After three days of traveling through the treacherous gravity paths made by the black holes of the Maw Cluster, Mara, piloting the Jade Shadow, had finally reached the site of the coordinates that Jacen had given her; and the site of a relative miniature of Centerpoint Station nearly shocked her.
Sure, Jacen had told her that this Sinkhole Station would look like a smaller version of the now-deconstructed Centerpoint, but looking at Sinkhole now, she couldn't help but have an irrational fear that this thing may have the destructive capability as its late relative. Jacen told her that he had inspected this station while he was here during his post-Yuuzhan Vong War sojourn, and he had found no evidence that Sinkhole had any lasers that could so much as destroy a meteorite, let alone an entire solar system.
Nevertheless, Mara couldn't help but carefully pilot the Shadow toward Sinkhole, and already she could feel Force-presences aboard... Force-presences that felt as if they were somehow waning. Again, Jacen had informed Mara of who could be aboard this station: Force-sensitives from different sects around the galaxy, including dropouts and outright flunkies from the Jedi Order itself, who came here to seek total oneness with the Force.
Among them, Jacen had learned to Mind Walk.
Mind Walking, as Jacen told Mara before she departed for the Maw, was the ability to separate one's Force-essence from the body of oneself to enter what was apparently the realm of the Force itself. Many who had come had to Mind Walk would encounter a mysterious being known as Abeloth, who every Mind Walker, including Jacen, thought to be a manifestation of both the desires and fears of an individual Mind Walker; to resist the temptations and/or horrors provided by Abeloth was believed to be the achievement of oneness with the Force.
Many Mind Walkers had fallen to whatever Abeloth provided to their essences; those who survived would gain the ability to encounter other Mind Walkers, whether they were in the spirit or mortal realm, and tell them whether or not they would choose to stay in the mortal realm or choose to depart from their bodies entirely and be one with the Force. Obviously, Jacen had decided to stay in the mortal realm after he had conquered his own trial provided by Abeloth.
"What trial did she give you?" Mara asked her nephew once he had concluded explaining what Mind Walking consisted of.
"My worst fear," Jacen answered. "That I would become a monster, who believed in the dark side of the Force and that it was the only path to guide the galaxy into salvation, even if it meant that I would have to lose everyone and everything I cared about."
Returning herself to the present, Mara finished the Shadow's landing procedure in Sinkhole Station's hangar bay, which held over a dozen other vessels of various make and design, and soon had her ship cycled down. From there, she disembarked into the hangar bay, finding no one waiting for her, which, upon arriving, didn't surprise her; there was no one to hail her when she dropped out into this system, so why should there be anyone waiting for her now?
Come, the essence of a male alien voice said in Mara's mind.
At first, Mara instinctively raised her mental defenses, only to come into contact with that voice again.
You have nothing to fear here, the essence returned. Come.
Probing the essence, she sensed nothing suspicious or potentially harmful; only idle curiosity and a willingness to teach. So Mara headed in the direction that her Force-senses told her that the voice came from, albeit cautiously, and she decided to take the time to get a bearing on her surroundings.
As she walked down the dilapidated corridors of Sinkhole Station, Mara saw that the entire place looked like it was on the verge of collapse from lack of maintenance, even though there wasn't really so much of a mess to speak of. Again, it was as Jacen had informed her, and he had assured her that in spite of Sinkhole's appearance of needing a fix-up, it was far from being structurally unstable.
Eventually, Mara reached the very heart of Sinkhole: what appeared to be a giant recreational area that lacked anything resembling superfluity, and was all but sparse, like the rest of the station, except for the large number of humans and aliens who were gathered around in various places. They were either sitting cross-legged on the ground or hovering in the air, eyes closed, deep in meditation.
The only being who wasn't in this state, aside from Mara, was an elderly male Gotal who stood only a few meters from the Jedi Master with an expressionless stare.
"Welcome," the Gotal greeted with a tone that reflected his blank expression and with outspread arms. "I am Seek Ryontarr, Organizer of the Mind Walkers. And you are?"
"Jedi Master Mara Jade Skywalker," Mara replied stoically.
"Ah, yes, so you are," Ryontarr said. "I recall you from when I was one of Luke Skywalker's disciples on Yavin Four, long before the Yuuzhan Vong came into the galaxy."
"I do somewhat recall you," Mara admitted. "Didn't you decide to leave the Order?"
Ryontarr nodded. "I believed that the Order was too limiting in its views, that there had to be more to the Force that just the simple concepts of the light and dark sides."
Mara grinned. "Then you should probably come back; the Grand Master is advocating such a view."
Still expressionless, Ryontarr inquired, "Would this Grand Master happen to be Jacen Solo?"
"I see you've met him while he was here," Mara replied cordially.
Ryontarr nodded. "I envy him, in fact. While I was here, Mind Walking and helping others Mind Walk, he was out exploring the rest of the galaxy, searching for new ways to better himself and increase his understanding of the Force. Alas, my place is here, as I've decided long ago; I am here to see to it that those Force-sensitives who wish to seek oneness will achieve it."
"Have you achieved it, Seek?" Mara asked.
"I am still here," Ryontarr replied, "and unlike Jacen Solo, I do not believe that I can achieve it and live."
"But you have conquered Abeloth?"
This time, Ryontarr gave a shake of his head. "When I came across her beyond shadows, she said that my place was in the mortal realm, helping others achieve what I had sought; and only when I finally die will I be able to achieve oneness with the Force."
"Interesting," Mara noted aloud.
"She told me what she could do to those who dwell beyond shadows, when they Mind Walk," Ryontarr explained. "I tell them what would happen; and then, they either resist her temptations or horrors, or succumb to them and die."
"What's the difference between dying and achieving oneness with the Force for you, Seek?" Mara asked.
"Death by Abeloth is one in which you feel yourself robbed of your soul," Ryontarr elaborated. "Oneness with the Force is the ultimate knowledge attained by shedding your mortal coil in peace."
"I see," Mara acknowledged. "Tell me, what brought you here to Sinkhole in the first place? How did you find it?"
"It came about through simple soul-searching," Ryontarr answered. "Through communion with the Force. Through that, I discovered this place; and over time, others came, others like me who had come to truly know what the Force is."
"Okay," Mara said. "One last question, then: how do you get food and water here? I imagine you don't get many supplies out here."
"There is a galley on which one can subsist," Ryontarr stated, as if he were still talking sagaciously about what he did here that regarded the Force. "There, a small station replicates food, water, and other supplies needed for survival. That is how I have lived here for so long."
"Uh-huh," Mara said. "Well, in that case, I'm ready to begin Mind Walking."
"Very well," Ryontarr said stoically.
