Betrayal (Star Wars novel)

Betrayal

Author	Aaron Allston
Cover artist	Jason Felix
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Legacy of the Force Canon C
Subject	Star Wars
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Del Rey
Publication date	May 30, 2006
Media type	Hardcover, Paperback
Pages	352 (hardcover), 496 (paperback)
ISBN
Preceded by	The Swarm War
Followed by	Bloodlines

Betrayal is the first of nine books in the Legacy of the Force series, which is set in the fictional Star Wars expanded universe. The book is written by Aaron Allston and was released in hardcover on May 30, 2006. The cover artist is Jason Felix. The paperback edition was released in May 2007 and also contained a small excerpt from Bloodlines by Karen Traviss, and reprints of two short stories, In His Image and A Two-Edged Sword by Karen Traviss. The book takes place 35 years after Return of the Jedi. Starwars.com has posted the text from the book's dust jacket. Betrayal is followed by the second book in the series, Bloodlines.

Forty years after the fall of the Galactic Empire, the novel begins with Luke Skywalker sensing the dark presence of a mysterious enemy.

Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker are sent on a mission to disable the planet of Corellia's new independent weapons on Adumar. After they are discovered, they fight their way out of the facility and report to the Galactic Alliance of their discoveries. Han and Leia Solo host a dinner with the Skywalkers as guests at LukStation, where the failed peace meeting between the GA and Corellia took place. As this happens, a mysterious tassel is discovered, which Jacen looks to investigate with Ben on the information planet of Lorrd. Jacen and Ben meet up with Jedi Knight Nelani Dinn and they seek to find the meaning imbedded in the tassel. As they do this, they encounter crimes where mentally unstable individuals are motivated by their obsession with Jedi. The crimes all trace back to a woman named Brisha Syo. When arrested and questioned, Brisha demands to speak with the Jedi, to which they quickly acquiesce. Jacen asks what she knows about the crimes on Lorrd, and realizes that she's Force-sensitive. Brisha invites Jacen, Ben, and Nelani to her home on an asteroid near Bimmiel. They agree, so they set course for this asteroid. When they arrive, Brisha informs them that she suspects that there is a Sith Lord in the caves beneath the asteroid, and that she needs the Jedi to get rid of him. They agree, and they follow Brisha down into the bowels of the asteroid. While they're in the cart that's taking them down into the caverns, Ben and Nelani are both yanked out of the travel cart by Brisha through the Force. When Jacen demands why she did it, she informs him that they would have died fighting the Sith Lord. While Jacen's still suspicious of her motives, he goes along with her down to the caves. When Jacen and Brisha are separated, he comes face to face with a dark side version of his uncle Luke Skywalker, and Ben fights a dark side version of his mother, Mara Jade Skywalker; on Coruscant, Luke and Mara are likewise fighting dark side versions of their nephew and son, respectively. At the end of each fight, they each feel uneasy of their battles, except Ben, who is knocked unconscious.