The Art Of Lightsaber Creation

[Clovis Torcularis]

I was not ready to create my new lightsabers, yet. I barely scratched the surface of knowledgeable lightsaber construction, but the appeal to learn was gnawing at my brain. My current ones where given to me after completing my trials at the Academy on Glee Anslem, but they didn't reflect me, nor did they possess anything special about them. They were just the basic of the basics, and that simply would not do for me. The only crystals set in them only managed to turn the blade red, and though I appreciate the color red, it wasn't the color I would choose for my new weapons.

There was someone I had met here at the Academy who was willing to bestow upon me their knowledge of lightsaber fabrication, but before they would teach me what they knew, I had to go out and find some unique crystals for them. According to Marton, the man who would instruct me in this art, I had to first find the crystals that would one day find a home within the hilts, or what he referred to as 'soul searching'. So it was here in the Academy's archives that I sat doing research as the night grew long.

I had comprised a long list of crystals through the tiresome night, but I lacked the knowledge of what each crystal did. The archives held some facts and information on the ones I had chosen, but only Marton could actually tell me what was gold and what was rubbish. I usually don't take the time to get to know alot of people because one day a person you call friend may turn out to be the same person who drives a blade into your back. But with Matron, there was no concern about treachery or betrayal for him. For one, he was nearly blind. Secondly, he was at the age where one would say he already had one foot in the grave. And despite his uncanny knowledge of lightsaber creation, he was void of the Force. He was the perfect friend for me.

I rubbed my eyes as I switched the over-worked computer terminal. I looked at my list, feeling a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment wash over my being. In the morning I would go seek out Matron, where the old man would use his knowledge to set me upon my proper course.

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

As I strolled down the cold, dark corridor toward my meeting with Matron, I looked through my comprised list of crystals. The more I looked at them, the more I began to strike some off the list. I only needed four crystals, two for each weapon. I wasn't looking for two overpowering lightsabers, but two that reflected who I was and who I would later become. So with the four crystals, I was looking for unique combinations that would not only serve me well, but would be the most beneficial to me, the wielder. I knew how important these ancient weapons were, for thousands of years these traditional blades not only represented the Order of the Jedi and the Order of the Sith, but properly trained with them they became an extension of the user. My only growing concern after their completion was to find a more suitable lightsaber form. Currently, I really hadn't focused hard enough to find one I was comfortable with. That would need to change, soon.

"Matron," I announced when I stepped into his personal sanctuary, his workshop. The old man was well educated in many things, which I suspected was the reason he had been allowed to stay among the Sith here at the academy. "I originally created a lengthy list of crystals to have you examine, but on the way over I reduced that list to four." Matron raised an eyebrow at me, sighed, and hand gestured for me to hand over what I kept. Matron read through my small list in silence, never showing any emotion on his face as he did. When he finished, he whistled softly.

"You have put together some very interesting crystals. I'm impressed, Clovis. I have to ask, do you have some method behind what you have decided to keep," he asked handing me back the list. "I think if I combine," I began when he raised a hand to silence me. "Do not describe to me what you have in mind. Eyes, ears, and jealous hearts swell the ranks of your peers. When the time is right, we'll discuss this in a more private setting. For now, a simple yes would suffice."

"Ah, I see. The answer to your question is yes."

"Very good," he said turning his back on me to return to his work. "And I assume you have a plan as how to go about collecting them?" I sorta had a plan, but one of the crystals on my list held no concrete information as to where I could find it. "Crystals one, three, and four, I know where to find those thanks to the archives. It's crystal two I'm having trouble locking down a site."

"Then I think it would be best to go after the more difficult one first," he replied looking over his shoulder at me. "Crystal two can be found on the planet of Apatros."

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

I arrived to the desolate planet known as Apatros, and quickly began asking all the right questions that would point me to a cave, or a sector, or anything really where I could find some valuable materials. Most of the responses I got dealt with the material known as cortois, but I had no desire to go mining for more of that. My robe was completed and sitting comfortably on my tall frame. What I needed was some responses that dealt with crystals. It wasn't until I talked to an elderly man that I got somewhat of a proper answer to my question.

"I'm not sure if this helps, but there is a mysterious cave out past the Hallows Mountain range. Most people avoid that like a hungry rancor, now that I think about it, anyone that has gone looking for that cave has never returned," he said to me flashing a grin that was about thirty teeth shy of a full set.

"Ghost stories do not concern me. Or hungry rancors," I replied harshly closing that toothless grin. "Mark the location on my holomap," I said presenting my small datapad to him. After he noted it on my map, I thanked him with a hefty sum of fifty credits. Normally I don't pay for information, especially when I can extract it for free, but judging by his appearance it was something I could relate too. The old man probably didn't have to many seasons left in him.

My next stop was to procure a landspeeder, and after paying more than what the vehicle was worth, I was ready to set out to find this mysterious cave. For the old man's sake, this cave better exist or I would be coming back not to only extract my fifty credits but the last two remaining teeth his mouth proudly possessed. I've always been known to plan ahead, and since I was smart enough to know that finding this cave would take more than one day to find, I bought some camping supplies to boot. Which again I felt I over paid.

With the landspeeder packed and loaded, I hoped in and made my way out into the wastelands, toward the direction of the Hallows Mountain range.

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

Apatros was the definition of the words desolate and barren. There wasn't much in the way of life outside the only city on the planet, and even that place barely scrapped by. Trees, or what I assumed where once trees, dotted the landscape void of leaves or fruit. Animals seemed to be absent, except for the occasional small four-legged fury mammals I saw here and there occasionally. The air, which had a metal-like taste, had bubbles of poisonous patches that could be fatal to those that breathed it in. For me, my mask prevented such a tragedy befalling me. Still as I drove toward the looming mountain range, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something out there waiting for me.

The old man's words about those seeking the cave before me only to never to return continued to echo through my mind. There were no signs of skeletal remains along my path, where the deadly air could have halted their expeditions before it even started. And so far, I saw no predators of any kind that could have laid waste to the adventurers that came before me, and I highly doubted those small mammals were capable of taking down a group of men and woman.

Drawing closer to the Hallows Mountain range, I noticed that I was losing daylight quickly. It would be foolish of me to attempt to go through those mountains in the dark, especially not knowing what was out there. I selected the best piece of real estate I could find, and set up my campsite.

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

My campfire manged to keep me warm, but it did nothing to halt the screams and howls that echoed from outside the borders of my campsite. I tried, and failed, to stretch my senses in the Force to pinpoint what, or who, should take responsibility for those banshee sounds. Those little fury animals I saw, cute as they where, could not be blamed for those noises, leading me to suspect that they were prey and whatever was making those noises where the apex predator on this planet. Sleep, as hard as I tried, seemed to elude me through the night. Whatever these creatures where, two things where apparent, they hated fire and they seemed to be absent during the day; nocturnal creatures of some sort.

I broke camp, making my way through the mountain range's small, and troubling, paths toward the caves. What I suspected where nocturnal creatures led to a different belief altogether, because I sensed predatory eyes watching me. Was it possible that two predators, one of dark and one of light, seemed to hunt this area? Silently I laughed to myself, thinking of the two aspects of the Force, the Dark Side and the Light, but both were predators in their own right; all in a point of view of course. Or maybe I was wrong altogether, it was the same creature that hunted in both light and dark, yet feared the element of fire. If the fear of fire was a prospective promise, then I would make sure to keep it close by.

For most of the trip, I made good process despite the hand few of times that tried to set me back, and by the time I reached the end of the passage darkness was starting to set in, and with it would come my number one fans.

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

A pack of mixed two-legged and four-legged creatures erupted from all around me, making me the center of attention, a stage I didn't want to be the main actor in. While my enemy, in great numbers, drove toward me at horrifying speed, I halted what would become my useless landspeeder if I continued my current trajectory, and vaulted myself from the seat, igniting my twin blades in the process. The odds where against me, somewhere in the vicinity of five to one, but I was an educated species where as they were a predator species driven by their need to feast. This was the advantage I could exploit.

Digging my heels into the soft breaking dirt after I landed, I readied myself for the first wave, which were led by the four-legged species. When they drew closer, seeing the red of their eyes, I hurled one of my blades toward that hoard, freeing up one of my hands to dig into the pockets of my robe and produced five thermal grenades. My blade, hard as it was for me to focus while multitasking, cut down two of the monsters in the front line, and after my grenades at been unleashed by me, the entire first wave's front line had been completely decimated by the deadly. small weapons of mass destruction.

My hilt, lost in my concentration, had veered off to my left, landing with a thud a few yards from me. The next wave, growing closer, spurred me to recall it to my hand, pressing the activation stud on the top the split second it touched my cold grip and killing the first four or five creatures with criss-cross strikes of my two blades. But I wasn't out of harm's way yet. The beasts, whom I suspected to be uneducated in warfare, had regrouped giving me a wide berth, something of a respect notion from them to me. The creatures had never dealt with someone like me, and they where quick to change tactics on the fly.

Chirping, bellowing, and stomping their feet was there way of communicating to themselves, leaving me to watch them surrounding me while they tried to figure out my tactics. I couldn't afford to wait out their new adjusting tactics, so I struck quickly, killing those beasts closest to me, forcing them to withdraw further away from me.

And that was when beast and man heard the terrifying screech from up above.

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

I, like my opponents, spared a glance to the sky to witness a massive predator with blackened scales and even more blackened wings that blotted out the sun circling the battleground, it's red eyes scanning the scene for potential prey. My current foes, mind abstracted by the arrival of the planet's apex predator, screeched and some of them tried to distant themselves from me, reversing the role of predator to potential prey, thus began scurrying away. Being the opportunist that I was bred to be, I began to slash, cut, dice, and strike those foes that turned their backs on me, while maintaining eye contact with the flying menace.

Watching the flying monster go about it's business without threat, I knew why those that came seeking the caves had gone missing. The blacked wing creature began to mop up my fleeing foes, killing them without prejudice, yet leaving me be. This disturbed me, because in my opinion, I was by far the biggest threat to this creature. Then in a blink of an eye, the creature landed, huffed once, and stood on guard. I mentally screamed and made to move toward the creature when I heard a female voice bellow, "Stay your hand, warrior!"

Emerging from unseen positions, a group of alabaster tribesmen began to emerge, turning their attention toward me, while the woman that had recently spoke placed a soothing hand on the flying monster. Feeling a bit threatened, I raised both of my blades in a self-defense position, which earned me around of laughter. "Slayer of the Kin'rek, fear not," the female said as she moved toward me. "I've witnessed many unwelcoming people to my lands, only to watch in disgust as they were killed by the Kin'rek, but you, you are something different from those that came before you."

"Who are you," I asked twirling my blades out in front of me, taking stock off the tribesman that outnumbered me.

"A friend, she answered motioning her fellow tribe members to back away. "Or your worst enemy if you fail to appease my curiosity as to why YOU are here tainting my lands."