What in the Force have I gotten myself into?

[Veino Garn]

Veino stepped into the room and sat down on the bunk studying the assembled pieces of equipment. He was no inventor and certainly no alchemist. That was for certain. He'd volunteered for the challenge and out of curiosity to see what he could come up. Now here was in a room, being live streamed across the galaxy. A bead of sweat trickled down the back of his neck. At this point, he almost wished he was off fighting the Sith on Coruscaunt again. It would be less stressful. His helper, an astromech rolled over to the corner and plugged itself in, waiting for when it was needed.

He rifled through the materials given him. What was some of this stuff? A few crystals and such he recognized, as well as the material used in Sith swords. But a hardcover book? Fried nuna? A snow machine? Seeds?

He sat down amidst everything and closed his eyes, letting his tension and unease drift into the Force, washed away by its cooling harmony. An idea popped into his head this time. Something he could work with what he knew and understood. He knew the Force. He knew meditation. Not battle meditation, other than the general concept. He also understood Force imbuing and crystals.

Studying over these materials, there was a way he could work with those. But first, he had to get rid of the unneeded items, scooping them up and moving them to a corner. The animal was a little more difficult and required some application of the Force to soothe its temperament, but it settled down.

About an hour down. Veino took a deep breath again, pushing the hair out of his eyes and tying it back with a hair tie.

Now came the delicate work. He assembled his ingredients. The Nihil smokestone, Kasha crystal, Jakobeast horn, shell spider silk, the disassembled protocol droid, field generator, stasis booth, and the bucket of nuna to snack on for later, plus the lightsaber crystals. He could work with those easily enough.

Now it was time to get to work, assuming this concept would work at all.

 

[Veino Garn]

First up, he needed a plan. There was no way he could improvise something on this scale without getting himself blown to pieces. He sat back, visualizing what he was intending to do. Honestly, he had no idea if this was even going to work, but it was worth a shot. So what was his idea? He leaned forward and rubbed his forehead. Well, in theory, it was simple enough.

It was a protected transmitter for a practitioner of battle meditation. Like some sort of Sith meditation sphere, except more hodge-podge and more defensible. Theoretically, it should be be able to protect against exploding starships. Assuming he did all this right. First thing he had to was start on the inside. He sketched some ideas out in his head and then set to work with the spider silk and durasteel supply.

He assembled a rough frame, welding it together with some of the tools until it formed a small pyramid, just large enough for a roughly humanoid sized individual fit not quite comfortably into. Then using the shell spider cloth, he rigged up what was essentially a hammock, if somewhat compressed by the pyramidal shape and when he sat in it, not particiularly comfortable. But it would work. As he moved, it stayed secured to the platform. So far so good.

His stomach rumbled, and he grabbed a piece of the food, choking it down as fast as possible, hardly even noticing the taste.

Then came the important part. How to attach and connect these odds and ends. He leaned back in the hammock, wincing as his head knocked against the frame. If he ever made later prototypes, he'd have to work on that. But for now, it would stay.

He checked his chrono. Three hours down. Twenty seven to go.

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino gathered the smokestone, Jakko horn, Kasha, and lightsaber crystals around him, staring at them all. The really hard part would come when he tried to set up the outer part. That was why he had brought the astromech along, just in case.

But this part was his and his alone and it was crucial to this being anything more than a very expensive and technical napping device. Which, if this failed, was probably what he would end up making. He had there were alchemists involved, so they should be creating some very interesting things, probably all far more powerful and elegant than this would be.

Now where to begin? He wasn't entirely sure how to use the ground beast horn or Kasha at the moment, or even the smokestone. Those would come later. He'd start with lightsaber crystals. Those made sense. But first, he had to attune them, which meant the thing would probably only properly work for him. Well, so be it. He could figure the rest out later.

He'd have to do all of these one at a time as well, which would take time. Several hours at least, and then connecting them to the frame and then the other artifacts.

Veino sat cross-legged on the ground and stretched his neck to loosen up for this intensive meditation session and grabbed the first crystal. He opened himself up completely to the Force, completely dropping his emotional walls for the first time a long time. The Force flooded into him, filling him body and soul, crashing through him like some wave from the seas on Susefvi, filling him with strength and energy. It was a wonderful feeling to let loose and feel the full flow of the Force, but it was rare that he could take such risks.

Then he channeled all that energy into the crystal, feeling the flow weaken slightly as the crystal began to thrum with mystic energy. One down. He studied the box, scratching his palm as he did so. More to go. He threw himself back into the process, focusing on the next crystal, losing track of time and space as the Force flowed through him into the crystal. Veino slumped in the hammock after this one, breathing picking up. I had been a while since he had imbued any lightsaber crystals. He had never needed a second lightsaber before.

But he had a few more to go. So there he went, imbuing each of them with the Force individually, until he had a row of lightsaber crystals. Then he slumped into the hammock, body limp and hair plastered against his skull. Now he had to attach them to the frame. He groaned and rolled himself out, dropping onto the floor and wincing.

How to do that? He stared at the pile of wires. Why not? He was too exhausted for much else at this point and started tying the crystals to the frame so they dangled like some sort of mobile. He could feel their presence and their impact, sharpening his connection to the Force, much like the lightsaber on his belt did.

 

[Veino Garn]

Now for the more exotic portions. He'd start with the Kasha crystal. It seemed easy enough, once he figure out quite how it worked. He hefted the crystal and examined it, tracing the patterns along the surface. Was he supposed to stare it at? Meditate in its presence? He turned it over again in his hand, tracing his finger along its designs. Well, that certainly didn't make any difference. Perhaps when he meditating? Veino set it in front of him, patterns facing up, and let out a long breath, letting his body relax.

The Force practically stormed into him and swirled through his mind and body. He sat upright in shock, surprised by the strength of the connection with absolutely no distractions. Well, that would certainly work, once he figured out how to attach the thing. He studied the pyramidal contraption for several moments and pulled out some more wire to tie it onto the apex of the pyramid. He nudged it. The crystal stayed in its place.

He slumped down in the hammock, staring now at the smokestone. He wasn't sure how that one worked earlier. Maybe he had to attune it like a lightsaber crystal? He grabbed it and froze. Emotions from those nearby flooded through his brain, smashing past his emotional barriers and sending him slumping into the hammock, nearly unconscious. He had their feelings, their thoughts, their essences, all crowding around in his head. The stone fell from his hand and he returned, at least partially, to himself. He sat up with a choked gasp, staring at the stone in horror for a few moments.

It would be beneficial, so it was best if he added it. He pulled on a pair of gloves and gingerly tied it to the frame, close enough to touch, but not close enough to overwhelm him. Then he closed his eyes and reached out with the Force, feeling the connections, the little lights that signified the lightsaber crystals. He let the Force pool into him again, giving another renewed sense of energy and alertness. He'd need caf after this. And to sleep for three days. Perhaps it was time to return to Sullust for a time.

Then he let the Force flow from him into the the smokestone. It didn't work near as well as the others, almost like it resisted. He let the connection drop and stared at the stone. Perhaps a different approach? He got up and paced for a while, acutely aware of the ticking clock. What other way could he do this? He paused, staring at a corner of the room. Was that... a spider web? How had that gotten-

He stopped. Of course!

 

[Veino Garn]

He let himself sink deep in the Force once more, feeling its currents wind through his body. He focused again on the smokestone. But not into the stone, no, not this time, but around. He tapped into the other crystals already surrounding him and opened himself to their attunement, feeling their presences merge with his own. Then he let it flow out from himself in tendrils, from crystal to crystal to crystal to smokestone. A net of the Force, perhaps, that tied them all together. Then he finished and stared at it for several moments, before tentatively reaching out to connect with the network. It seemed to be working, giving the feel of a much stronger connection.


Now for the Jakobeast horn. Of course it was ground to a powder as well, which would make things hard. He honestly had no idea what to do with that, other than maybe tie the bag to the frame as well. That was certainly a possibility, although not close to his favorite. The contraption was looking more and more like a sketchy junk seat for Space Hippies to get in touch with their inner spiritual side, often through the usage of hallucinogenics. Veino stepped back for a moment and tapped his chin with his finger. Now that was an idea. He could sell those without all the work. But that was a thought he would put into use for later. He took yet another wire and and strung it around the bag of powder and tied it to two legs of the frame.

Now what was he supposed to do with it? Did it work automatically? Was he supposed to ingest it?

 

[Veino Garn]

How was he even supposed to test something like this? Veino poked the small bag with his finger, watching it swing back and forth. Maybe he could just scrap it? Leave it for the aesthetics? Maybe he should try ingesting the material? He opened the pouch and grimaced at the sight of the powder. Was this stuff even edible? It certainly did not appear so. He frowned, then closed the pouch and took it off the frame before tossing it in the corner. That was enough of that at this point. He didn't have the energy to deal with any more mystical ingredients.

It had left him drained and pale. He chewed on a ration bar he had brought in with him and rubbed his temples. They hurt now, right in time to start dealing with the much more complicated part. The stasis field and generator, both of which were highly sophisticated machines that were far beyond his ability to even begin to tinker with. Hence the astromech droid. He coughed for a moment and then called to it.

"R7!" The droid reactivated itself and rolled over to him and surveyed the equipment. Veino stood in contemplation, trying to work out how everything needed to fit together. The hammock couldn't be directly in the stasis field because it would render him unaware of what was going on, which kind of went against the whole point of it. But if the stasis field could be reshaped into a hollow sphere without impacting the things inside the sphere, it should be workable.

Veino moved over and grabbed the booth, wheeling it over towards an empty worktable, with R7 trundling along behind.

 

[Veino Garn]

Then he knelt in front of the control panel, searching for seams, or if he was lucky, something that would let him reshape the field. There was a seam, but no controls. The stasis field was only within in the booth. Veino frowned and then took a took from a nearby tray, sliding it into the seam to pop open the panel. Alarms started blinking rapidly and the droid hooted in dismay. Veino pulled the pick away, and turned to the droid.

"Well? We have to get it open to reshape the field."

The droid screeched and spun its dome around several times before wheeling to the other side of the room. Veino stared in horror for several moments before dropping the pick back onto the tray.

"Wait! What am I missing here?"

The droid paused in its horror and let off a list of beeps and whistles, which Veino was unable to follow. He raised an eyebrow and the droid let out an exasperated-sounding screech before heading to the protocol droid, hurriedly bustling about to put it back together, minus the borrowed wires. Soon enough the droid was active enough to translate.

"R7 says that to reshape the stasis field would create a tear in hyperspace." Veino stepped away from the stasis booth, pushing the tools away as well. So much for that idea. He frowned and looked to the field generator. That left only one thing. He walked over and grabbed that.

"What about this? Will this cause any tears in hyperspace?"

 

[Veino Garn]

The two droids stared at him for a moment and then the generator before the astromech got into a crazy buzz of whistles. Veino stared blankly at it for several long moments until the protocol droid translated.

"R7 appreciates your delayed concern for your safety as well as our own, but this should be safe, as long as you don't try to break anything again."

Veino shrugged slowly. They had a point, so he shook his head.

"No, I just want to install it in the hammock frame. How bad will that be?"

There was another digital conversation between the two droids.

"R7 says that should be fine," The droid answered after a moment.

"Good." Veino grabbed the generator and moved it to the small pyramid, studying the now cluttered frame. Maybe along the bottom? He set it down atop the the place where the three bars intersected and frowned before turning to R7. "Can you weld this in place?"

The droid gave a more agreeable whistle this time and rolled over, extending an arm to weld the piece in place. Veino gave it a warm but wan smile and sank into the hammock again, reaching down to activate the field. It cracked and fizzled, sending up sparks. He yelped and hit the off button again.

"R7!" He yelled, throwing his hands in the air. "What did you do?" The droid squealed as its tools popped out and began to work on the machine, first putting out the fire and then working on its innards.

 

[Veino Garn]

Out came wires and computer chips and other machinery that Veino couldn't recognize. At this point, all he could manage was to watch while the droid did its work. Seconds turned into minutes into an hour as Veino watched his chrono grow ever closer to the thirty hour mark. He had time yet, assuming the droid was able to get its job done. He had faith though and resisted the urge to pace back and forth. Instead, he stood with crossed arms as the seconds ticked by, until finally, the droid gave a happy beep and trundled away from the contraption. Veino was no expert on droid body language, but the droid seemed awfully smug and let out a very long series of whistles which was followed by an even longer and more technical translation.

Veino felt his eyes glaze over after a few moments and shook his head to clear it, waving the rest of the explanation off.

"Does it work now?"

The protocol droid nodded.

"Indeed, sir! It should be up and functioning perfectly now!"

Veino grimaced at the should, but sat back down in the hammock, now slightly singed in places. Taking a deep breath, he activated the on-switch once more. The machine hummed to life once more, creating a crackling energy field around the room. Much too large, and Veino frowned at the droids that were inside as well. He had wanted it to be smaller.

He flopped over and stared at the machine with a frown.

"R7, can you shrink the field by fifty percent?"

The droid gave a whistle and extended another arm to manipulate the controls, first turning it off, and then adjusting the power output before scooting to the far wall. Veino activated the generator once more and it crackled to life again, this time much smaller.

Perfect.

 

[Veino Garn]

Everything was up and running now, so all that was left was the final test. The field still crackled around him as Veino let himself relax into the hammock. The crackling of the energy field set him slightly on edge, not to mention his hair on end, but he would get used to it in time. Or perhaps the crystal would cancel that out.

This was the big test, that was for sure. He took a deep breath and stared up at the Kasha and distractions fell from his mind faster than he had anticipated. The crackling from the field vanished, as did most of the discomfort, until he moved and clocked his elbow against the frame. Veino bit his lip in response until the pain faded away once more. That was better.

He sank deeper into the meditation this time, letting the Force flow through him more freely than he had before. It was strong, a raging river coursing through every cell in his body, yet it was still as a deep winter freeze. He became acutely aware of everything surrounding him, far more than he had accomplished before. Now granted, he wasn't the most ardent student of meditation. If anything, he only used it for its basic uses, which he was realizing was perhaps missing out on something valuable that should be used.

But oh well, he could figure that out later and what to do with the thing. For now, all that mattered was that essentially, it worked. True testing would come later with more people and better meditation experts.