With Palpatine dead and the Imperial Navy scattered, Luke Skywalker volunteers to lead a force to intercept the alien invasion and save Bakura.

Upon arrival, the Rebel Alliance's force has no choice but to ally with the remnants of the Imperial garrison to repel an invasion by the reptilian Ssi-Ruuk race under the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium, which seeks to establish a beachhead in the larger galaxy.

On a personal level, Luke finds himself consistently distracted by one of Bakura's senators, Gaeriel Captison, and by the nascent attraction forming between them, despite her religious objections to the Jedi Order.

The joint Rebel-Imperial force turns back the Ssi-ruuk, and during the chaos, Bakuran resistance cells overthrow Nereus; in his absence, Bakura decides to join the Rebel Alliance.

In addition, Luke finally makes his breakthrough with Gaeriel, though he must shortly leave her when the Alliance forces depart at the end of the novel, to continue the ongoing fight against the Empire.