However, the informant is actually revealed to be organic microphones discovered within the purple and green Ch’hala trees lining the Grand Corridor of the Imperial Palace.

Who could it be? I thought it would surely turn out to be Winter –the person we least suspect as a result of her care and attention for Leia’s twins.

Meanwhile, there are growing rumors of a “Delta Source” Imperial informant who has infiltrated the highest levels of Coruscant. On the New Republic side, the provisional council bears the fresh scars of Senator Borsk Fey’lya’s perceived treachery which was displayed in the previous book (he is now discredited and Admiral Ackbar has been reinstated as Supreme Commander). However, cracks are beginning to show on both sides in this war. One of the key worlds Thrawn takes is Ukio, a planet with vital food production facilities (one of the top five food producers in the New Republic) which will feed his growing army. By now, Grand Admiral Thrawn holds the higher ground –he has gained control of the “Dark Force” Katana Fleet, he is quickly amassing a vast army of Imperial clones from the secret facility on Wayland, and planetary systems along the Outer Rim continue to fall under his shadow, one after another –places like the water-covered planet of Ando, the outpost on Filve, the icy Mid-Rim world of Crondre, the safe planet of Ord Pardron, the Outer Rim trade hub of Ketaris, and Generis in the Atrivis System, as well as the Abrion and Dufilvian sectors. We begin a month or so after the loss of the Katana fleet in the previous book ( Dark Force Rising), and the fleet of dreadnaughts allows Grand Admiral Thrawn to begin taking control of no less than four sectors of the galaxy with thirteen more on the edge. While The Last Command represents the end of a trilogy, it also offers the promise of new stories to tell –it serves as a bridge between the original Star Wars trilogy and the rich, extensive lore within the Expanded Universe (now known as “Legends”). The exhilerating conclusion to Timothy Zahn’s “Thrawn Trilogy” delivers yet another gripping Star Wars tale complete with a satisfying end to the adventure which was established in the previous two books, Heir to the Empire and Dark Force Rising.

The Last Command by Timothy Zahn