The Lost Holocron

Chapter 19 of Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (1992) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn. 

Mara Jade has held a personal grudge against Luke Skywalker for the assassination of Emperor Palpatine. As the Emperor’s Hand, her entire life was destroyed along with the Second Death Star. Emotionally scarred and disposing of her past life, Mara struggled with her new life until joining Talon Karrde’s smuggling group, hoping to utilise the resources of his enterprise to exact her revenge.

The Empire has a tenuous alliance with Dark Jedi Joruus C’baoth; in exchange for his battle meditation, Grand Admiral Thrawn promises to capture and deliver Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo. After crippling Skywalker’s X-Wing, he is incidentally captured by Karrde and imprisoned on Myrkr. Escaping his confinement during an untimely Imperial visitation, both parties reluctantly work together to evade Imperial detection, culminating in a firefight.

Weeks later as Mara reclaims one of Karrde’s impounded ships, she is captured by an Imperial Star Destroyer. Declaring herself to be the Emperor’s Hand, she is taken to talk directly with Thrawn. She offers a trade of Karrde’s knowledge of a long-lost fleet of warships — the Katana Fleet — for organisation-wide immunity within Imperial space. Thrawn insincerely accepts the offer and sends Mara on her way with a tracker to locate Karrde and extract the information himself. He declared to Captain Pellaeon that Jade is a deserter, not worthy of the Empire.

An uneasy feeling grips Karrde as he watches Mara return to their safehouse. Despite having given the all-clear, the Imperials are upon him without warning. He is surprised that his thoughts contain no animosity for Mara, only a slight satisfaction to understand more about her mysterious past.

Aboard the Chimera, Mara is livid at having been deceived by Thrawn. Her anger gets the better of her, but Thrawn’s Noghri bodyguard Rukh intercepts her assault. Still smouldering, she reaches out with the Force to choke him. All her rage cannot fuel the power necessary to close his airways. He stares her down, until she exhausts herself. 

Thrawn offers her two options, join Skywalker as Mad Jedi C’baoth’s plaything, or accept an officer’s position with his Empire. Thrawn warns that an Imperial officer hoping for her own command must not have split loyalties and as such must disown Karrde. Mara adopts a subservient posture and accepts; however, after she is dismissed, she resolves to find Skywalker and to ask for his help to free Karrde. 

Using the Emperor’s backdoor to hack into a terminal, she retrieves information related to the cell block where Karrde is being held, the planned course for the Chimera for the next few days, and the  location of C’baoth. She logs off just in time and is taken back to the planet’s surface.

Mara is received by Karrde’s Chief Aide Aves. Her ostensible betrayal leaves him ambivalent, but she manages to convince him to supply her with a ship and an ysalamir with a nutrient frame.

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Chapter 18 of Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (1992) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn.

During the war, debris from a space battle over Honoghr fell to the planet's surface, causing runaway ecological disasters. Darth Vader came to the Noghri people offering aid, gaining their trust and servitude. During the height of the Galactic Civil War, he passed off their service to Grand Admiral Thrawn, who now uses them to hunt for Leia Organa Solo.

Now in the War’s twilight, tensions between the Empire and New Republic grow as warships become in short supply. Several factions have claimed to rediscover the Katana Fleet. Han Solo and Lando Calrissian have met with a rogue Corellian group lead by Garm Bel Iblis. They are in possession of six of the Katana dreadnaughts, and Sena gives divulges the contact that supplied their group with their six Katana dreadnaughts. Han and Lando are following that lead to Pantolomin. Ferrier was captured by the Imperials and charged with finding the Corellian's dreadnaughts, later updated to pursue Han and Lando directly.

A month earlier on Kashyyyk, Leia’s pedigree was discovered by Khabarakh, and they arrange for Leia to undertake a solo embassy with his people on his homeworld. Leia leaves the Millennium Falcon in orbit around Endor to receive passage to Honoghr. While Leia remains hidden, Khabarakh’s return is met with suspicion. Wookiee hair is found all through his ship, so he is placed under arrest. With the discovery of the Falcon over Endor, Thrawn leaves Honoghr to investigate.

Looking over the Honoghr grasslands, Chewbacca gives his estimate that it has been eight years since the ecologically disastrous starship crash; the height of the Galactic Civil War. The recovery of Honoghr’s arable land seems to always stay outpaced by Noghri population recovery.

With the Grand Admiral's sudden vacation from Honoghr, Leia and Chewbacca plan to abscond. The complication remains that with Khabarakh held for public humiliation, a blade hangs over the heads of Clan Khim’bar and the Noghri people. Leia is scarred by guilt for the destruction of Alderaan and declares that she shall not let her actions come to harm the Noghri people.

The Maitrakh’s growing coldness thaws, and she agrees to accompany Leia in her escape to assist in liberating Khabarakh. Leia knows that should they fail, she alone would be captured alive.

During their return to New Cov, Han and Lando make contact with Winter. She passes on an unencrypted message signed as “Luke” to meet planet-sdie on New Cov. The message, however, was left by Niles Ferrier.

They barely disembark before they enter into a tense negotiation with the ship-thief; Ferrier offers to pool resources and intel to find The Dark Force, and he accidentally lets slip the name of the Imperial Grand Admiral. Lando believes Ferrier to be suspect and cuts the meeting. As they leave, Lando is proven right, finding a tracking device secured to their hull. On the ground, Ferrier confirms with his Wraith companion that a second beacon was placed somewhere it would not be found.

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Chapter 17 of Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (1992) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn. 

In the twilight of the Galactic Civil War, both sides are hurting for warships, and a fleet of long-lost dreadnaughts has been found; Talon Karrde believes he has uncovered the location of the Katana Fleet. He has been awaiting the opportunity to make his payday, but unknown to him someone else has started selling the ships to an independent Corellian faction.

While waiting over Endor, Leia Organa Solo blacks out when she experiences a Force echo left by the death of the Emperor. She, Chewbacca, and C-3PO leave the Millennium Falcon over Endor to travel to the Noghri Homeworld with Khabarakh. She hopes to negotiate a truce by leveraging her pedigree as Darth Vader’s daughter, the Noghri’s original (and seemingly more honourable) master. The current Imperial leader, Grand Admiral Thrawn, loomed over Honoghr as a reminder of the Noghri’s failure to yet capture Organa Solo. That was until Imperial Intelligence identified the Millennium Falcon over Endor.

Mara Jade is an ex-Imperial high-level operative that was connected though the Force directly to the Emperor. After his death, she disappeared from Imperial space and eventually came under the employment of smuggler Talon Karrde. After reluctantly harbouring Luke Skywalker from the Imperials on Myrkr, the subterfuge culminated in a showdown to suppress Imperial intel reaching Thrawn, but the Grand Admiral is not lightly deceived. Karrde's entire operation was forced to go on the run.

Mara collects Karrde’s ship impounded from the Obrigado-Rae spaceport freed by Wedge on behalf of Han Solo. As she leaves, she is intercepted by a Star Destroyer. To avoid detainment, she dons her old Imperial demeanour, identifying herself with a high-level Imperial recognition code and demanding to be taken to the Grand Admiral himself. 

To her horror, their rendezvous is over Endor. In Thawn’s chambers aboard the Chimera, Thrawn thoroughly verifies her previous identity as the Emperor’s Hand. Dodging the question of her return to the Empire, Mara experiences a psychic echo of the Emperor, demanding that she kill Luke Skywalker. Thrawn seeks information about Skywalker's escape from the planet Myrkr, but Mara deflects again to offer information about the Katana Fleet in exchange for immunity. Mara overplays her hand and Thrawn reveals she was only one of many Hands. He grants her eight days to return with the location of the Dark Force. 

As the Millennium Falcon is brought aboard, Pellaeon and Thrawn discuss the reemergence of the Katana Fleet. They know it has been found independently by at least two parties. Thrawn has no interest in actually honouring Jade’s offer, instead ordering the Chimaera to track her back to Karrde’s hideout. In pursuit of the ex-Emperor’s Hand, they reroute Niles Ferrier to track down Solo and Calrissian to interrupt the possible merger of the two Rebel groups.

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Chapter 16 of Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (1992) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn. 

The Empire and New Republic are scrambling for warships. After a messy skirmish over Sluiss Van, the New Republic’s fleet has been decimated. With unexplained cash being deposited into Admiral Ackbar’s account on the day of the Imperial attack, Ackbar is under arrest on suspicion of treason. While investigating the Churba Section, Han Solo discover a rogue militia and are taken to an undisclosed world. Led by Garm Bel Iblis, his militia may have a common enemy in the Empire but Bel Iblis doesn’t trust the New Republic, specifically the de facto leader Mon Mothma.

While in the private quarters assigned to them, Lando claims that the upholstery is distinctly from the lost Katana Fleet. Were it true and they were able to persuade Bel Iblis to join the New Republic, the Katana Fleet may make all the difference in the New Republic’s logistical struggle with the Empire.

Leia Organa Solo has travelled to Honoghr with Noghri Khabarakh. Grand Admiral Thrawn is simultaneously planetside. Khabarakh’s return has raised suspicions on his clan and Thrawn has taken him into custody.

Han and Lando go back to investigate the headquarter lounge for confirmation that the furnishings of the Perigrine’s Nest are indeed from the Katana Fleet. Lando completes his inspection just as Irenez returns. She marches them out of the lounge and to Sena in a waiting speeder. A terse discussion of intentions devolves into a frank plea for Han to encourage the New Republic to extend an invitation to Bel Iblis to rejoin. In a forgotten corner of history, Bel Iblis was actually a founding member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic but was shouldered out by Mon Mothma’s charisma after the death of Bail Organa at the destruction of Alderaan. Scorned, he has been fighting his own private war since then. Their own operations had ceased almost three years earlier in preparation should Mon Mothma’s hold over the New Republic become autocratic; something Han knows is not going to happen.

Han and Lando offer an ultimatum: they will talk to the New Republic Council if Sena gives up information on the Katana Fleet. She tells them the location of the contact from whom they acquired their six ships on and agrees to convey them offworld. They make to leave, but Bel Iblis is already waiting for them on the landing platform. With understanding, his facade crumbles, leaving a hollow man. Han gives one last attempt to convince the Commander of his value should he join the New Republic. En route back to New Cov, Han shares with Lando his worries about Leia’s mission.

Over Honoghr, Pellaeon presents Thrawn with intel of the Millenium Falcon having been found over Endor. Together, they suspect that after extracting information from a captured Khabarakh, the Rebellion is using his release as a diversion to uncover information about the location of Mount Tantiss. Thrawn decides to leave Khabarakh on Honoghr to acquiesce the Noghri Elders to their traditions.

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Chapter 15 of Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (1992) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn. 

The New Republic is in disarray after a messy skirmish over Sluiss Van. With unexplained cash being deposited into Admiral Ackbar’s account on the day of the Imperial attack, Ackbar is under arrest on suspicion of treason. Bothan council member Borsk Fey’lya is taking great advantage of his political rival’s misfortune. Han Solo takes it upon himself to investigate the Churba sector where the Bothans displayed unusual commitment during the Galactic Civil War, hoping to find evidence that Fey’lya may be framing Ackbar and clear his name.

Han takes Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrisian to New Cov. Han spots and follows an aid to Fey’lya, and stumbles upon an unknown militia group apparently working in concert with the Bothans. Along with Lando, they are forced to escape as an Imperial tribute-raid flushes them out of the city. Han and Lando jump to hyperspace in lock-step with the militia, hitching a ride to an undisclosed world. There, the pair are introduced to the Commander, Garm Bel Iblis, a long assumed-dead Imperial senator and somewhat-of-an-icon of Han’s childhood.

Bel Iblis regales Han and Lando with the exploits of his militia, however Lando is in a less than generous mood. When Han notices that Lando is still on his first drink, a tense negotiation surfaces. They learn that Bel Iblis doesn’t trust the development of the New Republic, suspicious that power has been too centralised around Mon Mothma.

As Bel Iblis must attend to other matters, Han and Lando walk to prepared accommodation. Lando points out obvious falsehoods in Bel Iblis’s claims; the base is not nearly as mobile or active as stated. Their bickering continues in their room where Lando makes an alarming discovery: the decore has been taken from what-could-only-be the lost Katana Fleet. They head back to the headquarters lounge to investigate further.

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Chapter 14 of Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (1992) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn. 

“Not the last of the old Jedi, Luke. The first of the new.”

Luke Skywalker is overwhelmed and nonplussed about the role thrust upon him. He lacks the confidence to teach his sister and her unborn twins. During an engagement over Nkllon with a Imperial raiding party, his mind is touched by a mysterious Jedi claiming that “the Jedi will rise again”.

Following the voice to Jormark, Luke runs afoul further Imperial entanglement, causing major delays in his quest to seek out this mysterious Jedi Master. After almost a complete reset back to Coruscant where he learns a little of Jorus C’baoth, Luke accompanies Han Solo and Lando Calrissian to New Cov, where he is called upon in a tapcafe to arbitrate a dispute that Luke feels unqualified to have offered his judgement on. Imperial activity in the sector separates Luke from Han and Lando and forces them to flee the planet. Unhindered by alternative obligations, Luke makes the jump to Jormark.

Little does Luke know that he is not going to meet the true C’baoth, but a clone that has been in an unstable alliance with the Imperial Remnants. This C’baoth has shown himself to be wayward to the demands of the Empire and harbours a desire to mould the Skywalkers to some other nefarious purpose.

Luke arrives to Jormark, and follows his intuition to C’baoth’s castle. The Jedi Master is  authoritative but not at all what Luke expects. C’baoth wastes no time in beginning his tutorship with Luke. Leaving R2-D2 with the X-Wing, they travel to the village at the foot of the hill.

Within one of the houses, they sense a disturbance and enter to intervene. C’baoth’s decree is swift and decisive. Luke — taken aback by the lack of nuance — leaves open an opportunity for the convicted to dive for a weapon. Before Luke can react, C’baoth unleashes cascades of Force Lightning, subduing the aggressor and — in his own words — leaving a lasting lesson.

At the end of the day, Luke goes outside to confide in R2 that, while he needs instruction, he has doubts about the elderly Jedi Master’s sanity.

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Chapter 13 of Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (1992) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn. 

Leia Organa Solo has travelled to the Noghri homeworld of Honoghr with Chewbacca and C-3PO under Khabarakh’s oath of protection. Honoghr is a world devastated by the war; catastrophic collapse of their ecosystem has left them indebted to the subsistence of the Empire, sending their male population to become honour-bound death commandos. 

The Maitrak of Clan Kim’bar shares with Leia the history of the Noghri people and their relationship with the Empire. Leia hoped to convince the clans to consider aligning with the New Republic, but the terms of their indenture are binding. She agrees that good intentions alone are insufficient to provide the Noghri with the aid they so desperately need. It is at this point that an approaching Imperial ship causes the village to go on high-alert.

TIE Scimitar bombers patrol the skies as an Imperial Shuttle closes in on the Dhuka. Cornered, Leia and Chewbacca cram into the meditation room and Leia uses her Jedi skills to eavesdrop as the Grand Admiral reappears to confront the Maitrak, accusing Khabarakh of perjury. The Grand Admiral claims he is beholden to a law higher than Noghri law — his Imperial law — and will arrest Khabarakh immediately. When the Maitrak objects, the Grand Admiral orders a show-of-force that (with her Jedi-enhanced senses) dazzles Leia.

As Leia regains her senses, the Grand Admiral leaves granting an “allowance” of public humiliation to Khabarakh for three days in the capital of Nystao.

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Chapter 12 of Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (1992) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn. 

Leia Organa Solo has been targeted by the Empire for abduction. She and Chewbacca thwart an abduction attempt on Kashyyyk, capturing Noghri operative Khabarakh. In the subsequent interrogation, Khabarakh tells of how Lord Vader brought hope to the Noghri people, whose world became collateral damage after a ferocious space battle. Leaning on that reverence, Leia negotiates an embassy to Honoghr. However, when they arrive, they find Imperial presence coercing the importance of their mission to capture Leia. 

They touchdown in Clan Kihm'bar, but the irregularity draws Imperial interest. Quick thinking and honour-bound by Khabarakh’s oath of protection, Leia and Chewbacca are hidden away in the village as Thrawn inspects the late-returning operative. 

Leia wakes up on Honoghr. Directed to the Dukha by some Noghri children. She learns from clan Kihm’bar’s Maitrakh more of the Noghri, their history, and their indentured servitude with the Empire.

The Maitrakh implores Leia to leave until such time that the Noghri would not be trading one over-clan for another. Leia agrees, but as she does, they are alerted to an approaching Imperial ship.

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Chapter 11 of Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (1992) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn. 

Admiral Ackbar, the military head of the New Republic, has been arrested under suspicion of treason; during the ultimately calamitous raid on Sluis Van, the Imperial Remnants surreptitiously deposited funds into one of Ackbar’s accounts through the vacillatory world of Palanhi. 

Han Solo suspects Ackbar’s main political rival, Borsk Fay’lya, of foul play. Seeing Palanhi as a dead end, he takes both Lando Calrissian and Luke Skywalker to sleuth around on New Cov, a planet that saw notable Bothan interest during the Galactic Civil War.

On New Cov, Han spies Bothan Council Aide Tav Breil’lya and discovers a new faction. A routine Imperial raid escalates after finding Luke’s X-Wing and Lando’s Lady Luck. The Independents assist Han, Luke, and Lando to escape into New Cov airspace. Luke engages fighters in a dogfight to buy the Lady Luck time to rendezvous with three dreadnaughts that drop out of hyperspace to assist the fleeing Independents. After Lady Luck docks and makes the jump to hyperspace, Luke makes his own getaway, to a fateful introduction on Jormark.

Han and Lando arrive at an encampment on an undisclosed planet that vaguely reminds both of them of the old Rebellion bases during the Galactic Civil War. Sena takes Han through to meet a Corellian political figure from his childhood, Garm Bel Iblis. After becoming acquainted, they move outside to give full introductions and discuss what might happen next.

  Over Honoghr, Thrawn and Pellaeon review the footage where “old acquaintances” clash with Star Destroyer Relentless over New Cov. Thrawn is certain they are Corellian in origin, and makes contact with Captain Dorja of Relentless. Ship thief Niles Ferrier was caught smuggling Cov Biomolecules. Thrawn sentences him to steal the dreadnoughts from the recording within three months, hoping to capture the dreadnoughts rather than risk their destruction by simply routing the Corellian faction.

Pellaeon then presents the analysis from Khabarakh's ship: Wookiee hair, everywhere. They both conclude that Khabarakh's month-long absence must have owed to his capture, and subsequent interrogation and release. Thrawn orders to prepare for a show of force on the surface -- to remind the Noghri of their loyalties lie.

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Chapter 10 of Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (1992) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn. 

Grand Admiral Thrawn has tasked the Noghri with the capture of Leia Organa Solo and her unborn twins. After many failed attempts, Thrawn travels to the Noghri homeworld of Honoghr to impress the importance of their success. 

Leia and Chewbacca capture a Noghri operative on Kashyyyk. During the interrogation, the operative Khabarakh identifies Leia by scent as the Mal'ary'ush — heir to the revered Lord Vader. In exchange for a solo embassy to the Noghri homeworld, Leia allows Khabarakh to leave and meet in one month’s time over the Forest Moon of Endor.

Leia, C-3PO, and Chewbacca arrive a day early, and when the Falcon passes through the point where the Emperor died aboard the Second Death Star, Leia experiences an overwhelming wave of dark side energy.

Khabarakh arrives as promised. They transfer to Khabarakh's ship and take the four-day trip to the Noghri homeworld: a planet that looks all but dead. They are surprised to see an Imperial Star Destroyer above the capital and divert their course to Khabarakh's clan village -- which doesn't go unnoticed and Thrawn directs Imperial scrutiny to the Kihm'bar village.

Khabarakh's ship lands at the Kihm'bar village. Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO stay on the ship while (in accordance with Noghri law) Khabarakh announces the arrival of the outsiders to the clan maitrakh. Chewbacca disappears into the ship to sabotage the electronics to obfuscate their presence, leaving Leia to anxiously wait until Khabarakh's return.

Without Chewbacca, they hurry through to an inauspicious meeting with the maitrakh. Despite obvious tensions, the Kihm'bar clan will honour Khabarakh's promise of refuge and diplomacy, obscuring their presence deeper in the village.

The Imperials arrive to extract an explanation from Khabarakh for his month-long absence after the failure of Commando Team Twenty-Two on Kashyyyk. The sabotage to Khabarakh's ship is undetected and the ship is taken with the Imperials back to Nystao for repairs. Thrawn suspects there is more to be learned about Khabarakh's reclusion, but that is all secondary to the capture of Organa Solo.

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