Into the Void: Star Wars (Dawn of the Jedi) Read Free Page A

the dream haunted her, and she knew that to be true. She had
     tried everything else
—everything
—but in the end, diplomacy gave way to blood. Yet each time she dreamed, the Force
     was in turmoil within her, dark and light vying for supremacy. Light tortured her
     with those memories. Dark would let her settle easy.
    “You saved tens of thousands,” Xiang said. “Maybe more. The Wookiee warlord Gharcanna
     had to be stopped.”
    “I only wish he had not fought to the end.” Lanoree glanced at the Wookiee Master
     and he nodded slowly, never taking his eyes from hers. He had great pride, and carried
     his sadness well.
    “You said two reasons,” Lanoree said.
    “Yes.” Xiang seemed suddenly uncomfortable, shifting in her seat.
    “Perhaps I should relay the rest of the information,” Lha-Mi said.“The mission first. The threat that has risen against the Je’daii, and perhaps even
     Tython itself. And when you know that, you will understand why we have chosen you.”
    “Of course,” Lanoree said. “I’m honored to be here, and keen to hear. Any threat against
     Tython is a threat against everything I love.”
    “Everything we
all
love,” Lha-Mi said. “For ten thousand years we have studied the Force and developed
     our society around and within it. Wars and conflicts have come and gone. We strive
     to keep the dark and the light, Bogan and Ashla, forever in balance. But now … now
     there is something that might destroy us all.
    “One man. And his dreams. Dreams to leave the Tythan system and travel out into the
     galaxy. Many people desire to do so, and it’s something I understand. However settled
     we are in this system, any educated being knows that our history lies out there, beyond
     everything we now know and understand. But this man seeks another route.”
    “What other route?” Lanoree asked. Her skin prickled with fear.
    “A hypergate,” Lha-Mi said.
    “But there is no hypergate on Tython,” Lanoree said, “only tales of one deep in the
     Old City, but they’re just that. Tales.”
    “Tales,” Lha-Mi said, his eyes heavy, beard drooping as he lowered his head. “But
     some people will chase a tale as far and hard as they can, and seek to make it real.
     We have intelligence that this man is doing such a thing. He believes that there’s
     a hypergate deep beneath the ruins of the Old City on the continent of Talss. He seeks
     to activate it.”
    “How?” she asked.
    “A device,” Lha-Mi said. “We don’t know its nature or its design. But our source tells
     us it will be fueled by dark matter, harnessed through arcane means. Forbidden. Dreaded.
     The most dangerous element known to us, and which no Je’daii would ever dare attempt
     to capture or create.”
    “But if there’s no hypergate—”
    “Tales,” Lha-Mi said again. “He chases a legend. But whether it exists or not is irrelevant.
     The threat is the dark matter he intends using to try to initiate the supposed gateway.
     It could …” He trailed off and looked to his side.
    “It could destroy Tython,” Dam-Powl said. “Exposing dark matter to normal matter would
     be cataclysmic. It would create a black hole, swallowing Tython in a heartbeat. The
     rest of the system, too.”
    “And if there
is
a hypergate, and it
does
work?”
    Silence for a while. And then one of the three Masters she did not know spoke, her
     first and last words of the meeting. “Then the danger to the Je’daii would be very
     different but equally severe.”
    “So you see the dire threat we face,” Lha-Mi said.
    “Just one man? So arrest him.”
    “We don’t know where he is. We don’t even know which planet he’s on.”
    “The little intelligence you have is sound?” Lanoree asked, but she already knew the
     answer to that. Such a gathering of Je’daii Masters for this purpose would not have
     taken place otherwise.
    “We have no reason to doubt it,” Lha-Mi said, “and every reason to fear. If it does
     transpire