Michael A. Stackpole is the New York Times bestselling author of many titles in the Star Wars universe, including many of the Star Wars X-Wing novels and the New Jedi Order: Dark Tides novels Onslaught and Ruin. When not chained to a desk madly fighting deadlines, he plays indoor soccer, rides a mountain bike, and reads, but not all at the same time. Stackpole lives in Arizona with Liz Danforth and a small pack of Cardigan Welsh corgis.

Led by Wedge Antilles, the legendary pilots of Rogue Squadron prepare to risk everything in their battle against the Empire. Sleek, swift, and deadly, they are the X-wing fighters. And as the battle against the Empire rages across the vastness of space, the pilots risk both their lives and their machines for the cause of the Rebel Alliance. Now they must embark on a dangerous espionage mission, braving betrayal and death on the Imperial homeworld to smash the power of a ruthless foe! It is the evil heart of a battered and reeling Empire: Coruscant, the giant city-world from whose massive towers the Imperial High Command directs the war. The Rebels will invade this mighty citadel in a daring move to bring the Empire to its knees. But first Wedge Antilles and his X-wing pilots must infiltrate Coruscant to gain vital intelligence information. Capture means death, or worse--trapped in the clutches of the vicious leader known as "Iceheart," Ysanne Isard, now Emperor in all but name. And one of Rogue Squadron's own is already her slave, a traitor hidden behind a mask of innocence, working to betray both colleagues and the Rebellion itself.