Old Star Wars Legends book set after ROTJ

Question

About 8 years ago I found a book in a German library that was advertised as the ninth episode to the Star Wars Saga. (I think there were books serving as seventh and eighth episodes as well, but the one I read was the ninth.) Since it was the 'ninth episode', having not read the previous two books I did not understand much of the story and therefore dropped it after having read the first few chapters. However, as I am now much more interested in the Star Wars Universe and have started to read some of the Legends Books, I was interested what that book I had previously seen as a 'ninth episode' was actually called.

As for the content, I remember only a few scenes. The first was some sort of space battle, probably between the Empire and the New Republic, which concludes in one of the sides realizing that they had been tricked in some way. The second features Leia, alone as far as I can remember, lying in her bed in the height of her pregnancy, using some part of the Force to ease her pain. The last chapter I remember is about Luke, who is alone on some planet (maybe chasing someone or running away?). What I remember most about this is that at some point he needs to move down some wall, which he does by cutting into it with his lightsaber and hanging on to it while it slowly cuts downwards.

For a long time I thought that the book I read was part of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, but after now having started The Last Command, it does not look like it contains the scenes I remember. Furthermore, I cannot recall having read anything concerning the Noghri, which I probably would have had that book been The Last Command. Needless to say, the previous entries of the Thrawn Trilogy did not seem familiar either, while Heir to the Empire did at least contain some space battle and a scene with Leia at its beginning, none of the books contained this chapter about Luke, which is the one that I remember most distinctly. This especially intrigues me since there don't seem to be all that many Legends books set between ROTJ and the birth of Leia's children, with the Thrawn Trilogy being the only trilogy (as far as I know). Of course, it could also be that the book I found was not canon even in Legends, or that it was unique to Germany and never published in English.

Hopefully someone here can help me out, this question really bugs me.

Answer 1

The scene with Luke and the city sounds very much like an incident in The Last Command:

The Imperial forces on the planet tried to capture him using Ysalamiri but the young Jedi detects blank spots created by the creatures and leaps on a roof. Using a piece of cloth to fashion a protective wrapping for his hand, Luke cuts a groove with his lightsaber on the outside of the shield-barrier connected to the roof he was on and sticks his hand in it. Holding the lightsaber in front of him, Skywalker begins his descent by digging out a slanted path for his hand to follow in.

(Excerpted from the Star Wars wikia synopsis; I can drag my copy of the book out if you'd rather get a direct quote.)

There are a number of space battles where one side is tricked in the trilogy, but the one you might be thinking of is the battle of Ukio, early in The Last Command. Several New Republic worlds are hit so that their ships are forced to go help them, and then an Imperial strike force attacks their base while the ships are away; I believe that the heroes realize this ploy but are too late to stop it.

So it sounds very much like it is The Last Command, although I can't help you for why it's not familiar. (I can't find any references to them being divided up differently or otherwise modified in the German release, or anything of that nature.) Most of the Noghri content is actually in Dark Force Rising, from what I recall, so it could be that you skipped over it.