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Vector Prime (novel)

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This article is about the novel. You may be looking for the in-universe term.
The New Jedi Order:
Vector Prime
Attribution
Author(s)

R.A. Salvatore

Cover artist

Cliff Nielsen

Publication information
Publisher

Del Rey

Release date

October 5, 1999

Media type

Hardcover

Pages

400

ISBN

0345428447

Chronology
Canon

C

Era

New Jedi Order era

Timeline

25 ABY

Series

The New Jedi Order

Preceded by

A Practical Man

Followed by

Dark Tide I: Onslaught

[Source]

Vector Prime is the first installment of the New Jedi Order series. It is a science fiction novel written by R. A. Salvatore and published by Del Rey in October 1999. The galactic maps printed inside were designed by Daniel Wallace and Chris Barbieri.

Contents

[edit] Editions

[edit] American

[edit] Foreign

This article is a stub about a book. You can help Wookieepedia by expanding it.

[edit] Publisher's summary

[edit] Hardcover

[edit] Back cover

Twenty-one years after the Battle of Endor, the New Republic will face an even darker enemy…

[edit] Inside flap

With the exciting arrival of The New Jedi Order series, the next era of Star Wars history is about to begin. Here, fantasy and science fiction's most acclaimed authors propel the legendary epic into the next millenium [sic], introducing us to a rich cast of characters that features old favorites—Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa Solo—along with the next generation of Jedi and never-before-seen creatures, droids, and deadly agents of darkness. In Vector Prime, the launch novel for this thrilling new saga, New York Times bestselling author R. A. Salvatore takes the Star Wars universe to previously unscaled heights of action and imagination, expanding the beloved story of a galaxy far, far away…

Twenty-one years have passed since the heroes of the Rebel Alliance destroyed the Death Star, breaking the power of the Emperor. Since then, the New Republic has valiantly struggled to maintain peace and prosperity among the peoples of the galaxy. But unrest has begun to spread; tensions erupt in outbreaks of rebellion that, if unchecked, threaten to destroy the Republic's tenuous reign.

Into this volatile atmosphere comes Nom Anor, a charismatic firebrand who heats passions to the boiling point, sowing seeds of dissent for his own dark motives. In an effort to avert a catastrophic civil war, Leia travels with her daughter Jaina, her sister-in-law Mara Jade, and the loyal protocol droid C-3PO, to conduct face-to-face diplomatic negotiations with Nom Anor. But he proves resistant to Leia's entreaties—and, far more inexplicably, within the Force, where a being should be, was…blank space.

Meanwhile, Luke is plagued by reports of rogue Jedi Knights who are taking the law into their own hands. And so he wrestles with a dilemma: Should he attempt, in this climate of mistrust, to reestablish the legendary Jedi Council?

As the Jedi and the Republic focus on internal struggles, a new threat surfaces, unnoticed, beyond the farthest reaches of the Outer Rim. An enemy appears from outside known space, bearing weapons and technology unlike anything New Republic scientists have ever seen. Suddenly Luke, Mara, Leia, Han Solo, and Chewbacca—along with the Solo children—are thrust again into battle, to defend the freedom so many have fought and died for. But this time, all their courage, sacrifice, and even the power of the Force itself may not be enough.…

[edit] Paperback

Twenty-one years after the Battle of Endor, the New Republic will face an even darker enemy…

The Galactic Empire has ended the war with the New Republic, but the galaxy is far from peace. Unrest is spreading everywhere, and threatens to destroy the New Republic's tenuous reign.

Into this fragile moment comes Nom Anor, a mysterious and charismatic firebrand who is sowing seeds of mistrust and anger through his call for a simpler time. Little do his followers know the truth which hides behind his words.

When ExGal 4, a scientific outpost on Belkadan, discovers an odd comet-like object coming through the vast distance between the galaxies, astrophysicist Danni Quee takes it upon herself to investigate. She journeys to the Helska system, unaware of the danger which threatens the survival of the entire galaxy: the Yuuzhan Vong.

Jedi Masters Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade Skywalker, along with the Solo's and Chewbacca are thrust into the middle of the danger once more, forced to fight with all they have to save the galaxy.

But this time, the Force itself may not be enough.

[edit] Plot

Luke Skywalker struggles with the New Republic with the formation of the Jedi Council. Leia, Mara Jade Skywalker, along with Jaina Solo meet the ominous prime minister of Rhommamool. An extra-galactic object enters the galaxy and crash lands on the planet of Helska 4 and a team of scientists go to the planet to investigate. They soon realize that the object isn't just a normal celestial object.

[edit] Chapter-by-Chapter

[edit] Chapter 1

Leia rides on the Jade Sabre. She and others are going to Rhommamool to speak with its leader, Nom Anor. Rhommamool and its neighboring planet, Osarian, are on the brink of war. The Osarians didn’t want Leia to go to Rhommamool, because they figured that it would rally support for the planet, which they considered their enemy. As a result, they sent some Z-95’s out at them, piloted by Rodians. The Jade Sabre was originally going to just evade the attackers, when Wurth Skidder, a Jedi that was staying on the Mon Calamari cruiser Mediator, which was between the two planets, came out and destroyed them. It was clear that it was mostly just so that he could have some fun. Leia was furious.

A droid, C-9PO was captured by the Red Knights on Rhommamool, and destroyed along with many others at the Square of Hopeful Redemption.

[edit] Chapter 2

At ExGal-4, on the planet Belkadan, Yomin Carr, a Yuuzhan Vong, was waiting for the invasion to begin. When Carr saw the blip he was waiting for, he went and disabled the communications of ExGal-4 and contacted Nom Anor, letting him know that it had begun. On the way back, he picked up a beetle, a creature that he had brought, hoping that it would spread; indeed, it was spreading quickly. The other scientists discovered the blip and thought that it was an asteroid, because it was transmitting no signals. Someone suggested contacting ExGal Command, but they decided against it yet, because it could have been something from their galaxy that just rebounded back in. Yomin Carr was instrumental in having them arrive at this decision.

Nom Anor sat more than halfway across the galaxy, excited to have heard from Yomin Carr that it had begun.

[edit] Chapter 3

Luke and Jacen meet with the New Republic advisory council, headed by Borsk Fey’lya. Luke is hounded by some councilors because some Jedi are playing law keeper too strongly. Luke suspects that their complaints are because Jedi are giving smugglers a hard time; he suspects that some councilors have illegal dealings with them, thus, when Jedi attack the smugglers, it affects the councilors. We also see discussion between Luke and Jacen, and their differences of opinion of what the Jedi should be, and whether or not the Jedi Council should be re-established.

[edit] Chapter 4

Discussion between Nom Anor and his underlings. We learn that he’s behind Mara’s disease. He hoped to learn how Mara was doing at this meeting. The meeting was terrible for Leia. Nom Anor was terribly rude to her. They left. Anor instructed his underling to see to it that their departure took them by the Square of Hopeful Redemption.

Here, we hear the protagonists’ opinion of Nom Anor, and see their reaction as they fly over the Square of Hopeful Redemption.

Han and Anakin are trying to fix the Falcon, which Anakin damaged by trying to show off and be like Jaina.

Han and Luke discuss the meeting with the council, and Lando’s whereabouts. Luke thought if he could get someone that was in the outer rim’s thoughts and insights, he could use that to get the councilors to see his point of view.

[edit] Chapter 5

The scientists at ExGal-4 tracked the asteroid to the Helska system. With its current vector, it would collide with the fourth planet in that system, which was made of ice. At this point they tried to contact ExGal Command. It didn’t work.

We now see a scene on the extragalactic “asteroid,” which is actually a living worldship, led by Prefect Da’Gara. Tu Shoolb was speaking with the Prefect. We hear that he’d been consulting his yammosk, its genetically engineered war coordinator. It was anxious to begin.

The ExGal scientists detect a tail on their extragalactic object. They reason that it must be a comet. Only Yomin Carr knew the truth. We also learn that Carr did something that would destroy the planet.

This scene goes back to Prefect Da’Gara. He and the 5,000 that were on board prepare for landing, and put on their protective ooglith cloaker and gnullith, which helps them to breathe. They followed the yammosk down into the ice to establish a base.

The ExGal-4 scientists see the “comet” impact with the 4th planet of the Helska system; to their surprise, there was no explosion. They wanted to contact ExGal, but the communications weren’t fixed yet. They considered taking their unreliable ship, Spacecaster, to send a communication, but decided to wait.

[edit] Chapter 6

Leia and Jaina, in cockpit of Jade Sabre, nearing Coruscant. Mara was tired, so Jaina was piloting alone. Leia’s thoughts of Nom Anor, and attempts to contact again. We see a huge Mon Calamari Star Defender, the Viscount, newly commissioned by the New Republic. Since they were nearing Coruscant, Leia went to get Mara, as she requested. The disease had attacked Mara's womb this time, which greatly disturbed her.

Jacen talks to Anakin, who is constantly practicing with his lightsaber, saying that Jedi are not to use the Force to right every wrong, and not to use the Force to gain glory for themselves. They decide to spar, to see whose philosophy wins out in a fight. Despite not practicing with the saber nearly as much as Anakin, Jacen wins out. He says, “We’re not a galactic patrol.” Jacen then goes to see how Han and Chewie are doing. He finds Chewie in a very disagreeable mood.

Mara met back up with Luke, and they exchanged stories. They decided to take a trip to the Outer Rim.

Leia met with the councilors to tell them of her mission. Han sent Chewie with her. Councilor Rodan came out, and began hounding Chewie. Chewie disposed of him by hanging him by his collar on a coatrack. They met up, and they informed Leia that they were going on a trip to talk to Lando.

[edit] Chapter 7

The people of ExGal-4 decide to go to the ice planet. They ask Carr, but he politely declines. His real reason is that he had orders to stay away from them. He discreetly damaged the Spacecaster. He then contacted Prefect Da’Gara, and told him to beware of Danni Quee. We learn that Belkadan will soon be destroyed, yet Carr will survive on it, because he’ll have his ooglith cloaker.

Yomin goes out with Garth Breise to fix the transmitter. They see some reddish brown beetles. Carr suggests that they may be the source of the problem. They decide to climb anyway. They find the problem. Carr, however, cuts Breise’s rope, and he falls to his death.

Danni Quee and the other scientists in the Spacecaster see a storm moving toward their ExGal-4 Base. They try to establish contact, but can hear very little. They decide to move on.

Nom Anor launched missiles at Osa-Prime. He knew he’d have to flee, but he did it mainly as a distraction for the New Republic.

[edit] Chapter 8

The Millennium Falcon, Jade’s Sabre, and Luke’s X-wing (piloted by a thrilled Jaina) arrive at Reecee. Leia managed to leave without her Noghri guards noticing. Conversation between Luke and Jacen about re-creation of Jedi Council.

Mara and Leia have a conversation.

Han and Chewie go to Riebold’s Foam and Sizzle—a place where fights, even deadly ones, are not frowned upon, as long as you clean up after yourself—to find out about Lando. They find a Sullustan Han knows, Dugo Bagy, and he tells them that Lando is looking for new mining techniques to apply to more profitable areas, like the asteroid in the Hoth system, known as Kerane’s Folly, which contains pure platinum; many have tried mining it, but were killed because of other asteroids. They also learn that Kyp Durron is causing a lot of trouble for the smugglers--Kyp and other pilots, known as “The Dozen-and-Two Avengers.”

[edit] Chapter 9

Four of the ExGal-4 scientists left the base to investigate the storm Danni told them about as she was taking off. They found it; it wasn’t a storm. It was a plague, probably caused by beetles, making a molecular change in the plant life. It filled the air with poisonous gas. They didn’t have enough air for all of them to get back. They all sacrificed their air so that one scientist, Jerem, would have a chance to make it.

Danni and the crew in the Spacecaster arrived at Helska 4. They were so confused as to why the planet appeared to be untouched. They assumed that a ball of gas must have been what collided. They detected strange energy from the planet. They began to circle the planet, when they detected hundreds of chunks of debris. They found out that they were ships of some kind. The ships took out the Spacecaster’s ion engines and hyperdrive so they couldn’t escape, meaning they knew about the workings of their ship. The Yuuzhan Vong sent a villip, and Prefect Da’Gara communicated to them through that. He told them to follow the coralskippers. They refused, so they shot the Spacecaster down. p. 131: Jerem made it back to base, only to be killed (honorably) by Yomin Carr. Yomin took his sample of the deadly gas and the beetle. Yomin Carr could still do as he was ordered—he would see if the scientists that remained would be able to find a cure of the “Plague.” p. 135: Danni woke up down on the planet. She watched her crew be killed by the Yuuzhan Vong. Da’Gara said the Yomin Carr demanded honor for her. He threw her down a hole, and he jumped in after her.

[edit] Chapter 10

Luke, Leia, Han, and others went to visit Lando’s new venture, Dubrillion, and its twin, less-habitable planet, Destrillion. They gave Jaina a test, in Luke’s X-wing. They had R2 feed her the wrong coordinates. She’d arrive just a little ways away. She adapted well and found her way. They meet Lando again here. He shows them his TIE advanced fighters he uses to run the belt. They were modified to be very safe. Jaina wanted to do it.

The Solo kids did the run here, all making it on to Lando’s board of best times. Jaina had an incredible run.

[edit] Chapter 11

The plague was spreading at the ExGal-4 base. As the communications were being fixed, Carr re-destroyed it, and killed the person making repairs.

Nom Anor and his assistant were escaping from Rhommamool in a hidden, modified A-Wing. They did much damage to the Mon Cal cruiser in the process. Nom Anor contacted Da’Gara, and reported that his next target was Sernpidal. They discuss using the tactic called Yo’gand’s Core, which uses gravity to pull a moon and a planet into a collision.

[edit] Chapter 12

Starts off with another argument between Jacen and Anakin about the Force, using Jaina’s amazing flight to debate whether it was a result of the Force guiding her actions or the fact that she practiced piloting a lot. Then, Kyp walked in to say hello. He was obviously a little upset that Jaina had taken his record in running the belt. He offered them to join his squadron, The Dozen-and-Two Avengers. Kyp left, and took off with his squadron; the kids watched their disciplined and high-profile take-off, complete with music.

Leia, Luke, Lando, and Mara were watching the takeoff, too. Lando then offered Luke and Mara to run the belt. Lando would have loved to have such names on his leader board. They didn’t want to fly. They did, however, get Han and Chewie go together in the TIE bomber, in hopes of beating Moss and Twingo, a pair of cocky smugglers. When they went, there was a malfunction in the communications and shields. They were in trouble…

[edit] Chapter 13

Kyp’s thoughts on the future of the Dozen-and-Two. They were checking for recent traffic. They detected a Spacecaster class vessel coming from Belkadan. They were headed to the Helska system. Kyp sent out a signal for someone to investigate Belkadan, while he took his squadron to the Helska system.

Luke flew into the asteroids to try to rescue Han and Chewie; Luke also had no shields. He found them, and they were rescued. They were exactly tied with Moss and Twingo when they lost communications, but Lando added five seconds, so they held the record for a twosome.

Nearly all of Kyp’s squadron was taken out by Yuuzhan Vong coralskippers. Kyp escaped to hyperspace, along with another A-wing, but Kyp had 3 grutchins on him. He thought that the A-wing was too badly damaged to survive the hyperspace jump.

Lando asked Han to go to Sernpidal to run some cargo. Han reluctantly agreed. Luke and Mara were going to Belkadan (as per Kyp’s call for someone to go there).

[edit] Chapter 14

Kyp’s X-wing was damaged by the grutchins. He rerouted some power, and began making short hyperspace hops toward Sernpidal, the closest inhabited planet.

The Yuuzhan Vong brought a man in with Danni Quee. He said he was a Jedi with the Dozen-and-Two. The Yuuzhan Vong said he was not worthy. They began looking for a way to escape.

Da’Gara was reporting to Nom Anor about the attack. He said that he thought the two ships that had escaped were destroyed. They were now going to begin “breaking” the Jedi, in order to test the extent of his willpower. We find out that more Yuuzhan Vong are on the way soon. One more ship today, and one within the week.

Danni and Miko knocked out some Yuuzhan Vong that came in, and took their cloakers and breathing creatures. Da’Gara stopped them, and took them to an assembly of Yuuzhan Vong. Another worldship arrived, and Prefect Ma’Shraid came in. They speak through the telepathic war coordinator, the yammosk. Then, they feed Miko to the giant creature. It ends just as he is being drawn into its maw: closer, closer.

[edit] Chapter 15

Han, Chewie, and Anakin arrived at Sernpidal, and something strange was going on. The moon was very, very close. Their ship was raided, and people made off with some of their cargo. They then took off, and did a reading. They found that something on the planet was pulling the moon closer and closer. It was just east of Sernpidal City. Anakin volunteered to go investigate, and the mayor went with him, while Han and Chewie rounded up as many people to take on the Falcon as possible. The planet had less than seven hours.

[edit] Chapter 16

Luke and Mara arrive at Belkadan, only to find it covered with gas. They decide to land to see if there are any survivors. They go down, and have trouble locating ExGal-4, but eventually, they do.

Yomin Carr got his weapons ready as he watched the Jade Sabre land.

Luke and Mara landed. The ground was covered with dead beetles. They got into the compound, and found one living beetle, but it was slowing down. Mara noted some goo at its mandibles. They searched through, and all the computers were still on and working. They had R2 begin downloading everything from the main computer, as they split up to explore the compound.

Mara found the journal of a scientist, and a beetle in a bottle. In the journal, it said that Carr kept saying that the disaster was just a weather pattern. It ended saying, “I believe it is linked to”. It ends here. She hears a screech from R2 in the other room, and runs there.

R2 was hit by Yomin Carr. Mara rushed in and fought him. She had many surprises from his fighting tactics and equipment. She ended up killing him. Yomin Carr said that she was worthy. They then regrouped, finished the download, and took off. Mara’s disease worsened. They thought that there might be some sort of connection between the beetles, Belkadan, and her disease. They found two balls there. One of them inverted, and said many things in a foreign tongue. They then looked at some of the data R2 downloaded. They found out that the comet came in the Helska system. They set coordinates for there.

Miko was struggling. The yammosk didn’t kill him; it just brought him in so close many times over again, tormenting him. Danni felt so bad for him in his suffering, but she could just watch.

[edit] Chapter 17

Anakin and the mayor arrived at a crater, and found a living thing inside, the source of the problem. Anakin shot at it, but it had no effect. The creature then reversed its pull, resulting in it moving deeper into the ground. The Falcon then came to pick them up. The mayor refused to go, but instead, took a thermal detonator, and destroyed both himself and the creature, to ensure that it wouldn’t hurt any other planet.

Da’Gara connected his mind to that of the yammosk, and they exchanged thoughts. He then contacted Nom Anor. He said that Sernpidal would die that day, but that several ships were escaping. He had dispatched four full battle groups to intercept and follow them to the next planet. There, open warfare would begin.

Chewie just put two children into the relative safety of the Falcon, and then debris fell onto a shuttle. He and Anakin went to remove it. They were successful, allowing many lives to be saved. The winds were so bad now. The moon was approaching. Anakin and Chewie saved another toddler. The Falcon was too high for Chewie to get in. He tossed Anakin up to Han. Then, the ground shifted, and Chewie was thrown. Anakin rushed to the controls to move the ship to Chewie. Just as he was getting into position, a wind knocked a building onto the Falcon. Anakin realized that if he waited any longer, they would all die. He headed skyward, leaving a helpless Chewbacca on the doomed planet.

[edit] Chapter 18

Luke and Mara arrived at Helska 4. Luke took off in his X-wing to get a look. His systems were shut down, and he began plunging toward the planet, caught in some sort of tractor beam.

Han was very upset about Chewie's death. He took his anger out on Anakin, saying that he was the one that left Chewie.

Luke fired up his shields, only to have them depleted almost immediately. However, this distracted the beam, and he was able to move back up just a little bit. Luke shot nine torpedoes, and he managed to get to the surface safely, but several of the coralskippers began bearing down on him. He was having trouble escaping in his damaged X-wing.

Han had decided to go back to Sernpidal for a hopeless search for Chewie, when someone called for help. Several insects were attacking them. The ship blew up, destroying the attackers, too. Then, Han saw a ship in the distance. It was transmitting a distress signal. It was Kyp. Han called Anakin for a copilot, but while he accepted his help as copilot, he showed no sign of forgiveness.

It wasn’t looking good for Luke, as we see in this scene.

The Falcon broke with the convoy to get Kyp’s X-wing. Han thought it was a trap when several of the insects were there, and started attacking the Falcon. Anakin rushed to the guns, but couldn’t get them all. Some were on the hull. He rushed to the power re-routing area, and put the main cable on the hull. This shocked all of the creatures, and they fell off. He then went back to the gun and shot them. They then shot the tow cable onto the X-wing and brought it back to the convoy.

The Jade Sabre came to pick up Luke’s X-wing. They decided to go back to Dubrillion. There were thousands of rock-like ships on Helska 4. Who knows how many there were on nearby planets?

Kyp was indeed alive, and he joined Han on the Falcon and told him what happened. Then, they detected some of the rocky starfighters. They had to get all of the ships, even the slow ones to Dubrillion. Anakin did some calculations. They would beat the enemy there…but not by much.

[edit] Chapter 19

Han was clearly angry. Here, he tries to blame Lando, saying that it’s his fault that he was there. Lando points out that Han saved many people’s lives. He says that he has plenty of guns and ships; it won’t be a problem of a shortage of equipment; rather, it’ll be a shortage of people to operate them. Leia tries to console Han.

The kids are sympathizing with Anakin. They all feel bad.

Leia was trying to contact the New Republic for assistance. The Rejuvenator was the closest ship with substantial firepower. It was 3 days away. The Yuuzhan Vong ships would be there in less than 2. They still hadn’t heard from Luke. The kids convinced their parents to let them fly in some TIEs. They had to stay close to the planet, where they could use the projected shields. Leia would occupy Chewie’s seat as copilot of the Falcon. Kyp would fly a gunner.

The battle begins. The outer ships were having trouble. Finally, they fell back near the Falcon. The Falcon’s screen practically turned red, as the enemy blips were so concentrated.

The Solo children started in the atmosphere, where Belt-Runner I could provide shielding for them, as they were instructed by their parents. When the Belt-Runner I was disabled, they decided that they’d be just as safe here as they were in space. They went up. They saved a pilot, but as soon as their parents found out, they were not happy. The coralskippers were overwhelming them. They were instructed to go back. Anakin, however, had an idea; they’d run the belt before, so they should be able to outfly the enemy. They went in, and connected their minds and senses through the Force, giving them each extra pairs of eyes and ears. The link couldn’t last long though, and Anakin soon found himself spinning. He pulled the hyperspace lever to avoid being hit. Han and Leia were not happy. They instructed the twins to return to planet as they searched for their youngest son.

[edit] Chapter 20

The twins landed and were greeted by cheering crowds. Jacen thought about their mind connection, and thought his view of the Force needed amending.

Anakin hoped that his siblings were alright; he didn’t want to have caused their deaths. Even though he was all alone, he could accept his death, but not the death of Jacen and Jaina. He, too, considered his view of the Force, and considered amending.

The third worldship had arrived. They had tested the planetary defenses. The yammosk will soon spawn, and they will put the new one on either Dubrillion or Destrillion. Also, Belkadan was almost finished with its transformation; they would be able to grow yorik coral there. They were soon ready to begin the second level of conquest—perpetuation.

Han was furious. They went out looking for Anakin. Leia sensed him--he was alive, at least.

[edit] Chapter 21

Luke and Lando study the coralskipper, which was actually a living thing. Luke then learns of Chewie’s death.

Luke told Lando that he needed to get into Helska 4. He knew that’s where they were. He asked if he had any mining ships that could get through ice. Lando just laughed. Of course he did. Later, when Luke was alone, he heard Anakin’s call…he was alright. He knew that Leia heard it too, and that she’d soon bring him back.

Leia and Han find Anakin through the Force. He comes back on the ship. Han hugs him, then scolds him. There is a description of how the mining craft will work here.

3PO translated the message to Yomin Carr. It said that his work was done for now and that the movement of the Praetorite Vong was under way. 3PO was then taken to the coralskipper to see what he could learn from it. He learned that it was living, and “refueled” by eating rocks, which it could spit out for ammo, or as one method of moving (getting an opposite reaction). The other method was by the thumb-sized creature on the nose, which worked by focusing gravity fields. Luke reasoned that the same type of creature was used to “pull” the shields from his ship in his earlier encounter with them. There was good news, though…some considerable New Republic firepower arrived to help guard.

[edit] Chapter 22

Mara was skeptical about Luke’s mining plan. Luke reassured her that everything would be alright.

Jacen and Jaina had different plans. They decided to take the mining vessel and its carrier ship, instead of Luke and Mara. They left a message with R2.

The Star Destroyer Rejuvenator’s captain, Commander Warshack Rojo wanted to go face the coralskippers on Helska 4 immediately in order to get back to the “more important” issues of the New Republic. Leia wanted to wait six days, when more firepower could be out to the system. Rojo was convinced he could handle it, though. Just then, they saw the mining ship take off, and R2 came in with a message. Han was furious at first, but Luke explained that they were Jedi…they would start having many big responsibilities. They then decided to move out (at the insistence of Rojo), with Han, Leia, Anakin, and Lando in the Falcon, Luke and Mara in the Jade’s Sabre, and Kyp leading a squadron of fighters.

Jacen fired off toward the ice planet. He fired a booster jet, and that may have alerted the enemies to his presence. Once he got into the planet, he felt a cry for help.

Jaina was concerned about that thruster jet Jacen fired. She tried to hide her carrier ship, the Merry Miner. She was not successful, and some coralskippers were closing in on her weaponless ship.

Jacen began swimming, and saw a base in the water. He sensed the strange call near him, up near the crust. Several other swimmers came near him.

Just as Jaina was about to be destroyed, the Rejuvenator came out of hyperspace to her rescue. Kyp Durron called to her asking sarcastically if she needed help.

Jacen was waved toward the end of the line. The person in front had many tattoos and scars, and only one eye. The people had progressively fewer marks around their eyes (the only part visible), and Jacen figured that’s why we was to be last. They got to a small room near the crust, and there were two people in there. Jacen recognized the Jedi Miko, but he wasn’t the source of the call. It was the girl with him. He was grunted at, and it was clear that he, as the lowest ranking warrior, was to wait outside as a sentry. Just as they were to take Miko away to “kill” him, they noticed the saber on Jacen’s belt. He began to fight them.

[edit] Chapter 23

Prefect Da’Gara “watched” the battle unfold through the yammosk.

Battle. At first things went well; then, thousands of coralskippers were launched from the planet. Then, things went downhill; republic ships were being taken out.

Rojo was taking his star destroyer down to the planet, but the brilliant coordination of the coralskippers was causing major damage to him.

Anakin caught on to the tactic. He knew that the ships were somehow connected, like he and his siblings were earlier, through the Force.

Jacen’s fight. Danni managed to get one of the Yuuzhan Vong’s suits off and send him into the cold water. Then, a thud bug hit her.

Rojo had underestimated these forces. They took out the Rejuvenator.

Jacen was having trouble against the remaining 4 Yuuzhan Vong. He could defend for now, but could not concentrate on attacking, or he’d be killed. Just then, 2 of the Yuuzhan Vong were struggling, a human hand on their faces...

Miko managed to get their noses, the release point of the cloakers, and then he took them down into the cold water as a last, heroic act against the Vong. Jacen then was able to take out the other two. He took Danni, and the two squeezed uncomfortably into the cramped mining ship.

The space battle was going terribly. They needed to retreat, but Jacen was still down there. Just as they were getting desperate, Jacen blasted out of the planet. Jaina wasted no time, and picked him up in a very impressive maneuver, and, as if in one action, escaped to hyperspace at the same time. The others followed her.

[edit] Chapter 24

Jacen comforts Danni in the small, cramped ship

The protagonists exchanged stories, and they figured out that it was the yammosk that allowed the extreme coordination of the coralskippers. They decided they had to take it out. They decided to use shieldships, things Lando used to use on Nkllon, in order to evaporate some ice, thus stealing energy from the planet, making it cold, causing destruction. The commanders of the republic Ranger ships didn’t want to go in; they wanted to wait for reinforcements. Luke knew that they needed to catch the enemy by surprise, and the way to do that was to go back immediately. Kyp decided to go with his starfighters.

Some ships were lost coming out of hyperspace, for they had to come in extremely close in order to gain the full surprise. The battle began.

When Da’Gara realized there was another attack, he rushed to the yammosk. He thought the only reason they’d come back was to rescue Danni, who still must have been on the planet (his assumption was wrong). He was baffled as to the use of the shield ships. The yammosk thought it was to reflect energy to take out the dovin basals and surface cannons. He wanted Danni Quee to remain with him.

Luke (down close to the planet), noticed a drop in temperature. Dense fog gave him cover.

Jaina was piloting the Jade Sabre with Mara next to her on the guns. She couldn’t establish a Force link with the Falcon’s pilot, her dad, because he wasn’t Force-sensitive. But he was an excellent pilot, and they flew well together anyway. She was startled when she made a run on a coralskipper, and Mara failed to fire. She had passed out. Jaina jumped over to her, and the ship was hit, and they began plummeting toward the planet. Jaina rushed back to the controls, but they kept falling.

Luke kept detecting the temperature dropping. He was dismayed when he saw his wife’s ship falling toward the planet. Leia and Han saw it, too. Luke rushed to intercept, and just as he passed under it, he flipped over, and fired his repulsors, giving the Sabre a lift, and it re-stabilized. It was getting very cold. Ice crystals were forming in the air.

It was looking bad for the republic forces. Some shield ships were being destroyed. Suddenly, some coralskippers began colliding. The coordination was lost! Coralskippers began retreating back to the planet. The planet looked distorted, like they were looking at it through a glass globe. It was the fourth state of matter, the Mezzicanley Wave. Now the ice would begin expanding, and the planet would soon explode. Han had to turn the Falcon around, despite the fact that Luke was still down there…similar to Anakin’s retreat from Chewie. He had other lives to save on the Falcon; he couldn’t put them in danger for Luke. The planet blew. They were relieved to see that Luke’s X-wing had escaped.

[edit] Chapter 25

R2 was quite frozen from that chilling experience on Helska 4. The remaining Vong forces were being hunted by Kyp and others. Mara was losing her fight with her disease, and there was nothing Luke could do directly. But he could study the bug that she felt was connected to it on Belkadan. Mara had discussed going alone to Dagobah, or some other Force-filled place, to meditate on what was happening inside her.

Leia realized what a threat they’d just faced and how much trouble they’d be in if more came. She knew she’d have to take on new responsibilities that she really didn’t want…as Ambassador Leia.

Nom Anor was on a small core world, stirring hatred for the New Republic. He knew that there were Yuuzhan Vong warriors running throughout the galaxy with no way to control them. He knew they would recover, though.

[edit] Chapter 26

Han remembers Chewie here, at the destroyed Sernpidal. He then felt as if the bubble that protected his family was broken, and the galaxy was suddenly a more dangerous place. He now wasn’t so confident that Mara would survive. Leia tried to reassure him that she would, though.

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Characters

[edit] Species

[edit] Creatures

[edit] Droid models

[edit] Locations

[edit] Vehicles and vessels

[edit] Organizations and titles

[edit] Weapons

[edit] Technology

[edit] Events

[edit] Yuuzhan Vong Religion

[edit] Miscellanea

[edit] Behind the scenes

At the time of its first publication, Vector Prime was extremely controversial among Star Wars fans because its plot called for the death of Chewbacca, making the Wookiee the first major character from the original trilogy to be permanently killed off in the Expanded Universe novels. Opinion was sharply divided as to whether this death of a beloved character was a cheap ploy to boost sales and interest in the new series, or if it served the dramatic purpose of declaring that not even the core characters were necessarily "safe" anymore.

While Chewbacca's death marked the first major character from the original trilogy to die in an Expanded Universe novel, the death of Crix Madine in Darksaber was the first death of a speaking character.

Chewbacca's death was later marked as Number One in Star Wars Insider's 20 Most Memorable Moments of the Expanded Universe.

It was one of the few EU books to have its own television commercial.

Originally Luke and Mara were to already have children in this book but author R.A. Salvatore refused to write them in.[source?]

[edit] Cover gallery

This is a gallery of the different cover variations of Vector Prime.

Cover art

Hardcover

Abridged cassette

Paperback

Paperback re-release

Dansk - Vector Prime - Ingangsportalen til galaksen

French hardcover - Vecteur Prime

French paperback

German - Die Abtrünnigen

Japanese

Polish - Wektor pierwszy

Russian

Spanish

[edit] External links

The New Jedi Order Series
Vector Prime