Along with some of these senior Jedi come their Padawans, informed of some of the details and aware of the darkness creeping in on them.

The atmosphere is solemn.

As it should be. Asking a Jedi to go to war is no small request. It goes against almost every precept they have.

Yet what choice is there? This invasion shows every sign of being a total existential threat.

More information is needed. They don't yet know what they face.

How should that information be gathered? Too many Jedi have been lost already. The risk is too great.

Dante, unfortunately, does not immediately have any ideas he expects to be useful.

What evidence do they have so far, what remains after the invasion, or do they not yet know this?

Burned-out ruins and shattered husks, on those planets they've been able to approach.

… Were there many Force-sensitives on the relevant planets?

One of the first was host to a training excursion. And of course, many of the others had Jedi on them after that. But the path follows a clear line from some point in the Unknown Regions, that doesn't seem relevant.

He was wondering if they'd… put up much of a fight.

Interdicting transmissions is always one of the first things the enemy does.

That would explain the lack of information.

Which is exactly why they need to send a team-

Heedless of the danger?

Tempers seem to be flaring. Unusual for a gathering of masters, they tend to keep each other in check. Might be a good idea to do a bit of meditating while they hash things out for a while and make sure his own mental state is sound.

That does sound like a good idea, and he's not particularly useful at present. He excuses himself from the meeting to look for somewhere to do that.

There's several out-of-the-way rooms that might suit.

He picks one, takes a seat, and starts focusing inwards.

The cloud over the Force is still here, even with all the Masters present. In fact, it seems stronger than it was.

This seems… problematic.

Does it seem much stronger, would it indicate it spreading?

It's more like it's concentrated. As though the source is present.

– Is he able to figure out what direction, does he need to send a warning?

If the Masters haven't already sensed it, it's too late. The darkness is about to swell, he should focus on trying to preserve his own sense of self-

He keeps centered, focuses on protecting himself from the coming danger –

A shriek and a whisper; sound and not-sound. A timeless eternity as the great devouring dark comes to rip away all that you love, all that you are.

Satisfaction.

He's used to ignoring distractions.

There are so many of them.

Is that the building shaking or is he losing his grip?

The grip is what he's focusing on maintaining to protect himself, he keeps at it –

The crash of crumbling masonry and those screams are definitely not in his head.

He jolts out of the meditation, takes a look at the room around him –