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"Oh dear…" Master Fay murmured, as she and the other Masters in the room looked at the section of the map so indicated. "That is troublesome; those are the Unknown Territories."
"Unknown now, but they were known at one point," Dooku mused, thinking hard. "That, if I am reading this correctly, is Ruusan. That entire territory has been cut off from the rest of the Republic; thanks to the shift in the nebulae that surrounds it no hyperspace jump is safe. Worse was the damage done to the Ruusan system in the final campaign of the New Sith Wars. I have no idea if there is any way to even reach the planet."
At that the other Masters all nodded, agreeing with Dooku. Even Giiett nodded, though he felt something, a tug of something here, as if the Force was trying to tell him something which he could not quite grasp. To his side, Aayla, Quinlan, and Alecto looked at one another, then back at Harry before looking at the image of the planet, feeling the same gentle, almost missed pull of the Force.
"I, however, note you said `what I seek,' Harry, but you didn't mention your lightsaber crystal by name," Lily said, bringing all the masters' attention to the young padawan who still stood unmoving in the center of the hologram.
"…No mum, I didn't. I think my lightsaber crystal is there, but there's also something else, something I need, no, the Light Side of the Force wants me to do," Harry said, his voice growing with certainty as he continued to speak. "I need to go there."
Fay nodded slowly. "I too feel the pull now. It is the same I have felt all my life, the Force moving me as it wills." She looked around keenly, allowing a faint smile to appear on her face. "And I am not alone."
It could have been a question, but it wasn't. It was a certainty, and Alecto, Quinlan, and Aayla all stepped forward, followed by Giiett a moment later. The council member shook his head slightly as the other gathered masters looked at him in surprise. "I haven't felt such a touch in many years, not one so ephemeral yet certain."
"Then I suggest you all start planning how to get there. And we should probably send for another member of the High Council," Dooku cautioned. "One member of the council should always be here given certain lessons being taught here, just to answer questions, if nothing else. I would also tell you to take the Lucrehulk with you."
Fay frowned at that, while Lily nodded. "The Lucrehulk is a far more defensible ship than your yacht, Fay. Sorry. Besides, we could store your yacht in the Lucrehulk easily."
"Yes, its defenses will stand you in good stead. However, the reason you should take it is two-fold. One, it is large enough to house the Hypercom generator we took from the pirates. That is stored here on Serenno, and it could be used to help keep you in contact with the rest of the galaxy, though that will be little help physically."
Dooku winced, stroking at his goatee. "The hyperspace lanes in that area change hour to hour, so it's doubtful any ship could arrive in time to help you even if you needed it, but that brings me to my second reason to use the Lucrehulk: its drives are far more robust than any yacht. The Neimodians used such ships all the time as they were finding their proprietary hyperspace routes. It will survive coming out of hyperspace suddenly far better. Further, the larger ship will be much more pleasant to live on for an extended period of time. Jumping into the unknown as you will be, you'll be lucky to make more than a single light year per jump."
Harry nodded agreement at that point, though the idea of such an emergency exit from hyperspace wasn't very pleasant. After that, the group began to plan for what would they would need and who to contact. Micah called the Order, telling them about this mission in a circuitous way over the Hypercom, while the others began to load up the monstrous ship with supplies and the Hypercom generator. This took them several days, but by the end of that time they were ready, and Master Billaba was on the way to take Micah's place. She would arrive with Knight Vosa, who would take over the lightsaber training duties that Micah was leaving behind, along with Dooku.
The evening that the group was due to leave, Dooku was meditating in his room alone as usual, happy at how events had played out. Harry was ready to continue his lightsaber education on his own, and he and Fay were being called away by the Force, and so would be out of the way, hidden from the backlash of what he was going to do, if there was one.
He came out of his meditation as he felt a presence at his door. Sensing his acquiescence, Master Fay entered, moving to kneel down across from where Dooku was already sitting, his legs crossed under him.
For a moment the two of them were silent, examining one another, then Master Fay spoke, her voice soft, but her words blunt. "You are troubled by something, something that has been eating at you for months now. I think it has something to do with the Dark Side user or users that are still out there, but your control is such that even that is more guesswork than I am used to. I would applaud you for that level of control if I was not so concerned."
Master Dooku looked calmly at the ageless Master Fay, feeling none of the niggling bit of jealousy at that ageless nature that he had upon meeting her in person for the first time, and a few times after. But neither did he have any wish to bare his soul to the ancient woman. This is my burden, my destiny, no one else's. "I thank you for your concern, but I am fine. I am disturbed, and getting more so by the lack of progress of the search for the Dark Side user, but that should not surprise you.
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