Table Of ContentDARK APPRENTICE
TheJediAcademy Trilogy
Volume 2
by Kevin J. Anderson Copyright 1994 by
Lucasfilm Ltd.
All rights reserved.
THE BLOCKBUSTER
SAGA CONTINUES
STAR WARS
As theNewRepublic 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 theNewRepublic 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 "JediAcademy" 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
fromWest 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
thetempleofExar 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 theNewRepublic and the fate of the
galaxy weighed heavily upon him.
Luke stood atop the squared pyramid of theGreatTemple that had been
abandoned millennia before by the lost Massassi race. During theAlliance '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, theNewRepublic 's Chief of State, to
