Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure

Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure is a junior novel that was released as part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens book series. The novel, written by Cecil Castellucci and Jason Fry, follows the adventures of Princess Leia Organa between Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. It was published by Disney–Lucasfilm Press on September 4, 2015, and comprises 240 pages.

Description
Princess Leia returns in an all-new adventure!

In this story, set between Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Princess Leia must lead a ragtag group of rebels on a treacherous decoy mission against the evil Galactic Empire.

Plot summary
The story begins shortly before the Force Awakens, with General Leia Organa reluctantly recording her memoirs. She is reminded of a particular mission she participated in the time between Empire and Jedi.

As she tells the story, we go back to that time. We find Leia on her flagship, a Nebulon B frigate named the Remembrance. It is under attack by Imperial forces. The ship escapes the battle at the cost of one of their escorts. The main goal of this small flotilla is to protect Leia, as she is a high priority target for the Empire. The best way to keep her safe is to keep her moving. The fact people die just to keep her safe bothers her very much.

In the wake of the battle, C-3PO informs Leia that Mon Mothma has ordered a gathering of the rebel leadership on the planet Zastiga. They recruit Nien Nunb and his ship, the Mellcrawler to ferry her to the meeting.

Arriving on the planet, she attends the meeting only to find out that the Empire is building another Death Star under construction above Endor. In an effort to come up with a plan, the meeting goes late into the night, the result of which is the basic plan for the Battle of Endor. They decide the Rebel fleet will mass near Sullust to take advantage of a secret Imperial hyperspace lane which will get them to the Outer Rim much faster than otherwise possible.

Leia suggests an additional aspect to the mission. In an effort to distract the empire from the massing rebel fleet, Leia will take a small team and lay message beacons directing rebel ships to mass at the Corva system, very far away from endor. Mon Mothma is uneasy, but says she'll think on it.

Later that night, Mon Mothma visits Leia and after a deep discussion about her motivations and state of mind. In the end, the mission, codenamed Operation Yellow Moon is approved.

The next day the Rebels quietly leave the planet. Leia meets her crew at the Mellcrawler. In addition to Numb as the pilot, she has recruited Kidi Aleri as comm tech, Antrot, the "tinkerer," as their engineer and a Commando, Major Lokmarcha as personal protection for Leia.

Their mission involves traveling to various planets and planting beacons summoning Rebels to a rendezvous at Yellow Moon. She explains this to everyone leaving out the detail that the codes used to encrypt the messages have been broken by the empire.

Their first stop is the planet Basteel. They meet their contact, a man named Yoff in his underground home. He informs them the best place to place their beacon is up his chimney which connects to a complex network of tunnels. They climb into the tunnel system and plant the beacon near the surface. After a harrowing climb, encounter with hostile creatures and a close call with some patrolling TIEs, they get picked up by the Mellcrawler and escape.

As things settle, Kidi comes to the realization that the codes they've used have been cracked, they also find out a Star Destroyer is now in orbit of Basteel and is subjugating the planet. Leia feels immensely guilty about this despite the fact that this is the entire point of the mission.

Their next stop is Sesid, a water world. After buying awful vacation clothes, they rent a boat and plant their beacon on the slopes of a volcano. On their way back, they Imperials catch up with them and a boat chase ensues. They are rescued by a local pirate band who are also their contact. Again, they leave the planet and the world suffers at the hand of the Star Destroyer Shieldmaiden.

Next stop, planet Jaresh, a primitive agricultural world. They set up their beacon and find out the local population is going to publicly denounce the empire. Leia tries to convince their leader not to but fails. Leia finds she can no longer stand it and reveals the true nature of their mission to her crew. She also comes up with a plan to defend the local populace. They fight of the Empire but Leia knows they will return. The locals realize this as well but are comfortable with their choice.

According to the plan, their mission is now complete. However Leia cannot live with abandoning any Rebel ships who respond to their beacons. She decides they will go to Yellow Moon to warn off anyone who shows up.

They succeed, however the Shield Maiden also shows up and captures them. The crew is imprisoned and prepared for interrogation. Lokmarcha sacrifices himself and allows Leia and the others to escape. They eventually make their way back to the landing bay. Before the rendezvous, Leia had ordered Antrot to rig the Mellcrawler to explode. He realizes that the bomb will not cause enough damage to disable the Destroyer so he runs off, sacrificing himself to save Leia, Nien and Kidi.

The three survivors steal an Imperial shuttle also in the bay and escape. They launch into a space battle, all the Rebel ships the rendezvoused at Yellow Moon are attacking the Shield Maiden again in an effort to defend Leia.

After their escape, again at the cost of more life, Leia contacts Luke. It turns out the stolen shuttle's name is Tydirium. We also find out that new intel on Han has been discovered, he is on Tatooine. They begin to organize a rescue.

Back in the present, Leia closes out her story. Major Ematt comes in and lets her know that news has come in from Poe on Jakku.