Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura (Paperback)

Soon after the Battle of Endor has ended, a communications drone is intercepted which contains a message from Bakura's Imperial Governor. The message was intended for the Emperor and warns him that Ssi-ruuk has entered the Bakura system and is laying siege to Imperial forces. The Rebel Alliance sees the attack as an opportunity to try and pry the system away from Imperial control and dispatches a delegation to Bakura. Once there, the Rebels discover the Ssi-ruuk is as great a threat to them as they are to the remnants of the Empire. Realizing that there are no other alternatives, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa secure a temporary truce with their former enemies in order to defeat their common foe.

"The Truce at Bakura" is just too lackluster a tale to be considered a Star Wars adventure. None of the swashbuckling fun or witty humor of the films is present here. The single volume format for the story also works against the novel as it severely hinders the character development of the primary film characters. Luke and Leia have their moments in the spotlight but everyone else is essentially relegated to spot duty. The Ssi-ruuk are dreary villains compared to the memorable cinematic adversaries and their practice of transferring humanoid energies into androids is a derivative science fiction plot device. The writing itself is awkward and does not flow as smoothly as Timothy Zahn's superior style. It is possible that "The Truce at Bakura" may have been a worthy addition to the Star Wars mythos had the story been spread over more than one book, but it is sadly nothing noteworthy as a stand-alone single novel.

As the novel begins, Luke Skywalker -- still feeling the effects of his battle with the Emperor only the day before -- takes his X-wing fighter out on a routine flight over the moon of Endor. But almost as soon as he is space borne and flying amidst the battle-scarred Rebel fleet, Luke must rescue his friend and fellow pilot Wedge Antilles; while inspecting an intercepted Imperial message drone, Wedge has triggered off a security device and risks losing his hand...or even his life. Using his Jedi powers and fighting the painful and debilitating aftershocks of Palpatine's Force lightning strikes, Luke saves Wedge and the message drone is retrieved.

In it, the Alliance discovers, the Imperial governor of Bakura, unaware that the second Death Star has been destroyed and that the Emperor is gone, warns Palpatine that a new threat against the Empire has emerged. Bakura is under attack by a powerful alien task force and half of the Imperial forces have been destroyed.

Knowing that Bakura has only been under Imperial control for three years and hoping the system will leave the Empire out of gratitude for aid from the Alliance, the Rebel leaders send a small force commanded by Luke, while his sister Leia, accompanied by Han Solo, Chewbacca and See Threepio, volunteers to negotiate a truce with the devious Wilek Nereus, the Imperial governor.

Soon, Rebel and Imperial forces unite to fight off the reptilian Ssi-ruuk, intelligent dinosaur-like creatures (they resemble velociraptors) that can entrap the life forces of sentient beings inside droid fighters. Enticed by a deal proposed by the now-dead Palpatine to exchange this technology for -- one supposes -- thousands of the Empire's undesirable captives, the Ssi-ruk have made their way to Imperial territory. Now, having no one to bargain with, the aliens have come to conquer the human-ruled Galactic Empire.

On Bakura, Luke will feel the first stirrings of romantic attraction to the beautiful Bakuran Senator Gaeriel Captison, a young woman who not only believes in the stability the Empire offers the galaxy, but is also a follower of the Cosmic Balance, a religion whose basic teachings state that the Jedi are more a threat than a boon to the galaxy. Their use of the Force upset the cosmic balance and caused the resulting chaos and strife that led to the rise of the Empire. In addition, Luke and Leia must deal with two very different Imperial officers: the wily and untrustworthy Gov. Nereus and the more diplomatic Commander Pter Thanas, captain of the small Imperial cruiser Dominant. Together, they must defeat the Ssi-ruuk and hope that the truce at Bakura holds long enough for the combined force of Imperials and Rebels to turn back this alien invasion.