The Hunger III: Echoes in the Force

Master Danika Volonis stood before the open doors of the Jedi Temple, the dark sky of Coruscant behind it threatening to submerge it in darkness. Her face was expressionless while she concentrated on the echoes emanating from the place. They spoke of a great tragedy, of great loss of life. They carried with them the tale of what had happened there and also the disturbance in the Force that those events had caused. The Dark Side had taken root and permeated the building in a shroud that was difficult to pierce with her Jedi senses. It felt cold. Cold to the flesh and cold to the spirit. The Temple no longer held any welcome for a Jedi.

It’d been years since she last stood outside this building. She’d been one of many dispatched to beyond the Outer Rim to seek out the Sith forces that were attacking them after the Mandalorian War. She’d found nothing there but the odd Sith assassin who offered no information, only primal hate. She’d visited various worlds, but the Sith had covered their tracks well. Danika had laid low like the others, giving up her Jedi robes in favor of ordinary street clothes, keeping her lightsaber concealed at all times and masking her presence in the Force as much as possible. She’d walked in many places in the galaxy where the chill of the Dark Side was evident. As she did so, disturbing reports began to trickle through to her about a great battle at the Jedi Temple. The more she traveled, the less she heard from other Jedi until simply finding another had become an exercise in futility. So she had returned to see if the rumors and speculation about the Temple that she had heard were true. She had never expected this. Her senses partially blocked by the shroud, she clutched her lightsaber tightly and entered the building.

Visions assaulted her immediately upon entering. The visions depicted all the worst fears of the Jedi being realized as their home was invaded by creatures that tracked through the Force, that had no presence in the Force themselves, and that existed only to kill. A great many of them had invaded the Temple all at once, the Jedi there being caught unawares, and a great tragedy had unfolded.

The interior itself was a wreck showing both the signs of battle and of being plundered of anything that wasn’t firmly affixed. She was less concerned with the physical status of the Temple than with the echoes which became more pronounced the deeper into the Temple she went. They not only carried the building’s history with them, but threatened to overwhelm the senses and the mind of any who entered. Such was the nature of the disturbance, and she was forced to draw upon the Force to shield herself from its influence. To give in, to allow one’s defenses to slip in this place would be to forsake one’s sanity. Such a fragile thing is the mind, easily broken or distorted with enough pressure, and the pressure in that place was a constant. 'There is no emotion, There is serenity,' she reminded herself, because serenity would be the key to resisting the disruptive effects of the echoes.

And as she submerged herself in serenity, she felt it briefly. Another mind within that place, a mind that felt remotely familiar, but yet changed, warped by the darkness there. It sought her out even as she searched for it, but it was stronger, drawing on the Dark Side. It seemed no longer in the possession of its owner, and it sought to corrupt her as well. 'Join us, Jedi,' came the thought into her mind.

Beyond the other mind, she sensed also a presence, elusive and ethereal. A dark presence which made itself felt, but made no attempt to hinder or attack her. From it she detected only a sense of watchfulness.

She moved cautiously through out the building, attempting to find the source of the echoes, the center of the disturbance in the Force. Room after room brought back powerful memories of her time spent in that place. Memories of the masters she'd learned from and of the students she'd taught came to her mind, but the happier of her memories quickly becoming twisted by the Dark Side nature of the place. Pleasant thoughts of friends and comrades became visions of anger and violence. Thoughts of her former master became lecherous. Her thoughts betrayed her, try as she might to practice restraint. The urge to leave that place quickly began to grow in her and so she quickened her pace until she was moving at a fast walk.

Eventually she came to the Jedi Council chamber. Pushing open the doors, she was greeted by a strange sight. There a lone figure sat upon one of the high-backed chairs in Sith assassin's garb and an ornate mask. Like the other Sith assassins she had encountered it had no presence in the Force, just an emptiness where the Force should be.

A voice spoke from underneath the mask. "Welcome to oblivion, Jedi. Join us and remain here forever.”

She recognized the voice, even as she attempted to sense the presence of others. It was the voice of her old padawan, Graz Azgol. But though the other chairs remained empty, she did sense one other indistinct presence within the room.

"Graz? It is Danika, your old master. I have returned," she said.

"My master is dead. Darth Reanna lives within her now. Darth Reanna lives within you,” he said, his voice having an odd hollow quality to it.

Darth Reanna was an old story told to the padawans year after year, a warning against letting one's passions control them. Reanna had been a female padawan 500 years earlier who'd developed feelings for her master, but he'd rejected her advances as improper. The pain of his rejection consumed her, and she left the Jedi Order. Soon after she fell to the Dark Side. In the recesses of some obscure library on Coruscant she’d found a trace of Sith teachings, just enough to transform her into Darth Reanna. She then attempted to murder her former master, but was struck down. Now Graz had somehow transplanted this old tale into his new reality.

“Very well, Graz,” she said, settling into one of the chairs across from him. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind once more, letting her mind slip into his. He made no attempt to resist her.

She found his thoughts to be distorted, warped by his experiences and by the Temple itself. Visions of the battle that had taken place here moved through the recesses of his mind, coupled with visions of himself feeding on the life forces of a Jedi again and again. Of her former padawan she knew, there was very little left. Delving deeper into his mind, she found the path that had led him to this point. His imprisonment on Malachor V, his subsequent transformation into a Sith by a Sith Lord who seemed vaguely familiar, his journey to Coruscant and his experiences in the Temple. He’d been in the Temple for a year, the echoes twisting his thoughts and driving him further and further from reality. She saw through his eyes, the Sith Lords arrayed in the chairs around them, and she saw herself, though in his mind she was garbed in black robes and a mask such as his.

She contemplated the significance of Reanna, and then recalled that it had been a troublesome tale for Graz. He’d felt that the Jedi had dealt with her unfairly and could have prevented her fall. Clearly, in some part of his mind, he felt it needed resolution, and had put her in the role of Reanna. But why?

“Do not trifle with me Jedi.” a female voice said.

From her viewpoint within Graz, she cast her gaze around the room.

There standing behind her meditating form now, was the misty, transparent specter of a female in Dark Jedi clothing. She looked down at Danika, her hands resting on the Jedi master's shoulders.

“He is no longer your padawan, Jedi. He is mine,” the spirit said, a malevolent leer appearing on her face.

Around her, the still form of Graz remained silent and appeared to take no further notice of either of them.

“Why have you returned, Reanna?” Danika asked.

“For justice, Jedi. I have waited 500 years for my revenge, but at last the Temple called out to me to return. I have grown in power over the years, and now I will savor it. I will enjoy it as much as they enjoyed casting me out of the Order, and I will destroy it.”

“They did not cast you out. You chose to leave because you had to.”

“Master Hieron left a wound in my spirit that he could not fathom. And he was beyond the justice of the Jedi.”

“Reanna, he could have made no other decision. Attachment is forbidden to a Jedi. You know this to be true,” Danika told her. “But I understand your pain.”

“You could not!” Reanna said, the bitterness rising in her tone. “It is not possible for you to understand the humiliation I felt. The suffering.”

“But I do,” Danika replied, her gaze shifting out the window . “I too developed feelings for another Jedi, a member of the Order I had been a padawan with and known many years. I was forced to deny my feelings as did he, and I left the Temple. I went to Dantooine, to the Enclave there. Graz was aware of it and soon followed me there.” Her gaze shifted back over to him. “It was a difficult time for masters and padawans alike, and he chose to leave the Order. To follow Revan like so many others. I was not made aware of it until it was too latea, and so I lost a padawan as well as the one I loved. Master Daazen was lost in the battle for this Temple. I sensed his last moments as I entered the building.” She looked back at Reanna.

“It is as I said. You do not understand."

But Danika thought she did. “A Jedi’s life is sacrifice. Sacrifice to alleviate the suffering of others among other things. Did it never occur to you that Master Hieron also made a sacrifice? That perhaps he also had feelings and chose to deny them rather than bring harm to either the Order or to you? You could have made a similar choice, but instead you chose the path of revenge.”

“I chose the only path available to me.”

“Reanna, look what’s become of you. This cannot be what you wished for. Let go of your hate at last. Release Graz to me.”

“It is my hate that sustains me. It is what I am.”

“But it need not be. Be that padawan that you were and find peace. Your suffering has gone on long enough.”

Reanna was silent at this, appearing suddenly thoughtful. "My fate is already decided," she finally said. "As is that of the Temple."

"And what of Graz? Will you prolong his suffering or will you grant him the mercy that you do not feel was forthcoming to you?"

"There is no mercy in me. It is not the way of the Sith to be merciful. Not to the Jedi, and not to this abode of the pretentious." And with that she faded from view

At once, she felt Graz stand with outstretched arms and stare up at the glass dome above. The building began to shake slightly as first and then gradually more forcefully, the glass vibrated harder and harder until pieces of it began to fall.

Danika immediately withdrew her mind from Graz's and opened her eyes. She rose from her chair and bounded over to where her former padawan sat, still motionless and staring straight ahead. "Graz, it is time we left this place. Come." She leaned forward, slipping the mask of his face and dropping it into the chair next to him. Taking his hand, she pulled him to his feet, he responding as if an automaton. But she led him quickly toward the door, and he moved of his own volition. A rain of glass fell near them as they reached the door.

As they moved swiftly down the corridors of the Temple, pieces of durocrete were falling all around them. The shaking of the floor threatened each step of the way to knock them down. On the stairs a large section of the wall caved inward, the dust rushing over them and the rubble forcing them to climb over some larger pieces of stone to pass through. Through the gap in the wall, they could see the stars in the night sky and feel the cold wind of Coruscant's night. Danika pressed him to move even more quickly. They reached the bottom of the stairs and rounded a corner to find an obstacle blocking their escape route.

There a figure in armor waited for them, double-bladed lightsaber lit. Danika instinctively drew her weapon, but her finger hesitated on the button. Beside her, Graz suddenly came to life, attempting to move past her, but she restrained him. A large chunk of the ceiling fell smashing on the floor uncomfortably close.

"Hold, Graz," she said, holding up hand. She slipped the lightsaber back on her belt, even as the figure advanced forward. "It is Reanna's final test for us."

But Graz had become agitated, his anxiety and fear rising within him. Danika could sense it threatening to overwhelm him. So she placed a hand on his shoulder and calmed him through the Force, stifling the rush of adrenalin that had him ready to rush forward at the figure in armor. He immediately became almost motionless as if heavily sedated.

Meanwhile the figure in armor advanced upon them. She watched it as if in slow motion, taking one step after another towards her. Finally it was upon her and ran one end of its lightsaber through her chest. She froze as it happened, looking down at herself, doubting only slightly the outcome. The blade that had penetrated her disappeared, as did the figure in armor. Danika let out the breath that she had been holding. To have attacked the apparition would have been to give it substance, and so she had wisely resisted activating her weapon.

As pieces of durocrete began to strike the floor all around them, Danika grabbed Graz's arm and pulled him out through the Temple doors and outside. At a run she led him several blocks away. ignoring the loud rumbling behind them, and behind a darkened building for cover.

Looking around the corner, she watched as the Temple began to collapse, the effect of it sinking into her slowly. The windows of the Jedi Council chamber atop the structure had already shattered, and the structure itself fell inward. The building came crashing down floor by floor with a thunderous noise until finally coming to rest in an enormous pile of wreckage. A vast dust cloud rolled away from the wreckage quickly engulfing the area within hundreds of meters.

Danika simply stared at it for a long time, not noticing the crowd that had grown behind her, also staring at the remains of one of the most famous sights on Coruscant's skyscape. The shock of it was numbing as the place she'd called home almost her entire life lay in ruins. The place where Jedi had been trained for centuries was no nothing more than a shattered wreck of durocrete, metal and glass.With a final wistful look at the Temple's remains, she turned to look back at Graz. He stood motionless in an almost catatonic state.

"Graz, can you hear me?"

He offered no response.

Danika led him away from the rapidly growing crowd and sat him down on the ground. She placed her hands on his shoulders and breathed deeply. Clearing her mind, she prepared to enter his once more, intending to take him into a healing meditation. Just then she espied movement behind her. In a flash she spun, lightsaber in hand.

There behind her stood the translucent form of Darth Reanna. "And now my revenge is complete. The wound that Hieron left in me has been avenged. The Jedi Temple is no more, and you were here to witness it. You will tell the other Jedi the truth of this matter."

Danika regarded her silently for a moment. "I have made a mistake then. You did not, in fact, have feelings for Master Hieron."

"Feelings?" hissed Reanna. "Is that what you believed? Is that what the Jedi were told? That I had a childish enamour with Hieron, and that that was the reason for my departure. Oh no,  you have been deceived, as have all the Jedi. You see, Hieron had returned from a mission recently, but unbeknownst to the Jedi Council, the Dark Side had entered him. He visited my quarters and forced himself upon me. I was helpless before him and afterwards, it was his word they took over mine. Only after I left did I understand the Dark Side. And so you see, Dear Danika, your compassion is meaningless. I am not yet finished. There exist still other Jedi, and you will watch as I corrupt them like I did your padawan." With that, Reanna vanished into the night.

Danika sighed and turned to Graz. He stood there motionless, staring straight ahead and seemingly still oblivious of all around him. "Come, Graz, let us go and find shelter."