Allies (Star Wars novel)

Characters

Plot Summary

The novel begins immediately after the ending of Backlash, with Luke and Ben Skywalker being surrounded over Dathomir by the Sith fleet summoned by Vestara Khai, their Sith prisoner. The Sith send a message to their ship, the Jade Shadow, from their leader, High Lord Sarasu Taalon, in order to declare a truce with the Jedi. Their goal is to destroy the malignant Force entity known as Abeloth, who is causing the Force psychosis that is plaguing the young Jedi Knights back on Coruscant, as well the Sith's own apprentices. Vestara's father, Gavar, asks to come aboard, and Luke reluctantly agrees. Once Gavar is aboard, Luke lets Vestara and her father use his room for a private chat due to there being a recording device running there. Speaking in the Keshiri language because Gavar rightfully suspects that they are being recorded, he reveals to Vestara that the Sith apprentices are just fine; the lie was merely a means to assure Luke's cooperation in order to destroy Abeloth. Gavar also feels that Vestara has developed feelings for Ben, and encourages her to pursue them; at worst, he's a source for information, and at best, she may turn him to the dark side of the Force. Vestara agrees, thrilled at the prospect of having Ben join the Sith due to her attraction for him. As they leave Luke's room, the latter finds them and agrees to assist the Sith in destroying Abeloth. However, he refuses to let Vestara rejoin the Sith just yet; begrudgingly, her father accepts this and they decide to head to Klatooine, the closest supply point leading back to the Maw. Meanwhile, Luke is having dreams of his late wife, Mara, luring him to the Maw.

On Coruscant, Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala faces mounting criticism of her heavy-handed attempts to suppress the Jedi. In order to counter the growing assertions that she is another Palpatine, she dismisses Nawara Ven and the Jedi Court to show that she will not treat the Jedi any different from other people. As Tahiri Veila's court date approaches, Jaina Solo asks her fiance Jagged Fel to try to get Tahiri a lawyer who has a chance at clearing her name. Jag, though he is reluctant to interfere in Galactic Alliance politics, agrees.

On Klatooine, Luke calls Lando Calrissian and asks if he can borrow an old starship of his that can assist in guiding him and the Sith fleet through the Maw. Lando agrees to help him, but tells Luke that it would take him a week or two to get the ship ready. Luke then contacts C-3PO and gives him a copy of the conversation Vestara had with her father and asks him to translate it. Threepio, thrilled that someone actually commed him, begins translation attempts at once. Ben and Vestara, who were sent down to the planet's surface with one of their scouts from Dathomir, Dyon Stadd, discover that Dyon has gone crazy (him being Force-sensitive), stole a speeder, and is heading for a sacred landmark known as the Fountain of Hutt Ancients. Ben and Vestara manage to stop Dyon before he can desecrate the Fountain (no technology is allowed near it), but all three of them end up arrested by the Klatooine police. Luke comes to bail them out with Gavar and recover their afflicted ally, and Luke is disturbed with Vestara's flirtations with Ben, just as Gavar is with the harmless connection between the two of them, though Vestara convinces him that it is simply a way to trick Ben. The Klatooinians agree to hand Ben, Vestara, and Dyon over, stating that they don't have the facilities to hold Force-users. Once back on their ship with an immobilized Dyon, Luke warns Ben that Vestara can't be trusted. Ben, furious, storms off to his room.

Back on Coruscant, the Jedi Temple is once again attacked by Mandalorian mercenaries under Daala's orders to recover two recently afflicted Jedi, Sothais Saar and Turi Altamik, and to block the Jedi's attempts to launch a fleet to assist Luke. Kenth Hamner's assistant, a young Jedi girl named Kani Asari, is brutally gunned down by the leader of the Mandalorian mercenaries, Belok Rhal, in broad daylight. Han and Leia Organa Solo, watching the scene on the HoloNet, manage to sneak medication in through the substructure of the Jedi Temple attached to small animals in order to keep the crazed Jedi sedated. Wynn Dorvan, the assistant to Daala, realizes that, shortly, Raynar Thul would be heading outside the Temple for his lunch break. Dorvan rushes to the temple and manages to stop the Mandalorians from gunning him down as well, and then the two of them take Asari's body and bring it back into the Temple. It is during this time that Jaina, realizing how often she asks Jag to bend or break the rules for her, decides to call off their engagement as their careers will always get in the way. She leaves a stunned Jag and rushes off to help her uncle.

Over Klatooine, C-3PO presents a rough translation to Luke which confirms his suspicions that the Sith were lying to him and that Vestara is intentionally manipulating his son. He shows the recording to Ben, which leaves him feeling humiliated but still attracted to Vestara. Lando arrives with his starship, the Rockhound, and Luke and most of the Sith fleet head back to Sinkhole Station. Some Sith are ordered to stay behind in order to relay messages; however, they also have orders to take samples of the Fountain structure as it is made of some super-strong material. This causes the planet's populace to erupt into anarchy as the Fountain is desecrated. Jaina and Lando are selected by the Klatooine elders as the judges to determine whether or not it should be the Sith to blame for desecrating the Fountain, or the Hutts for failing to protect it, as was their promise in the Treaty of Vontor about twenty-five thousand years earlier. Jaina and Lando reach their conclusion and say that it is the Sith to blame, and that those who desecrated the Fountain will be executed. However, because of the Klatooine riots, it appears unlikely that the Hutts can regain control of the planet, and thus, lose a large accumulation of slaves. This prompts a plethora of anti-slavery movements across the galaxy that are supported by the underground organization known as the Freedom Flight, and which accompanies the criticisms against Daala for the persecution that she is bringing against the Jedi.

During the trek to Sinkhole Station, a handful of Sith ships are destroyed, and Luke is shocked to find that the station itself has been destroyed, leading him to believe it was definitely keeping Abeloth in check. With Vestara's help, they manage to land on Abeloth's planet, and go beyond shadows to find and kill Abeloth herself. Luke manages to contact Mara from beyond shadows, telling her that he has finally responded to her lure in his dreams of calling him to the Maw, but she tells him that she never contacted him at the time. Luke now knows that he has been set up, and he and the Sith leave beyond shadows to find Abeloth in the real world. Meanwhile, as part of a sabotage attempt against Abeloth, Vestara reawakens Dyon and assists in his escape. He makes his way to Abeloth, who nearly kills him by feeding off of his life force. Luke and the others find Dyon, as Vestara had let him go so that they can call track him in the Force, and Dyon is relieved that he has come back to his senses; he states that everyone around him still feel "wrong," but he knows that they are not fakes. Luke and the Sith confront Abeloth, and he is shocked when her human appearance takes on the form of Luke's long lost love, Callista Ming, who left him decades earlier in order to find a way to reconnect with the Force. At first, Luke believes that Abeloth is Callista, but soon understands that while she may have her memories and appearance, Abeloth had killed and absorbed Callista's life force years ago. During a vicious battle with Abeloth (in which Gavar tried to attack Luke but failed due to the intervention of a furious Ben), Luke manages to overpower and eventually kill the monster despite tricks to mislead him. Abeloth's death leads to the loss of the Force illness toward the Jedi Knights which Cilghal has in her custody.

Luke and Ben return to Lando's starship and are surprised to see Jaina waiting for them; she relays the siege on the Jedi Temple to Luke as well as new information that Kenth Hamner and a number of senior Jedi now have arrest warrants out for them. In the meantime, the alliance between the Jedi and Sith is still active, if only to discover Abeloth's nature via her corpse. Meanwhile, now free from Abeloth's control, the Sith Meditation Sphere known as Ship escapes from a dogfight against Jaina in her StealthX, where Jaina is nearly killed when Ship destroys one of her engines. Ship then goes into hyperspace while Jaina is saved by Lando.

Daala and her secret lover, Nek Bwua'tu, meet for dinner when Bwua'tu tries to persuade her to call the siege off, but before he can do so, he finds that it would be a useless gesture, considering her anti-Jedi rant to him. Sometime later, he leaves her apartment. Shortly after, he is accosted by two apparently crazed Jedi. After realizing that they are not Jedi because he knows that they would have killed him earlier and easier, he manages to kill one with a shot to the head; however, his body fell on top of him, driving the lightsaber he was wielding into Bwua'tu's torso.

The novel ends at Tahiri's trial, which at first appeared to be going in her favor thanks to her lawyer, Eramuth Bwua'tu, who is the Admiral's uncle. However, it reaches a disastrous conclusion in which a recording of Gilad Pellaeon's murder is played to the court. With that, she knows that all is lost for her.

Reception

Allies reached 8 on the New York Times bestseller list on June 13, 2010.