The Hive (novella)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Author | Steven Barnes |
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| Cover Artist | Steven D. Anderson |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Era | Prequel |
| Series | The Clone Wars |
| Galactic Year | 21 BBY |
| Canon | C |
| Subject(s) | Star Wars |
| Genre(s) | Science Fiction |
| Publisher | Del Rey |
| Released | 25 May 2004 |
| Media Type | eBook |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-345-47868-1 |
| Preceded by | The Cestus Deception |
| Followed by | Republic Commando: Triple Zero |
The Hive is an original Star Wars novella written by Steven Barnes. It is a prequel novel occurring 21 years before the Battle of Yavin (21 BBY).
[edit] Summary
The Hive follows the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi as he is dispatched as a Republic envoy to the Outer Rim planet Ord Cestus, where he must strive to halt the sale of potentially deadly “bio-droids” to the Confederacy. Despite the efforts of Obi-Wan, this mission quickly turns from diplomatic to dangerous. This planet which was at one time self contained, has long since been co-opted by unscrupulous offworlders, whose plunder of a vital natural resource has enabled the rise of a powerful corporation that controls the economy. Even the native population known as the X’Ting have been reduced to mere second class citizens in their own society.
Obi-Wan Kenobi brings with him the knowledge of a legal technicality that would allow the X'Ting to retake control of their planet. Circumstances within the X'Ting civilization are less than desirable in which to mount such a revival. This once tightly knit race has splintered into battling factions as a result of a devastating plague, which wiped out many of the X'Ting rulers. Reunification can only come with the rise of new royals, whom all X’Ting are bound by blood to serve. But the eggs that will spawn those sovereigns lie out of reach, secured in a secret chamber and booby-trapped by those whose knowledge died with them in the plague. Obi-Wan Kenobi and his X'Ting guide, Jesson Di Blinth travel down into the sealed egg chamber in an attempt to retrieve the last remaining royal eggs. They face many trials along the way, including a question and answer session for the final test. The questions are presented by a machine that holds the eggs, and threatens vaporization of them if answered incorrectly. Jesson is the only one who can complete this task because he is X'Ting, and the test seeks to determine one's knowledge of X'Ting history. Unfortunately, Jesson answers the questions to the best of his knowledge but all are incorrect. The machine starts the vaporization process, and all Obi-Wan and Jesson can do is sit astonished as the last hope for X'Ting reunification is destroyed. Unbeknownst to them, this was in fact the final test, to view the reaction of Jesson to determine his true reasons for attempting retrieval of the royal eggs. The machine is satisfied with his reaction, and releases the eggs to Jesson.
