Cover Artist: Paul Youll

Wedge Antilles and Qwi Xux have been dating since shortly before Kyp Durron wiped her memory, but they both have come to the decision that they need to move on with their lives. Wedge decides that he is going to take a vacation to learn whether there is more to him than his military career, but as he is leaving he is stopped by General Cracken. Wedge is forced into leading a diplomatic mission to the planet Adumar, where they idolize fighter pilots. To complete his team, Wedge takes his three most trusted and skilled pilots with him; Tycho Celchu, Wes Janson and Hobbie Klivian. While at a ball in their honor, they encounter a group of four Imperial pilots who appear to be on Adumar for the same reason that they are, leading Wedge to believe that things aren't quite what they seem. When he sees Iella Wessiri undercover at the same ball, he realizes that his mission may be a lot more difficult than he first suspected. This is compounded by the realization that Adumar is not a united planet, and when he tries to get some straight answers out of General Cracken on Coruscant he learns that the New Republic team has been placed under a communications blackout. Even with everything that is going wrong around him, he does his best to help the people of Adumar to become more suited to being a member of the New Republic. When the leader of the most powerful nation on the planet, Cartann, decides to unite the planet by force under himself, Wedge and his team object. They manage to escape and discover that they have been betrayed by Tomer Darpen, the New Republic diplomat who is in charge of the operation. When Iella discovers that Tomer has tried to have the pilots killed, she joins them in fighting against Tomer and the forces of Cartann by helping the nations that are being attacked. The combined forces of the minority manage to defeat the forces of Cartann, and a truce is agreed upon when the ruler of Cartann steps down and is replaced by his son. The Republic is able to provide support for the people of Adumar so that when the Empire arrives to force them into joining, they are repulsed by the combines defensive forces. Wedge discovers that he truly cares for Iella, and the two of them decide to attempt a relationship together.

Like all the X-wing novels, this is fast paced with lots of action and quite a bit of humor thrown in. Whenever Wedge, Wes and Hobbie are portrayed together, they behave like old friends who are completely comfortable together, and this camaraderie allows the reader to feel like they are part of a close friendship. It's nice to see Wedge finally find a woman that he can be serious about, and become a more well-rounded character. Like all of the X-wing books, this is a lot of fun and well worth reading.