Champions of the Force Champions of the Force is the third volume of " " by Kevin J . Anderson . It was published by Bantam Spectra on September 1 , 1994 . Publisher ' s summary . As the New Republic continues its struggle for survival , a scattered but powerful remnant of the shattered Empire seeks to destroy three precious children — among them Han and Leia ' s Jedi twins — who represent the next generation of Jedi Knights , in this third and final novel of the … " Suspended helplessly between life and death , Luke Skywalker lies in a state at the Jedi academy . But on the spirit plane , Luke fights desperately for survival , reaching out physically to the Jedi twins . At the same time , Leia is on a life - and - death mission of her own , racing against Imperial agents hoping to steal a third Jedi child – Leia and Han ' s baby Anakin — hidden on the planet of Anoth . " " Meanwhile , Luke ' s former protégé Kyp Durron has piloted the deadly Sun Crusher on an apocalyptic mission of mass destruction , convinced he is fighting for a just cause . Hunting down the rogue warrior , Han must persuade Kyp to renounce his dark crusade and regain his lost honor . To do it , Kyp must take the Sun Crusher on a suicide mission against the awesome Death Star prototype — a battle Han knows they may be unable to win … even with Luke Skywalker at their side ! " Plot summary . A few days after his destruction of the Cauldron Nebula , under the influence of Exar Kun , Kyp Durron flew the Sun Crusher to determine the fate of his brother , Zeth , at the Imperial Academy . He transmitted an ultimatum to Ambassador Furgan , threatening to destroy the solar system if they didn ' t provide information about Zeth . Desiring the Sun Crusher himself , Furgan ordered a group of TIE / LN starfighter s to attack Kyp , who had been distracted by a falsified story about the death of his brother . He destroyed most of them and responded by firing a resonance torpedo into Carida ' s sun , Caridan . Furgan ordered the evacuation of Carida with the limited transports available , giving priority on the basis of rank . He escaped aboard the " Vendetta " , bound for Anoth . Dauren , a lowly lieutenant , knew he had little chance of escaping and located Zeth . He told Kyp , who swooped down to save them , but Dauren stabbed Zeth with a plastisteel fragment . Before Kyp could save his brother , the sun went supernova , destroying the planet . Kyp was driven further to the dark side by his despair at having killed his brother . The disturbance in the Force caused by the destruction was felt by Leia Organa Solo and the Jedi students at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 . It also caused the spirit of Luke Skywalker to return to his body , which had been separated from his body by Exar Kun . However , Luke soon realized no one could see him and wondered what he could do to save himself . In the Maw Installation , Chewbacca and Wedge Antilles were leading a New Republic task force that was trying to capture the facility , now that Admiral Natasi Daala was no longer there to defend it . They captured it , but Tol Sivron and most of the Installation personnel escaped aboard the Death Star prototype . On Coruscant , Lando Calrissian and Mara Jade met to discuss a joint venture between him and the Smugglers ' Alliance on Kessel . They agreed to meet there in a week , but she refused to take him with her . Han Solo had just arrived on Coruscant to try and find information about the location of Kyp , so he could try and talk some sense into him . Lando persuaded Han to let him tag along aboard the " Millennium Falcon " , so that Han could drop him off at Kessel if their search took them near it . Back on Yavin 4 , the spirit of Exar Kun came to taunt Luke and then possessed Streen and tried to make him kill the Jedi Master . The Jedi students stopped him just in time . Shortly after , Terpfen arrived and warned Leia that Furgan was going to Anoth to capture her son , Anakin . They went to Mon Calamari to get the coordinates for Anoth from Ackbar . Han tracked Kyp to the Core Worlds and tried talking to him , but Kyp threatened to fire a resonance torpedo at the " Falcon " . At the same time on Yavin 4 , the Jedi students worked together to destroy Exar Kun , which ended his hold over Kyp and returned Luke ' s spirit to his body . Kyp gave in and surrendered to Han . Leia , Ackbar and Terpfen arrived on Anoth with a New Republic battleship and engaged the Imperial forces , killing most of them . Furgan ran off with Anakin , but Terpfen got the infant back and chased after the Ambassador in an MT - AT . Furgan fell off a cliff and was killed . Then Terpfen tried to kill himself by walking off the cliff , because he felt guilty for giving the name of the planet where Leia ' s baby was hiding to Furgan ; but was stopped by Ackbar . After taking Kyp and the Sun Crusher back to Coruscant , Han took Lando to Kessel . They met with Jade , but discovered that there was a small problem with their operation , in that Moruth Doole had holed himself up in the prison building . They led Smuggler ' s Alliance forces inside it and Doole tried to escape them , but was killed by an energy spider . Their problems soon got worse , as the Death Star prototype arrived in the system and destroyed the Garrison Moon . Smuggler ' s Alliance freighters attacked the prototype and it retreated back to the Maw . The " Falcon " had latched onto its superstructure and was taken with it . At the Maw , Admiral Daala had returned with the " Gorgon " and attacked the New Republic forces there . Luke and Kyp arrived at the Maw with the Sun Crusher , which they intended to send into a black hole to destroy it , while the Death Star prototype returned soon after them . Daala began to target the Maw Installation , in an attempt to destroy it , while Sivron prepared to fire the prototype . However , he was distracted by the Sun Crusher and pursued after it , but both craft were sucked into a black hole . Kyp had been piloting the Sun Crusher and escaped in a message pod , which Han saved using the " Falcon " tractor beam , just before it was sucked down as well . The Installation exploded and seemingly destroyed the " Gorgon " , although it had escaped by jumping into hyperspace moments before . Terpfen had revealed to Ackbar that the dying Mon Mothma had been poisoned by Furgan with microscopic nano - destroyers . He asked Cilghal to come to the Imperial Palace and heal Mon Mothma , which she did . Leia , Han , Ackbar , Wedge , Chewbacca and Mon Mothma then attended the reopening of the Cathedral of Winds on Vortex , while Lando and Mara returned to Kessel and Kyp went back to Yavin 4 with Luke , to continue his Jedi training . Cover gallery . This is a gallery of the different cover variations of " Champions of the Force " .