Star Wars: Rebirth of the Empire -The remnants of the once-proud Galactic Empire and the fledgling New Republic have drawn a line in the stars, agreeing to an uncertain truce.
From Rebirth of the Empire:
"That doesn't mean he's dead. Mara told herself firmly, leaning over to inspect to dizzying drop to the crowded city thoroughfare below. Besides, I'd feel it if he were dead…
Mara forced herself to focus. The street below was practically swarming with security officers. The evening crowd continued on, its pace unbroken. The citizens of Abregado seemed to take no notice of the minor drama unfolding. Then again, in Abregado-rae this was probably not a wholly unusual sight.
"We aren't going to be able to get past them." Mara muttered. Her voice sounded harsh, even to her own ears.
Just then, without warning, all hell broke loose in the street below.
Alarms screamed from one end of the city to the other. In the distance, Mara imagined she heard the satisfying report of something sizable exploding."
Star Wars: Iteration - Upon a re-reading of Tim Zahn’s The Last Command. I was struck by an interesting and overlooked scene that illustrated just how close our heroes came to losing to Grand Admiral Thrawn: I wondered idly how that one careless word might have affected the outcome of the story. Would that event impact every other event in the sequence, nudging them just slightly off course, so that in the end we found ourselves with a very different outcome? So, take that throw-away scene, mix in a dash of pop-science chaos theory, shake well and see what falls out…
From Iteration:
"It was a pity, really. Cerul was very charming; and the sector fleet had been his first important command. And although he knew what they were doing here was vital to the survival of the Empire, he felt a twinge of genuine regret that the galaxy had to give up such natural beauty to achieve that end. He supposed he really shouldn’t allow himself such sentimentality, but it wasn’t as though his feelings would impede him in his duty. He had to admit it would make an exquisite sacrifice. The perfect picture. He wondered briefly if that was why it had been chosen.
"All ships are clear of the system, sir. We await only your order."
Finlay sighed almost imperceptibly.
"Proceed, Commander." Finlay felt the deck below him shift slightly as the Annatar moved away from the heart of Cerul. "Descartes?"
The commander looked up from his tactical display.
"You may deploy as soon as we’re clear of the target area."
"Yes, sir."
Finlay gazed out the port once more, taking in Cerul’s rustic beauty.
For the last time.
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