Deceived Read online

  She ran her hand through her shorn hair. “Yeah, I needed a change.”

  He heard the seriousness in her tone and answered in kind as he walked toward her. His legs felt unsteady under him. “I know what you mean.”

  She smiled softly, and it was the same as it had ever been, as warm as the rising sun.

  “I looked everywhere for you,” she said. “I wanted to make sure you were all right.”

  “I looked for you, too,” he said. “But there was nothing. I watched every holo story about the Jedi. It said they were leaving Coruscant …”

  Her expression fell. “I resigned from the Order, Zeerid.”

  He stopped in his tracks. “You what?”

  “I resigned. Like I said, I needed a change.”

  “I thought you meant your hair.”

  She smiled at that, too, then indicated the blasters with her eyes. “Are you going to put those away?”

  He felt himself color. “Of course. I mean, yes. Right.”

  He holstered both his weapons, hands shaking. “How did you find me?”

  “You said you’d become a farmer on Dantooine.” She held her arms out to the side, indicating the landscape. “And here you are.”

  “And here I am.”

  “Don’t worry,” she said, anticipating his concern. “No one else could find you. Just me.”

  “Just you. Just you.”

  He was smiling stupidly, echoing her words, and probably looked like a fool. He didn’t care. She was smiling, too, and he could take no more.

  “Stang, Aryn!” he said. He ran toward her and scooped her into his arms.

  She returned his embrace and he pulled her tighter, felt her body against his, inhaled the smell of her hair. He enjoyed the moment then held her at arm’s length.

  “Wait, how did you … get off Coruscant? Malgus—”

  She nodded. “We reached an understanding, of sorts.”

  He wanted to ask about the Twi’lek but was afraid of the answer. Perhaps she felt his emotional turmoil, or perhaps she knew him well enough to anticipate the question.

  “Even after you left I did not hurt her. Eleena, I mean. I left her with Malgus. I don’t know if I did her any favors, though.”

  He hugged her again, more relieved than he would have expected. “I’m glad, Aryn. I’m glad you did that. And I’m glad you’re here.”

  Tears leaked from his eyes. He was not sure why.

  She pushed him back and studied his face. “What is it? You’re upset.”

  Words pushed up his throat but he kept them behind his teeth. He remembered the air lock on Razor, but shook his head. Vrath was his weight to carry.

  “It’s nothing. I’m just glad to see you. An understanding with Malgus? What does that mean?”

  “He let me go.”

  “He what?”

  Aryn nodded. “He let me go. I still don’t understand why. Not fully.”

  “Are you … still hunting him?”

  A shadow passed over Aryn’s expression, but her soft smile brightened her face and chased it away. She put her fingers on a necklace she wore. A stone hung from a silver chain. Zeerid thought it was a Nautolan jewel of some kind.

  “No, I’m not hunting him. When I faced him I felt his hate, his rage.” She shuddered, wrapped her arms around her slim body. “It was like nothing I’d encountered in a Sith before. He lives in a dark place. And I … did not want to follow him there.”

  Zeerid understood better than she knew. He lived in his own dark place.

  “You don’t want to carry that,” he said to her, to himself.

  “No,” she said. “I don’t want to carry that.”

  He shook off the darkness and forced a smile. “Will you be staying for a while?”

  Before Aryn could answer, Arra’s voice carried from the house. “Daddy! Can I come out now?”

  He waved her out and she threw open the door, bounded across the porch, down the stairs, and across the swath.

  Aryn grabbed him by the arm. “She’s running, Zeerid.”

  “Prosthetics,” he said, and his eyes welled anew to see her running toward him with Aryn at his side.

  When Arra reached them, she stopped before them, out of breath, her curly hair mussed, her eyes curious and her smile wide. She extended a small hand, all serious. “Hello. My name is Arra.”

  Aryn knelt down to look her in the eye. Taking her hand, she said, “I’m Aryn. Hello, Arra. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You have pretty eyes,” Arra said.

  “Thank you.”

  Zeerid spoke his hopes aloud. “I think Aryn is going to stay with us for a while. Won’t that be nice?”

  Arra nodded.

  “Aren’t you, Aryn? Staying for a while?”

  Aryn rose and Zeerid’s hopes rose with her, fragile, ready to be dashed. When she looked at him and nodded, he grinned like a fool.

  “Do you like to play grav-ball?” Arra asked her.

  “You can teach me,” Aryn said.

  “How about some food?” Zeerid said.

  “Race you!” Arra said, and sprinted for the house.

  Zeerid and Aryn fell in behind her, all three of them laughing, free.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  PAUL S. KEMP is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Star Wars: Crosscurrent, as well as nine Forgotten Realms fantasy novels and many short stories. When he’s not writing, he practices corporate law in Michigan, which has inspired him to write some really believable villains. He digs cigars, single-malt scotch, and ales, and tries to hum the theme song to Shaft at least once per day. Paul Kemp lives and works in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife, twin sons, and a couple of cats.

  FOR OVER THREE DECADES, the Star Wars universe has been expanding. New drama, new adventures, and new revelations have played out in the pages of bestselling Star Wars novels. Now, almost forty years after the end of Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo are living legends, starring alongside a new generation of heroes in their endless struggle to bring peace to a beleaguered galaxy.

  This is the start of Fate of the Jedi, the newest Star Wars saga: nine books, three authors, one spectacular epic adventure!

  Read on for a brief refresher course on the current standing of the characters and worlds of the galaxy far, far away … or skip straight to a sample from the first book of Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast, by Aaron Allston!

  THE STATE OF THE GALAXY

  The Clone Wars are distant history. The Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance is a fading memory. In the four decades that followed the deaths of Darth Vader and the evil Emperor, the galaxy has known only a few scant stretches of peaceful times.

  The Rebel Alliance transformed from a revolutionary military force to a legitimate government—the New Republic—in a long process as it liberated worlds from the iron grip of the Empire. The Senate was restored. Luke Skywalker rebuilt the Jedi Order.

  Then, the Yuuzhan Vong came. A violent species of alien invaders, they destroyed entire worlds in their quest to conquer the galaxy. The New Republic teamed with the shrinking Imperial Remnant to counter this threat, and although the alien menace was defeated, the galactic government was just one of many casualties of this brutal war.

  From the fragments of the New Republic emerged the Galactic Alliance, but its attempt to enforce order on a war-weary galaxy proved difficult. Isolationists and independent-minded cultures like the Corellians did not bow down to Alliance rule. When the Galactic Alliance came under the draconian rule of a fallen Jedi, Jacen Solo, who adopted the Sith guise of Darth Caedus, this tinderbox exploded into the Second Galactic Civil War. Violence erupted between the Alliance and a Confederation of worlds wishing independence. The Jedi Order split from the Alliance, going rogue to take down Caedus, slain by his twin sister, Jaina, the Sword of the Jedi.

  By the end of this latest conflict, the galactic players were once again rearranged. The Galactic Alli
ance is still in power, but a new Chief of State has been installed: a former Imperial, Natasi Daala. The Galactic Empire’s influence has grown, as beings everywhere see and appreciate its relative stability and order compared to the shaky years of Alliance rule.

  But Daala has never had great love for the Jedi, and their willingness to abandon the Galactic Alliance has given some reason to doubt their reliability or even loyalty. How exactly the Jedi will fit comfortably into this new order remains to be seen.…

  LUKE SKYWALKER

  FARMBOY. PILOT. REBEL. JEDI. GRAND MASTER. FATHER.

  LUKE SKYWALKER has come a long way from the starry-eyed farmboy whose biggest concern was picking up power convertors from Tosche Station. After helping defeat the Emperor alongside his redeemed father, Skywalker carried out Yoda’s dying command to pass on what he had learned.

  At first, Luke’s role was very similar to the one he had during the Rebellion. He continued serving as a pilot and military leader for the New Republic, but he gradually withdrew from this active service to pursue his studies in the Force. His travels across the galaxy led him to uncover fragments of Jedi knowledge that the Emperor and his agents had not wholly eradicated. Luke, though, had to improvise in his teaching methods, adopting practices that would have been considered forbidden during the time of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. For example, there was no age limitation placed on prospective students, and the idea of romantic attachment was not taboo among this new generation of Jedi.

  For many years, the idea of settling down and starting a family seemed impossible to Luke, who was much more focused on larger galactic matters. But fate has a way of laying unexpected paths before a Skywalker. He fell in love with and married Mara Jade, a former Imperial agent who was also powerful in the Force. Together, they had a son, Ben, during a time of great conflict in the galaxy—the invasion of the violent Yuuzhan Vong.

  The Yuuzhan Vong War tested the Jedi Order, and ultimately forced Luke to adopt the mantle of Grand Master of the Jedi and reinstate the Jedi Council. The new Jedi Order found difficulty in fitting into the structure of the Galactic Alliance, a situation made worse when the Alliance began adopting some draconian methods of enforcing loyalty among its member worlds. Jacen Solo, Luke’s nephew and former student, grew powerful in the Force and—like his grandfather Anakin Skywalker—turned to the dark side in a Faustian bid to bring order and protection to the galaxy and his loved ones. He emerged as Darth Caedus, a Sith Lord, and brought more war and heartbreak to the extended Skywalker family, including murdering Mara Jade Skywalker.

  Though tragic, the death of Mara Jade brought Luke and Ben closer than they had ever been before. In the Fate of the Jedi series, father and son will depart on an important quest together that will test that bond and their formidable Jedi skills.

  HAN SOLO

  NO ONE COULD HAVE PREDICTED that a Corellian smuggler would someday become a First Husband of the New Republic and the father of a new generation of Jedi. But these unlikely events came to be. As Han would say, “Never tell me the odds.” After the defeat of the Empire, Han was branded as “respectable” by the rogues and pirates he had once done business with. Solo’s role as a general in the Rebel Alliance meant that he became a key player in the New Republic’s formative years. His numerous underworld contacts helped the New Republic in its continued battle with the shrinking Imperial presence in the galaxy. Han eventually married Princess Leia, and together they had three children—the twins, Jacen and Jaina, and their younger brother, Anakin.

  Han’s most recognizable traits were passed on to his children—they all exhibited a mix of his sense of humor, his mechanical aptitude, and his amazing piloting skills. But the three Solo children were known foremost as some of the most capable Jedi of their generation. It was a world that was alien to Solo—he could not touch the Force and couldn’t experience this particular connection the children shared with their mother. He was nonetheless often dragged into the affairs of the Jedi, in much the same way that he ended up pulled into Leia’s political involvements.

  The Yuuzhan Vong War took a heavy toll on the Solo family. One of the earliest casualties of the invasion was Solo’s oldest friend, his beloved Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca. Chewie’s death hit Han hard, and for a time, he turned his back on his family to exorcise his demons in some of the shadiest corners of the galaxy. Han smartly returned to the love and security that Leia and his family offered him; he would need it, for the next tragedy was the death of his sixteen-year-old son, Anakin Solo.

  By war’s end, Jacen and Jaina would take on principal roles in defeating the Yuuzhan Vong—this war was to their generation what the original struggle against the Empire had been to Han, Leia, and Luke. Jacen in particular proved to be irrevocably changed by his experiences in the war. During the growing conflict between independent-minded Corellians and an overreaching Galactic Alliance, Jacen succumbed to the dark side in an attempt to enforce order in the galaxy.

  Jacen became Darth Caedus, an evil warlord whose actions resulted in even more destruction and betrayal. To Han, his son was no more—a casualty of the last war. The abomination who replaced him, Caedus, needed to be stopped no matter the cost. It fell to Jaina to defeat and ultimately kill her brother. His reign of terror ended, Jacen left a surprising legacy—a young daughter, Allana, born to the Hapan Queen and former Jedi Tenel Ka. To keep Allana safe, Han and Leia have now resumed the role of parents, adopting the young girl and raising her under the alias “Amelia.”

  LEIA ORGANA SOLO

  SINCE HER TEEN YEARS, Princess Leia has been trying to make the galaxy a better place. Once a Senator from Alderaan, she later served as a leader in the Rebel Alliance. When she discovered she was Luke Skywalker’s sister, she found she had to make a choice as to what her role in the changing galaxy would be. Would she pick up the lightsaber?

  The needs of politics won out. Leia became one of the foremost leaders of the New Republic, eventually serving as Chief of State. Another important role she played was that of mother—she married Han Solo, and together they had three children. The twins, Jacen and Jaina Solo, and their younger brother, Anakin, all proved strong in the Force. Leia practiced her skills as a Jedi with her brother, but a galaxy of distractions kept her from reaching her full potential.

  It was the turmoil of the Yuuzhan Vong War and its fallout that caused Leia to return to her Jedi studies with renewed focus. The tragic deaths of Chewbacca and her youngest son, Anakin, greatly tried the bonds of the Solo family, but they emerged stronger from that terrible crucible. Leia would rarely leave Han’s side, and she became the Millennium Falcon’s co-pilot, capably filling the role left void by the loss of the mighty Wookiee.

  Once more, Leia had to let go of one her children, when it became apparent that Jacen had succumbed to the dark side. It was one of Leia’s longest held and deepest fears—that one of her children might one day follow a dark path similar to that of her father, Darth Vader. That it fell to Jaina to kill Jacen was all the more appalling, but Jaina did her duty as a Jedi Knight.

  After a lifetime of struggle to keep the galaxy from falling apart, Han and Leia have no real grasp of the concept of retirement. By all rights, they could retreat to a remote and peaceful world and live out a quiet life together, but they are once again thrust to the center of galactic conflict. A new wrinkle this time is that now, decades after their last child reached adulthood, they are once again playing the role of parents. Han and Leia have adopted the daughter that Jacen Solo left behind and are raising her as their own.

  LANDO CALRISSIAN

  THE CONSUMMATE GAMBLER and lady’s man, Calrissian is always looking for angles and opportunities. Though he stepped up to a larger calling by serving as a general in the massive space battle that saw the destruction of the second Death Star and the deaths of Darth Vader and the Emperor, Calrissian quickly returned to his entrepreneurial ways after the war. In the four decades since, he has started many businesses and made and lost a few fortu
nes along the way. Always looking for a challenge, he tackled the biggest one when he decided to find a wife.

  After a lengthy search for a possible partner compatible in both business and romance, he discovered Tendra Risant. She was a wealthy businesswoman, and together they founded several mining ventures and other profitable enterprises. They are the co-founders of Tendrandro Arms, a weapons-development firm that was a key supplier during the Yuuzhan Vong War.

  Lando is now the father of a young boy, Lando Calrissian, Jr., whom he nicknamed “Chance.” Lando and Tendra currently own and operate the spice mines of Kessel and remain close friends of the Solo family.

  BEN SKYWALKER

  THE SON OF LUKE and Mara Jade Skywalker, young Ben was born at a time of brutal war. The vicious Yuuzhan Vong destroyed entire worlds in their crusade to conquer the galaxy, and targeted the Jedi specifically as heretics that needed to be destroyed. As the son of Luke Skywalker—grandson of Anakin Skywalker—Ben was genetically predisposed to be an immensely powerful Force user. But, as a young boy, Ben shied away from his connection to the Force. He withdrew, possibly retreating from the constant disturbances in the Force caused by the terrible destruction of the war.

  Only one person seemed to be able to coax Ben from out of his shell—his cousin, Jacen Solo. Ben grew connected to Jacen, learning the ways of the Force as his apprentice. When Ben was a teenager, Jacen’s explorations of the Force’s strange, darkened corners, as well as the growing conflict between Galactic Alliance and independent-minded Corellians, led Jacen to the dark side.

  Ben did not see it at first. He saw Jacen as being forced to take the necessary steps to enforce order in the galaxy. Jacen founded a secret police—the Galactic Alliance Guard—to deal with insurrectionists or any who would threaten the peace of the Galactic Alliance. Ben became one of its youngest members, learning effective investigation and combat techniques.

  In time, Ben came to realize what Jacen was willing to sacrifice in his obsessive pursuit of order. He even discovered the horrible truth that Jacen was a Sith Lord, and that he had murdered his mother, Mara Jade.