This is the bit I'm fairly sure I have right: There's a mole, and it turns out to be someone the heroes trusted, and even that person didn't know it was them because it was actually an implanted personality making their body do things.
It stuck in my memory because there was another space opera series I read around the same time that had a similar plot thread, and I remember going "huh, now I've seen that done twice".
Unfortunately, that was the only part of the book that stuck in my memory, so I don't remember at all what was happening apart from that -- and the rest of the details I think I remember about the mole plot might actually be from the other series, or from the mole plot in the Thrawn trilogy, or from somewhere else entirely.
With that caveat, here's what else I think I remember: There's a character who was captured by the Imperials at some point in the backstory, and they thought they got away unharmed but actually they had an Empire-loyal sleeper personality implanted. Maybe there was an actual literal computer implanted in their brain as part of the process? I remember there being a scene where the sleeper personality is in control and there's a sign that the main personality is also aware of what's happening, but can't do anything about it. I think I remember that it all comes to a head when the sleeper personality gets used as part of a plot to kidnap Leia and/or the children, which is why I mentioned Leia, but I might be getting that confused with all the kidnap attempts in the Thrawn trilogy.
I do know it's not the "Wedge Antilles hops on one transparisteel leg" brainwashing plot from the Wraith Squadron series, because I only read that for the first time recently, but this time round I only read the Allston and Zahn novels, so it might be something from one of the Stackpoles.
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It stuck in my memory because there was another space opera series I read around the same time that had a similar plot thread, and I remember going "huh, now I've seen that done twice".
Unfortunately, that was the only part of the book that stuck in my memory, so I don't remember at all what was happening apart from that -- and the rest of the details I think I remember about the mole plot might actually be from the other series, or from the mole plot in the Thrawn trilogy, or from somewhere else entirely.
With that caveat, here's what else I think I remember: There's a character who was captured by the Imperials at some point in the backstory, and they thought they got away unharmed but actually they had an Empire-loyal sleeper personality implanted. Maybe there was an actual literal computer implanted in their brain as part of the process? I remember there being a scene where the sleeper personality is in control and there's a sign that the main personality is also aware of what's happening, but can't do anything about it. I think I remember that it all comes to a head when the sleeper personality gets used as part of a plot to kidnap Leia and/or the children, which is why I mentioned Leia, but I might be getting that confused with all the kidnap attempts in the Thrawn trilogy.
I do know it's not the "Wedge Antilles hops on one transparisteel leg" brainwashing plot from the Wraith Squadron series, because I only read that for the first time recently, but this time round I only read the Allston and Zahn novels, so it might be something from one of the Stackpoles.