|
Synopsis:
On the heels of the Battle of Yavin, the newly minted
heroes of the Rebellion, fledgling Jedi Luke Skywalker,
smuggler turned reluctant freedom-fighter Han Solo, and
Princess Leia Organa, a bold leader with a world to
avenge, must face the harsh realities of the cataclysmic
conflict into which they have so bravely plunged. From
this point forward, legends will grow, treachery will
abound, and lives will be irrevocably altered, in the
long, hard fight to counter the fist of tyranny and
restore hope to a galaxy too long in darkness.
The destruction of the Death Star by the Rebel Alliance
was a decisive blow against the Empire, but Palpatine
and his monstrous enforcer, Darth Vader, are no less of
a threat. The brutal extermination of Alderaan not only
demonstrated the magnitude of their murderous power, but
served as a chilling testament to their resolve to crush
the Rebel uprising. Standing against them, Skywalker,
Solo, and the Princess remain uncertain opponents. Luke
is gifted and brave, but unschooled in the power he
possesses. Han has doubts about waging someone else’s
war–and his contentiousness is one more burden for
Leia to bear as she struggles to help keep the Rebellion
alive. The three have been sent to mediate a dispute
between Rebel Alliance factions in Shelsha Sector–agitating
matters by forcing Han to deal not only with pirates,
but with his more dreaded enemy, politics. At the same
time, Mara Jade–all of eighteen and years away from
her fateful meeting with Luke–is serving her evil
master, Palpatine, well in her role as the Emperor’s
Hand: tracking suspected treachery in the Empire to what
may be high places–while trying to stay out of Darth
Vader’s way.
But the Rebels will prove to be only one of the Empire’s
concerns. For Imperial Stormtrooper Daric LaRone, his
faith in the Empire shaken by the wanton destruction of
Alderaan, will commit a sudden and violent act of
defiance, and take four other enforcers with him, in a
desperate bid to elude their masters’ wrath.
Each of these fateful actions, whether sanctioned,
secret, or scandalous, will expose brutality and
corruption, spur upheavals destined to shake the Empire
to its core, and shape momentous events yet to come.
|