Dark Apprentice
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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