Chapter 14: Steady Cores
21 BBY, Tython
The wizard had a wide, almost manic, smile on his face as he looked at the window and saw the stars elongate into lines as they entered hyperspace. And why wouldn’t he? After all, he had an entire galaxy to explore.
Harry Potter had told Ahsoka that whoever invented Hyperspace travel was insane, and he stood by this statement. Oh, it was a marvellous way to travel, one centred towards going through a subdimension that was somehow layered beneath Realspace, whose laws of physics acted very differently, which meant that they could travel faster than light.
It all sounded very, well, neat; what most people neglected to mention was that Hyperspace was essentially made up of space-time anomalies that constantly changed. Two ships right behind one another could go into Hyperspace and end up in completely different places in the galaxy, hence the need to find Hyperspace lanes, paths that were particularly stable, enough that the entry and exit points are predictable.
One might wonder why Harry was lecturing himself on Hyperspace travel. Well, it was because he was doing his best to calm down Hyperspace around him, as it acted like it was in the Hyperspace equivalent of a Storm, constantly shifting around. He did it through some very careful warping of the space around the ship, all to ensure that they wouldn’t end up stuck in the middle of nowhere, or worse, crash into a star.
He really should have researched the Hyperspace lanes that the old droid, T7, knew, given that they were likely thousands of years old. He supposed that a few lanes didn’t become as safe as they used to be in the past, but that was something he’d get to later.
Despite it all, Harry had a wide smile on his face, as he realised that this was a new experience, or perhaps, a new way for him to practice his space manipulation in such an unfamiliar way. Of course, he would have preferred it if it was in a calmer setting, but it would do.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they left Hyperspace, and Harry slumped slightly in his seat; the mental drain of constantly maintaining the ship for so long had given him a headache over time.
The wizard turned to the droid and raised an eyebrow, finally addressing the elephant in the room, “What happened, T7?”
The droid beeped sadly, “The Hyperspace Lane to Tython had been missing from the ship’s databank. As this is not a Jedi ship, this unit assumed that it had been hidden, as was commonplace at that time. It was… an incorrect assumption.”
Harry snorted, “Well, I’ll be. That was a hell of a ride.”
“Master, the ship’s sensors reveal contradicting data regarding changes in the Hyperspace Lane mid-jump. Our arrival at our destination was… unlikely were it not for these anomalies.”
He answered the unasked question, “It’s a little trick that I picked up. I’m guessing that it will be hard for the Jedi or anyone who hunted me down to Coruscant to find me.”
The droid beeped for a moment, “Affirmative. Though, Master-Maker would say that the Force works in different ways.”
Harry snorted at that answer and relaxed slightly. Despite the novelty of the entire situation, he didn’t mind having some space and quiet, at least for a few days. There was a lot that he wanted to try out, especially things regarding the Force, and he knew that the Jedi, and probably the Sith, would be looking for him.
Tracing down the ship wouldn’t exactly be impossible. Despite everything, it was obvious that the Jedi and Sith had access to technology that wasn’t available in the bowels of Coruscant, which was what he had most experience in. Still, it was funny how this little mishap told him of a way to evade any ship trying to chase him, since he could use Hyperspace to change their trajectory immensely, maybe even disastrously.
With that done, the wizard spoke up and looked at the first planet that he had ever travelled alone. It was certainly beautiful, a great contrast to the ugliness of Coruscant. The planet was mostly green, separated into continents, though it wasn’t exactly like Earth. The North and South poles seemed to hold a lot more ice spreading down, and the clouds seemed to cover a large part of the continent, spinning in a way that looked like a storm.
Harry turned to the droid and asked, “Can you tell me more about Tython?”
With the excitement of the last few days, Harry hadn’t really asked T7 about Tython, aside from it being his home, or rather, his former master’s home. Other than this, he didn’t know anything really, something that he needed to change.
The little droid thankfully seemed inclined to share it, “The planet designated as Tython is commonly known as the home world of the Jedi Order, before they moved to Ossus, and then later Coruscant. After the temple of Coruscant’s sacking by the reconstituted Sith Empire, the order returned to Tython instead of rebuilding the temple in the Ecumenopolis. The planet’s biome was the topic of many theories, as it was said to be connected to the Force itself.”
That last detail brought Harry’s interest in the matter. The truth was that one of Harry’s main priorities was to understand the workings of the Force, as well as how it worked. Maybe this planet would help him on that side. Still, the history of the Jedi Order and Tython did seem interesting, if a little incomplete, since he remembered distinctly the Jedi Temple being on Coruscant.
“And I’m guessing the Jedi left again to go back to Coruscant,” Harry muttered without really thinking.
The Astromech commented, “This unit was lost on Maridun before this fact. No information on Tython was found on the HoloNet either, but the unstable Hyperspace Lane would make travel unwise and unsustainable.”
Harry smiled at that, “Well, it will be up to us to find out. It’s more exciting this way, too. Let’s start with the Jedi Temple, shall we?”
T7 beeped in affirmation, and Harry felt something land on his shoulders. He turned towards its source, seeing it to be his familiar, and said, “Well, someone had a nice nap, didn’t they?”
Hedwig gave him a haughty look and released a dismissive hoot, making him snicker at her reaction, "Well, your timing is impeccable; we are about to land.”
It was not long after that Harry’s spaceship (he still felt giddy when he said that) landed on the surface of Tython, the so-called home world of the Jedi. T7 had elected to stay behind, apparently wanting to check that the ship’s Hyperdrive wasn’t damaged by their rather rough trip through Hyperspace, leaving Harry and Hedwig to their devices, ready to begin their exploration of the planet.
It was certainly a beautiful planet, filled with greenery, large trees, clear rivers and lakes. He could see someone easily want to settle down in the place and relish in the magnificence of nature.
However, from the moment Harry set foot on the planet, he knew exactly why the Jedi would love this place. Everywhere he went before, the Force, as they called it, was present, even in Coruscant. It was energy that bound everything together, like an infinite web of connections that was so dense that it was akin to a sea.
However, on this planet, it was like there had been a certain veil between this energy and the world that was thinner, or at least, the waters were clearer than he ever thought possible. It was how Harry immediately realised that what he had seen, what he had perceived earlier, was only the surface. He could practically feel how every blade of grass beneath his feet, every small part of wind, was connected so deeply to this mysterious entity, shaped to become more vibrant, with hints of life within them.
Harry had vaguely theorised that the Force was more akin to magic, at least, given the way he had seen it be used, but the Force was so much more than that. But how much more, he wasn’t sure, but he knew that he was in the correct place to find out.
A loud rumbling in the distance broke him from his contemplations, and the wizard looked up to its source and muttered, “The start of a storm.”
Hedwig hooted in agreement, still perched on Harry’s shoulder. He remembered T7 saying that the weather was tied to the Force somehow, and now, looking at it, it seemed almost stuck as the beginning of a storm, ready to be released. Thunder rumbled occasionally, with small cracks of lightning illuminating the clouds in the distance; the winds were slightly stronger than usual, but that was all, and Harry had the faint impression of it holding a faint sense of warning within.
The world was literally holding its breath.
How exciting… and maybe a little worrying.
Out of curiosity, Harry activated his Arcane Hearing, mostly out of curiosity more than anything, and his eyes widened at how loud it was. This had always been one of the most treasured abilities that allowed him to progress into the man he was now through perception and understanding of the world around him, and it certainly helped there.
For it was a song flowing endlessly in this place, almost as if it was telling a story. As he listened, he gained the faint impression of harmony, or peace and love, which had sadly split apart, causing a great sorrow, a rift that had never mended… that would never mend.
For a fleeting moment, Harry thought he heard laughter. Children running through fields. The clash of blades. There was grief, so much grief… And then it was gone, swept away by the wind before he could grasp it. He quickly tried to follow the remnants of that tune, only for Harry to find himself before a rather large structure, one that was obviously abandoned.
There were large round buildings, with marks of destruction that could be seen all around. The buildings were in ruin, with small remnants of fear and anger being all around it. The inhabitants in this place had not died gently; that was for sure, even if Harry couldn’t see any bodies or weapons lying around.
It was then that Harry felt it, a small stutter in the song, and he immediately realised that he would be attacked. Trusting his instincts, he ducked down and saw a blue bolt of light spin surprisingly quickly above him before he turned toward its source.
When he did, he couldn’t help but frown as he took in what he saw, specifically a corpse wearing the tatters of robes that were similar to the ones he had seen the Jedi wear back on Coruscant, with the tears revealing some strange amalgamation of technology and twisted flesh wrapped around exposed machinery.
Harry released a deep sigh at that. It seemed that everywhere he went, some Jedi would have come back with him, even if this one was the strange amalgamation between a cyborg and an inferi.
That certainly explained the lack of corpses, didn’t it?
Well, at least this trip wasn’t exactly boring.
The Lightsaber spun around, which would have returned to the dead Jedi’s hand, only for Hedwig to fly and release a pulse of light towards their enemy. The corpse dodged by woodenly running towards him, following up with a telekinetic blast that Harry easily shielded himself against.
Though the blast was large enough that it hit the walls of the temple behind him. The dead Jedi then ran, ready to skewer him through, only for Harry to quickly turn the earth into a liquid as his opponent landed on it, while dodging back the slice in question.
The Jedi cyborg inferi sank into the liquified earth, which solidified as he was trapped at the waist, and with a quick flick of his wrist later, Harry found himself staring at sparking robotic stumps where his attacker’s hands once stood.
Harry casually walked towards his downed attacker and picked up the Lightsaber with a wide smile on his face, “I hope you don’t mind that I keep this. Well, you’re dead; you shouldn’t exactly mind. Now, let’s see what makes you tick.”
It was certainly not something that he had expected to see in a Jedi Temple of all things. He could feel the Force being used, but it was in such a twisted way that it just felt… wrong. Then again, he supposed that whoever had done it wouldn’t be a particularly well-adjusted person, to say the least.
The metal itself was suffused with the Force, with commands seemingly established within, including binding it to its decay. This seemingly would have given the creature some basic magical resistance. Harry had learned after his many… many… close encounters to always assume that unknown entities were resistant to most basic spells, at least until he knows otherwise.
The flesh was also modified, mostly to slow down decomposition, but also to enhance the metal in some way. This must have also been what had let the… thing still use the telekinesis, despite it being dead. It was certainly an interesting, if disturbing application of the Force, and one that Harry sincerely hoped was only on Tython.
Hedwig flew down towards him once more, as Harry slowly tried to unravel what the hell was done to the poor man’s corpse. It was then that the man’s dead eyes turned yellow for just a brief moment, releasing a hateful snarl. Then whatever was done to the Force completely unravelled, and he turned to dust, letting the tainted technology fall to the ground with large thuds.
He turned to his companion and spoke up, “Tython is certainly more interesting than I expected.”
The snowy owl faithfully hooted in agreement. He simply shrugged, knowing that he would have to face whatever this was, personally. He had tugged on the brief connection that had been formed before the spell maintaining Jedi cyborg Inferi disappeared, and it had originated very far away, maybe even on another continent. After all, Tython was a pretty big planet.
For now, he’d look in the Jedi Temple for clues as to what exactly happened, and it wasn’t exactly his responsibility to deal with this… thing, especially since, from what he knew so far, he had seen no signs of living civilisation.
As he walked into the temple, which was also in ruins, Harry froze as he saw a faint blue glow near one of the destroyed walls. If he remembered correctly, this had been where he had redirected the cyborg Inferi’s telekinetic blast.
The wizard walked towards it and smiled as he saw a familiar sight, specifically a Holocron. It was glowing blue, not red like the Sith’s, and it was a cube, not a pyramid, but Harry recognised it all the same. Of course, thankfully, no one had tied their soul to it, which was already a good sign.
Slowly, Harry picked up the Holocron in question and immediately felt a faint pulse of the Force run through the cube. The blue glow intensified for a brief moment before lines of light unfolded from its surface.
A robed woman appeared before him. “I am Grand Master Satele Shan of the Jedi Order. If you are viewing this recording, then you have discovered one of the repositories of Jedi knowledge.”
The gaze of the woman suddenly sharpened, and Harry felt her finally looking for him, not repeating a mere recording, “You are no Jedi.”
Harry felt a wide smile grow on his face as he nodded, “I am not.”
The woman’s expression turned slightly severe as she asked, “What is it that you seek?”
“I want you to tell me everything you know about the Force.”
AN: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. As I said before, I’m still getting the hang of writing a Star Wars story, so bear with me if anything feels off.
I really fell down the rabbit hole of Star Wars lore as I looked for everything about Tython while writing this chapter, and I’m really not sure about how it came out, to be honest. I’m mostly hesitant about the Jedi Technobeast that Harry fought. It’s sort of a reference to Belia Darzu, a pretty obscure Sith Lord, who created the technique and made a fortress on Tython after it was abandoned, using them to try to conquer the galaxy.
I was tempted to not include it at all, but I had an interesting idea regarding it, which I planned to leave somewhat in the background, but thought would spice up this chapter a bit, or at least, make Harry realise some of the stuff that's possible in the Force.
I also used the idea of shifting Hyperspace Lanes to explain how the planet is sort of lost, since the journey is generally very risky. I suppose that the Hyperspace explanation at the start dragged out a bit, but Harry, as the Lord of Space and Time, would be especially interested in its workings. Still, I’m kinda excited about the next chapter, since Harry will finally learn a bit about the Force.
Also, feel free to let me know if you have any things you'd like to see in that story. SW lore is pretty expansive, especially Legends stuff, and there's a lot that I'll probably miss, so I'm counting on you guys :)
As usual, I don’t mind rewriting this chapter depending on your feedback, so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.