You might call survivor’s Quest the sequel to Outbound Flight, or you might call Outbound Flight the prequel to Survivor’s Quest. Either way what ends here was begun long ago, before the Clone Wars. The Chiss have finally rediscovered Outbound Flight and plan to return it to the Jedi and Republic. But they may have ultior motives. And what does the Empire of the Hand and these odd people calling themselves the Geroons.
Survivor’s Quest by Timothy Zahn is set 22 ABY. It’s about 3 years or so into Luke and Mara’s marriage.
The long lost Outbound Flight, experimental colony ship of the Old Republic Jedi has been found. Deep in Chiss territory, the remains of the ship open up new questions as to what really happened between Thrawn, Outbound Flight and it’s Jedi, as well as the mysterious Vagaari.
Luke Skywalker and his new wife Mara have been invited to go with the Chiss to honor the dead. But things go haywire from the start: the message is hijacked by one Dean Jinzler, who has reasons of his own to want to go along. The Empire of the Hand thinks there may be trouble and sends a few representatives. A whole group of strange aliens show up claiming they want to honor it as well.
And when they arrive, they find more than they bargained for.
Spoilers for Survivor’s Quest
Outbound Flight has survivors, They have been long trapped in this hostile environment. Their last view of a Republic was of the already corrupt Old Republic right before the Clone Wars and it’s fall. And the Jedi Master Jorus C’Baoth who commanded the expedition has left an extreme distrust in the Jedi. And not all those accompanying them have the honorable reasons they claim. The Chiss, while helpful, aren’t thrilled to find people living in one of their most secure regions. This isn’t not only a diplomatic challenge, but a fight to survive.
Luke Skywalker hopes to find information on old Jedi training methods, but they’ve got far more to figure out than just details of the past. Mara is faced with how she once felt, and may still feel, toward the Empire. And the mysterious Dean Jinzler has some secret ties to Outbound Flight he doesn’t care to share. Plus it turns out that Outbound Flight might not be as dead as they thought. It too is possessed of old grudges of those who feel C’baoth and the Jedi betrayed them, and yet without the Jedi, they may yet not survive.
Recurring characters
- Dean Jinzler
- Mara Jade Skywalker
- Luke Skywalker
- Aristicra Chaf’Form’Bintrano aka Formbi
- General Prard’ras’kleoni aka Drask (Chiss)
- Chaf’ees’aklaio aka Feesa (Chiss)
- The Imperial 501st Aurek Company
- Commander Chak Fel,
- Grappler
- Shadow
- Cloud
- Watchman
- Chas Uliar
- Jorad Pressor
- Evlyn Tabory
- Estosh (Geroon)
- Bearsh (Geroon)
- Talon Karrde (minor role)
- Booster Terrik (minor role)
- Jorj Car’das (minor role)
Survivor’s Quest Review
I felt Luke was a bit overanalyzing in this, rather than letting the Force guide him. It works well for Mara and that trait balances them. It was nice to see Luke and Mara as a nice team. It was interesting and frustrating to see how the Jedi were regarded by the survivors. Previously I got the idea that it was because C’baoth was a clone that he went mad in the Thrawn trilogy. This as well as Outbound Flight makes me wonder if the original wasn’t also unstable, which only made cloning him worse. Yet there isn’t really any excuse, surely in all this time, the survivor’s should’ve seen where Lorana Jinzler’s lightsaber was and realized she didn’t abandon them, but was killed in the crash. For that matter, they blamed all the Jedi for what was essentially C’baoth’s responsibility.
I found the new characters of Surivor’s Quest well done, and the old characters expanded nicely.
I enjoyed the story of getting to and surviving what happens on Outbound Flight, it was full of suspense. I was left a bit puzzled though at what was unsaid. Given the hatred of the Jedi, what became of those force sensitive or potentials? The story mentions exile when it was confirmed, and partial exile if suspected. Yet even the main character that clearly has the force chose to go with the survivors who clearly hated them. Did the others? Or did they (sensibly) decide to go elsewhere. One certainly didn’t need to be a Jedi or go with them to decide to part ways with those who hated one for natural born abilities.
Survivor’s Quest Lore and Continuity
Outbound Flight:
Outbound Flight is first referenced in Heir to the Empire.
The Outbound Flight novel came out after Survivor’s Quest. So reading in publication order preserves the mystery, but reading by in universe date you already know some of what the answers to the questions.
Outbound Flight is 6 dreadnaughts connected to a central core. They are the same type as the Katana Fleet, and made by Rendili. The Delta Skysprite ship that was put aboard for the use of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker is still there.
Dreadnaughts first appeared in West End Game materials, with some variation of arms and other specs. They feature heavily in Dark Force Rising, and also appear in Republic comics Dreadnaughts of Rendili arc.
Dean Jinzler is also in the Outbound Flight novel, and his ties to Lorana Jinzler are resolved here.
Delta 7 Skysprite
This small ship is an early variation of the Delta 7 Aethersprite, which becomes the Jedi’s starfighter of choice right before the Clone Wars breaks out. The Skysprite is a two seater, but both use a hyperdrive ring. The Aethersprite is the main ship in the Jedi Starfighter game, so it was probably in development at the time Outbound Flight launched.
Droidekas
These seem to have a similar weakness as they are established to have in the Clone Wars era. It’s no surprise though that Luke and Mara don’t know all the ways to defeat it. For instance, EMP grenades (Labyrinth of Evil,) Anakin was actually fast enough to destroy one in Jedi Quest before it rose it’s sheilds (something they try and fail to do in this story).
Chak Fel is related to Baron Soontir Fel (Rogue Squadron comics) and Jagged Fel (New Jedi Order). He’s also the nephew to Wedge Antillies, as his mother is his sister, Syal Antilles aka Wynssa Starflare (her acting name.)
The Imperial 501st aka Vader’s Fist was Vader’s personal legion during the days of the Palpatine’s Empire. Only the best were accepted. They invaded the Jedi Temple, and are playable throughout Classic Battlefront 2.
*On planet Earth the 501st Legion is a well known international costume group known for charity events.
Booster Tarik features heavily in the X-Wing Rogue Squadron books. He is a smuggler and father of Mirax Terrik.
Talon Karrde is a well known smuggler and information broker who features heavily in other Timothy Zahn stories, starting with Heir to the Empire.
Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker became engaged in Vision of the Future. They were married in Union comics. Survivor’s Quest is their first post marriage shared adventure.
This book was originally released in hardcover. Survivor’s Quest’s original mass market paperback included the short story ‘Fool’s Bargain’ also by Timothy Zahn. That story precedes Survivor’s Quest. Young Jedi Knight Heirs to the Force follows. Since YJK was written beforehand, there is no mention of Mara. Survivor’s Quest also got the Essential Legends treatment.
Survivor’s Quest had both an abridged version (CD) and later an unabridged (digital) audio release.
