The Truce at Bakura

The Truce at Bakura is a 1993 novel by Kathy Tyers. The novel’s events take place immediately after the Battle of Endor depicted in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The book was later turned into an audio version, narrated by Anthony Heald.

Plot
An Imperial drone reaches the site of the battle containing a distress call for the Emperor. With Palpatine dead and the Imperial Navy scattered, Luke Skywalker volunteers to lead an Alliance task force to intercept the alien invasion and save Bakura.

Once the Rebels arrive at Bakura, they ally with the Imperial garrison there to repel an invasion by the reptilian Ssi-Ruuk, which seeks to establish a beachhead in the larger galaxy in order to harvest a supply of beings whose life energies can power their entechment technology. The Jedi Knight Skywalker especially intrigues Ssi-Ruuk because his control of the Force can enable the Ssi-Ruuk to enslave beings from a distance once he is enteched. The Ssi-ruuk themselves cannot sense the Force, but they know of it through a captured human, Dev Sibwarra, who is Force-sensitive but untrained (his mother was killed by the Ssi-ruuk) and has been brainwashed into furthering the Ssi-ruuvi agenda. Obi-Wan Kenobi appears to Skywalker and underscores the danger of this technology in the event of a Ssi-Ruuk advancement into the greater galaxy.

On a personal level, Skywalker finds himself consistently distracted by one of Bakura's senators, Gaeriel Captison, and by the nascent attraction forming between them, despite her religious objections to the Jedi Order. Princess Leia and Han Solo also struggle to find some time together and hash out their newly-formed relationship. Organa, putting diplomatic feelers out into a world that "joined" the Empire only three years ago, discovers that Bakura chafes under Imperial rule&mdash;as do some of the Imperials, notably ranking officer Commander Pter Thanas&mdash;though Imperial governor Wilek Nereus is too crafty to let dissention spread too far. Finally, Organa must find a way to cope with the revelation given to her on Endor&mdash;that Darth Vader, the being responsible for the death of thousands of beings, is actually her father. The problem is exacerbated when Anakin Skywalker's Force ghost appears to her, asking not for absolution, but for forgiveness.

In the end, Nereus attempts to turn Skywalker over to the Ssi-ruuk in exchange for their retreat, but though the kidnapping succeeds, Skywalker manages to fight them off and escape. He is also able to free Sibrawa of his brainwashing and decides to take him on as an apprentice, but Dev is injured during the escape and later dies of his wounds. The joint Rebel-Imperial force turns back the Ssi-ruuk, and during the chaos, Bakuran resistance cells overthrow Nereus; in his absence, Bakura decides to join the Rebel Alliance. Commander Thanas defects as well. In addition, Skywalker finally makes his breakthrough with Gaeriel, though he must shortly leave her when the Alliance forces depart at the end of the novel, to continue the ongoing fight against the Empire.

Behind the scenes

 * Kathy Tyers wrote much of the book while listening to the musical scores from the movies for inspiration. As a result, when she finished the book, she devoted it to John Williams.
 * Significant to this novel is the final appearance of Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker as a spirit, from this point on he will only appear to Skywalker in dreams, and the first meeting of the spirit of Anakin Skywalker, the reformed Darth Vader, with his daughter Princess Leia.
 * The Truce at Bakura was planned to be made into a comics adaption, such as was done with Splinter of the Mind's Eye and the Thrawn Trilogy, but it eventually fell through.