Fate of the Jedi: Allies

Allies by Christie Golden is the fifth novel in the Fate of the Jedi series and was released on May 25, 2010. At the end of the book, it has an introduction to Vortex. The audio version is narrated by Marc Thompson. The paperback is set to be released on March 22, 2011.

Back cover
Only one thing could unite the forces of the Jedi and the Sith: an enemy far vaster&mdash;and deadlier&mdash;than both.

Internal flap
''What began as a quest for truth has become a struggle for survival for Luke Skywalker and his son, Ben. They have used the secrets of the Mind Walkers to transcend their own bodies and speak with the spirits of the fallen, risking their very lives in the process. They have faced a team of Sith assassins and beaten the odds to destroy them. And now the death squad’s sole survivor, Sith apprentice Vestara Khai, has summoned an entire fleet of Sith frigates to engage the embattled father and son. But the dark warriors come bearing a surprising proposition that will bring Jedi and Sith together in an unprecedented alliance against an evil more ancient and alien than they can imagine.''

''While the Skywalkers and their Sith allies set off on their joint mission into the treacherous web of black holes that is the Maw, Han and Leia Solo risk arrest and worse to aid the Jedi imprisoned back on Coruscant. Tyrannical Chief of State Natasi Daala has issued orders that will open a permanent schism between her government and the Jedi Order—a schism that could turn all Jedi into renegades and wanted criminals.''

''But it is in the depths of the Maw that the future of the galaxy will be decided. For there the Skywalkers and their Sith allies will engage a true monster in battle, and Luke will come face-to-face with a staggering truth.''

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, and Vestara's father asks to come aboard. Luke reluctantly agrees; once Vestara's father is aboard he offers a temporary alliance between the Jedi and Sith stating that their own apprentices are suffering the same Force malady that has been plaguing young Jedi. While Luke considers this, he lets Vestara and her father use his room for a private chat due to there being recording devices running there. Speaking in the Keshiri language because they suspect they are being recorded, Vestara's father reveals that the Sith apprentices are just fine and the lie was merely a means to assure Skywalker's cooperation as the being known as Abeloth is still a threat to the Sith. He 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. Vestara agrees, thrilled at the prospect of having Ben join the Sith. As they leave Luke's room, Luke 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.

On Coruscant, Chief of State Daala faces mounting criticism of her heavy-handed attempts to suppress the Jedi. In order to appease 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 her court date approaches, Jaina Solo asks her fiance Jagged Fel to try to get Tahiri a lawyer who had a shot of clearing her name. Jag, reluctant to interfere in Galactic Alliance politics, reluctantly agrees.

On Klatooine, Luke calls Lando and asks if he can borrow and 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 it would take him a week or two to get the ship ready. Luke then contacts Threepio 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 was sent down to the planet's surface with one of their scouts from Dathomir, discover that he has gone crazy (him being force sensitive) and has stolen a speeder and is heading for a sacred landmark known as the Fountain of Hutt Ancients. Ben and Vestara manage to stop him before he can desecrate the Fountain (no technology is allowed near it), but both of them end up arrested by the Klatooine police. Luke comes to bail them out and recover their afflicted ally, and is disturbed with Vestara's flirtations with Ben. The Klatooines agree to hand them over, stating they don't have the facilities to hold Jedi. Once back on their ship, 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 and to block the Jedi's attempts to launch a fleet to assist Luke. Kenth Hamner's assisstant, a young Jedi girl, is brutally gunned down by the leader of the Mandalorian mercenaries in broad daylight. Leia and Han, 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. Its 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, Threepio 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, 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 superstrong material. 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; as part of a sabotage attempt against the Jedi Vestara reawakens their afflicted prisoner and assists in his escape. He makes his way to Abeloth, who nearly kills him by feeding off his life force. Luke finds him, and is relieved that he has come back to his senses; he states that they still feel "wrong" to him but he knows that they are not fakes. Luke and the Sith confront Abeloth, and he is shocked when her human apperance takes on the form of Luke's long lost love Callista Ming who left him decades ago 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 that Abeloth killed and absorbed Callista's life force years ago. During a vicious battle with Abeloth (in which the Sith tried to attack Luke but failed to the intervention of a furious Ben), Luke manages to overpower and eventually kill the monster despite tricks to mislead him.

Luke and Ben return to Lando's starship and are surprised to see Jaina waiting for them; she relays the assaults 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. Tahiri's trial, which at first appeared to be going in her favor reaches a disasterous conclusion in which a recording of Gilad Pellaeon's murder is played to the court. That evening, Daala and her secret lover Nek Bwua'tu meet and sometime later he leaves her apartment. Shortly after he is accosted by two apparently crazed Jedi. After realizing that they aren't Jedi, 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 Nek's torso.

Behind the scenes
There are several spelling mistakes throughout the novel. For instance, Kyp Durron's surname is erroneously spelled as "Durran" multiple times, and on page 341, Gilad Pellaeon's surname is erroneously spelled "Pallaeon." Also, Dyon Stadd's surname is spelled "Stad" throughout the entire novel. Additionally, during a description of slavery on Vinsoth, Chev and Chevin get mixed up, only to be corrected later in the passage.

One of Leia's lines delivered as she, Han and Allana relax in their safehouse is credited to Daala. The book also refers a couple of times to Luke apprehending Vestara in the Maw Cluster. This, of course, did not happen. They battled there but she escaped and did not become his hostage until the Sith completed their capture of the Nightsisters on Dathomir.