Mission to the Kauron asteroid field
- "Are you in trouble again, Skywalker?"
"Of course I am. Have you ever known me when I wasn't?" - ―Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker
The Mission to the Kauron asteroid field was a mission carried on by Luke Skywalker at the beginning of the Caamas Document Crisis, during his search for the clones used by the Cavrilhu Pirates.
Prelude
- "Pinchers usually makes this run. How come he's not here?"
"He came down with something and can't fly." - ―Luke Skywalker and a pirate sentry
During a pirate raid at Iphigin, Luke Skywalker discovered that the Cavrilhu Pirates used clones in their starship. On the planet Wistril, the Jedi captured the smuggler Pinchers and planned to pretend to be his substitute in order to infiltrate their base with his Y60 freighter.
The mission
- "We set this up about five years ago. Your Yavin academy was seeding the galaxy with cocky little would-be Jedi, and we figured it would be only a matter of time before one of them dropped in on us. So we figured to have a surprise ready for them. Never figured on having the Grand High Moffling himself show up. So, what do you think?"
"It's inventive, I'll give you that. I hope you're not expecting it to hold me for long." - ―Control and Luke Skywalker, about the zero gravity chamber
Luke Skywalker tracked the pirates back to their base in the Kauron asteroid field. Luke successfully infiltrated their base, but was quickly discovered. He resisted the pirates's blasters but was trapped in a zero gravity chamber. While the pirates evacuated the base, Mara Jade in the Starry Ice arrived in the asteroid field. Skywalker escaped the trap and eventually fled the base by plunging in the vacuum of space in a healing trance. He was rescued by Mara Jade shortly before the base self-destructed. R2-D2 also managed to escape, in the X-wing hidden in Luke's freighter. They finally had to fight the orbital defenses disguised as asteroids to go out the asteroid field.
Aftermath
- "You and Skywalker make a pretty good team."
- ―Shirlee Faughn to Mara Jade
Luke and Mara's reunion was interrupted by the intrusion of a mysterious fighter in the system. Further investigations about it eventually led to the discovery of the Empire of the Hand.
Appearances
- Specter of the Past (First appearance)
- Specter of the Past unabridged audiobook