they ride away, Tahiri sends out a Vong blessing on Eniknar as the transponder explodes.

Fearing something has happens to the base commander, Leia gains access to his office only to find that he’s been tortured and the villip stolen.  She chases the traitor who turns out to be a Peace Brigade member.  Just as he is about to escape, Jaina appears and forces him back into the airlock he escaped from.

Sekot tells Jacen that she’s tried both fighting and fleeing, and now has another choice to make.  Sekot says that’s her living ships and weapons have many similarities with the Yuuzhan Vong, and very few of their weaknesses.  She asks them if she was to provide herself as a weapon against the Vong would he accept or not.

The same offer is made to Luke who accepts the offer, while Danni and Saba watch stunned as Jacen rejects it.  Sekot accepts Luke’s proposal and will indeed assist in the defense against the Yuuzhan Vong as well as provide ships for the fight.  She explains that for the good of all species.  It’s time for them to stop running and begin to look for a way for eventual peace.  Sekot also tells them that one Vong ship did in fact escape and is probably reporting their location as they speak.

As Pellaeon watches the transponder explode with satisfaction, a plethora of ships appear from hyperspace and began attacking the remaining Vong ships.  The Vong Commander, rather than be killed, blows up his ship’s drives kills himself in a gigantic explosion.  Captain Yage asks Pellaeon who the mysterious group was that showed up to help them.  He says he isn’t entirely sure but they call themselves the Ryn Network.  Later, Han learns that Tahiri helped Droma escape and the he is in fact the Network’s leader!

Ngaaluh gives Shimrra a further list of heretics that reach to all levels in the Vong society.  Shimrra is skeptical of her information and wants to interrogate her sources himself.  Knowing this cannot be happen, Ngaaluh commits suicide and is tossed into a pit.  Nom watched the incident through a villip and wonders if his fate will end the same way.

On Esfandia, Leia contacts Cal Omas and tells him of their successful mission.  He asks her to return to Mon Calamari as Vong ships have been seen in the area.  She then contacts Luke who tells her that Sekot will be jumping to Alliance space very soon.

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