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Books Fiction Cloak of Deception

Cloak of Deception

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Manufacturer: Ballantine Books Release Date: 01 Jun 2001 Part No: 0-345-44298-9 MSRP: 26.00 USD Country: United States

Creative Team: - Author: Luceno, James - Cover Artist: Anderson, Steven Format: Hardcover Description: Commander Dofine's Trade Federation ship, the Revenue, is attacked by Nebula Front forces at Dorvalla. Captain Cohl leads two assault teams into the ship, fighting battle droids and maintenance droids all along the way. Cohl reaches the ship's bridge were he confronts Daultay Dofine about aurodium ingots that the ship is supposedly carrying. At that moment, the Trade Federation vessel Acquisitor arrives to help the Revenue.Hot on Cohl's trail all along, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan have stowed themselves in a cargo pod aboard the Revenue. They place a tracker aboard Cohl's pod and then return to their own pod. Elsewhere, Cohl arranges for the transport of the aurodium ingots to his cargo pod as he reunites with the remainder of his mercenaries. With Dofine hostage, he orders the organic crew members of the Revenue into cargo pods which are ejected from the ship. Cohl also ejects the ship's cargo of lommite ore, leaving the Revenue to self-destruct.Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's cargo pod departs from the Revenue and they play a deadly game of cat and mouse with Cohl's pod. Cohl's group is horrified to discover that someone has attached a thermal detonator to their pod's drive core.Daultay Dofine escape pod is recovered and Dofine boards the Acquisitor where he immediately contacts Nute Gunray. In space, Cohl is forced to seperate part of his craft to avoid the explosion of the thermal detonator. Cohl then steers his pod towards the doomed Revenue and the Jedi, whose cargo pod has now broken away to reveal a Corellian Lancet, gives chase. The Lancet breaks off right before the Revenue explodes.Although the Trade Federation has been beseiged by various pirate and mercenary groups, Senator Palpatine convinces Supreme Chancellor Valorum to push forth new taxes on all trade in the outlying systems. Qui-Gon reports to the Jedi Reconciliation Council at the Jedi Temple. He had known about Cohl's raid from a Bith informant in the Nebula Front and he believes the Nebula Front to now be controlled by a militant faction of the group. He also believes that Cohl somehow survived the destruction of the Revenue.Three members of the Neimoidian Inner Circle, Nute Gunray, Rune Haako, and Hath Monchar, convene on Neimoidia where they receive a transmission from Darth Sidious who tells them of his intent to build a droid army. Though they are aware of Sidious' Sith heritage, they are still unclear as to the source of his political pull in the Galactic Senate. Valorum attends a performance of The Brief Reign of Future Wraiths at the Coruscant Opera. Nearby, his opponents in the senate led by Orn Free Taa conspire against him regarding the taxation of trade routes in the outlying systems. At the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon reflect as they watch Anoon Bondara train a group of Jedi Students in lightsaber combat. They learn about Arwen Cohl from the Jedi Luminara Unduli who comes from Cohl's homeworld.Four days after the destruction of the Revenue, the survivors from Cohl's strike team lay in a shuttle nestled in a large piece of debris from the freighter. They decide to head for Dorvall's surface but are attacked by a Dorvalla Space Corps picket ship. The shuttle crashlands on the surface with only Cohl, Rella, Boiny, and Jalan surviving. Jalan, however, is injured and he sacrifices himself to buy the others more time. Cohl, Rella and Boiny are saved when Cohl's ship, the Hawk-Bat arrives.Valorum addresses the Senate and introduce his measure to tax the outlying systems. Senator Palpatine proposes that a summit be held on Eriadu where delegates from the Trade Federation and its signatory members can meet openly to offter their solutions to the taxation measure.Still recovering from their injuries sustained at Dorvalla, Cohl and Rella go to Asmeru to deliver the stolen aurodium ingots to Havac, the leader of the Nebula Front. Havac offers them an even more lucrative deal, but the mercenaries decline. The Acquisitor returns to Neimoidia where Haor Chall and Baktoid Armor Workshop representatives are introducing new droid weapons to the Trade Federation.Senator Palpatine meets secretly with Havac on Coruscant. Havac is to exchange the stolen aurodium for Republic dataries which he says will be used to sway the minds of certain Republic Senators from the Outer Rim.Qui-Gon meets up with Adi Gallia and the two are to meet with Supreme Chancellor Valorum. Valorum is escorted by senate guards down the Avenue of Core Founders when a group of assassins strike. Despite the efforts of the newly arrived Gallia and Jinn, Valorum is struck by blaster fire and is taken to a medcenter. Palpatine and other senators visit Valorum at the medcenter. Nearby, Palpatine confederate, Sate Pestage infiltrates Senator Orn Free Taa's computer terminal and places coded information for Taa to "discover". Qui-Gon meets with the Jedi Council regarding Nebula Front. Elsewhere, Cohl and the Hawk-Bat are pursued by Corellian space cruisers before they make a jump into hyperspace.Still searching for those responsible for the assassination attempt of Valorum, Mace Windu and Yoda speak to Valorum about sending Jedi to Asmeru. Jedi will also go to Eriadu, site of the upcoming trade summit. The Jedi are unaware that on Asmeru, Havac enlists Cohl to assassinate Valorum on Eriadu.Saesee Tiin, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Vergere, Yaddle, and Depa Billaba arrive on Asmeru to track down those responsible for the initial assassination attempt on Valorum at Coruscant. During their approach, their ship is ambushed by unknown forces causing the ship to plummet towards the surface. Stranded on an island on Asmeru, the Jedi are greeted by the Nebula Front who are content to leave the Jedi stranded. They then meet up with one of the the Senex sector houses' bioengineered slaves who takes them through a tunnel leading to the mainland. When they emerge, they find themselves surrounded by Nebula Front soldiers who kill the slaves that led them there. Valorum discusses the grave situation on Asmeru with several other senators. On Asmeru, the Jedi engage the Nebula Front soldiers. The Jedi Council decides to send half of the Jedi contingent at the trade summit on Eriadu to help the Jedi under seige on Asmeru. Jedi, slaves, and the moderate faction of the Nebula Front join forces to defeat the militant faction of the terrorist group. They are also aided by the arrival of Jedi and Judicial reinforcements redirected from Eriadu. On Karfeddion, Cohl assembles a team including Lupe, Boiny, and Rella for the mission to assassinate Valorum on Eriadu.Valorum arrives on Eriadu where he meets Wilhuff Tarkin and Lady Theala Vandron. Back on Coruscant, Orn Free Taa provides Bail Antilles, head of the senate Internal Activities Committee, with information he discovered regarding possible improprieties conducted Valorum. Using the newly captured Hawk-Bat, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan travel from Asmeru to Karfeddion based on evidence given to them by Cindar, a member of the Nebula Front. Cindar's true intent is to lead the Jedi away from Eriadu. On Karfeddion, the Jedi discover that Cohl had already been there and had already left for Eriadu. Cindar attempts to kill the Jedi by is himself killed by a stray laser. The rest of the Jedi from Asmeru return to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.Cohl's team reaches Eriadu's orbit where they overtake a customs inspection crew. They commandeer the crew's ship in order gain access to the surface. There they rendezvous with Havac and other Nebula Front agents on the ground.Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon meet with Adi Gallia on Eriadu and the trio goes to Supreme Chancellor Valorum to inform him about the threat on his life. Elsewhere on the planet, Havac feels that Cohl has blundered the mission by leading the Jedi toward Eriadu. Believing that the Jedi are only looking for Cohl, he turns against the mercenary and leaves him, Rella, and Boiny for dead.Senator Bor Gracus and Palpatine arrive on Eriadu together, discussing the current political climate. Nute Gunray and Lott Dod observe the two from afar. Througout the summit, they are to remain in the background while the other members of the Trade Federation Directorate express their concerns about the taxes which will be levied against them.Havac coordinates the rest of Cohl's mercenary team who are unaware of his betrayal of Cohl. Their mission is to act as a diversion which will trigger one of the Trade Federation's own droids to conduct the actual assassination. The Jedi comb the trade summit hall in search of clues to the assassin as word arrives that Cohl's ship has been discovered.Badly injured, Boiny and Cohl survive Havac's attack and Cohl vows to avenge Rella's death. They find evidence indicating that a Trade Federation droid will be used in the attack at the trade summit. Shortly after Boiny and Cohl depart the customs wearhouse, the Jedi arrive at the scene trying to piece the puzzle together.Outside the summit building, Havac's mercenaries await the arrival of Valorum's convoy. They are discovered by the Jedi and the six members are rounded up, but Cohl and Havac are nowhere to be found.In order to find Havac, Boiny and Cohl disguise themselves as disabled veterans which allows them to sneak into the summit building. Inside, Palpatine and Orn Free Taa discuss the large showing that has joined the proceedings. Nearby, Nute Gunray waits anxiously with the rest of the Trade Federation Directorate for the summit to begin.Cohl and and Boiny suspect that Havac may have entered the summit using media credentials. Havac has taken his seat in one of the media booths and discusses his intent to sacrifice the remaining members of Cohl's team. As Jedi and judicials continue to search the hall for the assassin, Cohl and Boiny are discovered by Qui-Gon Jinn. They convince Qui-Gon that Havac is their common enemy, and is the one responsible for the assassination plot.Qui-Gon, Boiny, and Cohl find Havac in the media booths, injuring Havac's two confederates in the process. While Cohl stays behind to guard Havac, Boiny and Qui-Gon leave to go after the shooter who will activate the battle droid that Havac has planted among the other Trade Federation battle droids. Meanwhile, a page whisks Nute Gunray and Lott Dod away from the summit hall to deal with an apparent problem with their shuttle. Qui-Gon and Boiny find the shooter but Boiny is shot in the chest. At the media booths, a struggle between Havac and Cohl leaves both men dead. During all the commotion, the leader of the Trade Federation Directorate activates a force field to protect his group, leaving their battle droids within the containment of the field. Suddenly the battle droids pivot inward towards the Directorate and begin firing on them mercilessly before coming to an abrupt stop.Nearly a standard month after the assassitination of the Trade Fedration Directorate members on Eriadu, the Nebula Front has been largely disbanded. The Jedi learn that Havac is from Eriadu and probably had inside help in arranging the operation but they are unable to prove their suspicions because Eriadu's Lieutenent Governor Tarkin has been largely uncooperative. Palpatine receives a transmission from Queen Amidala with news that King Veruna is dead. She then introduces her new security chief, Captain Panaka. Finally, they discuss how Naboo should vote in the upcoming resolution to impose a tax on the trade routes of the outlying systems. Valorum's tax measure passes but their is no time for celebration as Bail Antilles presents Valorum with a notificiation to appear before the Supreme Court to answer allegations of corruption and illegal enrichment tied to the destruction of the Revenue and the taxation measure. Two weeks later, Valorum appears before the Supreme Court to answer to the charges brought against him. Though the Internal Activities Comittee opts not to indict the supreme chancellor, the scandal successfully cripples his standing in the senate. Orn Free Taa hosts a party with his allies in the senate to celebrate the passage of the taxation measure, and to secretly celebrate Valorum's fall from grace. They suggest that Mas Amedda become vice chancellor and the first seeds are sewn suggesting that Palpatine be nominated as Supreme Chancellor whenver the matter comes to a vote.Valorum meets with Adi Gallia to bring news to the Jedi that they are not to become involved in trade disputes without the express consent of the Senate. The Jedi Council suspect that some other sinister force beyond the Nebula Front and the Trade Federation is at hand.With the rest of the members of the Trade Federation dead from the schemes of Darth Sidious, there is no one to stand in the way of Nute Gunray's control of Trade Federation and the Federation's acquisition of a large droid army. Darth Sidious then reveals to Gunray their next plot, the blockade of Naboo. It is a time before the Phantom Menace. Mired in scandal and baseless accusations, Chancellor Valorum is a well-meaning politician saddled with the hardships of public office. Fortunately, Valorum has a trusted friend and colleague in the form of Senator Palpatine, who helps him maneuver past these political hurdles that continue to plunge the Republic into turmoil. Hoping to bring stability back to the government, Valorum has called for an emergency trade summit on the planet Eriadu. At his behest, the Jedi Knights are tasked to protect the delegates from possible terrorist threats. But something shadowy lurks beneath the surface, moving politicians as pawns in an unfathomable game. A simple peace-keeping assignment can turn into a political firestorm, and set into motion a chain of events that will forever change the galaxy. Variations: - Cloak of Deception - Cloak of Deception - Cloak of Deception

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