Star Wars_ Darth Bane 03_ Dynasty of Evil - Drew Karpyshyn [62]
The mention of the void always made Bane think of the thought bomb, and the hundreds of Sith and Jedi spirits trapped forever by its detonation. It reminded him of what he had accomplished; it reminded him of who he was.
“I am not some student cowering in fear before the unimaginable power of the dark side,” Bane snapped at the hologram. “I am the Dark Lord of the Sith.”
“Your title means nothing to me,” the gatekeeper sneered. “I decide who is worthy to learn my secrets, and you are not yet ready. Perhaps you will never be.”
Over the past few days Bane had come to this point too many times. He wasn’t about to let the gatekeeper thwart him yet again.
Bane snatched the Holocron up from the floor with his right hand, ignoring the all-too-familiar trembling in his left. There was another way to get the knowledge he sought, but it was a path fraught with peril.
In the construction of his own Holocron, Bane had developed an intimate knowledge of how the talismans worked. Each was unique, a repository of everything its creator had learned during his or her long life. But there were similarities that were common to them all, including the one he now studied.
Andeddu’s Holocron was a four-sided pyramid made of smooth, dark crystal. Arcane glyphs of gold and red were etched into each face, the mystic symbols focusing and channeling the power of the dark side. Inside was an intricate matrix of crystal lattices and vertices. The fine, interwoven filaments formed a data system capable of storing near infinite amounts of knowledge, as well as providing a framework for the cognitive networks required to create the gatekeeper’s appearance and personality.
The entire system was controlled by the capstone, a single piece of black crystal perched atop the apex of the pyramid. Imbued with incredible power, the capstone stabilized the matrix structure, allowing the individual pieces of data to be accessed instantaneously by the gatekeeper.
However, it was possible to circumvent the gatekeeper … but only by one strong enough to survive the attempt. If Bane’s will faltered, or if the power of Andeddu’s Holocron was more than he could handle, then his mind would be destroyed. His identity would be devoured by the talisman, leaving his body a mindless husk. It was a desperate gamble, but there was no other way to get what he needed. Not in time to help him against Zannah.
“If you will not give me what I want,” he shouted at the gatekeeper, “then I will take it!”
Reaching out with the Force, he plunged his awareness into the depths of the pyramid’s inner workings as the gatekeeper let loose a howl of impotent rage. Thrusting his consciousness directly into the capstone, Bane let his will invade the small four-sided talisman just as he himself had invaded the stronghold of Andeddu’s cult back on Prakith.
For a brief instant he could feel the burning inferno of power trapped within threatening to consume his identity. Bane welcomed the pain, feeding on it and transforming it along with all the frustration and anger he had built up over the past four days into a raging, swirling storm of dark side energy. Then, bit by bit, he began to impose order on the chaos, bending it to his will.
Using the Force, Bane began to make subtle adjustments to the Holocron’s crystal matrix. He began to manipulate the arrangement of the filaments, twisting, turning, and shifting them with subtle, immeasurable adjustments as he worked his way deeper and deeper into the data in pursuit of what he sought. In many ways it was like slicing a secure computer network, only a million times more complex.
With each adjustment, the gatekeeper’s image flickered and cried out, but Bane was oblivious to the simulation’s artificial suffering. For several hours he continued his work, his body perspiring heavily, until he finally found what he sought: