Heir to the Empire | Chapter 30 | The Lost Holocron
08/16/23 • 59 min
Chapter 30 of Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (1991) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn.
The Story So Far
Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo have been on the run from a mysterious taskforce set on abducting them, directed from the shadows of Imperial Command by Grand Admiral Thrawn. On Kashyyyk, Leia uncovers the identity of the Noghri assailants from one they manage to pull into custody.
In the Sluissi Sector, Thrawn and Captain Pellaeon are prepared for their assault on the Sluis Van Shipyards, prototype cloaking technology in-hand and operational.
On Myrkr, Luke ends up captured, disarmed, and recaptured, trekking through the wilderness with ex-Imperial operative Mara Jade. Thrawn had left a contingent of Stormtroopers at their exitpoint to intercept whom Thrawn suspected was Skywalker. Talon Karrde worked with Han Solo and Lando Calrissian to extract Luke and Mara, hoping to delay retribution from the Grand Admiral for his concealed (albeit reluctant) partisanship.
In the ensuing ambush, Lando stakes his life on Luke's Jedi intuition. The gamble costs him dearly, leaving him mortally wounded, but betting on Luke wins out even without use of the Force.
Chapter 30
In the aftermath of the firefight, Karrde directs his people to evacuate Myrkr, believing their ruse impossible to hide from Thrawn's observational and inferential prowess. Before parting ways, he asks Solo to loan one of the New Republic 's gutted warships to help with the evacuation.
Luke and Han help an injured but very much alive Lando onto the Millennium Falcon. They debrief each other as they depart, and Han says that he wants to take a detour through Sluis Van to give Lando proper medical treatment and Luke some much needed rest before diving into the political hotbed on Coruscant.
However: Lying in wait at Sluis Van, Thrawn has begun his operation to take ships out of the shipyard. Upon hearing that the Imperial detachment on Myrkr has failed to report in, he concludes that Skywalker was indeed there, undoubtedly aided by Karrde. He makes a point of deferring retribution to focus on the imminent battle.
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Chapter 30 of Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (1991) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn.
The Story So Far
Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo have been on the run from a mysterious taskforce set on abducting them, directed from the shadows of Imperial Command by Grand Admiral Thrawn. On Kashyyyk, Leia uncovers the identity of the Noghri assailants from one they manage to pull into custody.
In the Sluissi Sector, Thrawn and Captain Pellaeon are prepared for their assault on the Sluis Van Shipyards, prototype cloaking technology in-hand and operational.
On Myrkr, Luke ends up captured, disarmed, and recaptured, trekking through the wilderness with ex-Imperial operative Mara Jade. Thrawn had left a contingent of Stormtroopers at their exitpoint to intercept whom Thrawn suspected was Skywalker. Talon Karrde worked with Han Solo and Lando Calrissian to extract Luke and Mara, hoping to delay retribution from the Grand Admiral for his concealed (albeit reluctant) partisanship.
In the ensuing ambush, Lando stakes his life on Luke's Jedi intuition. The gamble costs him dearly, leaving him mortally wounded, but betting on Luke wins out even without use of the Force.
Chapter 30
In the aftermath of the firefight, Karrde directs his people to evacuate Myrkr, believing their ruse impossible to hide from Thrawn's observational and inferential prowess. Before parting ways, he asks Solo to loan one of the New Republic 's gutted warships to help with the evacuation.
Luke and Han help an injured but very much alive Lando onto the Millennium Falcon. They debrief each other as they depart, and Han says that he wants to take a detour through Sluis Van to give Lando proper medical treatment and Luke some much needed rest before diving into the political hotbed on Coruscant.
However: Lying in wait at Sluis Van, Thrawn has begun his operation to take ships out of the shipyard. Upon hearing that the Imperial detachment on Myrkr has failed to report in, he concludes that Skywalker was indeed there, undoubtedly aided by Karrde. He makes a point of deferring retribution to focus on the imminent battle.
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Previous Episode
Heir to the Empire | Chapter 29 | The Lost Holocron
Chapter 29 of Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (1991) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn.
The Story So Far
Grand Admiral Thrawn and Captain Pellaeon are engaged in preparations to assault the Sluis Van Shipyards. They have left a contingent of Stormtroopers at Hyllyard on Myrkr to intercept the survivors of a crash. Thrawn correctly suspects it may involve Luke Skywalker, but has insufficient evidence to implicate Talon Karrde in his duplicity. Han Solo and Lando Calrissian however sleuth out the truth, begrudging Karrde into cooperating to bring Luke back to safety.
In the forest, Luke is marched by Mara Jade towards Hyllyard. Between the dangers of the forest and sleepless rotations, her animosity has boiled over to the point of confession. Before the deposition of the Emperor, she had held the position of Emperor’s Hand: a covert operative answering to Palpatine’s very mind.
Disguised as best they can, Mara and Luke exit the forest into Imperial custody. As they are marched through Hyllyard, Karrde’s men hand over a roughed up Han Solo. Han covertly alerts Luke and Mara of an imminent ambush, but Luke sees a tactical alternative. He creates a ruckus so that R2-D2 can inform the ambushers (via C-3PO in binary droid-speak) on the optimal timing for their attack.
Chapter 29
The ambush is set, but with new information from C-3PO, Lando and Karrde’s administrator Aves butt heads over whether to abide by their strategic preparations or Luke’s intuition. Blaster to Ave’s head, Lando stakes his and Karrde’s mens’ lives on Luke; a gamble that leaves him mortally wounded.
In the firezone, Luke, Mara, and Han take cover until Luke can engage his plan. On his command, Han creates a distraction for R2-D2 to toss Luke’s lightsaber for him. In the confusion, Luke fells the very archway the Imperials are using for cover, destroying the armoured Imperial Chariot.
Links, Share, and Support
- Documentation for this chapter
- Cross platform link for this chapter
- Discuss this chapter on Discord, YouTube, or Reddit
- Support us on Patreon
- Our Website
- Transcript
Hosts’ Thoughts
- At first I thought Han had Hoodini his way out of the cuffs and was immediately disappointed to remember he was set up with dummy cuffs
- "Blazing green blade" :( there goes my theory (though Luke was the POV character so maybe there's special pleading to be had)
- “The blade slicing through the listening stormtrooper armour with hardly a tug to mark its passing.” HOLY S***
- Luke casually destroying cultural artefacts throughout this book
- Bimm tapestries
- Mykyrian architecture
- (More? Chewbacca)
- “Threepio said, obviously relieved that somebody was finally listening to him.” Threepio needs better friends
- Lando suddenly getting some pathos
- Maybe you mean ethos? (his belief in Luke)
- Luke = Kairos (timeliness)
- Aves = Logos (logic: tactics)
- Luke’s blade color gets mentioned, but not Leia’s?!
- Luke’s lightsaber has a lock. Seems dangerous to throw it without the Force though
Next Episode
Heir to the Empire | Chapter 31 | The Lost Holocron
Chapter 31 of Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (1991) (EU: 9 ABY) by Timothy Zahn.
The Story So Far
Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo have been on the run from a mysterious taskforce set on abducting them, directed from the shadows of Imperial Command by Grand Admiral Thrawn. On Kashyyyk, Leia uncovers the identity of the Noghri assailants from one they manage to pull into custody.
On Myrkr, Luke crashes in the wilderness with Mara Jade, an ex-Imperial operative with a mortal rancour for him. Caught in the act of an incidental kidnapping, Talon Karrde feels morally obliged to break his long-fought independence to work with Han Solo and Lando Calrissian in extracting Luke and Mara from the wilderness.
Hoping to delay retribution from Grand Admiral Thrawn for his concealed (albeit reluctant) partisanship, Karrde stages an ambush in which Lando stakes his life on Luke's Jedi intuition. The gamble costs him dearly, leaving him mortally wounded, but betting on Luke wins out even without use of the Force.
After a few weeks unconscious and imprisoned, a short-lived escape attempt, and days trekking through the wilderness with an animus Jade, Luke leaves Myrkr a free man with Han Solo and injured Lando Calrissian. Bound for Sluis Van, they hope to get Lando much needed medical attention, as well as repairs to Luke’s crippled X-Wing.
However, at the edge of the Sluissi system, Grand Admiral Thrawn and Captain Pellaeon are prepared for their assault on the Shipyards.
Chapter 31
The Sluis Van Shipyards are mired with repurposed warships trying to make up for the logistical deficiencies of the New Republic.
While awaiting the processing of his charge, Wedge Antilles’s instincts tell him to investigate an approaching freighter. Just before Rogue Squadron's approach, it literally explodes with activity, releasing TIE fighters and unidentified snub crafts. Having presently arrived, the Millenium Falcon jumps the docking regulations to enter the fray; Han and Luke both identify the snubs as Lando’s stolen mole miners.
At the edge of the Sluissi system, Thrawn and Pellaeon direct the Imperial assault. Upon seeing the Falcon, Thrawn is now certain of Karrde’s earlier deception, but tucks that away for a later time.
As the battle continues, Wedge, Han, and Luke discover the mole miners are being used to hijack the repurposed warships running materiel through the shipyard. Injured though he is, Lando activates his override codes for the mole miners, boring through the bridge of every escaping warship.
Links, Share, and Support
- Documentation for this chapter
- Cross platform link for this chapter
- Discuss this chapter on Discord, YouTube, or Reddit
- Support us on Patreon
- Our Website
- Transcript
Hosts’ Thoughts
- Confirmed: Star Wars has tea
- Stormtroopers still considered very threatening
- Zahn really captures Han's mannerisms so well
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