Fate of the Jedi: Backlash

Backlash by Aaron Allston is the fourth novel in the Fate of the Jedi series and was released on March 9, 2010. At the end of the book, it has an introduction to Allies. The audio version is narrated by Marc Thompson. The paperback was released on February 22, 2011.

Back cover
Locked in a war of wills and weapons, the Jedi Order and the Galactic Alliance must come to terms&mdash;before the Sith's army of darkness enacts revenge.

Internal flap
''Repercussions from the dark side's fatal seduction of Jacen Solo and the mysterious plague of madness afflicting young Jedi continue to wreak havoc galaxy-wide. Having narrowly escaped the deranged Force worshippers known as the Mind Walkers, and a deadly Sith hit squad, Luke and Ben Skywalker are in pursuit of the now Masterless Sith apprentice. It is a chase that leads to the forbidding planet Dathomir, where an enclave of powerful dark-side Force-wielders will give Vestara the edge she needs to escape&mdash;and where the Skywalkers will be forced into combat for their quarry and their lives.''

''Meanwhile, Han and Leia Solo have completed their own desperate mission, shuttling madness-stricken Jedi from Coruscant to safe haven in the Transitory Mists and beyond the grasp of Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala. But the bold maneuver has intensified Daala's fury, and she is determined to shatter Jedi Order resistance once and for all.''

''Yet no greater threat exists than that which still waits in the depths of the distant Maw Cluster: A being of pure, ravenous dark-side energy named Abeloth calls out across the stars to Jedi and Sith alike. For some, it may be the ultimate source of answers crucial to their survival. For others, it could be the ultimate weapon of conquest. But for all, it is a game-changing&mdash;and life-altering&mdash;encounter of untold magnitude, and a tactical gambit with unimaginable consequences.''

Plot summary
The novel begins shortly after the ending of the previous book, with Luke and Ben Skywalker narrowly surviving an attack by a Sith assassination squad while exploring Sinkhole Station. The lone survivor of the Sith squad, Vestara Khai, escapes to the planet Dathomir to send a message to the rest of the Lost Tribe of Sith back at their home world of Kesh. However, Vestara unknowingly leads Luke and Ben to her location (Luke having used a blood trace technique on her when she wounded him at Sinkhole Station). Luke and Ben soon receive help from Dathomiri individuals such as Dyon Stadd into finding Vestara while Han and Leia Organa Solo, with their granddaughter Allana, her nexu cub Anji, C-3PO and R2-D2, also come to beckon to the Skywalkers' call. The group soon encounter two tribes; one, a company of a Force-sensitive females called the Raining Leaves, and the other, a bunch of freed male slaves called the Broken Columns. These two clans are scheduled to be united after a marathon of physical trials that will last for several days. However, the unification summit is repeatedly attacked by the machinations of the infamous Nightsisters. In order to combat these attacks, Luke and Ben gather up both clans into a singular unit to repel the dangers that the Nightsisters bring.

Meanwhile, during the unification summit, R2-D2 goes missing in the docking bay. Allana, left alone with C-3PO, escapes his presence aboard the Millennium Falcon and decides to investigate Artoo's disappearance. She soon finds out that the astromech unit is being held by the local docking bay worker, Monarg. Allana is caught by Monarg when she tries to free Artoo, but C-3PO arrives and distracts Monarg by letting him beat him while Allana gets the restraining bolt off of Artoo. The little girl and two droids escape Monarg's shop, but the docking bay worker and his friends try to capture them when the trio escapes back aboard the Millennium Falcon. But fortunately, Allana manages to pilot the legendary YT-1300 light freighter away and into the forests of Dathomir without destroying the Falcon.

Meanwhile, Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala is encountering more and more public resistance regarding her treatment of the Jedi after she sent in a Mandalorian attack squad to capture recently stricken Jedi who the Order took before the military could. With public and military dissension growing and increasing comparisons to Palpatine cropping up, she reaches out to Han and Leia, who she gets off of Dathomir after Allana is recovered, in hopes of repairing the relationship between the Galactic Alliance and the New Jedi Order. Daala's problems are further exacerbated by an assassination attempt on Imperial Head of State Jagged Fel, conducted thanks to an Imperial faction hoping to depose Fel and replace him with Moff Drikl Lecersen. And when criticism to her attention to get Tahiri Veila imprisoned for killing Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon two years earlier is backed by the fact that Admiral Cha Niathal, who assisted Darth Caedus during the Second Galactic Civil War like Tahiri, hasn't been arrested. This point draws conclusions with Daala being especially biased against the Jedi while letting those like her - those in the military - go free. To counteract this criticism, she asks Niathal to come over to Coruscant to face trial and be let free in the end by Daala's hand. But Niathal believes that, even if she is found innocent, no one will ever respect what she did for aiding Caedus, nor can she ever respect herself. So the Mon Calamari douses her water tank with carbon monoxide and kills herself. Daala grieves for Niathal's loss as she is given a funeral on Coruscant.

Jedi Knight Sothais Saar is next to fall under the Force psychosis when he is scheduled to meet Daala's secretary, Wynn Dorvan, in discussing what can be done against slavery. Though Cilghal is able to subdue Saar and bring him back to the Jedi Temple for study, Daala is now pining for the inflicted Knight to be imprisoned in carbonite alongside Valin and Jysella Horn.

Later, Lecersen attempts to break the cementing peace between Daala and the New Jedi Order by having a crazed maniac attack the Solos and Jag Fel at dinner in a local restaurant. The maniac is killed, alongside the YVH droids at his side. However, despite the implications from the attack that can point to Daala being the culprit in provoking the assault, Jag is looking for other potential suspects in the Empire who would want to usurp and replace him, with Lecersen being on the list of suspects.

Back on Dathomir, the combined forces of the Raining Leaves and Broken Columns manage to counteract the Nightsistters' constant rancor attacks. The increased morale in staving off these assaults causes the two clans to marry automatically to become the Bright Sun Clan. Eventually, the attacks gradually die off and the Nightsisters are defeated. The Bright Suns Clan is able to live in peace on Dathomir.

It isn't long before Vestara's true motivations are revealed, when the Sith arrive and abduct the remaining Nightsisters so that they may join the Lost Tribe despite the attempts of Ben and Luke to stop them. With Vestara in custody, Luke and Ben return to the spaceport but before leaving, Luke confronts Monarg with the accusation that Vestara's ship didn't crash, but was given to him in exchange for credits to make a hyperspace transmission to the Sith fleet. Vestara acknowledges this, and Monarg is blackmailed into helping the Skywalkers and Dyon Stadd into leaving Dathomir. Upon leaving the planet, the Jade Shadow is stopped by a fleet of Sith warships. Having no choice, Luke and Ben kill the engines and prepare to be contacted by the Sith.

Behind the scenes
On page 188, Galactic Alliance Defense Force is erroneously spelled "Galactic Alliance Defense Forcce".

Although this is Aaron Allston's eleventh Star Wars novel, Wedge Antilles was not featured but only briefly mentioned, the first occurrence of this in an Allston novel.

There is a hole in the plot as Ben Skywalker remembers a statement by Tribeless Sha from "when they first met". However, that statement was made to Han and Leia before they reached Luke and Ben.