Twenty-one years after the defeat of the Empire, the New Republic is facing threats to its peace: a charismatic firebrand is inciting war, rogue Jedi Knights are practising vigilante law, and a mysterious alien race is mounting an invasion. Can the heroes who overthrew the Empire triumph again?

Based on the screenplay of the movie, Star Wars: Episode III, the novel brings the epic full circle, revealing at last just how the young Jedi, Anakin Skywalker, became the most evil villain in the galaxy, Darth Vader, and father to Luke and Leia.

Luke Skywalker and his wife, Mara, get a strange message from the Chiss: Come and get the remains of the mysterious Outbound Flight Project. But there is more than meets the eye to this unexpected gift, as the newlyweds come face to face with the past!

Marriage has not changed Han and Leia much - they still bicker and banter with each other, but now they have something new to disagree on: whether to have children. Han wouldn't mind being a father, but Leia is terrified that whatever turned her own father into Darth Vader might be genetic, and she can't risk giving birth to a monster.

The Confederacy is trying to get its hands on some very special battle droids, and the Republic is determined to stop them, so Obi- Wan Kenobi is sent to the planet Ord Cestus, manufacturer of the droids. His mission: diplomacy.