Chapter Twelve (Patreon)

Ali’ya closed her eyes as the lightsabers swung. She heard their hiss, felt their burn, then nothing.

Is this what it feels like to die again? she wondered. She shook, and frowned at the motion. She was cold. She didn’t remember feeling cold the last time she died.

Ali’ya opened her eyes. She saw the tunnel, same as before. She hadn’t moved an inch since the vision started. Ali’ya blinked, and her sight remained the same. A crystal, gleaming from its place, stuck out from the wall. Gingerly, as if in a dream, Ali’ya stepped forward and plucked it from its place.

Immediately she knew she had found her crystal. The song filled her with warmth. It sang of family, of dreams, of hopes, of battle and of politics, of deeds great and small. It sang a secret song, one well known but never spoken that rested in the shadows of her heart. Ali’ya felt warm upon picking it up, and light as if floating on air. She sank onto the icy floor of Ilum’s caves, yet it felt as though heated specially for her. The temptation to bond with the crystal then and there was strong, yet Ali’ya resisted. She forced herself to stand, ignoring the warmth. Instead she turned, pulling her mind away from the crystal with a gentle warning of, later. She turned instead to the exit, letting the Force guide her out.

She was neither the first out, nor the last. As she waited for the others, Ali’ya ignored the nervous conversation of the other members of Squall Clan. Instead she sat on the ice floor, beneath the great crystal which shone with the rare sunlight of Ilum. Closing her eyes, she reached out tentatively, her presence trailing over the kyber. The kyber responded, vibrating slightly in her palm as it reached back. Ali’ya danced around it, surrounding it, suffusing it with her presence. At the same time she led the strand of presence from the kyber into herself, connecting it to her beating heart, her thinking mind, and her metaphysical presence above all else. The kyber is the heart of the blade inside the heart of the Jedi is the kyber inside the heart of the kyber is the Jedi is the heart of the blade . . . on and on they danced, til at last they awoke, the hall nearly dimmed. No longer was the kyber translucent and colorless, but rather a deep, dark indigo that spoke to Ali’ya’s very soul.

Forward together, Ali’ya thought. Not one step back.

Quest: The Gathering Completed!

Pass a Jedi Right of Passage by finding your kyber crystal on Illum

Rewards: 2,000 experience points, kyber crystal(s), become a Senior Initiate, early access to the Adolescent System (currently using the Childhood System)

Bonus Quest: Be the first in your group to complete the Gathering Failed

Bonus Quest: Choose your own path.

Bonus Reward: 500 experience points, +5 Will

Bonus Quest: Choose the Jedi Path Failed

Bonus Quest: Choose the Sith Path Failed

Bonus Quest: Bond with your Crystal before the Gathering ends

Bonus Reward: 500 experience points, a stronger than usual bond with your kyber crystal

Bonus Quest: Complete the Gathering on time and without injury

Bonus Reward: +40 points in Skill: Force (Sense)

The Childhood System will be exchanged for the Adolescent System as you sleep.

Level: 4

Experience Points: 3,205/4,000

Quest: A Jedi’s Life

Create your first lightsaber

Rewards: 500 experience points, a lightsaber

Penalties: -1,000 experience points, no lightsaber

*

“Professor Huyang?” Ali’’ya asked.

The droid turned. For all it seemed haphazard, as if the shoulders and torso might fall off at any point, Ali’ya distinctly remembered the strange droid’s martial abilities. Haphazard movements were in truth loose joints allowing for flexibility, the eyes he kept adjusting hid the keen vision and numerous settings, and Ali’ya was sure there were dozens of other hidden features she knew nothing about. “Yes, little one?” the professor asked.

“None of these feel right,” Ali’ya said. She’d seen the hilt rather clearly, she and her kyber agreeing after another four hours’ meditation.

“Interesting,” Professor Huyang said. “All the more for you have bonded to the kyber already. Yes, I can see that our usual supplies might not suffice. Have you any idea what you require?”

“The hilt is metal,” Ali’ya said, closing her eyes as she joined minds with her kyber once more. “It has been polished, yet remains a dull silver-gray. Perhaps lighter than it should be. The hilt is long, and the blade longer still, for another crystal shall join the kyber in time. The emitter is adjusted, for water cannot be an adversary.”

“Hmm,” Professor Huyang hummed. “Yes, I can see why that would be causing you problems. The metal you are describing is either beskar, which is all but impossible to find without being a Mandalorian, or phrik, which is easier to find but outrageously expensive. Yet, if the weapon is truly as greatsaber as your description indicates, it might well be necessary for the great disadvantage of such weapons is an opponent’s ability to strike directly at the hilt, potentially destroying it. Phrik and beskar cannot be broken by a lightsaber, nor would they be damaged much by blasters or ballistics. If the Force calls upon you to have such a blade, the future holds interesting tidings indeed.”

Ali’ya blinked. “Does that mean you can help me?”

“Well of course I can help you,” Professor Huyang exclaimed. “I am the master of this ship, and know all contents within. We have some phrik here, hiding towards the back. The waterproof emitter is in an entirely different location, though it is admittedly more commonplace and is placed exactly as its relative prominence deserves. But you say another crystal shall join yours in time, hmm? Far be it from me to doubt the insights of a Jedi, but perhaps for now we ought leave the future to the future, and supply you with a hilt worthy of the blade you have, not the blade you will have.”

“That does make sense.”

“Excellent. Now, a greatsaber is indeed a different weapon from a regular saber, but you are not yet tall enough that such difference are necessary. An adult’s two-handed saber would be of the correct length for several years--pardon me, you are Togorian? Yes? Good. Even if you are on the tall and early side, this frame--” Huyang tossed a frame at her which Ali’ya quickly caught, “--and this emitter, with this power cell, will see you through the remained of your initiate years. As for the casing, I shall continue my search while you construct the interior.”

The professor was gone before Ali’ya could respond, leaving her and the crystal with little choice but to follow his instructions. Sitting down in the hallway, they meditated. As they joined together, they bound the materials to them. The power cell, the emitter, the energizing fields and energy channel. They sensed the arrival of the casing, which floated from Professor Huyang’s belt as he neared. The phrik seemed to return to a liquid state as it shifted, forming buttons and dials, activation switches and intensity gages. It encased the frame perfectly, form fitting around the shock absorbers. Then, suddenly, the case closed. The metal hardened, and the lightsaber dropped into Ali’ya’s waiting palm. Half in a trance she stood, carefully, never letting go of the hilt. She flipped the switch.

Voom. Deep blue, touched with just a hint of red. The blade was longer than she was tall, held out at an angle to keep it from scraping the floor. She moved her wrist, and the blade jumped to follow, kyber just as eager to test their forms. She lowered the intensity and began her katas. It should have been difficult. She should have been forced to adjust awkwardly to the longer blade, to shift and scrape and feel her arms tire under such a hefty weight. Yet she did not. She joined her kyber in meditation, moving first through Shii-Cho, the Makashi, then Soresu. As she reached the final kata she kept going, moving not to the approved forms but to her own style. It was stronger, better, and not just for the improvements she had made to her form. The kyber knew the hidden song for they shared a heart. Together they were more than the casing or power cells could provide, they were one. Her soul melded with the kyber as they moved, dancing to the beat of unheard drums until lights out was called.

Panting, Ali’ya threw herself into the Sonic. Sweat was pulled from her fur, crystal shards from the caves disappearing as well. As she washed up, a new notification pinged.

Quest: A Jedi’s Life Completed!

Create your first lightsaber

Rewards: 500 experience points, a lightsaber

Bonus Quest: Be the first in your group to make a functioning lightsaber

Bonus Reward: +25 Mechanics (lightsaber)

Reminder that the Adolescent System will load as you sleep.

Goodnight!