Swords of light flashed through the night, crashed together, sparked and withdrew, then crashed again. Warriors- human, Twi'lek, Noghri, Sith, Wookiee, and other races- battled against massive beasts with eyestalks jutting from the sides of their heads and wide mouths lined with rows of knife-sharp teeth. Laserfire rained down from towering mechanical monstrosities and gutted entire city blocks in bursts of flame. Starships looped and wheeled and chased each other through a sky filled with smoke. Darker than the air was the Force itself. The savagery of the invaders and the desperation of the invaded combined to create a storm blacker and more dangerous than anything ever known. It was a vision of war more savage than anything a Je'daii could have imagined before the Rakata came.
It was agony to endure the vision, but Tasha Ryo forced herself to hold on. Countless lives, perhaps the survival of the Je'daii themselves, could depend on it. She forced herself to see every detail and commit to memory every face wrenched in anger or pain, the snapping jaws of every Rakata flesh raider, and most of all the city in which they fought. She searched for familiar buildings even as they were toppled by explosion after explosion. When she recognized enough she finally let herself withdraw.
Escaping the dream was almost as bad as the dream itself. She returned to a body writhing in sweat-damp green robes, lying on a round bed in her chambers. When she sat upright she forced herself to breathe slowly and calm her pounding heart. During her years of training as a Je'daii seer her masters had taught her how to hold on to the details of a retreating vision. She did that now, even as her mind revolted against what she saw.
When she was certain she'd mentally assembled the dream-fragments as best as she could, Tasha rose from her bed and left the chamber with staggered steps. Every hallway of her father's fortress was familiar to her from a young age, and she followed well-worn corridors to the chamber that had become, over the past few months, a war room from which the defense of Shikaakwa was commanded.
It was something she'd never imagined when she was younger. She'd been born into one of the most prominent criminal families on Shikaakwa, seventh planet of the Tythan system. Once her Force abilities had been detected she'd been taken to the Je'daii itself, but Shikaakwa had always been home and her father, Volnos Ryo, had always prodded her to leave her studies and become his heir. War had ravaged the planet in the years immediately after her birth but the world she'd known had always been peaceful, and she'd never doubted that it would continue to rebuild for years to come.
Then the visions had started, promising pain and ruin unlike anything her people had seen before. Then the Rakata themselves had arrived, and for the past ten months they'd been waging war all across the Tythan system, taking the outermost planets and trying to force their way to Tython itself. The Je'daii had repulsed them once but the Rakata had regrouped on Ska Gora and initiated another thrust to take Shikaakwa, which would in turn be stepping-stone for their final prize.
Tasha's home had become a battleground. Every dream and vision had become a nightmare. She'd gone weeks without sound sleep, lost weight, and felt constantly enervated, but she knew there was no escape. She tried to tell herself she was doing her part for the war effort and defending against the Rakata as best she could. There was no joy in her dreams but the agony she suffered were less than the Je'daii warriors like her uncle Hawk who were taking the fight directly to the enemy. Who were bleeding and dying and being consumed by their own anger.
When Tasha reached the war room she found it mostly empty. It was late at night on this part of the planet and, it seemed, there were no battles currently raging. She was unsurprised, however, to spot her father standing over a map at the room's central table, scowling at what he saw. She came around to face him and saw the bags under his eyes. He'd been getting as little sleep as her nowadays.
Unlike his brother and daughter, Volnos had been neither blessed nor cursed with the Force. He was stolid, hard-headed and practical, and had been reluctant to let her train on Tython at all. She knew he was not at all happy that Shikaawka had become the prime battleground in what he saw as the Je'daii's war.
"Father," she said, "I saw something important."
His eyes flicked up to her. "A vision?"
"That's right. You need to know about it. The Je'daii Masters do too."
He exhaled and planted fists on the table. As a practical man he'd been reluctant to draw battle plans based on anyone's Force-visions, even his daughter's, but as the fight for Shikaakwa intensified he'd learned to use any tool that presented itself.
"Another battle?" he asked.
"I saw them coming at us with a full army. Flesh raiders. Annihilator machines. Aircraft." She swallowed. "They'll attack Gartolan."
His eyes narrowed. "Gartolan. Are you sure?"
"I know that city, father. I saw it being smashed to rubble in my dream." She closed her eyes and summoned fragments of memory as her teachers had shown her. "The grand clock tower. The arena on the hillside and the gardens by the river. They'll all burn."
Volnos didn't seem convinced. He stabbed a finger at the map. "We thought they were going after Volkedan next. Our reconnaissance spotted them marshalled in the wetlands fifty kilometers south of that city."
"It's Gartolan, father. I know it."
He studied the map. She could tell he was making hard calculations and she waited until he said, "If they attack Gartolan they'll have to draw forces from the encampment near Volkedan. It's their nearest base and I don't think they'd draw their supply lines any thinner than they have to."
He was coming up with a plan, good. "Then we'll intercept them on the way to Gartolan."
"Perhaps." He tapped the spot on the map marking the encampment near Volkedan. "But if we know their forces will be weak here, it's the perfect time to strike."
"But what about Gartolan?"
"We can add some defenders."
"We'd need more than some to stop the offensive I saw in my vision."
Her father's face went hard. "The imperative isn't to stop these Rakata, it's to destroy them. If they're using as many troops as you say, we'll be able to send in our own offensive and annihilate their base near Volkedan. Without supplies or good defensive redoubts, what's left of their army will be vulnerable. Even if they do take Gartolan-"
"They weren't taking it, father, they were destroying it."
"Then they'll have nothing to defend themselves with, no place to make a stand when we come to crush them. We have to crush them, Tasha, or they'll crush us."
She saw his hard logic. It made her want to weep. This was a war of the most brutal attrition. Thousands had died already, both among the Je'daii and Shikaakwa's natives. Leaving Gartolan exposed to allow a strike at their weakened base might drive the Rakata off this world sooner, but it was still a deliberate choice to surrender thousands more lives.
Tasha swallowed and said, "We have to tell the Masters about this plan."
"I know. I can't so much as breathe without the Je'daii's approval." Her father scowled and drummed thick fingers on the tabletop. "But I don't think it will be too hard to get. Ranger Brock is resting right now, but I'll wake her up. Once she agrees I'm sure the Master will."
He was probably right on that score. As the war had grown desperate the Je'daii had been increasingly thrown off the balance they'd sustained more centuries. Rangers and warriors were being drawn more and more to the darkness within them, unleashing anger and aggression to counter the Rakata's own. But while the Rakatan armies had been trained solely to use the dark, it was an unfamiliar thing to the Je'daii, who struggled with its awesome but dangerous power.
Whatever way this war ended, the Je'daii would be changed forever, and Tasha couldn't see how it would work out for the good.
Volnos got on the comm and woke up the other Je'daii staying in Fortress Ryo. Less than ten minutes she appeared, and Tasha was surprised to find her fully dressed. Lanoree Brock was a human woman about five years older than Tasha, tall with long brown hair that spilled over the shoulders of her brown jacket and red scarf. She wore black boots and a metal sword slanted from her left hip; she'd come ready for anything.
Volnos saw it too. "No need for battle just yet, Ranger Brock. Let us explain the situation."
They did just that. Tasha repeated the contents of her vision, and her father reiterated his plan to let the Rakata attack Gartolan and leave their backs undefended. He tersely outlined his reasoning; Lanoree Brock listened, eyes narrowed, thinking. In the end she agreed with a tiny nod.
Tasha had expected that. She didn't know Lanoree well but the older woman had once been a Ranger who'd crisscrossed the Tythan system alone. Like her uncle Hawk she'd experienced her share of danger. Like Hawk, like all of them, the war against the Rakata had taken its toll on her. If her eyes had ever had a light of adventure in them, it was gone now.
When everything had been said, Lanoree asked, "Do you know when the battle will come?"
Tasha shook her head. "Maybe days. Maybe hours. I can never tell."
Volnos grunted. "I wish the Force would explain itself every now and then."
Tasha didn't blame him for his anger. She felt the same way. She'd trained to become a Je'daii seer because she'd thought the Force might give her a glimpse of enlightenment. Instead she was mired in increasing uncertainty.
"You should try and get some real rest now. You've earned it," Volnos told his daughter. "I'll go to the comm center and try to call Master Ketu. Ranger Brock, can I rely on your support?"
"You can," Lanoree nodded.
"Glad to hear it," Volnos said bitterly, then left the chamber.
Tasha sighed and told the human woman, "Forgive my father. He's already seen one war on Shikaakwa, and he blames the Je'daii for that one too."
"He's not the only one," Lanoree exhaled. She put a hand on Tasha's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. "Thank you, Seer Ryo. You might have helped us turn the tide of the war."
The tide had seemingly turned before, but then it turned back. The Rakata were relentless. "I just do what I can."
Tasha took a few steps away, expecting Lanoree to follow Volnos to the comm center. Instead the woman said, "A question, Seer Ryo?"
Tasha turned. "Of course, Ranger Brock."
Lanoree hesitated a moment, then asked, "Is it true that the Masters think there's a hypergate located in the Chasm beneath Anil Kesh?"
Tasha hadn't expected that. "Why are you asking?"
"I've tried asking your uncle, but he avoids the question. Your father doesn't care. But other Je'daii say that Hawk saw a hypergate when he went down into the Chasm with Daegen Lok. Has he told you about that?"
Tasha heard the unspoken question: Have you seen it in your visions? The answer to both was yes, but Tasha didn't think she had the clarity Lanoree wanted. She could hear the ache for it in the other woman's voice.
"My uncle found something in the Chasm," Tasha said. "Daegen Lok did too. It nearly drove them both mad." Many would say in Lok's case it succeeded.
"But what was it?" pressed Lanoree.
"I'm not sure if they saw something so much as they felt a distortion in the Force. But my uncle says he sensed war and destruction coming to Tython- like it has now. And he says he saw stars and planets without number… Some of the Masters think it might have been a Kwa infinity gate."
Lanoree frowned. "The Kwa? Not the Gree?"
"The Gree? I don't think so. They say the Old City was built by the Gree, but the gate in the Chasm- if it exists at all- sounds like it was built by the Kwa." Tasha saw her confusion and added, "This is all speculation, based on a Kwa holocron we recovered. It said the Gree gates only linked to specific partners, while the Kwa gates could transport matter anywhere in the galaxy.."
"In other words," Lanoree said faintly. "The worlds the Tho Yor took us from."
"Maybe," Tasha said. "Though if the Rakata really have overrun the rest of the galaxy, I don't think we have any homes to go back to."
"Maybe." The human sighed. "It's all unanswered questions, isn't it? Unanswerable."
"Perhaps. I didn't realize you were interested in the gates."
"I'm not. Wasn't. My… brother researched them." She emanated sadness in the Force. "But he died."
"Ah," said Tasha, and nothing else. She hadn't even known Ranger Brock had a brother. He sounded like one more casualty of the Rakata.
"Right now we need to concentrate on the defense of Shikaakwa," Tasha said. "My father's waiting for you to help argue with the Masters."
"He'll get it." Lanoree drew herself straight. "Thank you, Seer Ryo."
Tasha inclined her head and watched Lanoree walk swiftly from the room. When the human was gone, she retreated to her chambers. She moved through the darkness, lay down on her bed again, closed her eyes, and waited for more visions to come. Usually the Force gave her some reprieve after a prophetic dream. She felt herself grow weak with sleep and nothing reared to consume her.
She was glad. Even after her prophetic abilities were recognized she'd never been happy with them. What the Force revealed to her was more often aggravating than helpful. Even before the Rakata invasion, when her visions had been more benign, she'd seen fragments of events without context. Sometimes those fragments had shown her events that would play out, other times things that could be changed. The Masters said the future was not a solid thing, and that what the Force showed her were tiny flecks of what might be. There was no certainty in them and nowadays no comfort. Tasha found herself wishing, more and more, that she'd never been cursed with the Force at all.
As she lay in the dark and tried for some real sleep, a new kind of vision came to her. At first she didn't realize it was a vision at all because it lacked the violence, fire, and death that had wracked her dreams since the war began. There seemed something peaceful, almost fey about the scene that resolved before her. She saw a great arch, perhaps thirty meters high, seemingly carved from stone and wedged between steep canyon walls. She knew it as one of the ancient gates she'd seen in Master A'nang's holocron, which could apparently transport matter instantaneously between worlds. The entire world scene cast in a ghostly blue-white light, as though bathed by a superheated sun.
She recognized the creatures moving around the gate's base as Kwa for their long necks, blue hides, and long reptilian faces. Some seemed to tend to the gate itself, while others sat in small groups around its base. Some conversed; others seem engaged in quiet study. She saw several who seemed to be writing into paper tomes. Those gathered, though alien, had the distinct air of scholars. Among the herd of blue saurians were other aliens with bulbous heads and large black eyes held upright by thick tentacles. From descriptions and rough sketches she'd seen in the Je'daii archives, Tasha recognized them as Gree.
This vision was such a reprieve from the ones of war that she didn't immediately realize it was a vision at all. In the days when she'd had normal dreams, untouched by Force prescience, Tasha had experienced them through her own eyes. She was not present among these Kwa and Gree. Like her prophetic dreams, she seemed to be viewing through omniscient roving eyes.
With understanding came new confusion. Tasha knew that her visions always showed the future, always. These ancient aliens were supposed to be long gone and their gates destroyed, but for her to be receiving this vision meant that at least one such gate must still be extant. Perhaps, she thought, it was the Kwa homeworld, or some other place they'd gathered for refuge against the Rakata. However, that gave no explanation for the Gree scattered among them.
Her sleeping mind tried to make sense of these things like but it was like groping for air while trapped underwater. She couldn't even rouse from sleep. The quiet scene was interrupted by the emergence of light from the mouth of the gate. Straight luminous lines slanted from the stone frame and intersected at right angles to form a perfect grid. The Kwa and Gree all turned in attention as the lines grew thicker, the grid brighter. Soon they'd all packed around it but left a clear and deliberate space immediately in front, as though expecting something to emerge. Many Kwa raised their long arms into the air, while the Gree flailed tentacles. They seemed to Tasha expressions of adulation, even worship.
The light-beams in the grid grew thicker, the gate brighter until it was absolutely blinding. None of the Kwa or Gree looked away. Tasha tried to hold to the vision and see what came through the gate; out of the wall of light marched more Kwa and more Gree, but there was one anomalous figure. Two legs, two arms, a straight body; a head topped by long dark hair. A human, Tasha realized, and tried to focus on that silhouette as it staggered from the gate.
Then, suddenly, the light went out. The gate was closed, leaving an empty arch behind, but those who'd passed through were clearer. Tasha focused on the human and was shocked to find her familiar. Though her features were more worn than they'd been a minute ago, the woman was unmistakably Lanoree Brock, Je'daii ranger.
Without even willing it, Tasha left her sleep. She opened eyes to see only the darkness of her chamber. She wasn't breathing hard this time, and her mind didn't rattle with the desperation and anger of others. Instead she felt dimly confused, a little curious. She was, she realized, still very tired.
True sleep was claiming her fast. She had no understanding of what she'd seen. Perhaps it had been just a dream after all. A welcome reprieve from all her terrible visions. The details were already fading.
Tasha closed her eyes again and let her body relax on the bed. Force-vision or mere imagination, that scene had instilled her with calm. If such a gathering had taken place it had been far from the Rakata, it meant there were still some placed in the galaxy where the Force remained in balance, a haven for ancient races and new Je'daii both.
It was comfort Tasha needed. She let darkness and rare peace claim her.