Building an Arsenal

[Kamon's OOC]

The Dawn's Light slipped out of hyperspace above the near desolate world of Yanibar. Niamh stood on the bridge wearing her blue, form fitting suit, and staring at the planet below as it loomed before her. Elsewhere in the ship, Izzy was asleep, relaxing after yet another hard day of training. The girl was a champ. She made Niamh proud, and, well, Niamh had every intention of asking the girl to let her adopt her, formally, sometime soon. She could do with a daughter.

"No hails. Shall we land?"

"Yes. Have the EMBU's standby just in case. The people of this world do not know our intentions, but I don't think they will shoot first. Still, better safe than sorry."

"Understood, ma'am."

Niamh nodded and left the bridge, heading further into the ship. It was winter on Yanibar and she wanted to get into something a little more comfortable. She thought about the Wraith Vapor Armor, but it wasn't built for extreme temperatures. In the end she opted for typical Eshan fare, nothing flashy, but it would get the job done. At least she wouldn't freeze her tata's off.

The ship settled down outside, and she could hear wind whipping around the ship as she approached the main departure ramp. Pulling the face mask across her mouth, she watched as the EMBU's descended the ramp and surveyed the surrounding landscape. She didn't say a word, but waited as they did their scans. The advanced sensors in the droids would pick up nearby lifesigns.

[Area clear. Nearest life form is two kilometers east, northeast. Several humanoids.]

Descending the ramp, Niamh immediately started walking. The droids and everyone else would remain behind. This was her task alone.

 

[Kamon's OOC]

She walked tirelessly across the frozen landscape. Biting wind tried to break through her gear, but she had the type of clothing that was just too good for the worst wind to get through. When you had the capability to buy the best things in the galaxy you tended to do it. Yes, it might seem conceited to some, but there was no point in having money if you never did anything with it. Besides, she poured a lot of her wealth into charity organizations and spent time working with them too.

As she drew near to the village, she could feel the people creeping out. These were Force users, after all, and she wasn't hiding her presence from them. Truthfully, she'd been surprised when they hadn't approached her long ago, but perhaps they'd been avoiding coming near to the ship.

When she walked around a large boulder, protruding from the ground towards the sky, she was greeted by several individuals wielding discblades. They were prepared to use them, but she stopped in her tracks and didn't make a move save to look around at them. They were closing in around her now, but she showed no signs of fear. There was some agitation that began to form amongst them, but the one she'd pegged as the leader wasn't moving, just surveiling her.

Unfortunately, one of them was a bit to antsy and unleashed a blade at her from behind. She twisted, flipped into the air, spinning her body about in a way that made her spin around towards the person that had thrown the blade. In one of those revolutions, as the blade passed beneath her, she reached out her hand perfectly, and caught the central portion, stopping it in her grasp as she fell back to land on her feet. The blade was lighter than she'd imagined. Instead of holding it, she tossed it straight at the ground, where it slightly embedded itself.

"Why are you here?" This came from the one she'd pegged as the leader.

"To learn to use and make one of your blades."

"Why?"

"So I can use it against the enemies of peace."

The leader, a man, didn't speak for a few moments, and then turned to walk away.

"Come," was all he said.

 

[Kamon's OOC]

She followed him back to the village, flanked on both sides by the people that had surrounded her. Clearly these were the Zeison Sha warriors that she'd heard about. The one that had attacked her must have been the most newly trained, as time had been wasted in the attack. As skilled as they were in the Force, they would be hard pressed to beat an Echani trained in the ways of the Matukai. Not that she had any particular reason to fight them, that's just how it worked.

At the village she saw children, elderly folk, women who were with child. These people had just been trying to protect their people. It was an admirable thing and she could find no fault with their efforts. Even the one that attacked her, though foolish, had been forgiven the moment after it happened.

"I apologize for Jeir attacking you. He is the most nervous of us."

Her attention returned to the man as he spoke.

"It's alright. Wouldn't be the first time I've been attacked, after all."

"Why did you come to us? What makes our blade so special to you?"

"Amongst my people I am known as a Firedancer. I have mastered the martial arts of my people to the point that I am capable of adapting it to any weapon imaginable. Sometimes it's necessary to have a variety of weapons, and the disc blade provides variety, but it also provides a challenge."

"Yes, it does that."

They walked into a small building with a pipe rising from the top that billowed smoke. She stepped inside and found it pleasantly warm. She also found that she was in a forge. Considering the cold outside, this felt rather refreshing. For a moment or two. Then it started feeling like a sauna so she started to remove her outer layer of clothing.

"When you are comfortable, we will speak more."

The leader went to talk with someone who was working in the forge while she set about getting out of the cold weather gear.

 

[Kamon's OOC]

When she was stripped down to her one piece suit, and felt as comfortable as could be, she approached the leader once again. To make sure that he felt comfortable and didn't think that she was out to get him, or was really a Sith in disguise. She looked around her as she moved closer, trying to take in what was going on. There wasn't much to be seen, but a lot of a particular metal she couldn't immediately identify. This, she guessed, was what they made their blades from.

"What is the next step of this process?"

"The next step? If you want one of our discblades in order to fight the threat of darkness in the galaxy, you have to make your own blade. I trust you know how to forge metal?"

"Of course."

"There are molds here for the blades. These have been created overtime based on the weapons of some of our greatest warriors. You can pick from them what you wish. What you do with the metal, how you forge the weapon, will determine how strong it is. It's a test of your will in the Force. Remember that."

That was the last thing the man said as he turned and left. The forge master remained, but he didn't say a word to her, he was just manning the bellows. Clearly he wasn't going to be any help in this process. She understood how to infuse a weapon with the Force, in theory, but the practice of actually infusing a weapon with the Force was something of a tricky thing to accomplish. This was going to be one of those tests of her abilities where she had to try really hard not to lose her patience.

"Right. So... Molds."

She huffed and then walked to the various molds.

"Where to start?"

 

[Kamon's OOC]

In the end she settled on one that was both intricate and subtle. The blade itself was a simple circular one, but it had several designed inlays that would spin free when the weapon was thrown, enlarging the blades circumference while in the air. Of course this meant that she had to make several parts, not just one circular piece. She was alright with that, though. Having some skill in forging already, she didn't think it would be a problem to forge these pieces. Especially with molds.

She took a large metal bowl and gripped it with a set of heavy tongs after she slipped on some thick gloves that would protect her hands from the fire. Into the bowl went the hunk of metal. Into the fires went the bowl. She let it sit there while the forgemaster pumped the bellows to keep the flames burning nice and hot.

While the metal melted down, she prepped the molds with a special wax. The wax would keep the metal from forming to the molds, and subsequently allow her to break the pieces free once the metal had cooled into the form she'd chosen. With the molds prepared, she took the metal out of the fire and stirred it, checking for clumps. Finding some, she put it back into the fires for a bit longer. Only when all the clumps were melted down did she remove it from the fire.

Into the molds she poured the molten liquid, filling each peace and then setting the excess metal inside the furnace in case she needed to reforge later. With the molds filled, she stood near them and closed her eyes to begin preparing her mind for what came next.

 

[Kamon's OOC]

The hardest part of doing all of this was the infusion of the Force into the weapon. She'd used the Force to help her construct her lightsabers, and he had a bit of experience with infusing a weapon with the Force, but she didn't have the kind of knowledge that others did. For her, it was about a test of wills more than anything. If she wanted the weapon to be able to stop a lightsaber, she had to make sure that it would by using her willpower to make it so. Politely asking the Force to make it happen wasn't going to work.

As the metal resided within the mold, and she stood above it with her eyes closed, he concentrated deep within. That spark of the Force floated within her and she reached out to gently grasp it. Once she'd done so, she took firm control of it and reached through her arm to the metal. The essence of infusing a weapon with the Force involved bonding the Force, a living entity, to metal, a non-living one. In a sense, she was giving the metal life.

Through her arm the Force flowed, out towards the cooling metal and within it. She pushed hard, forcing it to do what she wanted it to do. She forced the metal to change properties as it cooled, making it harder, tougher. She forged a bond with the weapon without even having to touch it. It became a new part of her, an extension of her will and being. She brought her other hand forward and continued to focus the Force into the metal. She was going to make this weapon as strong as could be, and then she was going to use it to kill Sith.

 

[Kamon's OOC]

By the time she was done she was sweating so thoroughly she was certain she probably smelled like the ass end of a wampa. She sat back against one of the walls of the building, breathing heavily, her eyes watering. She felt like she was going to pass out. This, to her, was the hardest thing anyone could ever do with the Force. Using it to imbue something that wasn't living was incredibly straining on the body and the soul. It felt like going ten rounds with a rancor in a no weapons match.

"Are you alright?"

The forgemaster had come over to check on her when she'd collapsed to the ground. She stared up at him through tired eyes.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Force Imbuing weapons is not my strong suit. I can do it, but it drains me."

"The blade is going to be a while to cool like this. I can take it outside and bury it in the snow. Should help it cool down."

"That would be fantastic. My thanks."

"Rest. You look like you could use it."

She nodded and watched as the man picked up the forms with the special gloves on, and headed out of the building. He wasn't going to run off with them because if he did, she would hunt him down. There wasn't far he could go in this terrain, and she was an excellent tracker with the endurance to cross the entire planet and not get tired. Except for the fact that she was tired now, and was soon sound asleep. If he ran, chasing him would have to wait for a bit.

 

[Kamon's OOC]

It took a while for her to regain her energy. The time where Izzy has nearly passed out from the strain of making things seem to disappear floated back into her mind. It was definitely like that, although worse. In this situation she'd managed to push herself beyond the physical pain and to the point where her body actually physically broke down and through her into a state of chaotic respite. In essence, her body had told her to go screw herself and then made her sleep because she couldn't push herself any further.

When she did finally wake up, she looked around and found the place empty. Great. Maybe he did run off with it. Standing, she walked to where her cold weather gear was stashed and climbed her way back into it. It was a process, but it was well worth it. Going out into the snow and freezing to death would be rather counterproductive to her long term goals in life. That and she wasn't going to ever leave Izzy alone as long as she could help it. She loved the little girl, and it was hard being away from her even now. The only reason she could do it was because she knew she had to.

Outside she went, and she was surprised to find the Forgemaster sitting just outside.

"Here I thought you'd run off with my blade."

"I'm not a fighter. Have no use for a weapon like that. Besides, it's too small for my hands."

She couldn't help but grin a little bit at this. It was true. He had some big beefy hands and she'd picked a mold that was appropriately sized to her smaller, more feminine ones. He could probably only grasp the blade with a couple of fingers if he tried it.

"Is it cooled?"

The man motioned to the snow in front of him. She went over and dug out the molds. Sure enough, they weren't even remotely warm to the touch. She must have been out for a really long time. Either way, she tucked them beneath her arm and headed back to the door.

"I'll be inside putting this together. I'll return shortly."

 

[Kamon's OOC]

Inside she went, the pieces laid out on the table. First she pulled the forms away from the pieces so that they could be laid out in front of her. There wasn't a lot to be done at this point. Such a simple weapon did not have so many pieces as to take hours to put together. In fact, there were less pieces here than were inside a single one of her lightsabers, and she'd built those in an incredibly simplistic, efficient manner. She'd intentionally been trying to do what most could not when it came to the blades.

Now she had the large blade in her hand. She could feel the strength of it from her Force embellishments. It was light in her hand. She started with the little fin blades that would spin outward and increase the size of the weapon when thrown. Each piece attached with a special pin that wouldn't break except under mountains of stress. This weapon was meant to last, not to break down in the middle of every fight. It had to be if she was going to use it as part of her Shadow persona.

Next the central handle. Each pin securing it in place where she could easily hold it, and throw it. With the pieces affixed, she buffed the metal to remove any impurities from the surface, and any grime that might have become attached, including from the wax. Next she polished it and painted it per her own choice of colors. In this case, orange and black per her new persona. The last flavor was a bit of nerf hide, wrapped around the handle to make it easier to grip and hold onto. This way her fingers wouldn't slip at an inopportune moment.

When she was done, she stood there admiring the weapon. This was the next piece to her arsenal of weapons. Now she just needed to try it out.

 

[Kamon's OOC]

When she walked out into the frigid cold she realized that she had been profusely sweating inside of the Force. While locked into the crosshairs of success she hadn't exactly noticed the heat of the room. It had been much to easy for her to focus on the business of putting her weapon together. Out here in the cold she really felt the cold despite all her heavy layers of gear. It was like going from being in a sauna to jumping into the cold waters of a frozen lake. She knew this because she'd done it before. It was a strange tradition of some world she'd been to.

"Looks like you got it together."

She glanced over to the forgemaster and nodded.

"It wasn't that difficult when it came down to it."

"I set up some targets for you to try it out."

Looking to where the man pointed, she spotted four wooden targets. She needed to remind herself to thank the man when she was done here. Hefting the discblade in her hand, she tested the balance and then suddenly spun herself about to fling the weapon through the air. While it flew well on its own, it began to drop almost immediately due to weight. This was where she reached out with the Force and directed the air around the weapon to guide it on a true path. It slashed right through the first target.

Manipulating the currents of the Force, she brought the blade around to slice through the remaining three targets in one go before calling the blade back. She snatched it out of the air just like she had the time when one of the locals decided to attack her.

"Impressive for a first try."

"Comes with the territory of being a Firedancer. This blade will do nicely. I think my work is done here. Time to use the weapon for what it's made for."