Star Wars_ Darth Bane 01_ Path of Destruction - Drew Karpyshyn [105]
He lifted his voice so that it carried throughout the camp, his words booming across the tented landscape. “Now that you are here, the Brotherhood of Darkness is at last whole!”
The troops in camp paused and looked up at him. A few rose expectantly to their feet. There was fire in that single bold statement; it rekindled hope from the damp ashes of their fatigue and despair.
“The full power of the Sith Lords is now united here on Ruusan,” he continued, projecting his words to even the most distant of his followers. Reaching out to them with the undeniable power of the Force, he fed them, rejuvenated them, and filled their hollow spirits. “We are strong. Stronger than the Jedi. We are the champions of the dark side, and we will crush Lord Hoth and his servants of light!”
A great shout roared up from his troops. Those who were seated leapt to their feet. Those who were standing thrust their fists up in the air. The echo of their cheers shook the camp like a groundquake.
Githany felt it as surely as the rest of the troops. It was more than just the words. It was the way he said them. All her doubts and fears simply vanished, crushed by the weight of that single brief speech. It was as if she had been compelled to obey by a power greater than herself.
They made their way through the camp, reveling in the newfound optimism of the troops as Lord Kaan led them to the great tent where he convened his war sessions. A thickset Twi’lek fell into step beside Lord Qordis just ahead of Githany. Swept up in the moment, it took her several seconds to remember him: Lord Kopecz.
“Where’s Bane?” he asked Qordis, his voice so low that only Qordis and Githany likely heard him.
“Bane is gone,” Qordis replied.
Kopecz grunted. “What happened? Did you kill him?” He made little attempt to hide his contempt.
“He still lives. But he has turned his back on the Brotherhood of Darkness.”
“We need him,” Kopecz insisted. “He’s too strong for you to just let him go.”
“It was his choice, not mine!” Qordis snapped.
They continued in without speaking. Kopecz at last broke the silence, sighing as he asked, “Do you at least know where he went?”
“No,” Qordis said. “Nobody knows.”
Bane dropped the Valcyn out of hyperspace on the farthest edge of the remote system, then kicked in the ion drives and continued slowly toward the only habitable planet: a small world locked in orbit around a pale yellow star.
The planet’s official name was Lehon—the same as the solar system—but it was more commonly referred to as the Unknown World. Nearly three thousand years before, in this insignificant system located beyond the farthest edges of explored space, Darth Revan and Darth Malak had discovered the Rakata: an ancient species of Force-users that had ruled the galaxy long before the birth of the Republic.
They had also discovered the Star Forge, an incredible orbiting space station and factory … and a monument to the power of the dark side. A great battle had been fought here between the Republic, led by the redeemed Jedi Master Revan, and Darth Malak’s Sith. Malak had fallen, the Sith were routed, and the Star Forge had been destroyed, though at great cost to the Republic.
Even now the remnants of that titanic battle remained. Ships from both fleets had been engulfed in the cataclysmic explosion that had destroyed the Star Forge. Anything caught up in the shock waves of the detonation, including the massive factory itself, had been warped and shredded by the concussive force, then fused together by the heat of the blast into unrecognizable chunks of molten metal.
Much of the wreckage had coalesced into a wide band that encircled the small planet of Lehon like the rings common to many of the gas giants across the galaxy. The rest of the