Replicating

[Eldaah Aderyn]

Another day, another time that she felt that the One Sith instructors at this academy were being lazy and weakening those here. They had been given time to go about their own devices while the instructors went off to do whatever knows what they went they went off world. She wasn't going to sit idly by though, she had a goal for her day ... and it all started with the file she was looking at and the red synth crystal sitting on her desk.

The file showed another Sith woman, wielding the strangest and most intriguing variation of the double bladed lightsaber she had seen. It was rotating, and this Sith ... Arcanix ... was using it to devastating effect on what appeared to be Chiss security forces from when the Sith conquered Sposia, before the Akala Incident.

She was going to emulate that lightsaber, but she could see where some redesigns might make it even better than the one she was watching being wielded.

 

[Eldaah Aderyn]

Arranging all the components she needed on her workspace, she started to build the internal mechanisms of the lightsaber. Hefting the hilt to get the weight just right. She was using an unusual metal in the construction, quadanium steel with an electrum finish, as it gave the hilt a certain aesthetic she found pleasing to her eye. It also was a strong enough metal that it could take the wear and tear of the stresses of the galaxy.

Carefully placing the emitter matrix inside the hilt, using tweezers and the Force, she followed up by placing the Diatium power cell with the hilt. Setting the hilt down, she moved one of the blade emitters over to her with the Force, placing it gently on the workbench in front of her and pulling a focusing lens out very slowly.

Delicate work was needed, everything had to be very very precise or risk a serious ... malfunction.

 

[Eldaah Aderyn]

Setting the focusing lens into place, she repeated the process on the other blade emitter. Moving on to the next step, she examined the gyroscope and the two pieces of curved metal that would form the ring that the hilt would sit in and allow the blade emitters to spin around it. She very carefully began hollowing the larger piece to the ring out, using a cutting laser and controlling the motion of her hand with the Force to avoid any human error that shaky hand might cause. Turning the laser cutter off, she used the Force to align the two pieces of metal and the smaller piece slid in neatly.

 

[Eldaah Aderyn]

Next came the part that would actually trigger the spinning feature. Normally, she would assume it was some sort of button or other would activate the spinning. However, she had another idea. Picking up a muscle tension sensor, she carefully applied it to the hilt of the weapon. The sensor would detect a pre-programmed set of tensions in her hand that would trigger the spinning mode, but it did leave that feature open to getting taken out by an EMP or ion weapon.

Countering that would be too much of a headache as it would be tough to build a micro ion shield for the lightsaber as it was. Best to have other weapons that weren't subject to such an occurrence, just in case.

 

[Eldaah Aderyn]

Time to install the trickiest part, the gyroscope that would allow the spinning. She had special requested it from the manufacturer to be able to withstand the temperature and energy that the emitter matrix would pass through it as the blade emitters spun around the ring since that was the only way she could think the blades would stay stable as they spun around. The ring itself had to be an extension of the emitter matrix from the hilt. She had been assured they could survive with minimal wear, only needing replacing after several years of use.

Flexing her hand to activate the spin, she smiled in satisfaction as it smoothly shot out and into place, connecting into a perfect ring. Activating her laser cutter again, she used the same technique from before to carve the groove where the gyroscope's track would be. The blades could only spin when the ring was complete, but that was okay with her. Using the Force, she connected the gyroscope track to the ring, cutting it at just right points so that the ring could still retract. When the rings would connect, the track would be complete except for the tiniest of cuts that she had calculated would be well within acceptable parameters of failure.

She also slid two, more for aesthetics but could be useful, spikes of the same quandanium and electrum combo into the space between the blade emitters.

 

[Eldaah Aderyn]

To make sure that the ring wasn't an active part of the emitter matrix when not spinning, she didn't fancy losing anything, she installed two micro sensors that would only allow the energy through one the muscle sensor had been tripped. While working on the gyroscope, she started to fine tune speed that the blades would spin. She had noted how fast the blades spun on the footage, and had deemed it too slow.

With the proper adjustments, the blades would spin fast enough to produce a significant force on anything that tried to interrupt the spinning. That issue settled, she began to cut a small incision along the bottom edge to allow the emitters to slide along the ring, another risky part of the process. Looking at the calculations she had made, she once again activated the laser cutter and made the incisions along the edge of the emitters themselves. Hoping they were right, she placed one blade emitter onto the ring to test the sliding capabilities. Holding it with her thumb and index finger, she grinned as this one at least went smoothly along the track. Taking it off, she tested the other and she definitely appreciated the precision the Force and a laser cutter could achieve in harmony.

 

[Eldaah Aderyn]

Looking through footage, she could see that the spinning mode was used sparingly. Power drain was the most likely reason, but it also would allow a chance to throw an opponent off balance. Makashi seemed to be the preferred style with this blade, which was fine by her. It would go well with her flexibility and grace, acrobatics if she really needed to use them.

A new video file popped up on her visor screen showing footage from the old Imperial days of Inquisitors using the same weapon. How interesting. Perhaps when she became more well known, she would revive the old institution ... in one way or another. Still, she was taking notes on the different fighting styles and logging them away for further review.

 

[Eldaah Aderyn]

Getting back to work, she attached two sets of locks onto the blade emitters. They were designed to allow the blade emitters to stay attached to the gyroscope through the same method as a mag tram, but they could also be locked in place on the hilt to allow standard use of her lightsaber. Attaching the emitters to the hilt carefully so that the emitters lined up with the hilt ends, she let out a small breathe of relief as they slid neatly into place before she engaged the locks.

She placed the two activation plates into place on the hilt, each one connected to a different blade emitter, and now came the moment of truth. Pressing the first plate, a red beam of energy erupted from the end, illuminating the room with a fiery glow that was at odds with the cold laugh of triumph that left her.

 

[Eldaah Aderyn]

She got up from her workbench, doing several practice swings of the saber do get a feel for the saber. The crescent form, as she called the single blade version, worked fine as a hand guard, the quadanium providing better protection than durasteel ever would. It looked every bit like what the Inquisitors and Arcanix had wielded, and as she made the practice sweeps, the blade emitters stayed where they were supposed to, the mag locks working just fine.

Pressing the second activation plate and hearing the hum of the second blade igniting elicited another cold laugh of satisfaction. She knew this had the same weakness as any other double-bladed lightsaber, the blades being across from each other, but it worked all the same. Spinning the blade in her hand, using the half-circle to keep the spin of her hands in a perfect circle, she enjoyed the sound of the blade humming as she twirled it.

 

[Eldaah Aderyn]

Final test, and with a tensing of her hand in the specific way, the ring slid out easily, completing the hand guard and the mag locks disengaged. Time seemed to slow as she watched the blade emitters start to travel along the track, but even as it started, she knew she had succeeded.

A whirring hum filled the air as the blades spun around the ring at a quick speed, and she started to laugh with an almost maniacal edge as she watched her completed weapon work just how she wanted. Flexing her hand again, the emitters stopped back at the hilt and locked into place the ring retracting with shink sound, a normal double-bladed lightsaber once again hummed in her hands. Her final project for her equipment, for now anyways, was complete. She now had a large advantage over every other acolyte here ... it would only be a matter of time now.