Riptide (novel)

The arrival of a vessel teeming with Sith warriors within Galactic Alliance territory sparked a conflict. Inadvertently, this battle unveiled a grave threat: a clandestine assembly of clones, covertly engineered as potent instruments capable of channeling the Force, disregarding the divide between the light and dark aspects. These clones have now broken free, bearing the burden of genetic defects and a propensity for intense violence.

Jedi Knight Jaden Korr is in pursuit of these clones, with the dual intention of offering healing and, if necessary, delivering destruction. Unbeknownst to him, Sith agents are relentlessly trailing him, driven to reclaim the clones for their Master and to seize Jaden for their dark designs. In a struggle where survival hangs in the balance, Jaden will be confronted with a startling truth that will shake his very foundation, compelling him to confront the essence of being a man... and a Jedi.

The narrative commences with Jaden Korr awakening on an unfamiliar station, grappling with the whereabouts of his companions, Khedryn Faal and Marr Idi-Shael. He swiftly deduces that he is on the cusp of encountering something truly terrifying.

The storyline then rewinds approximately two days, positioning us aboard the Junker, immediately following the events of Crosscurrent. Jaden and Khedryn engage in a discussion regarding Marr's future, as Jaden contemplates inducting him into the Jedi Order as an apprentice. They also address the ship carrying Jedi-Sith clones that had escaped from the unknown frozen moon where both Alpha and Kell Douro met their end.

Aboard the Predator, the escaped Jedi-Sith clones are collectively succumbing to an ailment that has intensified after their passage through the fiery remnants of the Harbinger from the preceding novel. This acceleration is attributed to the Force-enhancing Lignan present within the Harbinger. The sole exception to this affliction is Soldier, the final clone produced by the deceased scientists on the frozen moon and the least devout in the clones' belief in salvation by Mother. According to Seer, the clones' prophet, Mother is an entity poised to deliver them from their illness—and they are en route to her. Meanwhile, Mother, a real entity, awaits the arrival of the Jedi-Sith clones at her domain.

On the One Sith world of Korriban, Darth Wyyrlok convenes a clandestine meeting with Nyss Nenn, observed covertly by his sister Syll Nenn, two enigmatic Umbaran siblings who, despite not being explicitly Force-sensitive, possess the ability to suppress Force-users. Wyyrlok presents Nyss Nenn with the recording inadvertently captured by Kell Douro through his optic nerves, which had been secretly implanted by the One Sith. The footage depicts Jaden Korr's confrontation with Alpha, during which Wyyrlok and Nyss observe Jaden employing green Force lightning generated by fear or anger, indicative of a descent toward the dark side. They concur that Korr's fall to the dark side is premature. Subsequently, Syal Nenn reveals her presence. The siblings pledge to impede Jaden's premature descent, and Darth Wyyrlok furnishes them with two mindspears, remnants of ancient Rakatan biotechnology designed for mind transfer. He also instructs them to bring along the Iteration, a clone of Jaden.

Following Jaden's account of the events in the unidentified system to Grand Master Luke Skywalker, Skywalker consents to dispatch assistance in tracking the Jedi-Sith clones, albeit with a considerable delay. This leaves Jaden to manage the situation alongside Khedryn and Marr. Skywalker also authorizes Jaden to mentor Marr in the ways of the Jedi. Subsequently, Jaden and Khedryn deliberate on Marr's training and its ramifications for his role aboard the Junker, but the Cerean remains resolute in his commitment, even as a Jedi. His training with Jaden commences concurrently with their pursuit of the Jedi-Sith clones to Fhost.

On Fhost, the majority of the clones, including Maker, Scar, and Two-Blade, along with two of their offspring, Blessing and Gift, have already succumbed to the illness. This leaves Soldier, Seer, Hunter, Runner, Grace to abandon the Predator and persist in their quest. The clones journey to Farpoint with the intention of commandeering a medical shuttle to acquire the medication that has sustained the surviving clones thus far. However, their arrival at the medical station precipitates significant disruption, alerting the city's local authorities just as Jaden and his party, as well as the Nenns, converge to confront them.

Jaden confronts the clones, astonished to discover that Seer is a clone of the deceased Lumiya, Runner is a clone of Jaden's own Master Kyle Katarn, and Soldier is a clone of himself. Jaden battles Soldier and Runner, but is ultimately defeated, enabling the clones to reach the hospital's rooftop. There, despite Khedryn's attempts to intervene, they seize the shuttle and depart off-world, taking Khedryn with them to ascertain how Jaden tracked them (he is unable to immediately provide this information due to being rendered unconscious by Runner). Meanwhile, Nyss had already concealed himself aboard the shuttle prior to the clones' takeover.

In the aftermath of the chaos in Farpoint, Jaden and Marr, after retrieving Jaden's R6 astromech droid, manage to locate the shuttle via a beacon planted by Jaden before the confrontation with the clones. As they pursue the stolen shuttle into space, Syll shadows the shuttle using her brother's signal.

Following the clones' exit from hyperspace in a random system to interrogate an awakened Khedryn regarding Jaden's ability to locate them on Fhost, Khedryn divulges that it was merely happenstance during their search. Seer subsequently orders Runner to eject Khedryn into the vacuum of space. Nyss seizes this opportunity to extinguish the shuttle's lights and assault Runner, ultimately ending the clone's life. He restrains Khedryn, intending to use him as leverage against Jaden, and then eliminates Hunter. He engages Soldier, who is revealed to be the clone of Jaden sought by the One Sith. Despite Soldier's partial immunity to Nyss's Force-repressing abilities, the Umbaran subdues the clone just as Jaden and Marr arrive, followed by Syll. Nyss blackmails the Jedi via communications, demanding an exchange of himself for Khedryn, to which Jaden reluctantly agrees. He dons a hardsuit and propels himself toward the medical shuttle. However, Khedryn, having been freed by Grace earlier, reluctantly and briefly allies with Soldier, releasing him from Nyss's bonds. This sparks another confrontation between Soldier and Nyss as Khedryn flees to one of the shuttle's escape pods. Nyss, hesitant to kill Soldier as per Darth Wyyrlok's instructions, also flees, allowing the surviving clones to regain control of the medical shuttle. However, as Syll retrieves him onto their ship, he commands her to obliterate Khedryn's escape pod, even as Jaden hurtles toward it. The attempt on Khedryn's life fails when Jaden employs his lightsaber and Force abilities to deflect the laser blasts back at the ship, resulting in Syll's demise. Marr rescues Jaden, who sustained two breaches in his hardsuit due to Syll's attack, and Khedryn in the nick of time, while Nyss, consumed by grief over his sister's death, vows to eliminate everyone associated with Jaden and Soldier after capturing them for the One Sith.

The medical shuttle ventures into an irradiated system, where they discover Mother, an entity confined within a space station likely constructed by the ancient Rakatan Infinite Empire. The Junker and Nyss track the shuttle to this location as the clones encounter Mother. However, the entity proves to be a false promise as she seizes control of Seer's body and utilizes her as a vessel to roam free in the galaxy. Meanwhile, Jaden and Marr confront Nyss once more, and after the Umbaran incapacitates Marr, Jaden manages to kill Nyss by strangling him. However, the struggle against the Umbaran renders Jaden unconscious, enabling the Iteration to employ a mindspear to extract Jaden's mind from his body, effectively killing him and storing his memories and personality within the device. Marr battles the Iteration and prevails, but refrains from killing him, intending to use the mindspear to transfer all that was Jaden into the Iteration. Jaden is reborn in his own clone body, unaware of his true nature, and staggers toward Mother, mirroring his actions at the beginning of the novel. Marr, who concealed Jaden's previous body to prevent him from discovering his fate, is taken captive by Soldier. However, the impending threat of Mother compels them to unite, particularly when Jaden recognizes that Soldier, who had not personally instigated any of the trouble on Fhost, merely seeks to save Grace from her affliction. Jaden, Marr, and Soldier confront Mother, but when she proves too formidable for them to overcome, they decide to flee with Grace as Jaden instructs Khedryn, who joins them from elsewhere on the station, to overload the docked medical shuttle's power core to trigger a massive explosion, destroying much of the space station. However, Soldier resolves to take himself and Grace to the medical shuttle to retrieve any remaining medication to aid Grace while Jaden, Marr, and Khedryn proceed to the Junker. Unfortunately, it is unable to extract them from the station's grasp, even as it endures numerous explosions following the destruction of the medical shuttle, causing the station to plummet toward the planet it orbits. Despite Mother's power, the Junker manages to break free and escape into space while the station, with Mother aboard, crashes in a fiery explosion, eliminating the entity.

As the Junker heads back to Fhost, Jaden notices that a lifelong scar has vanished, arousing his suspicions, especially as Marr begins to behave strangely around him, knowing that Jaden is not in his original body.

The novel concludes with Soldier and Grace, having successfully salvaged medication from the destroyed medical shuttle and escaping in Nyss's ship, venturing into the Unknown Regions to forge a new life together.

• On page 41, Lassin's name is incorrectly spelled as Lessin.
• In the second chapter, it is stated that Relin Druur was transported from four thousand years in the past. However, all other sources specifying his origin, including Paul's previous novel Crosscurrent, indicate five thousand years, which is accurate given that the current year is 41 ABY and Relin originated from 5000 BBY.
• In the ninth chapter, Marr utters a curse upon witnessing Khedryn's condition. The book then asserts that it was "the first instance of Jaden hearing the Cerean curse." However, earlier, in the eighth chapter, Jaden and Marr are together in the cockpit of the Junker when they are contacted by Nyss, and after hearing Nyss's message, the book states, "Frustration nearly elicited a curse from Jaden. It did elicit a curse from Marr."