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  DARK APPRENTICE

  The Jedi Academy Trilogy

  Volume 2

  by Kevin J. Anderson

  Copyright 1994 by

  Lucasfilm Ltd.

  All rights reserved.

  THE BLOCKBUSTER

  SAGA CONTINUES

  STAR WARS

  As the New Republic takes devastating losses in the ongoing war with the

  scattered remnants of the Empire, the galaxy's future depends on three small

  children--among them the Jedi twins--butorn to incredible powers and perils,

  as an extraordinary new Star Wars R 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 any the New

  Republic has ever fought... more powerful than even a Jedi Master can face.

  About the Author

  For the past ten years Kevin J. Anderson has worked as a technical editor

  and writer at the large government weapons research lab, Lawrence Livermore

  National Laboratory... which he insists has nothing to do with the large

  Imperial weapons research lab, Maw Installation, in Jedi Search. He is also

  the author of 18 science fiction or fantasy books, including three

  co-written

  with Doug Beason for Bantam--Lifeline, The Trinity Paradox, and Assemblers

  of

  Infinity. His works have appeared on numerous Best of the Year lists, as

  well

  as preliminary or final ballots for the Nebula and Bram Stoker Awards. In

  addition to the three novels in the "Jedi Academy" trilogy, he is also at

  work

  on various other Star Wars projects, including The Illustrated Star Wars

  Universe, an art book featuring many new paintings by artist Ralph McQuarrie

  showing daily life on the planets in the Star Wars universe. He is also

  editing three anthologies of short stories, the first of which--Tales from

  the

  Mos Eisley Cantina - comtells the stories of all the bizarre characters from

  the famous Star Wars Cantina scene.

  OTHER BOOKS BY

  KEVIN J. ANDERSON

  Resurrection, Inc. Gamearth Gameplay Game's End Star Wars Jedi Search

  Star Wars Dark Apprentice Star Wars Champions of the Force

  [Forthcoming]

  by Kevin J. Anderson and

  Doug Beason

  Lifeline The Trinity Paradox Assemblers of Infinity

  by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and

  Kevin J. Anderson

  Afterimage

  Acknowledgments

  I'd like to shower thanks upon Lillie Mitchell for transcribing piles of

  my microcassettes with lightning speed; my wife Rebecca Moesta Anderson for

  just about everything, from brainstorming to copyediting to personal support

  to helping dialogue make sense; the exhaustive Star Wars expertise of Bill

  Smith at West End Games (not to mention all the wonderful source material

  available from West End); Tom Veitch for helping me create the entire

  history

  of Exar Kun (so much, in fact, that we are writing his story and the Great

  Sith War in twelve issues of Dark Lords of the Sith to be published by Dark

  Horse Comics); Ralph McQuarrie, whose imagination and original painting

  inspired the temple of Exar Kun; my editor Betsy Mitchell, who helped

  develop

  this story, and her successor Tom Dupree, who came aboard the starship when

  we

  were already leaping into hyperspace; Heather McConnell, who helps keep all

  systems under control; Karen Anderson for custom-designing the word

  "praxeum";

  Sue Rostoni at Lucasfilm for helping things run smoothly; Rose Guilbert for

  the sentient mollusks; Dave Wolverton and Timothy Zahn for their invaluable

  assistance and cooperation; David Brin for the Startide; my agent Richard

  Curtis; Rita Anderson; Chuck Beason; and of course, George Lucas, for

  creating

  such a marvelous universe in the first place.

  Dedication

  To Lucy Autrey Wilson, of Lucasfilm Licensing... who gets thrilled just

  to see her name in the acknowledgments of a book; no telling what she'll do

  when she sees a dedication! Lucy has always been enthusiastic, willing to

  listen to ideas and offer her own, and a pleasure to work with on all my

  Star

  Wars projects.

  DARK APPRENTICE

  The huge orange sphere of the gas planet Yavin heaved itself over the

  horizon of its fourth mood. 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. Th e 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.

  Darth Vader had discovered the wrong kind of knowledge. Luke could not

  dismiss the possibility that one of his students would be seduced by the

  dark

  side.

  Luke clapped his hands on their shoulders. "Come inside. Take a drink. A

  supply shuttle is landing, so let's go greet our guest."

  When they reached the cleared landing pad, Artoo-Detoo waited next to the

  grid-control kiosk, chittering coordinates to a descending X-23 StarWorker

  space barge.

  Craning his neck, Luke watched the craft descend with a grinding whine of

  engines and a blast of jets. The StarWorker barge looked like a trapezoidal

  cargo container with Incom sublight engines strapped on. The intrasystem

  craft

  had seen better days its gray metallic hull showed discolorations from

  blaster fire and countless pitted scabs from meteor encounters. But the

  engine

  sounded loud and strong as the landing gear kicked in.

  The space barge flashed its running lights around its belly, then settled

  down gently. Luke tried to squint through the tiny front port as a group of

  flying creatures in the treetops burst into flight, screeching and scolding

  the metal thing that had lumbered into theirthe forest.

  Heavy plasteel support struts extended, locking to the ground with a hiss