Dark Force Rising

Dark Force Rising is a 1992 novel, the second book in the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. Prior to the Clone Wars, the Old Republic had constructed a fleet of 200 Dreadnaughts (huge forerunners to Imperial Star Destroyers) that were highly automated. This reduced their crew complement from 16,000 to 2,000 without diminishing their firepower. The flagship of this fleet was the Katana and hence became known as the Katana fleet. Unfortunately, a vir... more

Dark Force Rising is a 1992 novel, the second book in the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. Prior to the Clone Wars, the Old Republic had constructed a fleet of 200 Dreadnaughts (huge forerunners to Imperial Star Destroyers) that were highly automated. This reduced their crew complement from 16,000 to 2,000 without diminishing their firepower. The flagship of this fleet was the Katana and hence became known as the Katana fleet. Unfortunately, a virus infected the crews of the entire fleet and drove them insane. The madness caused the crews to "slave" the controls of all the ships in the fleet to the Katana and then send the entire fleet into hyperspace towards some unknown destination. The Katana fleet was never seen again. Through a lucky accident, which occurred years ago, Talon Karrde may be the only person alive who knows where the Katana fleet is located. Unfortunately for him, he and his smugglers have double-crossed the Empire and are currently under a death threat. Will Karrde... less