Originally posted by Faunus
I doubt a battle-meld works when two of the three participants are out cold; Jaina had been driven into the floor by Onimi, and Jacen had just taken a backhand from Shimrra.
True, but it did work prior. Face it, Skywalker's feats were far from being that of his own energies and skill.
This was a lone, tired, heavily wounded Luke that Shimrra was up against.
Bullshit. Don't give me the "lone, tired, fatigued and heavily wounded Luke" spiel. Count Dooku was battling two capable Jedi Knights, on the verge of exhaustion, and still found that brief second to summon Force energies to make the "weight of his years fall away" -- simple rejuvenation. Unless it is your contention that Count Dooku possesses greater reserves of Force energy than Luke Skywalker supplemented by the Jedi meld with Jaina and Jacen Solo, I don't think you mean to go down that route. Hell, Palpatine was a sixty-year-old man who hadn't touched a lightsaber in over a decade, and he managed to go toe-to-toe with four of the most accomplished and celebrated swordsmen alive (a couple of whom were well regarded duelists throughout the Order's history), eventually being disarmed by Master Windu -- and despite the fact that Palpatine was on his ass, unarmed, and being blasted in the face with Force lightning (and Windu had greater leverage, size, mass, and the advantages of a lightsaber and the metaphysical properties of Vaapad), Palpatine was faking fatigue. He could have continued his lightning assault; Windu couldn't. Is it your contention that Palpatine is also in possession of Force reserves exceeding that of a Luke Skywalker supplemented by a Jedi meld with Jaina and Jacen Solo?
And while he fought through an army of Yuuzhan Vong, I'm not impressed. Starkiller hacked through numerous levels of Imperial armament, grappling with AT-STs, trained Force assassins, and AT-ATs (all of which are far greater than basic Yuuzhan Vong infantry) and then managed to kick Vader's ass before fighting the Emperor. And he did that alone.
The only wounds that Luke suffered were from Shimrra himself; his chest was crushed due to the amphistaff, which subsequently poisoned him.
And prove that a "Jedi-meld" was "uber," noob.
By telepathically linking their minds together, Jedi can draw on one another's strength for support.
Battlemind permits a group of Jedi to become stronger than if each stood alone, while also enabling them to communicate with one another through the Force.
Using a combination of the group's minds and perceptions, each individual Jedi gains a sense of the entire battle arena, helping them to better discern where to move tactical elements and when to press an attack, hold back, or withdraw.
Indeed, the battlemeld was an advantage the enemy couldn't match.
-- all from the Essential Guide to the Force, page 79.
And now for the coup de grace...
Near the end of the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, Luke Skywalker noted that the strength of his battlemeld with Jaina and Jacen Solo was such that the three might have been sharing the same mind, and that mind was the Force itself.
-- From the Essential Guide to the Force, page 80.
With respect Faunus, it's a dead argument. Much of NJO Luke's performance during his assault on Shimrra's citadel was the product of an enormously powerful battlemeld with two highly revered duelists and Force users. His only credit is that he defeated Shimrra, the mightiest Yuuzhan Vong warrior, but he did so with extreme difficulty.
And I rest my case. The notion that NJO Luke is the greatest ever has finally, finally, been defeated.