Path of Destruction von Drew Karpyshyn

Kategorie: Bücher
Seiten / Format: 448 S
Erscheinungsjahr: 2021
Verlag: Penguin Random HouseRandom House Worlds
Sprache: Englisch
ISBN: 9780593358771

1<br><br>Dessel was lost in the suffering of his job, barely even aware of his surroundings. His arms ached from the endless pounding of the hydraulic jack. Small bits of rock skipped off the cavern wall as he bored through, ricocheting off his protective goggles and stinging his exposed face and hands. Clouds of atomized dust filled the air, obscuring his vision, and the screeching whine of the jack filled the cavern, drowning out all other sounds as it burrowed centimeter by agonizing centimeter into the thick vein of cortosis woven into the rock before him.<br><br>Impervious to both heat and energy, cortosis was prized in the construction of armor and shielding by both commercial and military interests, especially with the galaxy at war. Highly resistant to blaster bolts, cortosis alloys supposedly could withstand even the blade of a lightsaber. Unfortunately, the very properties that made it so valuable also made it extremely difficult to mine. Plasma torches were virtually useless; it would take days to burn away even a small section of cortosis-laced rock. The only effective way to mine it was through the brute force of hydraulic jacks pounding relentlessly away at a vein, chipping the cortosis free bit by bit.<br><br>Cortosis was one of the hardest materials in the gal- axy. The force of the pounding quickly wore down the head of a jack, blunting it until it became almost useless. The dust clogged the hydraulic pistons, making them jam. Mining cortosis was hard on the equipment . . . and even harder on the miners.<br><br>Des had been hammering away for nearly six standard hours. The jack weighed more than thirty kilos, and the strain of keeping it raised and pressed against the rock face was taking its toll. His arms were trembling from the exertion. His lungs were gasping for air and choking on the clouds of fine mineral dust thrown up from the jack s head. Even his teeth hurt: the rattling vibration felt as if it were shaking them loose from his gums.<br><br>But the miners on Apatros were paid based on how much cortosis they brought back. If he quit now, another miner would jump in and start working the vein, taking a share of the profits. Des didn t like to share.<br><br>The whine of the jack s motor took on a higher pitch, becoming a keening wail Des was all too familiar with. At twenty thousand rpm, the motor sucked in dust like a thirsty bantha sucking up water after a long desert crossing. The only way to combat it was by regular cleaning and servicing, and the Outer Rim Oreworks Company preferred to buy cheap equipment and replace it, rather than sinking credits into maintenance. Des knew exactly what was going to happen next and a second later, it did. The motor blew.<br><br>The hydraulics seized with a horrible crunch, and a cloud of black smoke spit out the rear of the jack. Cursing ORO and its corporate policies, Des released his cramped finger from the trigger and tossed the spent piece of equipment to the floor.<br><br>Move aside, kid, a voice said.<br><br>Gerd, one of the other miners, stepped up and tried to shoulder Des out of the way so he could work the vein with his own jack. Gerd had been working the mines for nearly twenty standard years, and it had turned his body into a mass of hard, knotted muscle. But Des had been working the mines for ten years himself, ever since he was a teenager, and he was just as solid as the older man and a little bigger. He didn t budge.<br><br>I m not done here, he said. Jack died, that s all. Hand me yours and I ll keep at it for a while.<br><br>You know the rules, kid. You stop working and someone else is allowed to move in.<br><br>Technically, Gerd was right. But nobody ever jumped another miner s claim over an equipment malfunction. Not unless he was trying to pick a fight.<br><br>Des took a quick look around. The chamber was empty except for the twoThis essentialStar WarsLegends novel is the first in a trilogy chronicling the rise of the fearsome Sith lord Darth Bane.<br> <br>A solid space adventure [that] charts the evolution of an antihero almost as chilling as Darth Vader.Publishers Weekly<br><br>On the run from vengeful Republic forces, Dessel, a cortosis miner, vanishes into the ranks of the Sith army and ships out to join the bloody war against the Republic and its Jedi champions. There Dessel s brutality, cunning, and exceptional command of the Force swiftly win him renown as a warrior. But in the eyes of his watchful masters, a far greater destiny awaits him.<br><br>As an acolyte in the Sith academy, studying the secrets and skills of the dark side, Dessel embraces his new identity: Bane. But the true test is yet to come. In order to gain acceptance into the Brotherhood of Darkness, he must defy the most sacred traditions and reject all he has been taught. It is a trial by fire in which he must surrender fully to the dark side and forge from the ashes a new era of absolute power.4USDrew Karpyshyn is the New York Times bestselling author of Children of Fire, The Scorched Earth,andChaos Unleashed, as well as the Star Wars: The Old RepublicnovelsRevanandAnnihilation, and the Star Wars: Darth Bane trilogy: Path of Destruction, Rule of Two,andDynasty of Evil. He also wrote the acclaimed Mass Effect series of novels and worked as a writer/designer on numerous award-winning videogames. After spending most of his life in Canada, he finally grew tired of the long, cold winters and headed south in search of a climate more conducive to year-round golf. Drew Karpyshyn now lives in Texas with his wife, Jennifer, and their pets.

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