Into the Void (Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, #1)

by Tim Lebbon

Lanoree Brock breathes in the wonders of Tython as she runs to find her brother.

Dalien is down by the estuary again.

Bodhi, the Je’daii Temple o...

“Temple Master Fenn is a friend of Father’s.”

She was a Je’daii Ranger, and so ranging is what she did.

“Hey, Ironholgs. You better not have woken me early.” The droid beeped and scraped, and she wasn’t sure whether it was getting cranky in its old age.

At the hands of the Cathar master armorer Gan Corla, the cannons now packed three times more punch and were effective over twice the range as those standard to Peacemakers.

But she was distracted. This short time on Tython, and hearing of Dal’s mysterious survival, was waking those troubled memories once again.

THE GREAT JOURNEY

We’re here at last! Lanoree thinks. Qigong Kesh!

It is here that Dalien Brock’s fall will begin.

If you flow with the Force, then so can your words and thoughts.

For the first time, her brother scares her.

SHARP EDGES

OLD MYTHS

“Strap yourself in. This might get bumpy.”

SAFE AND SOUND

She was on a mission to prevent a possible system-wide catastrophe, and whether everyone in the system knew that or not did not detract from its importance.

The Peacemaker shuddered and roared as it escaped Kalimahr’s gravity, and the cool embrace of cold, dead space had never been more welcome.

As she reaches for Dal with her mind his fall into unconsciousness becomes, for a moment, her own.

THE MEMORY OF PAIN

The Force is everything, and without it, we are nothing. —Master Shall Mar, “A Life in Balance,” 7,538 TYA

“There’s the Force. It binds and holds us, and makes everything precious to me. It’s our reason for being. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. And that’s much more precious than fine foods or somewhere comfortable to wash.”

“I made a promise to my parents. He’s my brother, I love him, and I’ll save him.”

SCARS

Even after six days, she still didn’t like him sitting in the cockpit beside her, because she couldn’t talk to herself anymore.

The Je’daii swore to confront any moves made against them, and also to protect all those who did not wish to be subjugated beneath Hadiya’s rule.

The invasion was massive, brutal, and the battles fierce. But the Je’daii had the Force on their side, and everything Hadiya hated had worked against her.

Greenwood Station was almost forty square kilometers of industrial buildings, living quarters, storage warehouses, spaceports, and other built-up areas.

EMPTY SPACES

Pride is a dangerous indulgence. —Temple Master Lha-Mi, Stav Kesh, 10,670 TYA

Only the weak-minded are always open to a Je’daii’s sensings, and Dal is far from weak-minded. He has had years to learn how to exclude his sister’s gentle probings.

“I need no Force to bring you down, brother,” she says, smiling. She is trying to lighten the mood, appealing to their close bond. But his eyes are filled with anger.

Tomorrow, she and Dal commence their long, dangerous journey to Anil Kesh.

Wilder still is Anil Kesh itself, straddling the mysterious and deadly Chasm high in the mountains. No Je’daii has ever descended to its bottom and survived, and many of those who have tried were driven insane. Daegen Lok, the Prisoner of Bogan, is one such man—his fascination with the Chasm led to his downfall. All young Padawans are told his story.

She is desperate to not let her parents down. And though she still tries to believe that her brother can be saved and brought to the Force, deep down she knows the truth.

“There are spaces. Gaps yet to fill. I hope to still see areas of bare wall here when I am older and closer to death, but …” He shrugs and touches cold, bare stone. “You don’t want to see Dal’s image here,” Lha-Mi says. “You’re learning well, and your experience shines through. But it’s your face I have no wish to see on the walls of this room, Lanoree. So heed this warning. Ignore it, suffer the consequences, and I will have let you down. Your brother grows more unstable and dangerous every day. Be wary of him.” “I will, Master Lha-Mi.”

And she swears that neither her face nor her brother’s will fill one of those empty spaces.

The Tre Sana she had met on Kalimahr and with whom she had spent days cooped up in her Peacemaker turned into the man Dam-Powl had warned her about. He became dangerous.

“No security? No help?” Lanoree asked. “There’s some, if you can afford it,” Tre said. “But Greenwood Station is like any other city on Nox—run by the Corporations. They’re the law, and the people work for them. What security does exist is concerned with maintaining production, ensuring the safety of Corporation members—most of whom probably live in the central tower—and protecting the city from attacks from other cities.”

“I’m looking for Maxhagan,” Tre said.

“District Six,” Domm said. “Market. He runs a stall … selling … imported water.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN SLAVES

There are depths. —Osamael Or, circa 1,000 TYA

It used to trouble her that so much wildlife on Tython was so in tune with the tides of the Force. But she has grown to learn that theirs is a passive relationship. It is only Je’daii who can harness the Force and use it to perform great deeds.

Dal will never accept the Force, nor adjust to its ebb and flow.

He places his plate down and stands, not angry but frustrated. “No, not at all. You’re slaves to the Force. You might think it serves you, but you serve it. You never have your own thoughts, because the Force is always on your mind. You never fight your own fights, because the Force fights for you.”

“I thought I knew what was best for you,” she says. “But you don’t! Only I can say that! Our parents, you, the Masters who trained us, everyone wants to tell me what to be, to force something upon me. But I’m my own man. My own master!” His eyes go wide, as does his smile. And it’s not madness or fury that Lanoree sees there. It’s joy.

“I’m going to find my way home.” He says no more, does not elaborate, and Lanoree’s overriding feeling is one of sadness that the home they have together with their parents is not enough for Dal.

The Temple of Science is still two days’ travel inland.