Star Wars: The Jedi Academy Trilogy III: Champions of the Force Read online

  FALLEN HERO

  On a bier at the end of the room lay Luke Skywalker—like a body stretched out for a funeral.

  Leia’s heart thumped with dread. She wanted to turn around and leave so she wouldn’t have to look at him—but Leia found her feet carrying her forward. She walked with a rapid step that became a run before she reached the end of the promenade. Han came carrying the twins, one in each arm. His eyes were red as he fought to keep tears from flowing. Leia already felt a wetness on her cheeks.

  Luke lay in repose, swathed in his Jedi robe. His hair had been combed; his hands were folded across his chest. His skin looked gray and plasticlike.

  “Oh, Luke,” Leia whispered.

  She reached out to touch him. Using her abilities with the Force, she tried to reach deeper, to brush against his life force—but she felt only a cold hole, an emptiness, as if Luke himself had been taken away.

  Not dead.

  He could not be dead.…

  CHAMPIONS OF THE FORCE

  A Bantam Spectra Book / October 1994

  All rights reserved.

  SPECTRA and the portrayal of a boxed “s” are trademarks of Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

  ®, TM and © 1994 by Lucasfilm Ltd.

  All rights reserved. Used under authorization.

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  For information address: Bantam Books.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-79613-4

  Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada.

  v3.1

  Dedication

  To my stepson and

  “research buddy”

  JONATHAN MACGREGOR COWAN,

  who helped me see

  “a galaxy far, far away” through

  a child’s sense of wonder

  Acknowledgments

  Much of this novel was written at the Montecito Sequoia Lodge in the redwood forests of California. Lillie Mitchell, my typist, somehow kept up with all the microcassettes I dumped on her and egged me to greater speed by asking “What happens next?” My wife, Rebecca Moesta Anderson, provided brainstorming and late-night walks to help iron out plot problems, as well as giving her personal support and love. Tom Veitch helped me work out the background of Exar Kun and the Dark Lords of the Sith, which we’ve written into a twelve-issue saga for Dark Horse Comics. My editor, Tom Dupree, trusted me to deliver everything on time and in good shape (and he even enjoyed the story!); his assistant, Heather McConnell, kept a million things under control at 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 Wars stories possible, and her assistant, Sue Rostoni, managed to keep the different projects from crashing headlong into each other. In our many discussions Ralph McQuarrie provided a lot more inspiration than he will admit, including designing the temple of Exar Kun and other parts of the Jedi academy. West End Games, as usual, provided an enormous amount of valuable reference material on all aspects of the Star Wars universe. Most of all, I owe thanks to George Lucas for creating such a wonderful universe and for letting me play in it.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  About the Author

  Also by this Author

  Introduction to the Star Wars Expanded Universe

  Excerpt from Star Wars: I, Jedi

  Introduction to the Old Republic Era

  Introduction to the Rise of the Empire Era

  Introduction to the Rebellion Era

  Introduction to the New Republic Era

  Introduction to the New Jedi Order Era

  Introduction to the Legacy Era

  Timeline

  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.”

  Kyp stared at the Sun Crushers chronometer, growing angrier with each ticking interval. If it weren’t for the hope of learning news about Zeth, Kyp would have launched one of his four remaining resonance torpedoes into Carida’s sun and backed off to watch the system explode in a white-hot supernova.

  With a surge of static, the Caridan comm officer’s image appeared before him, contrite and businesslike. “To the pilot of the Sun Crusher—you are Kyp Durron, brother of Zeth, whom we recruited on the colony world Deyer?” The officer spoke with a plodding voice, enunciating each word with unnecessary precision.

  “I gave you that information already. What have you learned?”

  The comm officer seemed to fade out of focus. “We regret that your brother did not survive initial military training. Our exercises are very strenuous, designed to discourage all but the best candidates.”

  Kyp’s ears filled with a roar like rushing water. He had expected the news, but confirmation sent despair through him. “What … what were the circumstances of his death?”

  “Checking,” the comm officer said. Kyp waited and waited. “During a mountain survival tour he and his team were snowed in by a sudden blizzard. He appears to have frozen to death. There is some indication he made a heroic sacrifice so other members of his team could survive. I have the full details in a file. I can upload it if you like.”

  “Yes,” Kyp said, his mouth dry. “Give me everything.” He recalled an image of his brother: two boys throwing small reed boats into the water and watching them drift toward the marshes—then the look on Zeth’s face after stormtroopers had crashed into their home and dragged him away.

  “This will take a moment,” the comm officer said.

  Kyp watched the data scroll across his screens. He thought of Exar Kun, the ancient Lord of the Sith who had shown him many things that Master Skywalker refused to teach. The news of Zeth’s inevitable death was like severing the remaining threads of Kyp’s fragile restraint. Nothing could stop him now.

  He would show murderous Carida no mercy. Kyp would remove this Imperial thorn from the New Republic’s side and then move on to topple the big Imperial warlords gathering their forces near the galactic core.

  He waited for Zeth’s files to finish uploading into the Sun Crusher’s memory. It would take a long time for him to absorb all those words, to imagine every detail of his brother’s life, the life they should have had together.…

  Emerging from the thin veil of atmosphere at the limb of the planet, a battle group of forty TIE fighters roared toward him. Another cluster of twenty came from the opposite horizon in a pincer formation. The ploy of Zeth’s files had merely been a delaying tactic to keep him preoccupied as the Caridans launched an attack!

  Kyp didn’t know whether to be amused or outraged. A grim smile flickered across his face, then vanished.

  The TIE fighters came in, firing what must have been intended as cripp
ling laser blasts. Kyp felt the thumps of their impacts against the Sun Crusher, but his special quantum-layered armor could withstand even a turbolaser blast from a Star Destroyer.

  One of the TIE pilots contacted Kyp. “We have you surrounded. You cannot escape.”

  “Sorry,” Kyp said. “I’m fresh out of white flags.” He used his sensors to track the lead TIE fighter from which the message had come. He targeted with his defensive lasers and let loose a volley that strafed across the ship’s flat solar panel. The TIE ship broke apart in a flower of white-and-orange flame.

  The other fighters retaliated from all sides. Kyp targeted with his own defensive lasers, selecting five victims. He managed to strike three.

  Using the extreme mobility of the Sun Crusher, he accelerated upward just as the surviving TIE fighters sent return fire through the expanding explosions of his first round of victims. Kyp laughed out loud as two of the fighters hit each other in the cross fire.

  The wall of anger rose and strengthened in him, increasing his reservoir of power. He had already given more warning than the Caridans deserved. Kyp had stated his ultimatum, and Furgan had sent out attack ships.

  “That’s the last mistake you’ll ever make,” he said.

  The TIE fighters continued to fire, missing more often than not. Laser bolts spanged off his armor, causing no damage. The pilots did not seem to know how to target and shoot properly. They had probably spent all their time practicing in simulation chambers, without ever fighting an actual space battle. Kyp relied instead on the Force.

  He shot back, obliterating another ship, but decided that further fighting was not worth his time. He had a bigger target. Two fast TIE interceptors streaked after him as he pulled out of planetary orbit and set a course for the star at the heart of the system.

  The only damage they could possibly do to the Sun Crusher would be to take out its tiny laser turrets. Daala’s forces had once succeeded in disabling the Sun Crusher’s external weaponry, but New Republic engineers had repaired it.

  Another breached TIE fighter spurted flash-frozen atmosphere as it exploded. Kyp darted through the debris, straight toward the sun. The surviving Imperials charged after him, still firing. He paid them no heed.