Master Cohmac sighed. “The darkness is as much a part of the Force as the light. The Order thinks it can bisect the Force so neatly—as though the primal living energy of all existence were a thing to be sliced and served.”

Reath took a moment to consider this. “Doesn’t that separation keep us safe?”

“Does it?” Master Cohmac said. “Or does the divide only make the darkness darker, more dangerous, than it ever would have been in a state of nature?”

“I don’t know,” Reath admitted. He hadn’t thought abstract philosophy would be a major part of training—but it seemed it would be with Master Cohmac. At least, it would be if he took Reath on. “I only know that our work is good work. That we save lives, end conflict, and bring peace.”

Master Cohmac smiled at him. “You are sure of your path, Reath Silas. Never let anything shake you from it.”

“I only thought I was sure before,” Reath confessed. “But before I left for the frontier, Master Jora asked me a question. She said when I knew the answer, I’d know why we needed to leave Coruscant. She asked why no Jedi can cross the Kyber Arch alone. Now I understand. No one crosses it alone because the arch itself wouldn’t exist without all the Jedi Knights that have gone before. Both the ones who fell in battle and the ones who built the arch for others to remember. I was giving the Order only as much of me as I wanted to give. It was all about me. Not about us. From now on, I’m putting us first.”

“Jora Malli was a wise woman,” said Master Cohmac. “I doubt I could match the profundity of her teachings.”

That sounded suspiciously like goodbye. “So,” Reath began, “are we—”

“I still have much to learn,” Master Cohmac said. That sounded even more like a no until he added, “And there is no better way to learn than to teach. You will be my first Padawan, Reath, and perhaps my greatest instructor in the Force.”

Weeks later, Starlight Beacon officially went online. Its beams shone out through the galaxy, bright as any supernova, in a wordless message of the Republic’s promise of guidance, protection, and prosperity.

As the beams were illuminated, applause rang out aboard the station from the many parties present: the senior Jedi Avar Kriss, Elzar Mann, and Stellan Gios; other Jedi such as Sskeer and Burryaga; Republic officials; various diplomats; and delegations from nearby worlds—

And one Padawan who’d made the last choice he would ever have expected just a few short weeks before.