Building Lightsabres (open to any Jedi)

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

JEDI ACADEMY​

YAVIN IV​

​

A heavy mist washed the jungle clean of everything but birdsong. Just visible through the trees, Headmaster M'ti and Master Windspeaker were leading an advanced lightsabre class -- out of Mara's league, certainly. The Headmaster had been the one to suggest that Mara take her lightsabre components into the edge of the forest. She'd said the web of life would guide Mara and help her keep in tune with the Force. Maybe she was right, but maybe she'd misread her audience. Mara Merrill's native habitat was a spaceship, any spaceship. Between the mist, the sounds of wildlife, and the damp rock that served as her chair, she had her share of distractions. On another rock, in front of her, lightsabre components twitched feebly but refused to rise into the air, let alone fit themselves together.

"Feth."

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

The Jedi Academy on Yavin IV was a more interesting place to visit. It wasn't what Morgana had expected, given that she thought the Jedi would've cleaned it up more. Then again while she was here she began to realize the more natural look and feel the entire place had. It did seem to fit the Jedi's nature, trying to be at one with both nature, technology, and spiritual focus as a whole. As nice as it was Morgana just wished they'd be a little more tidy with how wild the vines grew all over the place.​

​

Ignoring that for now Morgana made her way outside the temple, seeing the thin veil of mist about. The Force almost seemed to litter inside of it. Morgana could feel it, almost breathing it in with every breath. Her attention was turned, however, when she could hear someone cursing. She peeked her head around seeing the padawan on the rock with a bunch of saber parts around her. At first she thought it was a boy, given the hair, but taking a better look she could see it was a girl. She felt a little foolish at first for even thinking the former, knowing that as a girl one would find it insulting. Still she could see that the girl was trying to summon the force for her saber parts, possibly trying to construct her own.​

​

The need to interact got the better of Morgana as she walked up from the side of the rock, coming around into the girl's sight, before saying "You know, if you're really that desperate to have it built, there's no shame in using your hands. I won't tell anyone." she winked.​

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[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]​

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Morgana Forceborn"]

She glanced up at the new arrival, an older Padawan or young Knight; the sabre components twitched once more and were still. Embarrassment led to annoyance, but she clamped that down. Last thing she needed was a lecture on the dangers of the Dark Side and anger and stuff. "Once it's all put together, I gotta use the Force to smooth out all the parts an' get'em together just right. How can I do that if I can't screw the big components together?" She grimaced. "Besides, that'd be giving up."

She slid off the rock and rested her elbows on the other one, the flat stone that held her sabre pieces. "Any pointers? You've made one before, right?"

The Yavin Academy didn't really answer to the Republic's Council, though many of its Jedi chose to. Others were Silvers, still others Levantines like her dad, and some had no political allegiance at all. In practice, that meant that it wasn't unusual to run into Jedi you'd never met before -- even for lifers, Masters and the like. Mara didn't have even that much chance of meeting people she recognized.

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

While the truth of it was that Morgana was making sure the young girl didn't give up on trying to use the Force, part of her suggestion was just to see if she'd ever considered it. Lord knows she might have tried had she ever tried to build a lightsaber. After that she shrugged and crossed her arms, leaning herself back a little to watch as she tried again, another unsuccessful one at that.​

​

When she asked if she ever built one she gave her a shrug before saying "Not exactly." She then reached into her coat, pulling out a training saber; a double-bladed one at that. "See? I'm still a trainee. Just like you." As she put it back she added "I know, I'm this old and still not a knight. What are the odds, right?" She tried waving it off before holding a hand out, introducing herself. "Morgana. Forceborn." She almost hesitated to give her last name.​

​

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]​

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Morgana Forceborn"]

Mara commenced fiddling with the pieces, putting them together by hand and then taking them apart again. Maybe getting a feel for the chunks of metal and circuit would help her visualize them better. "Not sad at all. My dad says there was a time when most folks didn't get Knight until twenty or older. Heck, Obi-Wan Kenobi didn't make Knight 'til twenty-five." Rare facts, in this day and age, but her dad had been Master of First Knowledge since Mara was little; he'd been the one to rescue the Great Holocron and Tionne's holocron from occupied Coruscant. She'd been raised on their stories. "Wasn't until a lot later that people started getting made Knights in their teens again -- an' it was always rare. So, basically, don't worry about it."

She laid the components down, then held her hands over them and closed her eyes, missing Morgana's attempt at a handshake by simple dint of not seeing it. The lightsabre pieces trembled against the stone. "Forceborn, eh? Now that's a name as needs some explanation."

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

Even as the girl explained how Morgana's age didn't matter in being knighted she still felt it was an example of how behind she felt. If not in her training than just with the Force in-general. She was always having trouble with her powers. Sensing people. Trying to fully levitate things. Even reading people's thoughts and sensations. She felt like there was too much power in her control that she had little to no understanding of. It was part of why she always felt a little like an outcast among the Jedi. It didn't help any better when the girl didn't shake her hand, though Morgana said nothing. She just quietly pulled it back before she heard the girl ask about her name.​

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"It's one the Jedi gave me." she explained. "I was left with them was I was a baby. No last name. But they said it meant I was born purely from the Force itself. I just think it's a nicer way than calling me an orphan. Or even a bastard."​

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[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]​

​

(Kind of like with Jon Snow or the Ellaria Sand )​

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Morgana Forceborn"]

"There ain't no shame in being illegitimate," said Mara, eyes still closed. The components shifted and began to rise toward her palms. "If there's shame to be had, that'd be a matter for a parent or two, not the kid." It was a subject in which she had some experience.

"There's ways to find out who your parents are, y'know. Not easy ways, but ways. That's if you want to know. A lot of Jedi in history never had a clue who their parents were, and those that let it bug'em often wound up going bad. Skywalker, Dooku, Xanatos of Telos..."

Her hands rose, palms out. The components began to float around each other.

"So I guess it's your call, as much as anything ever is."

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

The more the girl talked about it the more Morgana felt like she was on the opposite side of where she started. Here she thought she was going to be the one to talk things out with the young girl, yet she had the more mature advice when it came to her personal situation. She found herself sitting down and leaning against the rock where the girl sat while listening to her explain about her parentage. It was true that letting it bug her could lead to a darker path, but even then she still contemplated the idea of who her parents were. Even her mother at the very least. Rich? Poor? Good? Evil? These were the same questions that kept her from fully looking into it.​

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"To be fair Skywalker knew his mom. Didn't have a dad, odd as that is." she pointed out before sighing. "I don't know. Part of me is worried about what I'll find. And the Jedi tell me to try and not let it bother me, and just accept that I'm here." She'd have said more but stopped, watching as the saber started to come together, and then commented "It's looking good now."​

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[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]​

 

[Micah Talith]

"It depends" chew chew chew, muffled crunch, " on what kinda saber you are looking to make," came the seemingly disembodied voice -- well at least until the two girls would look up.

There, plopping himself down on one of the branches was Micah, an apple in his hand that he was currently eating with lazidaical flair. The preteen would blink and look at the two girls with curious interest, his long forelocks falling over his eyes as per usual.

His tidbit of information came from what his mother taught him, Jedi Master Kira Liadain -- err.. Talith. Out of both of his parents, his mum was the one who knew more about building and crafting a lightsaber.

"But looks like you are going pretty simple, so no big deal." he'd gesture with his apple, "Mum always said to just let the Force guide you and relax."


[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Morgana Forceborn"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] [member="Micah Talith"]

"O'course he knew his mom. Dooku and Xanatos knew their parents too, far as I can recollect. That was half the problem." The components kept slotting together. Hey, maybe she was getting the hang of this.

It fell apart with a clatter on the rock, as a new voice joined in and Mara's eyes snapped open. It was that kid. "Thanks for nothing." She shook the cycling field energizers experimentally. No shifting, no rattle. Not broken. With a grunt, she started all over again. Diatium cell inside field conductor inside vortex ring inside insulator, and that was the pommel. "And hey, simple's worked for every big name you can think of. I snagged a bifurcating cyclical-ignition phase so it'll work underwater, an' that's about it as far as shiny toys go. Good enough for Yoda, good enough for me." She plugged in the primary crystal mount, then settled the energy gate around it. And now for the crystals.

 

[Micah Talith]

Micah couldn't help the half smirk at [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"], more in self amusement than any ill will.

"Never said simple is bad, Short Stack." he said with a quip, again with the nickname and then another crunch. "Dat's gud dho," he'd say with a mouthful of apple, wiping some of the juice off his lips with the back of his hand.

Swallowing he added, " Whatcha got as the main focusing crystal?" now that he could actually talk without his mouth full. One leg would swing back and forth, just watching.

"Going for a shoto or standard?" he'd ask, curious. His mum said there were benefits to both.

[member="Morgana Forceborn"]

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

Morgana looked up at the arrival of the new kid. Now this one she could tell was a boy. Not only by his looks but by his manners. Eating and talking with his mouthful. That was something she tended to do, but only because she knew it ticked people off. Though he could've done it at a better time and not while the girl she was talking with was in the middle of her saber construction. She looked at the pieces when they fell back, only shaking her head at the boy as he sat up in the tree. She looked back and forth between the as they talked, getting the idea that they knew each other.​

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Speaking up to him she said "Not that it should matter. She should go with whatever she thinks best. I could ask you what the heck your special form or handle is, huh?" She then looked back to the girl and added "I can take care of him for you if need be."​

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[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]​

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Morgana Forceborn"]

Mara smirked, angling for a semi-diplomatic yet semi-offensive answer, because giving each other crap was what friendship was all about, if her parents were any indication. "Thanks, but the day I need help with this joker is the day I hang up my spurs. My aunt Rave always said shotos were for amateurs and short people. And I won't be short forever."

She set down the half handle and held up a crystal to Yavin's light. The orange gas giant reflected the system primary with a dull warm glow, more than enough to light up the piece of accumulated stone in her hand. One surface was smooth and rounded, the others recently faceted. She brushed crystalline dust off the crystal and closed her hand around its warmth. "This here is a chunk of Krayt pearl my mom picked up somewhere. I milled it down just right and had Headmaster M'ti look it over. None of this snowflake junk." She was, of course, referring to the common practice of finding some super-special lightsabre crystal with pretty abilities. Generally not enough to balance out the training time wasted in such a quest, far as she was concerned. But that might have been her father talking, and he didn't even own a lightsabre. Not as such, anyway.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Morgana Forceborn"]


"You could," he would quip back to [member="Morgana Forceborn"]. This time, wicked amusement would flicker across the orange irises of the boy at the girl he'd yet to 'officially' meet. She apparently was already taking this defensive stance when all he did was ask a question.

He gave a slight frown and amused puzzled look, like a kathhound pup looking at a humanoid wondering just what they were doing.

Girls were strange creatures; maybe this is what his mum was talking about hormones and cycles and... enter internal shutter.

Gross.

"Krayt pearl eh?" his brows perked up at that. It was indeed this iridescent hue. Having his Oma a Beastmaster, he knew a bit about Krayt Dragons, and a Krayt pearl was nothing to look down on.

A thought perked. "You imbue it with your 'ish' yet?"

Crunch. Came the next bite of his apple, amusement radiating from his entire being.

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

Given the response from [member="Micah Talith"] Morgana only huffed, crossing her arms and looking back to [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] . She was starting to feel like an outsider between the two, though given how much she was talking with Mara it was clear who's side she was on for the time being. Especially because she wanted to see her finish her saber without any interruptions. She hoped it would help it some way, which was why she was intent to have the boy leave if it meant she'd have peace and quiet.​

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] [member="Micah Talith"]

A change of pace seemed appropriate. She began wrestling the chunk of krayt pearl into the crystal receptacle. "More or less." Snap. "Ah. There we go." Other components started to slot into place, because screw it. "So. Morg. You're working with a training lightstaff. You a double-bladed stylist or what? What Form you use with that?"

She was talking to talk, her main focus on trying to remember how the pieces fit together -- and trying to visualize them all Forcey-like. Kark telekinesis anyway. The more she made the thing work manually, the more comfortable she found it; the more she felt like she was back home in the hold of the Daragon or the Gypsymoth, putting inertial dampeners together blind for fun. She could almost smell Mom's cooking and Dad's reheated processed prepackaged tomo-spiced Karkan ribenes -- natural accompaniment to a day of tinkering.

 

[Micah Talith]

"Why so serious?" Micah would quip over at [member="Morgana Forceborn"], chewing enthusiastically at his apple. He was poking fun at her obvious discomfort, and much like he'd once done with his older sister Aela, he would wield the stick that would prod the sleeping Gundark.

"You get wrinkles that way y'know." he'd toss back, eyes bright with impish devilry and that ever hanging half smirk, speaking over [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] asking the girl called 'Morg', questions about her style of fighting.

He might be the peanut gallery, but it was all in good fun. He could never understand why some people were so uptight.

Where was the fun in that?

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

Morgana only rolled her eyes at [member="Micah Talith"] before hearing [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] ask about her saber and style. Pulling it out Morgana quickly overlooked her training saber to see if there was anything else special about it she needed to know of. She knew it was a double-blade saber, or saber staff as some called, and knew it's uses, but in truth her answer for why she wanted to chose that form of combat wasn't as straight forward as anyone would think.​

​

"Well I haven't had too much practice with it." she began. "But really I chose it because...well it just felt right. I remember when they offered me any form I wanted. Just one blade. Two. Even special designed hilts. But in the end I went with the double. So yeah, guess I'm rocking the two blade style. Only thing is I still need to find out the right form for it." She spun it around in her hands for a minute before stopping and shrugging "I'll get it with time."​

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Morgana Forceborn"]

"Well, I guess there's always nuna sexers."

Leaving this non sequitur as a non sequitur, she wrangled the cycling field energizers into place. They were arguably the most complex-looking and potentially lethal pieces of the whole machine, and she gave the task her full focus, wary of horror stories about explosions and faulty weapons.

"Nobody can tell nuna chicks apart by sex," she explained at last. "Not by sight, anyway. But there's professional nuna sexers on Nal Hutta whose job it is to tell'em apart. When they're teaching a new nuna sexer, an experienced one stands by a new one as he picks up one nuna chick at a time. New one guesses, old one confirms. Starts out as fifty-fifty right and wrong, winds up at a hundred percent accuracy." Click went the energy modulation circuits. "Point bein', there's a scientific basis for respectin' instinct. So I guess if it felt good, maybe it's a thing."

 

[Micah Talith]

Crunch.

Another mouthful of chewing as Micah would give a half smirk to the two girls below. He was almost done with his apple, and it was pretty evident he was enjoying himself.

"Best.. nawt ta stress ovah it." he'd toss out in his own form of helpful encouragement. Well what would pass of it as he spoke mid mouth full, giving another wipe of his face with the back of his fingerless gloved hands.

After another few seconds, he tossed the core over his shoulder to where it would bounce on the ground. Waste not, want not. It would feed something else anyways.



[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Morgana Forceborn"]