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| - The Callista trilogy is the unofficial name for Children of the Jedi, Darksaber and Planet of Twilight, the middle novel written by Kevin J. Anderson and the other two by Barbara Hambly. Luke Skywalker falls in love with a computer! The Hutts build a Death Star! And general Narm all around. Children Of The Jedi follows Luke's adventures as he, padawans Cray Mingla and Nichos Marr, C-3PO and a few others find themselves stranded aboard the starship known as the Eye Of Palpatine, a fully automated Dreadnaught which has set its destructive sights upon an old Jedi outpost on Belsavis. However, Luke finds an unexpected ally aboard ship, and in the most unusual place -- Callista, a Jedi who died trying to stop the ship decades ago, has infused her spirit into the ship's computer. Han and Leia, meanwhile, search Belsavis for the eponymous Jedi children, and encounter the reason for the Eye's sudden reactivation: Roganda Ismaren, one of the Emperor's other Hands, who has used Bio Augmentation to make her son Irek capable of reprogramming circuitry via the Force. While the Solos try to stop them from summoning the dreadnaught, Luke and Callista fight it from the inside. In the end, Luke's two students blow it up, and Cray hands her body over to Callista. She is reunited with Luke but has lost all connection to the Force. Darksaber takes place eight years after the Battle Of Endor, about a year or so after the events of the Jedi Academy Trilogy (both written by Kevin J. Anderson). The story features the return of Admiral Daala, who manages to organize the Imperial forces in an attempt to destroy the new Jedi Academy; the graduation of Karma Houdini Kyp Durron into a full-fledged Jedi Knight; and a new foe, Durga The Hutt, who is consctructing his own Death Star. It also follows the exploits of Luke Skywalker as he searches for a way to help his new Love Interest Callista regain her Jedi powers. While Luke is hopping and skipping about the galaxy seeking a cure for Callista's condition, Durga The Hutt approaches President Pro Tem Leia to establish peaceful relations. It's all a ruse, however; agents of Durga break into the Imperial computer archives and retrieve schematics of the Death Star, which Durga plans to recreate. He even goes so far as to hire the original engineer, Bevel Lemelisk, to redesign the new space station; Lemelisk's design strips the station down to just the power plant and superlaser shaft itself, making it look like a lightsaber (hence the book's title). During all this, Admiral Daala returns to the Empire, only to find it splintered, factioned and civil-warring. Her attempts to reunite the Imperial forces fails, and so she enacts a plan which forces the feuding warlords to listen up, in the process gaining an ally: Former Captain, Now Vice-Admiral Pellaeon, former underling of Grand Admiral Thrawn himself. Daala brings the warlords to a peace conference to negociate a reunification; but when they can't get past their personal differences, Daala executes them all and takes command herself, fullfilling a Xanatos Gambit; Their cooperation would unite the empire but Daala replacing them all does too. Hints and vague warnings abound as the various New Republic leaders begin to uncover evidence of both Daala's and Durga's respective schemes. Meanwhile, newly minted Jedi Knights Kyp Durron and his pal Dorsk 81 have infiltrated the Imperial systems in hopes of finding out what the Empre is up to these days. They learn that Daala has managed to reunify the entire Imperial militia and is planning to unleash it upon the New Republic. They get themselves exposed as spies in the process but manage to escape. Daala, instead of reworking her tactics, merely speeds up her schedule, and further attacks Dorsk 81's home planet in retaliation. In the meantime, Durga and his minions have been constructing the new Darksaber superlaser in Hoth's famous Asteroid Thicket. Unfortuantely, he's as bad at hiring good help as Daala is at military strategy; the Hive Mind creatures who are doing the actual construction are easily distracted and tend to get confused when they return to work, resulting in a nearly non-functional space craft. Nonetheless, the New Republic sends a small strike team (led by General Madine) to sabotage the project. The team fails, and Madine is killed. Durga and his minions are ultimately defeated when the superweapon fails to work and the Darksaber is pulverized by asteroids. While all this is going on, Daala attacks the Jedi Academy. However, she underestimates the Jedi trainees' power, and they manage to use The Force to blow her fleet to the outer edges of the star system; Daala herself is spared this fate only because she was a little late to the party. While the Jedi continue mopping up the Imperial forces, Callista -- who can't stand to watch the Jedi do things she herself no longer can, especially Luke -- commandeers a ship and sneaks aboard Daala's flagship, sabotaging it and ending the battle, but at the cost of her life. As the New Republic goes back to day-to-day life, Luke receives a message from Callista, revealing that she survived the battle, but she cannot continue a relationship with him until she regains her Force powers -- on her own. Also revealed is Daala also survives the battle, but renounces her rank and supreme command of the Imperial forces is handed over to Pellaeon. In Planet Of Twilight Luke heads off on, ostensibly, a mission to rescue Callista, whom he believes may be hiding on a backwater planet. Said planet also happens to be a hotspot for political upheaval and a Cult Of Evil which is bent on conquering the New Republic -- meaning that Leia has to go in to negotiate. It's all a ruse, though; Leia is kidnapped upon arrival, her invite to the negotiations having been merely a lure. Luke now has to both find his old flame and rescue his sister before she becomes a mere bargaining chip.
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