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"Three years after the events of The Phantom Menace, Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi encounter a mysterious world…"
―Rogue Planet[src]

Rogue Planet is a novel written by Greg Bear, published on May 2, 2000 by Del Rey. The novel is set three years after the events of The Phantom Menace. Narration for the audio version was performed by Michael Cumpsty.

Editions

American

Foreign

Publisher's summary

Hardcover

Back cover

Three years after the events of The Phantom Menace, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi encounter a mysterious world…

Inside flap

MASTER AND APPRENTICE.

You've seen the movie The Phantom Menace. You've read the #1 New York Times bestselling book based on George Lucas's masterpiece. Now, before the eagerly awaited release of Episode II, comes a stunning new Star Wars novel from one of science fiction's greatest talents, a writer universally acclaimed for his keen grasp of cutting-edge science and the brilliance of his page-turning plots: multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Greg Bear. The result is pure adrenaline—an unforgettable journey stretching from the farthest reaches of known space to the battlefield of a young boy's heart, where a secret struggle is being waged that will decide the fate of billions.

That boy is twelve-year-old Anakin Skywalker. The Force is strong in Anakin…so strong that the Jedi Council, despite misgivings, entrusted the young Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi with the mission of training him to become a Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan—like his slain Master, Qui-Gon—believes Anakin may be the chosen one, the Jedi destined to bring balance to the Force. But first Obi-Wan must help his undisciplined, idealistic apprentice, who still bears the scars of slavery, find his own balance.

Dispatched to the mysterious planet of Zonama Sekot, source of the fastest ships in the galaxy, Obi-Wan and Anakin are swept up in a swirl of deadly intrigue and betrayal. For there are others who covet the power such superfast ships could bring. Raith Sienar, a brilliant but unscrupulous weapons and ship designer, has the brains to decipher the Zonama Sekot ship design. Commander Wilhuff Tarkin has at his disposal the forces of the mighty Trade Federation with which to extract the secret. Together, they make a formidable foe, one a small and undeveloped planet can hardly hope to stand against.

But as Tarkin's fleet strikes with all its brutal power, Obi-Wan and Anakin sense a disturbance in the Force unlike any they have encountered before. It seems there are more secrets on Zonama Sekot than meet the eye.

The search for those secrets will threaten the bond between Obi-Wan and Anakin…and bring the troubled young apprentice face-to-face with his deepest fears—and his darkest destiny.

Paperback

MASTER AND APPRENTICE.

The Force is strong in twelve-year-old Anakin Skywalker…so strong that the Jedi Council, despite misgivings, entrusted young Obi-Wan Kenobi with the mission of training him to become a Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan—like his slain Master Qui-Gon—believes Anakin may be the chosen one, the Jedi destined to bring balance to the Force. But first Obi-Wan must help his undisciplined apprentice, who still bears the scars of slavery, find his own balance.

Dispatched to the mysterious planet of Zonama Sekot, source of the fastest ships in the galaxy, Obi-Wan and Anakin are swept up in a swirl of deadly intrigue unlike any they have encountered before. It seems there are more secrets on Zonama Sekot than meet the eye. But the search for those secrets will threaten the bond between Obi-Wan and Anakin… and bring the troubled young apprentice face-to-face with his deepest fears—and his darkest destiny.

Plot summary

Twelve year old Anakin Skywalker was planning on participating in an illegal race in the garbage tunnels under Coruscant. Before the race started, another contestant, a Blood Carver named Ke Daiv, tried to assassinate Anakin. Obi-Wan Kenobi rescued his young Padawan just in time and together they made their way out of the garbage pit. Afterwards, they returned to the Jedi Temple to appear before the Council. Mace Windu, one of the four Jedi Masters present in the Council, headed up the inquisition. In the middle of the meeting Thracia Cho Leem came in and helped Anakin convince the Council and Obi-Wan that what he needed was a mission. The mission Obi-Wan and Anakin were assigned sent them to a very strange and mysterious planet in the Gardaji Rift by the name of Zonama Sekot. They were sent there to find Thracia's former apprentice, Vergere, whose last mission was on this planet, and also to purchase a Sekotan spacecraft. The ship that they took to Zonama Sekot, the Star Sea Flower, was the same ship Vergere had rode about three years earlier when she began her mission. On both occasions, it was piloted by a male Priapulin, Charza Kwinn who had helped the Jedi for over a century.

Meanwhile, Raith Sienar and Commander Wilhuff Tarkin of the Republic Outland Regions Security Force had been making plans. Tarkin helped Sienar become commander of the Admiral Korvin which carried three landing craft, one hundred Trade Federation troops, and over three thousand droids. Sienar was to use this ship, along with three smaller vessels, to conquer Zonama Sekot. Tarkin, after sending Sienar on his way, headed to Coruscant to support their effort politically.

Before the Admiral Korvin arrived at Zonama Sekot, the Star Sea Flower came out of hyperspace near its destination. Obi-Wan and Anakin got to view the beautiful dancing red and purple pinwheel made by the red giant and the white dwarf that dominated the skies of Zonama Sekot. The northern hemisphere of the planet was covered with unusual tree like foliage called boras, while the southern hemisphere was covered by a silvery cloud layer. The Star Sea Flower landed, as directed by the Orbital Control of Zonama Sekot, in the far north of the planet and the two Jedi disembarked in a flurry of snow. Obi-Wan than ordered Charza Kwinn to keep the Star Sea Flower nearby in case they needed it for anything. Anakin and Obi-Wan were transported to a lush part of the planet located in the Middle Distance. They were greeted by Gann, a Ferroan, who explained to them a little about Zonama Sekot and the people that inhabited it and led them to their quarters where they were to stay the night.

The next morning Obi-Wan and Anakin met Sheekla Farrs who informed them that they would meet their seed-partners today. She also told them that the seed-partners come out of a Potentium. Anakin did not know anything about the belief of a Potentium, but Obi-Wan knew a little bit about it and wanted to figure out why it was believed here. While they were talking, they traveled to Far Distance in a gondola hanging underneath a large airship. When they arrived they went through a ceremony at the end of which they entered a door in a massive stone which led to a great, open spherical chamber. There they saw thousands of living spike-covered balls above them around the edges of the chamber. The spikeballs (seed-partners) soon started falling down and Anakin (who was listening to the spikeballs through the Force) warned Obi-Wan "This is going to be bad! But whatever you do, don't be afraid!"[2]

When the great stone doors opened Sheekla Farrs called to Obi-Wan and Anakin. Obi-Wan got up first with three spikeballs clinging to him. Anakin, however, was under a great mound of shed spikes and shells and Obi-Wan and Gann had to help him up and carry him out. In all, Anakin had twelve seed-partners clinging to him; more than anyone had ever had, Farrs informed them. Soon Farrs and Gann removed the seed-partners that were clinging to Obi-Wan and Anakin and placed each one each in a Lamina box. Farrs explains that three of the seed-partners, one of Obi-Wan's and two of Anakin's, had chosen a client before, but that the client did not stay long enough to grow a ship. Obi-Wan and Anakin were left alone to eat, but after only ten minutes Gann came back in and informed them that before they could design and forge their ship they had to meet with the Magister who, he said, they would go to at his convenience.

While the Admiral Korvin was still in hyperspace, Sienar ordered a Baktoid E-5 battle droid to his room and replaced its verbobrain with one of his own design so that it was now carrying his own programs. He did this in case Tarkin had ordered Ke Daiv to assassinate him. Once this was completed he called Ke Daiv to his quarters to find out a little more about him and to give him the order to take a smaller ship and get closer to Zonama Sekot to observe it. Then Sienar headed to the navigation deck of the Admiral Korvin and ordered Captain Kett to load some programs of Sienar's own making into the ship manufactory and in all the Battle droids.

Obi-Wan and Anakin were transported to the Magister in a Sekotan air transport. On the way they passed over a huge brown scar on the landscape that resembled a battle scar. When they arrived at the Magister's Palace they were greeted by a girl named Wind who said she was the Magister's daughter. The Magister seemed to know his two clients were Jedi, but he told them they could continue making their ship and then he left them. Both Anakin and Obi-Wan felt that something was not right but neither of them could quite figure it out.

That night the two Jedi didn't get much sleep because of their seed-partners who they had to sleep with. They put up with it, however, and the next morning they were each given a red and black client robe and access to the library. Soon they were transported to Shappa Farrs's designing shop where they set about drafting and designing their ship. Later, after they had finished the designing process, they were transported again this time on their way to forge their ship. On the way Anakin met a girl who looked like the Magister's daghter they had seen but was much more real. She said her name was Jabitha Hal and that she was indeed the Magister's daughter but that she had not seen the young Padawan before. She explained that her father often put holograms of her in different places so that's how Anakin must have seen her. Then she continued to tell him about the different kinds of boras and how they work in the wild. Eventually the gondola landed and they disembarked, ready to begin the next leg of their journey.

Ke Daiv, back from his scouting expedition, made his report to Raith Sienar. He said they had made their way in pretty close to the planet and back out without being scanned and then he proceeded to tell Sienar all he had observed. When Ke Daiv was finished, Sienar told him of his plan to get a Sekotan spacecraft and sent him down in a indiscreet starship to carry out the plan. Soon Sienar received the message from Ke Daiv that he had landed his ship on the northern plateau and that he was awaiting transport to Middle Distance. After this news, Sienar was sure positive he was going to overtake Zonama Sekot very soon.

Obi-Wan and Anakin found that they did have farther to go before they forged their ship. Together with Jabitha and Gann they descended steep steps to a low-ceilinged cavern. After twenty minutes of walking, they reached an underground river and boarded a boat on which they traveled downstream for several hours. Finally, they docked and disembarked and after a long climb they reached the head of the factory valley. There Gann and Jabitha left them. Soon their forgers arrived riding Carapods. The leader of the forgers, Vagno, took their seed-partners and put them on the back of a carapod and then they headed to the forging pits.

Again Sienar received a message from Ke Daiv but this time it was not good news. Ke Daiv had been rejected because the seed-partners had taken a dislike to him. Sienar decided to give Ke Daiv one more day. Tarkin had also sent a message communicating his impatience, so Sienar also decided he might have to resort to force soon. Sienar sent Tarkin a false message in reply that he was sure would have Tarkin running in as fast as he could but he would take a few days to get to Zonama Sekot.

Anakin and Obi-Wan watched as Vagno and his crew tossed the seed-partners into a deep pit and dumped boras foliage and branches on them. Then the forgers poured red pellets on top of that and after a rather mysterious ceremony, Orange bolts of lightning tumbled down into the pit and soon after the seeds popped. Finally, they were ready to gather the seeds out of the pit.

Obi-Wan and Anakin were again transported; this time on the backs of carapods to the shapers. The chief of the shapers, Vidge, placed pieces of a special fruit on each of the white seed-disks that the seed-partners had made when they exploded. When this was done Vidge told Obi-Wan and Anakin to each sit in one of the frames that would make their ship as they traveled to the Jentari. When they reached the Jentari the seed-disks were slapped around the frames and began to grow, mold, and join together until the ship was almost finished and just needed a few minor things.

Raith Sienar's E-5 battle droid that he had loaded his programs into was vibrating and having trouble even standing up. Sienar could not find out what was wrong with the droid but Captain Kett said that five other battle droids had unexpectedly departed and he had to lock down the other droids so that they could not do anything similar. Sienar ordered a sweep of the entire system with active sensors and then he set about trying to figure out why the droids had malfunctioned.

By the time the new Sekotan starship made it to the end of the factory valley it was early morning. Workers helped Anakin and Obi-Wan out of their new ship. One of the workers, Fitch, informed them that in the next couple of hours the workers would add a few things to the ship to bring it up to Republic standards and than they would work on learning the ship. But before the ship was completely finished Shappa, Sheekla, Gann, and Jabitha arrived with news that there were four fighters coming in. Before they could even decide what to do about that, starfighters arrived and started shooting at them. Obi-Wan was disabled while trying to protect his Padawan and separated from him. Anakin was confronted by the Blood Carver who threw him in the ship and climbed in after him. Jabitha had hid in the ship and was discovered by the Blood Carver who tossed her in the back seat. The Blood Carver ordered Anakin to fly under the threat of killing Jabitha.

Raith Sienar watched Tarkin arrive with two converted midsized Hoersch-Kessel Drive, Inc. cargo haulers and ten Corellian Engineering light cruisers. Sienar had figured out that Tarkin had hidden a code in the battle droids so that when he activated it the droids would do what he wanted. Captian Kett informed Sienar that Tarkin's orders were to put Sienar under arrest and that Tarkin now controlled the Admiral Korvin. Sienar headed back to his quarters to await Tarkin there but on the way he was confronted by Republic troops who made a path for Tarkin to reach Sienar. Tarkin took Sienar to his own ship to talk with him.

Obi-Wan was badly hurt, but not too badly for a Jedi Knight. Shappa told him that Sheekla was injured and that Gann was in shock, so Shappa would help the Jedi however he could. Obi-Wan asked for a spacecraft to follow Anakin. Shappa said he would fly Obi-Wan in his own ship. While they were chasing Anakin, Obi-Wan told Shappa why they were here and in return Shappa told Obi-Wan all he knew about Vergere. Obi-Wan then established a com-link channel with the Star Sea Flower so he could ask Charza Kwinn for help.

Tarkin told Sienar he had already given orders to invade the planet. While this was happening they both watched the race between three ships, two they did not recognize and a YZ-1150. They also observed as many spacecraft rose from the Sekotan jungles. Tarkin then ordered Captain Mignay of the Rim Merchant Einem to release the first rank of starfighters.

Anakin flew his new ship with ease, it would have been a joyful moment if Obi-Wan was with him. As easy as it was to fly, he had a hard time concentrating because a misting ghost kept floating around the cabin of the ship. Then the wraith took on form, but Anakin took his hands off the controls of the ship and it disappeared. While his hands were up there he tried a bit of Jedi persuasion and was doing pretty good when Ke Daiv noticed the ships that were following them and tensed up. He ordered Anakin to go faster to the Magister's mountain. When Anakin put his hands back on the controls the image appeared again, this time crystalline, and Anakin now recognized her as Vegere. She had left a message in the seed-partners and they were now delivering it to Anakin. At the end of it Anakin realized he must defeat Ke Daiv and anyone else who tried to stop him; the life of the Jedi was at stake.

Shappa recognized the sky-mines above them as Republic vessels and thought maybe Obi-Wan did know something after all. But Obi-Wan was just as troubled about why they would be here. Shappa mentioned the Potentium and Obi-Wan started asking a few questions to try to finally get some answers. Shappa was reluctant to answer but eventually complied. Obi-Wan found out that the original Magister had been given Jedi training and that his name had been Leor Hal. He also found out that the people of Zonama Sekot had begun building weapons under the leadership of the second Magister. Obi-Wan now realized that the Magister was dead and that what they had seen was just a holo-image, but Shappa would not accept this.

Anakin brought his ship in a low arc around the mountain, but he did not see the Magister's palace. Anakin circled again and again, higher this time. The third time both he and Ke Daiv saw sky-miners above them. Anakin told Ke Daiv that they would have to land somewhere to avoid them. Jabitha, desperate in her need to find her father, pointed out the ruins of a huge complex of buildings buried under a massive landslide. Anakin put down on a little portion of the old landing field next to the ruins.

Shappa was forced to put down his ship about one-hundred kilometers form the Magister's mountain because of the sky-mines. Obi-Wan was becoming increasingly troubled; he saw though the Force that Anakin's future was mixed in a big knot with so many other futures in the next few hours. Everything depended on his Padawan.

Jabitha, having a hard time breathing because of the altitude, entered a small door in the rubble. Ke Daiv motioned for Anakin to go in after her, but he refused. He was trying to control the banked anger that threatened to spill over and fill him. His eyes turned black as pitch and he cried out to any one who would listen “Stop it, please! I can't hold it back any longer!”[2]

Tarkin was surprised; Zonama Sekot had many more ships than he had thought. Tarkin was sure all the Sekotan ships would soon be destroyed anyway, but he was troubled by another thing. Rectangular bulges in the jungle that they had noticed earlier had begun to rise out of the ground. As he was observing this he also saw a beautiful Sekotan ship, different from any of the others. He ordered all sky mines away from the mountain and instead to go against the YT-1150. He was determined to capture the abandoned ship on the mountain.

Shappa and Obi-Wan, still pinned down, watched though the ships sensors as the sky-mines abandoned the Magister's mountain and went after the Star Sea Flower. They decided that they would attempt a rescue of Anakin and Jabitha.

Jabitha watched as Ke Daiv emerged from the shadow in which he and Anakin had fought. She looked at him and shrieked. His eyes were white and he was bleeding profusely. She called Anakin and the young sand-haired boy also emerged from the shadow. When Ke Daiv saw the Padawan he fell to his knees. Anakin hoped that Ke Daiv was not dying; he did not want to kill him this way. Jabitha left to find her father, but Anakin stayed with the Blood Carver as he slowly died. Then the boy who had killed him rose, turned around, and screamed.

Anakin knew he needed to get Jabitha to safety before he could wrestle with what had just happened. So he entered the small door that Jabitha had entered a little while before. He made his way down the dark corridor inside until he ended up in the chamber where he and Obi-Wan had first met the Magister. While he was going there the ceiling shuddered and rocks started falling down. Jabitha was on her knees beside one of the piles of rubble in the circular chamber. Under the pile of rubble the Magister was buried. Again Anakin saw a vision of Vegere appear, but then she turned into the Magister. Anakin put Jabitha asleep using the force and then asked the image who he was. It replied “A friend of Vegere. I think my name, to some, is Sekot.”[2]

Anakin and Sekot talked for a while and Anakin learned a little bit more about Zonama Sekot. When the roof of the chamber started falling in Sekot shored up the hallways as Anakin carried Jabitha out. As they exited the last door Jabitha woke up and saw a sky-mine delivery ship land beside them. A bulky soldier pulled Anakin away from Jabitha though he tried to stay with her. An officer told Anakin that his name was Tarkin and they entered the ship just as Jabitha cried out. Anakin was brought to the bay where his ship had been hoisted and left there with some guards.

Shappa maneuvered his ship well and soon they were at the mountain. Shappa landed and Obi-Wan jumped out, dropped a kicking and screaming Jabitha in through the hatch and told Shappa to leave him there. Shappa hesitated but left him and Obi-Wan prepared to fight the incoming starfighters. Before the fight started Obi-Wan investigated the Blood Carver's body; something about it troubled him but he had no time to contemplate it. The starfighters had just started firing, one of them hitting Ke Daiv, when out of nowhere the Star Sea Flower came in and destroyed the two starfighters before they could even think of retaliating. Then Charza Kwinn directed his old YT-1150 to land beside Obi-Wan and soon the Jedi was in the cabin with Charza. “They have your Padawan,” The Priapulin informed him, “Sit down and buckle up.”[2]

Tarkin was beside himself with pride, but his enthusiasm was banked when he saw that Zonama Sekot was still not subdued. He decided to interview the boy before they docked with the Rim Merchant Einem When he went in and tried to talk with Anakin the young boy refused to help him. When Tarkin touched Anakin's shoulder his hand was burnt. Suddenly alarms rang out around the ship. The bay doors broke through and when the air pressure dropped Tarkin and Sienar left without a thought of the boy. Through the smoke and hot metal Anakin saw a hooded figure reflecting laser fire from the guards with a brilliant green lightsaber. Anakin cried out with joy but there was no time and he set to work getting their ship ready to leave. They had three minutes before a delay bomb that Charza Kwinn had put on the bay doors went off. In those minutes they had to load their ship up with fuel.

Obi-Wan jumped in their Sekotan ship seconds before the explosion that propelled their ship out of the doors. The ship made it out with only a couple scrapes which quickly healed themselves. The path through space to Zonama Sekot's atmosphere was dangerous and filled with mines but Anakin made it to the upper layers of the atmosphere and on the way he told his Master about everything that had happened since they had been separated, especially about Sekot and Vergere's message.

Tarkin, who had escaped in an escape pod with Sienar, was purple with rage. He ordered the captain of the Einem to destroy the cargo ship, all that remained on the planet, and Obi-Wan and Anakin. Soon the two Jedi found themselves surrounded by sky mines and starfighters and they decided they would have to go lower into the factory valley. Then the ship, which was connected to Sekot, told them that if they didn't want to go with the people of Zonoma Sekot then they better find some way to get into a solar orbit, and fast. Obi-Wan told Anakin to do his best at getting them into free space and Anakin, expecting to die at any moment, drove them straight through the boiling atmosphere full of debris and flaming fuel.

They broke through the atmosphere's outer edges but starfighters were still pursuing them until Charza Kwinn pushed up from behind them and lured most of the fighters away. Then the Einem hit them with a concentrated bolt of turbolaser fire. It caught their ship broadside and Anakin felt the ship's scream of pain. While Anakin was still lost in the pain the ship felt, Obi-Wan saw huge engines flare to life on Zonama Sekot; pushing the planet out of its orbit. All the ships around her were having a hard time compensating and were running into each other. “She's leaving!”[2] Obi-Wan cried and indeed the planet of Zonama Sekot disappeared into hyperspace with only a faint, far-reaching tendril of farewell lingering behind.

Anakin and the ship together worked to take themselves into hyperspace; the ship teaching him how to navigate the dimensions of space and he giving all the skills he possessed in return.

The ship was giving all it had but it would not be able to get them to their destination; It's injures were too great. While Anakin was sleeping, Obi-Wan found a closer station, on the planet of Seline, that Jedi sometimes used. He set it's coordinates as their new destination and the ship's display affirmed that they could make it there. Obi-Wan also sent out a message to the Jedi Temple asking Mace Windu or Tharacia Cho Leem to meet them at the outpost to council Anakin.

When Anakin woke up he told Obi-Wan he was going to give their ship a name; the Jabitha. Then Anakin asked “Our ship is dying, isn't she?” “Yes” Obi-Wan replied. Anakin's face went blank and Obi-Wan thought “The boy loses everything he loves, and yet still he is strong.”[2]

The Jabitha, in a hanger on Seline, was rapidly losing its color as Anakin sat before it and watched. Thraica and Obi-Wan entered; Thraicia approached Anakin and started her counseling and healing while Obi-Wan waited outside. “Self-knowledge is the most difficult of our many journeys.” Thraica told the apprentice before they started. He simply replied “I know.”[2]

Coda:

No more Sekotan ships were made. In a few years, all of them were dead or destroyed.

Tarkin and Raith Sienar managed to bring the crippled fleet home. Inspired by what he called a “great example,” Tarkin redeemed himself before the Supreme Chancellor with secret plans for a moon-sized battle station. Tarkin claimed sole credit for the design. Sienar did not dispute him; it is a brainchild he was eager to disown. Sienar had a bad feeling about such an expensive concentration of might.

The new order found both Tarkin and Sienar useful.

Charza Kwinn and his shipmates survived and reached Coruscant, where they were assigned new missions. In later years, with the rise of the Empire and a decline in cordial relations with nonhumans, Charza became a smuggler and pirate to feed his food-kin. He limited his prey to Imperial vessels.

A legend grew in the galaxy: of a rogue planet that wandered between the stars, forever lost, ruled by either a madman, a madwoman, or a saint, the legends were never clear which.

Months after Thracia Cho Leem counseled Anakin Skywalker, without explanation, she left the Jedi order.

Obi-Wan Kenobi had his work cut out for him. The young man, his Padawan, was growing stronger, overcoming disappointment, acquiring discipline. But the knot in Anakin's future was not completely loosened. The trial was not over; not over for decades.

No balance.

No balance yet.

Appearances

By type
Characters Organisms Droid models Events Locations
Organizations and titles Sentient species Vehicles and vessels Weapons and technology Miscellanea

Characters

Organisms

Droid models

Events

Locations

Organizations and titles

Sentient species

Vehicles and vessels

Weapons and technology

Miscellanea

Behind the scenes

In this novel and the audio book adaptation, Obi-Wan mentions Darth Maul by name, when he should not have known the identity of the Sith Lord he believed to have killed. It is possible that the Neimoidians of the Trade Federation mentioned Maul's name upon capture and interrogation.

In the audiobook adaptation, Vergere's name is pronounced with a hard "g" instead of the "j" sound used in other audiobooks.

Cover gallery

This is a gallery of the different cover variations of Rogue Planet.

Bibliography

Notes and References

External links

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