Ambush at Corellia

Ambush at Corellia is the first book in the Corellian Trilogy by Roger MacBride Allen Published by Bantam Spectra in March 1995.

Publisher's summary
''A trade summit on Corellia brings Han Solo back to the home world he left many years before. Arriving on the distant planet with Leia, their children, and Chewbacca, Han finds Corellia overrun with agents of the New Republic Intelligence and finds himself part of a deceptive plan whose aim not even he understands. One thing is clear: the five inhabited worlds of the sector are on the brink of civil war and the once peaceful coexistence of the three leading races—Human, Selonian and Drallan—has come to an end.''

''Suddenly all that Han, Leia, and others of the Alliance have fought for is threatened. As jammerships block all communication with Luke Skywalker and the outside universe, Han and Leia find themselves trapped on a world about to explode in violence unless they can meet a fanatical Rebel leader's impossible demands....''

Detailed plot summary (spoilers)
Eighteen years after the Battle of Yavin. The story centers around the Corellian star system, comprised of a group of habitable planets known as the Five Brothers: Corellia, Selonia, Drall, Talus, and Tralus. The system was known for possessing an inward-looking political structure, and was not recipient to any of the radical changes produced by the rapid overhauls in government of the last forty years. It came as a pleasant surprise then that the New Republic was able to set up a trade summit on Corellia to open the sector to the rest of the galaxy, and Leia Organa Solo was to spearhead the Coruscant delegation.

Han Solo saw it as a good opportunity to bring his children along and show them where their old man grew up, make a vacation out of the proceedings. While he is prepping the Millennium Falcon on Coruscant, he is approached by New Republic Intelligence (NRI) operative Lieutenant Belindi Kalenda, who warns him that six previous NRI operatives had been dispatched to Corellia to assess its political climate and had not been heard from since. She also requests that Han act as suspicious as possible during his visit to distract whomever may be working against them, so that the NRI can insert more teams without their awareness. After Kalenda leaves, Han spots and destroys a reprogrammed Imperial probe droid listening in on the conversation. Unbeknownst to Han, the droid is revealed to have been dispatched by Pharnis Gleasry, an agent of the Human League, working a mission for an elusive figure known only as the Hidden Leader. Gleasry’s primary mission objective is to deliver an encoded message with Luke Skywalker to Corellia, but only after Leia Organa Solo has already departed.

Han does not reveal the probe droid incident to his wife, and the state of unrest in the Corellian Sector and the possible danger they all face puts strains on the Solo family. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker, who is struggling with being an unneeded old war hero in a time of peace, is assigned a mission from Mon Mothma (someone who can relate to this condition), mostly to keep him occupied. She predicts that Luke will soon inevitably delve into politics, where he will be needed more, in an interesting contrast to his sister’s Jedi training. He is told to meet Lando Calrissian and travel with him on his quest to find a wife, which would presumably boost Luke’s public relations skills as part of his political training.

Lt. Kalenda makes her way back to Corellia ahead of the Solo family, undercover as a lower-class trader with engine troubles. Her entry to the system is immediately greeted by hostile fire from a Pocket Patrol Boat (PPB), thus indicating that the NRI has been compromised. She crash lands into the Corellian Sea, with just enough strength to swim to shore.

Luke sees the Solo family off and meets Lando in his newly-constructed Dometown, his latest (and simplest) project. Lando shows Luke a list he has compiled of potential wives, all women with money who were interested in marrying a young entrepreneur that could turn their fortune into an even bigger one. They set off to meet the first candidate, which forces Gleasry, who assumed Luke would be traveling to Corellia, to use an alternative delivery method for his encoded message. Lando’s first attempt at finding a partner nearly ends in death, as his potential suitor winds up being a life-witch – a 300 year-old succubus who offers five years of happiness in exchange for his life energy.

When the Solos arrive at Corellia, they are fired on by a trio of Uglies, which are destroyed by a group of PPB’s manned by the Corellian Defense Force. Han, who understands space fight strategy, concludes that it was a staged attack and rescue, meant to get Han to trust the CDF. He plays along with the ruse and feigns relief in the rescue.

Pharnis Gleasry, needing a new courier after Skywalker’s departure, chooses Mara Jade as recipient of the encoded message, who is en route to the same Corellian trade summit. The Solo family, now on-planet, settles into a villa, discretely observed from an adjacent building by Lt. Kalenda, who has made it her mission to oversee the Chief of State’s safety. Leia hires a Drall tutor named Ebrihim to educate the children on Corellia’s history, while Han visits the capital city of Coronet. His findings are grim: the city is dilapidated and empty, save for a parade of drunk Human League members who take it upon themselves to knock him out and imprison him simply for being Han Solo. The Hidden Leader, still unrevealed, gives orders for his release, as a vague warning to the rest of the family.

The following evening, Han and Leia meet with Corellia’s New Republic-appointed Governor-General, Micamberlecto. The Frozian explains that he is largely ignored by the native populations of Corellia, as the absence of a tyrannical Empire has left them without an obligation to obey. Furthermore, the three primary races comprising this population (the Drall, Selonians, and humans) are forming various alliances and enemies on the Five Brothers and making factions difficult to discern.

The Solo family plays sightseers for a while, waiting for the tipping point, and Ebrihim takes them to a vast archaeological dig, manned by a staff bearing similar uniforms to the Human League. The dig is allegedly for the purpose of uncovering historical artifacts, but the cover story is thin. During a guided tour, little Anakin, using his special Force sensitivity, sneaks away from the group, followed by his siblings, and finds a secret pyramidal chamber, as of yet undiscovered by the diggers. The three children cover the vault entrance back up and rejoin their parents, without telling them of their discovery. On the return trip home, Han ushers his family ahead to Corona House, Micamberlecto’s residence and site of the upcoming summit. He doubles back to the villa and weeds out Lt. Kalenda, whom he had discovered was spying on them. He brings her food and instructs her to be on call for any potential trouble.

Lando’s next suitor leads him to Sacorria, an outlier world of the Corellian system. Lando likes this new woman, Tendra Risant, enough to set up a future rendezvous with her after he and Luke are abruptly kicked off planet by the local government for unknown reasons. Lando considers his search concluded, so they start to make their way towards Corellia to meet up with the Solos.

On the night of the trade summit at Corona House (Micamberlecto’s residence), everything comes to a head. Mara Jade arrives with the encoded message, addressed to Leia. It is from the Hidden Leader, informing them that if his future demands are not met, he will begin to trigger supernova explosions within a number of stars in the Corellian system. Included are coordinates for those specific stars, and the last on the list is Corell itself. The message is deemed credible since the first star on the list already went nova sixteen days prior. Hours after the message is decoded, uprisings all over the system begin simultaneously. Corona House is attacked, and in the ensuing carnage, Han escapes to assist Lt. Kalenda in getting off-planet to deliver a distress message back to Coruscant. She steals a ship with the help of his explosive diversion, but Han is captured. Chewbacca grabs the kids and flies the Falcon away in the company of Ebrihim, but his hyperdrive is damaged in the escape attempt. They decide instead to attempt to reach Drall at sublight speeds. Leia alone remains trapped in Corona House, awaiting demands.

The following morning, the Hidden Leader makes his first public appearance on holovid, revealing himself to be Thrackan Sal-Solo, Han’s sadistic cousin. He declares secession from the New Republic and demands deportation of all non-human species from Corellia. The book concludes with Luke and Lando being abruptly yanked out of hyperspace at the edges of the Corellian system by an interdiction field, the largest one in history. The field will prevent any rescue attempts from outside forces, but helpless to do anything else, they immediately turn around and start the journey back to Coruscant to get help.

Individuals

 * Admiral Ackbar
 * Barnley
 * Boultan
 * C-3PO
 * Lando Calrissian
 * Lando's Father
 * Joruus C'baoth
 * Chewbacca
 * Frang Colgter
 * Ebrihim
 * Flautis
 * Condren Foreck
 * Pharnis Gleasry
 * Dera Jynsol
 * Belindi Kalenda
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Beru Whitesun Lars
 * Owen Lars
 * Talon Karrde
 * Micamberlecto
 * Mon Mothma
 * Nesdin
 * Bail Organa
 * Palpatine
 * Lapema Phonstom
 * Q9-X2
 * R2-D2
 * Tendra Risant
 * Thrackan Sal-Solo
 * Tiion Sal-Solo
 * Karia Ver Seryan
 * Anakin Skywalker
 * Luke Skywalker
 * Mara Jade
 * Chantu Solk
 * Anakin Solo
 * Han Solo
 * Jacen Solo
 * Jaina Solo
 * Jonash Solo
 * Leia Organa Solo
 * Talpron
 * Tralkpha
 * Grand Admiral Thrawn
 * Brimon Yarar

Locations

 * Core Worlds
 * Alderaan sector
 * Alderaan system
 * Alderaan
 * Azbrian
 * Corellian Sector
 * Corellian system
 * Centerpoint Station
 * Corell
 * Corellia
 * Bela Vistal
 * Corellian Sea
 * Coronet
 * Corenet Spaceport
 * Corona House
 * Drallan Enclave
 * Meteor Way
 * Treasure Ship Row
 * Selonian Enclave
 * Starline Avenue
 * Starliner
 * Volbick
 * Gold Beaches
 * Drall
 * Boiling Sea
 * Selonia
 * Cloudland Peaks
 * Talus
 * TD-10036-EM-1271
 * Tralus
 * Froz system
 * Froz
 * Outlier systems
 * Sacorrian system
 * Sacorria
 * Dorthus Tal prison
 * Sarcophagus
 * Talfaglio system
 * Talfaglio
 * Coruscant sector
 * Coruscant System
 * Coruscant
 * Dometown
 * Imperial Palace
 * Windward Docks
 * Expansion Region
 * Athega system
 * Nkllon
 * Mid Rim
 * Dufilvian sector
 * Ord Pardron system
 * Ord Pardron
 * Leria Kersil system
 * Leria Kerlsil
 * Outer Rim Territories
 * Arkanis sector
 * Tatoo system
 * Tatooine
 * Lars homestead
 * Anoat Sector
 * Bespin system
 * Bespin
 * Cloud City
 * Calaron sector
 * Kessel system
 * Kessel
 * Gordian Reach
 * Yavin system
 * Yavin IV
 * Jedi Praxeum
 * Mayagil sector
 * Kabal
 * Death Star I
 * Death Star II

Creatures

 * Hawk
 * Habbis
 * Hive rat
 * Razor grass
 * Sea monster
 * Snake

Droid models

 * C-3 protocol droid
 * Civil-service droid
 * Unknown Guard droid
 * Household service droid
 * Kitchen droid
 * Q9-series astromech droid
 * R2-series astromech droid
 * Viper probe droid

Events

 * Corellian Trade Summit
 * Destruction of TD-10036-EM-1271
 * First Corellian Insurrection

Organizations and titles

 * Alliance to Restore the Republic
 * Corellian Defense Force
 * Corellian Defense Force Public Security Service
 * Perimeter Guards
 * Counterintelligence Team
 * Corellian Defense Force Space Service
 * Corellian Sector Fleet
 * Corellian Traffic Control
 * Corona Footwear Company
 * Diktat
 * Galactic Empire
 * Hidden Leader
 * Human League
 * Heritage Squad
 * Imperial Navy
 * New Republic
 * Chief of State
 * New Republic Intelligence
 * New Republic Navy
 * Old Republic
 * Sacorrian Triad

Sentient species

 * Bimm
 * Drall
 * Ewok
 * Frozian
 * Human
 * Jawa
 * Mon Calamari
 * Noghri
 * Selonian
 * Wookiee

Vehicles and vessels

 * airlift shuttle
 * B-wing Ugly
 * CDF landcruiser
 * Freighter PBY-1457
 * Jade's Fire
 * Lady Luck
 * Millennium Falcon
 * Pocket Patrol Boat
 * sea skimmer
 * X-TIE Fighter

Miscellanea

 * Interdiction field

Behind the scenes

 * The publisher's summary is the only section in this book that spells Drall as "Drallan".
 * A street named "Starliner" is referenced. Although there is a Starline Avenue, it is unknown whether or not this is a spelling error as well, or if they are two different streets.
 * Even though Q9-X2 is described as being jet black in color, all other images are red and white.

Cover gallery
This is a gallery of the different cover variations of Ambush at Corellia.

Der Hinterhalt (Roman) Засада на Кореллии