The Truce at Bakura

Star Wars: 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. Narration for the audio version was performed by Anthony Heald.

American

 * ISBN 0553095412; January 6, 1994, Bantam Spectra, 311-page hardcover
 * ISBN 055347197X, ISBN 0553700650, ISBN 0553745859; January 6, 1994, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, Abridged cassette
 * ISBN 0606082018; January 6, 1994, Sagebrush Corporation, Turtleback
 * ISBN 0553568728; December 1994, Bantam Spectra, 341-page paperback
 * ISBN 0553407589; December 1994, Bantam Spectra, Paperback
 * ISBN 0517154803; July 25, 1995, Random House, Hardcover
 * ISBN 0739316710; March 2005, Random House Audio, Abridged cassette

Foreign

 * ISBN 0563393718; October 3, 1994, BBC Consumer Publishing, British audio cassette
 * ISBN 902905154X; October 1, 1998, 320-page Dutch book (Wapenstilstand bij bakura)
 * ISBN 2258039258; May 9, 1995, Presses de la Cité, 345-page French/Canadian paperback (Trêve à Bakura)
 * ISBN 2265068039; September 23, 1999, Fleuve Noir, 352-page French paperback
 * ISBN 2265083224; November 15, 2006, Fleuve Noir, 346-page French paperback
 * ISBN 3453503414; Heyne-Verlag, German (Der Pakt von Bakura)
 * ISBN 4884759087, ISBN 4884759095, ISBN unknown; August 10, 1994, Japanese
 * ISBN 8370829171; 1997 and 1999, Amber, Polish paperbacks (Pakt na Bakurze)
 * ISBN unknown; Russian
 * ISBN 8427018517; 1994, Martínez Roca, 320-page Spanish paperback (La Tregua de Bakura)
 * ISBN 059303564X; January 6, 1994, Transworld Publishers, UK hardcover
 * ISBN 0001050818; November 27, 1995, HarperCollins Publishers, UK abridged cassette
 * ISBN 0553505963; February 28, 1997, Transworld Publishers, 352-page UK paperback

Hardcover
''No sooner has Darth Vader's funeral pyre burned to ashes on Endor than the Alliance intercepts a call for help from a far-flung Imperial outpost. Bakura is on the edge of known space and the first to meet the Ssi-ruuk, cold-blooded reptilian invaders who, once allied with the now dead Emperor, are approaching Imperial space with only one goal: total domination. Princess Leia sees the mission as an opportunity to achieve a diplomatic victory for the Alliance. But it assumes even greater importance when a vision of Obi-Wan Kenobi appears to Luke Skywalker with the message that he must go to Bakura—or risk losing everything the Rebels have fought so desperately to achieve.''

Even as the Alliance arrives, the aliens have almost overcome the Bakura Imperial garrison, whose desperate commander will accept help from any quarter—even Rebel—against an insidious foe that enslaves human minds to pilot their invincible machines of war and destruction.

''While marshalling the tattered Imperial forces, Luke, Han Solo, and Princess Leia must win the trust and cooperation of the Bakurans. For although Imperial Governor Nereus has granted the Rebels temporary amnesty there is the possiblity of treachery among those whose first allegiance lies with the Empire.''

On the eve of the final explosive onslaught, Rebel and Imperial forces must finally come to terms with each other&hellip;or lose the entire galaxy to the hideous servitude promised by a victorious alien enemy.

Capturing the sweep and excitement of the original Star Wars saga, The Truce at Bakura plants a seed of hope for peace, sees the formation of a timeless love, and stands witness to a Jedi's undying sacrifice to defend humanity against an alien nemesis.

Synopsis
An Imperial drone reaches the site of the Battle of Endor 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—as do some of the Imperials, notably ranking officer Commander Pter Thanas—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—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.

Characters

 * Admiral Ackbar
 * Wedge Antilles
 * Eppie Belden
 * Orn Belden
 * C-3PO
 * Gaeriel Captison
 * Yeorg Captison
 * Chewbacca
 * Master Firwirrung
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * General Crix Madine
 * Tessa Manchisco
 * Mon Mothma
 * Wilek Nereus
 * R2-D2
 * Sh'tk'ith
 * Dev Sibwarra
 * Anakin Skywalker
 * Luke Skywalker
 * Han Solo
 * Princess Leia Organa Solo
 * Pter Thanas

Droids

 * Astromech droid
 * Protocol droid

Species

 * Human
 * Mon Calamari
 * P'w'eck
 * Ssi-Ruu
 * Wookiee

Locations

 * Bakura
 * Endor

Vehicles/vessels

 * Flurry
 * Dominant
 * Shriwirr
 * speeder bike
 * landspeeders
 * T-65 X-wing starfighter
 * A-wing starfighter
 * B-wing starfighter
 * Millennium Falcon

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. The Truce at Bakura also describes 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.

Cover gallery
This is a gallery of the different cover variations of The Truce at Bakura.