Chapter Text
PROLOGUE
Cohmac Vitus felt a sudden disturbance in the force. There was no urgency or danger in it, and no specificity either. Still, wondering what could have caused it gave him a sudden pang of worry for Reath. He was physically alright, Cohmac knew. He would be able to sense if any physical harm had come to him, but that didn’t mean something else couldn’t be wrong with the boy.
“Did you feel that?” Orla asked, the transmission of her voice cracking slightly over the holographic connection.
“A disturbance in the force, yes,” Cohmac said, initially relieved to hear Orla felt it too. It must not be localized then, nothing was wrong with his Padawan. It was something else, somewhere else in the galaxy. The relief did not last long though; if both he and Orla were feeling such a disturbance from this distance, the disturbance could be a sign of something more significant. He reached out into the force.
“I’m getting the distinct impression that there is something out of place in the galaxy,” Cohmac said, “but that’s all I’ve got. I can’t pinpoint it. The disturbance, it’s still too…nebulous.”
“I am struggling to understand it as well,” Orla said. She paused for a brief moment, still searching her feelings. “Perhaps it would be more productive to meditate on what we should do, rather than on the nature of the disturbance—to seek guidance rather than answers.”
Cohmac nodded in agreement. “I should go speak with Reath,” Cohmac said. “Keep me informed of your decisions, it may not have been a coincidence that the disturbance came to us while we were speaking together.”
When Cohmac returned to the cockpit of their small transport, he wasn’t sure how to broach the topic with Reath. In the short time he had been training him, he had begun to notice that Reath’s natural connection to the force was not as strong as the average Jedi’s. It certainly wasn’t from a lack of trying, Reath gave himself over to the force completely. When he called upon it, it answered, and he followed its will in return. He was so outwardly talented and devoted that most wouldn’t ever have been able to tell, it was only with the close, constant observance that was part of the master-padawan relationship that Cohmac had even come to suspect as much. Reath didn’t notice things most Jedi would sometimes, no matter how in-tune he was. It was never anything too important, and certainly never an immediate threat, just simple things—like being surprised when someone walks through a door. Cohmac wondered if Reath could have felt the disturbance or not. If he hadn’t, it wasn’t necessarily due to any lack in his natural force abilities; the disturbance could possibly be more specific to Cohmac and Orla.
“How’s Orla?” Reath asked, looking over his shoulder from the pilot’s seat. He looked completely at ease. Undisturbed.
“We may be seeing her soon, so you could have a chance to ask her yourself,” Cohmac said.
“Oh?”
“She is meditating on a disturbance in the force and deciding what to do, and I feel we might be meant to join her journey,” Cohmac said. “I would advise you to meditate now as well. We must seek to find where the force would guide us.”
“I suppose that means you also don’t want me plotting our hyperspace route back to Starlight Beacon quite yet.” Reath looked almost disappointed, which amused Cohmac. Very few Padawans would be annoyed at the prospect of some mysterious mission because they would rather return home to begin translating the ancient records they just collected. They truly were a great fit. Cohmac imagined if he had ever decided to take a Padawan the traditional way that they would have been someone a lot like Reath.
Deep into their meditation, Cohmac noticed Reath shift suddenly.
“Valo,” Reath said. “I think we’re meant to go to Valo.”
“That is convenient,” Cohmac said. “There’s a scholar attending the Republic Fair that I’ve spoken to before. He’s fascinated with the ancient practice of prophecy, and might be interested in the records we recovered. That could be a good excuse for our diversion from our course, should we need one.”
Avar Kriss felt a sudden disturbance in the force. There was no urgency or danger in it, and it seemed so far away, so irrelevant to the threat she was actually trying to deal with. Still, Avar knew it was best to still search it out, so she put her thoughts of the Drengir aside. Avar’s senses often naturally drifted to the minds of others when she meditated, especially over things like this—things that affected the entire force itself. She felt the presence of Elzar Mann and Stellan Gios first, whether that was because they were the closest to the disturbance, or if it was because of their closeness with her, she was usure, but she could hear waves and the twinkling of stars in the force, something so distinctly them. Elzar’s mind was little help; she felt him gently reaching back to her, but yet he was, most definitely, sound asleep. Stellan, on the other hand, was deeply confused. He was bewildered, and frightened even. Whatever the disturbance was, it was definitely on Valo.
Yoda felt a sudden disturbance in the force. There was no urgency or danger in it, but something certainly felt wrong. This didn’t feel like any disturbance he had felt before. At the very center, he felt a connection through it—or rather connections, two connections to two individuals he felt as if he should know. There was such a strong familiarity to their presence, yet they were completely unidentifiable to him. Even at such a distance, and he could tell it was an immense distance, he could feel an impression of not just their life-force, but of their personalities. The two individuals were both feisty, but one was much more proper about it. He had some classic Coruscati pretentiousness in him. The other, she had the temperament of a soldier.
The more he focused on the disturbance, the more he felt his care for them and theirs for him. He stopped himself, remembering the wrongness he had originally felt in the disturbance. He could feel it deeply now. These people didn’t belong and he wasn’t supposed to know them. It was best he did not seek out this disturbance further.
Stellan Gios did not receive the communication sent from Avar’s ship, nor a single one of the messages many of his fellow council members sent when they felt the disturbance, because Stellan Gios was on Valo.