Kathy Tyers Knihy

V galaxii už téměř není místo, kam by se mohli uchýlit uprchlíci před krvežíznivými Yuuzhan Vongy. Zbývá jen přelidněná planeta Duro, zdevastovaná staletími průmyslové výroby. Naštěstí je uzavřena dohoda: výměnou za nový domov budou uprchlíci pod bdělým dohledem Leiy Organy Solo pracovat na obnově planety. Mezi Durem a Novou republikou však přesto dochází k rozhořčeným sporům, a tak na Duro přilétají Han Solo, jeho syn Jacen a Ryn Droma, aby sjednali mír. Nevědí, že na Duru je i Leia… a že Luke, Mara Jade a Anakin Solo pátrají po nezvěstné učednici Jedi. A nikdo ze zmíněných nemá ani tušení, že právě těžce zkoušenou planetu Duro si Yuuzhan Vongové vybrali za další dílčí cíl na svém brutálním tažení do galaktického Jádra. Ve chvílích, kdy hrozí, že křehká stabilita na Duru vezme za své, řeší Jacen Solo své největší dilema: co ještě není a co už je zneužití Síly? Ať už se Jacen rozhodne jakkoli, jeho další krok může zachránit osud galaxie, nebo ho naopak zpečetit. Na misku vah je navíc položen život blízkého člověka…

Poisoned by centuries of technological excess, the planet Duro is an unlivable hell, long abandoned by its own inhabitants, who dwell above their polluted world in orbital habitats. But there is no place else to channel the flood of refugees fleeing the murderous Yuuzhan Vong. So a deal is struck: In exchange for a new home, the refugees will work to restore the planet to health, under the watchful eye of Leia Organa Solo. As tempers begin to flare between the Duros and the New Republic, and between groups of refugees, Han Solo, his son, Jacen, and the Ryn called Droma arrive to keep the peace. They are unaware that Leia is on Duro . . . and that Luke, Mara, and Anakin are on their way, searching for a missing Jedi apprentice. And none realize that the Yuuzhan Vong have chosen this embattled planet as the next target in their brutal coreward thrust. The unrest only strengthens Jacen Solo's growing belief that a true Jedi should not fight, but should lead others to peace through a deeper understanding of the Force. Now, as the fragile stability on Duro threatens to collapse into violence, Jacen Solo must face his greatest dilemma: At what point does the use of power become aggression? Whatever he decides, his next step could tip the galaxy's destiny toward the light or toward darkness--with the life of someone he loves hanging in the balance . . .

No sooner has Darth Vader's funeral pyre burned to ashes on Endor than the Alliance intercepts a call for help from a far-flung Imperial outpost. Bakura is on the edge of known space and the first to meet the Ssi-ruuk, cold-blooded reptilian invaders who, once allied with the now dead Emperor, are approaching Imperial space with only one goal; total domination. Princess Leia sees the mission as an opportunity to achieve a diplomatic victory for the Alliance. But it assumes even greater importance when a vision of Obi-Wan Kenobi appears to Luke Skywalker with the message that he must go to Bakura-or risk losing everything the Rebels have fought so desperately to achieve.

The day after Luke Skywalker's climactic battle with Emperor Palpatine and the sacrifice of his father, Darth Vader, who died saving Luke's life, Luke helps recover an Imperial drone ship bearing a startling message intended for the Emperor.  It is a distress signal from the far-off Imperial outpost of Bakura which is under attack by an alien invasion force, the Ssi-ruuk.  Leia sees a rescue mission as an opportunity to achieve a diplomatic victory for the Rebel Alliance, even if it means fighting alongside former Imperials. But Luke receives a vision from Obi-Wan Kenobi revealing that the stakes are even higher: the invasion at Bakura threatens everything the Rebels have won at such great cost.