New Star Wars deepens the Jedi battle in The Acolyte — learn a chapter

In basic Star Wars style, the Jedi of the Excessive Republic novels — who’ve now made the bounce to reside motion within the type of The Acolyte — have spent a lot of the previous few years veering towards catastrophe. Amid the “Nice Catastrophe,” which offered an explosive opening to Charles Soule’s The Gentle of the Jedi, they had been first responders. The cataclysmic occasions of Claudia Grey’s The Fallen Star made them victims. Now, after a prequel jaunt in The Excessive Republic section 2, section 3 is in full swing with the second grownup novel within the sequence, Tessa Gratton’s Temptation of the Drive, by which the Jedi lastly begin preventing again.

Following up George Mann’s The Eye of Darkness, Temptation of the Drive reunites the Jedi of the Excessive Republic Period after the marauder-terrorist group often called the Nihil staged a violent takeover of a portion of the Outer Rim often called the Occlusion Zone. Centered on the reunion of star-crossed Jedi Avar Kriss and Elzar Mann, Temptation of the Drive guarantees to repay some long-simmering character work whereas rallying for what must be an explosive conclusion in subsequent spring’s Trials of the Jedi by Charles Soule.

On this unique excerpt from Temptation of the Drive, forward of its debut on June 11, we see the start of the Jedi’s offensive in opposition to the Nihil — one which doesn’t contain weapons of warfare, however phrases of inspiration.

Whereas the Jedi take the battle on to the Nihil, throughout the Occlusion Zone, a gaggle of freedom fighters work to assist the planets imprisoned in Nihil house, spreading a message of hope and freedom.

RILIAS II, INSIDE THE OCCLUSION ZONE

Cair San Tekka had been loads of issues in his comparatively brief life: a spy, a musician, a secret husband, a safety aide, a secretary, a punk child, a troublemaker, a pilot, and now a smuggler and freedom fighter. He wasn’t the one one operating varied rebellions all through Nihil house, and several other such insurgent teams had discovered methods to entry the continually altering anti-scav codes to permit for safer journey out right here on the frontier, in addition to a comm subroutine channel that made it by the Nihil comm embargo. Cair managed these issues, too. However what he had that no person else had was somebody who offered him with regularly up to date time-phased Path codes that might be utilized by the Jedi to penetrate the Stormwall.

And allies with ships of their very own.

Picture: Lucasfilm Ltd.

These ships had been what allowed Cair to be down within the central water backyard of Rilias II, huddled within the bowl of their foris alloy funnel. The funnel had been constructed just a few generations in the past as an ornamental fountain the dimensions of a small constructing, out of a metallic mined on considered one of their moons that allowed for a precise resonance with the minerals discovered of their perma-scatter clouds. The funnel gathered skinny trickles of water all day and night time from the water backyard, and at dawn and sundown most days of the 12 months, when the sunshine filtered by the clouds, it hit the alloy funnel. The funnel’s reverberation precipitated particles within the air to vibrate into little rainbow stars.

It additionally amplified sure audio frequencies.

Cair shifted the strap of his harness to higher attain the small panel that was a part of the controls within the base of the funnel. He balanced in opposition to the sloped, slippery wall along with his ft and labored rapidly to take away a datachip and substitute it along with his sliced frequency emitter.

This is able to be the fifth morale drop he’d personally led, however the first that included a visible part.

Ever since he’d met up with Rhil Dairo final month, she’d been angling to discover a technique to embody visuals of their drops. Symbols and smiles, she’d insisted time and again. Cair hadn’t disagreed with the sentiment, solely the practicality.

However in the present day they’d means and alternative.

It was a three-pronged setup: Cair down right here slicing the funnel to match the required frequencies, Rhil up in orbit with the Brightbird— or because it was recognized in these elements, the Nihil transport Blood Vulture— and Belin prepared in his ship on the opposite facet of the glowing felsic cliffs edging town. Rhil had dropped the refitted comm buoy along with her latest broadcast, lively to the frequencies Cair matched with the funnel, and Belin would fly over town, releasing a hydro-spray to activate the clouds prematurely. Then their present would start.

Cair completed his slice and hit the countdown monitor he’d introduced. It synced up with the same countdown embedded in his synthetic hand. He grinned. Up to now, so good.

Climbing out of the funnel took a little bit of time, however Cair hooked his legs over the sting and located a seat on a broad ruffled lily pad. He leaned again on the mushy moss and tilted his head up. The teal sky was striped by skinny blushing scatter clouds, and each every now and then, a private shuttle zipped previous.

Rilias II had been onerous hit by the Nihil, however its central authorities had capitulated sooner than many, giving in to calls for for complete give up and permitting common Nihil rioting missions below the duvet of “tax gathering.” Neighborhoods had been razed and anyone who fought again taken into custody or killed. It was a horribly typical story of the previous 12 months within the Occlusion Zone, however because of fast considering or cowardly leaders, sufficient of the populace and riches had been sacrificed to semi-mollify the Nihil.

That simply made Cair’s job extra vital. He needed to remind individuals they wanted to battle. And so they may survive. There was hope. It was price reaching out, price making an attempt. All people wanted to be making an attempt.

The water backyard shuddered below him as town’s inside mechanisms opened the underground rivers. It was practically time.

Cair tried to not really feel too deeply in regards to the second of peace. Ready was the one peace he obtained lately. The peace between planning and motion.

As at all times, he pretended he may really feel the Drive thrumming by all the things, connecting him to the lily pad and water, to the air and ambiance, to his allies of their positions, to the celebs past, to his household—all of whom had been in Republic house now, thank the Drive. Cair wasn’t robust within the Drive within the least, however he’d been raised to belief it anyway. Typically he pretended so effectively he may truly really feel it in his bones.

The countdown alert notified him he had a minute, and Cair obtained up onto his ft. He stood on the fringe of the funnel as if he didn’t have a care on the planet. Safety groups—the native constabulary indebted to the Nihil now and oppressed by them—may see him in the event that they appeared. If Cair was seen, he is perhaps shot on sight. Or he is perhaps cheered.

However Cair felt deeply that he wanted to be seen. Any individual would inform the story: A human had been right here and precipitated this disruption. Not from house, not from the gap past the Stormwall. Somebody right here. Within the flesh. Risking dying and torture to convey them this message.

Cair stood, ignoring the worry. This was price being afraid. Price dying. It needed to be. He’d spent an excessive amount of of his life serving solely his household’s profit, making underhanded enterprise offers as a substitute of music, toying with industrial espionage as a substitute of latest wavelengths for his dulcimer. He was good at creating hassle and spycraft, and he’d by no means regretted prioritizing what his uncles and oldsters pushed him towards. Till he met any person even higher at such video games, and married him.

After all, with the Nihil occupation, nothing was a sport anymore. Cair had completed his greatest to put low, assist these he may, and maintain himself from placing a goal on his husband’s again. He hadn’t recognized what else to do.

Now he knew.

He’d seen individuals sacrifice all the things to maintain their households alive. He’d witnessed far-flung San Tekkas disregard revenue and exploration and all the things Cair thought made San Tekkas San Tekkas simply to save lots of a handful of individuals in peril. They’d been greater than courageous, risked all the things, left all of it behind, not for glory or revenue however for hope. He’d misplaced his hand studying to make the identical alternative.

It nonetheless wasn’t simple to do. However each time Cair selected hope, it obtained rather less scary.

Heat wind brushed strands of messy black hair throughout his face. He made himself smile. That might be the very last thing he did, if it was the very last thing he did. His dramatic husband would say, Operating needs to be the very last thing you do, you idiot.

Cair heard the excessive scream of Belin’s engine earlier than he noticed the glint of the ship out on the line of felsic cliffs.

It was time.

Cair twisted a tiny crimson dial on his black-metal hand, and it snapped with a frequency. The funnel hummed in reply.

The remaining was as much as Rhil and Belin.

Instantly Rhil’s voice blasted all through the sky: “Greetings, free residents of the frontier! That is your buddy and ally Rhil Dairo, and in the present day we have now a message from a hero you all know!”

Cair laughed. Rhil’s broadcast would journey from buoy to buoy till the Nihil managed to cease it.

The funnel thrummed more durable, and there got here Belin, streaking throughout the sky in his sharp-nosed shuttle. Behind him trailed a shimmer because the hydro-spray clung to the decrease ambiance, prepared.

Cair raised a hand to Belin, who vanished over the distant horizon.

The spray caught the daylight and the funnel flared.

“Whats up, that is Jedi Grasp Avar Kriss,” the Jedi’s voice rang out.

In all places on this system, and hopefully the neighboring as effectively, and in each Nihil ship and metropolis with comms that might be reached, Avar Kriss spoke to these listening.

However right here on Rilias II, held in form by the rainbow frequencies of the alloy funnel, Avar Kriss’s face appeared down like a god.

If Cair knew Jedi in any respect, he knew she’d hate the comparability. However Cair relished it. He grinned and laughed once more. And earlier than he hightailed it to his mark to be picked up in a rush, he stood there, watching and listening.

“I convey a message of hope, although it’s tough to listen to. However hear, please. Even I’m acquainted with despair. I do know it. That feeling when all the things is an excessive amount of, when the strain of searching for something within tomorrow is overwhelming. It hurts. I do know it, too. In instances like that simply bear in mind who you might be—who you need to be. Who you may be. Deal with that. Battle with me, if that’s who you may be. However for those who can’t, you shouldn’t have to battle. I received’t ask that of you. There are individuals already preventing for you. For all of us. All I’m asking of you in the present day is that you simply reside. Dwell in the present day, and attempt to discover hope tomorrow. That is Jedi Grasp Avar Kriss. Assistance is on the best way.”

Reprinted from Star Wars: The Excessive Republic: Temptation of the Drive by Tessa Gratton. © 2024 by Lucasfilm Ltd. Revealed by Random Home Worlds, an imprint of Random Home, a division of Penguin Random Home LLC.