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Synopsis:
Sometimes it seems a Jedi’s
work is never done and Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker know
this only too well. Despite the bond they share in the
Force, after three years of marriage the Jedi Master and
his wife are still learning the ropes of being a couple
and struggling to find time together between the
constant demands of duty. But all that will change when
they’re united on an unexpected mission and must pool
their exceptional skills to combat an insidious enemy
and salvage a part of Jedi history.
It begins with a message from a surprising source:
Nirauan, the planet where Thrawn,
dangerous disciple of Emperor Palpatine, once held sway
and from which Luke and Mara barely escaped with their
lives. The message itself is shocking. After fifty
years, the remains of Outbound
Flight, a pioneering Jedi expedition viciously
destroyed by Thrawn,
have been found on Nirauan. Now, the fiercely
honour-bound aliens who reside there wish to turn over
the remnants of the doomed mission to the New Republic.
Accepting the gesture will mean a long voyage into the
treacherous cluster of stars where the thousands of
souls aboard the Outbound
Flight vessel met their grim fate. But it may also
mean something more, something that has stirred an
inexplicable sense of foreboding in Mara.
Whatever may await, the Skywalkers will not face it
alone. Joining them on the strange and solemn journey
are an officer of the post-Palpatine Empire, escorted by
a detachment of Imperial stormtroopers; a party of
diplomats from a gentle alien species that reveres the
fallen Jedi for saving them from bloodthirsty
conquerors; and a New Republic ambassador who harbours
his own mysterious agenda.
Soon enough, suspicion, secrecy, and an unknown saboteur
run rampant aboard the isolated ship. But it is within
the derelict walls of Outbound
Flight itself, buried for half a century on a
desolate planetoid, where the gravest danger lies. As
the marooned hulk yields up stunning revelations and
unexpected terrors to its visitors, Luke and Mara find
all they stand for and their very existence, brutally
challenged. And the ultimate test will be surviving the
death-trap carefully laid by foes who are legendary for
their ruthlessness and determined to complete the job Thrawn
began: exterminating the Jedi.
The paperback version also includes a
copy of the e-book Fools
Bargain by Timothy Zahn.
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