As Luke Skywalker's body lies in state on Yavin IV, Kyp Durron continues his rampage through star systems still loyal to the Empire, starting with the Imperial training planet Carida. While Luke fights for his life against Exar Kun's dark spirit and Chewbacca assists a mission into the Maw research facility to rescue the slaves, Han Solo takes it upon himself to track down Kyp and convince him to stop. Mon Mothma confides in Princess Leia that she is dying and won't last much longer. As a result, the Council has voted to name Leia as the next Head of State of the New Republic. With the destruction of Carida, the truth of the incident on Vortex is revealed as well as a mission by the Empire to kidnap Leia's youngest child from his hiding place on Anoth. Leia is able to help Admiral Ackbar to clear his name and persuade him to assist her in rescuing her child. When the Jedi trainees learn to work together they find they can stop even the spirit of a long dead Dark Jedi, and they find that most of them have special talents that can help them in time of need. During the operation against the Maw Facility, the scientists commandeer the Death Star prototype and use it to try and stop the New Republic fleet, as Admiral Daala limps back to the facility, badly damaged. Kyp has been stopped, and as part of his rehabilitation he must make sure the Sun Crusher is never used again by flying it into a black hole. While performing this action, he and Luke stumble on the fight and decide to do whatever they can do to help.
Like most good trilogies, this one ties up it's storylines while leaving many possibilities for the future. Specifically, many of these characters will show up in later novels and comics, both as background characters and instrumental ones. Likewise, the actions of many of these characters have repercussions that are felt for many years after this.
