"The Apprentice," a short story authored by Elaine Cunningham, marks the thirteenth entry in the New Jedi Order series, a collection of works situated within the Star Wars saga. Occurring concurrently with the events of Dark Journey, this narrative provides further elaboration on elements touched upon within The New Jedi Order: Dark Journey. Cunningham's story initially appeared in Star Wars Gamer 8 on January 1st, 2002, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast, and later received a nomination for the Prix de la Plume Noire from the French Committee for Experimental Literature.
Jaina Solo grapples with the allure of the dark side of the Force as she takes on Kyp Durron, a dissenting Jedi, as her mentor. Jaina, along with Kyp, Lowbacca, and Tenel Ka, journey to Gallinore in pursuit of a method to weaponize the Yuuzhan Vong's biotechnology against them. Together, Kyp and Jaina present a captured pirate, who carries a Yuuzhan Vong slave-implant, to a scientist for investigational purposes. Jaina then employs Kyp's dark side methods to erase the memories of her fellow Jedi.