Building Lightsabres (open to any Jedi)

[Morgana Forceborn]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] had given another wise piece of advice for Morgana, one she nodded and before shrugging and commenting "Won't argue with that." After that she rolled her eyes at [member="Micah Talith"] for still talking with his mouth full. As bad as she may have gotten even she wasn't that gross. She only then continued to watch Mara to see how much further her saber was coming along. Hopefully she would have it fully finished and ready, Morgana interested to see a small girl wielding a fully functioning lightsaber.​

 

[Laura Na'Varro]

Master M'ti had also summoned Laura that day, sent her to the edge of the forest, and told her to make herself a lightsaber. She would learn the focus and patience that she was lacking, the Grandmaster had said. After that, they had gone over the materials that the young Na'Varro had brought. They had initially sparred over Laura's choice of adding a length and power adjuster to the hilt, which Master M'ti believed was too complex for a 12 year old to complete. Laura had assured her in no uncertain terms that this was not the case. Then they moved onto the crystal. It was one of her Dad's, the golden Kaiburr crystal that he had used in his first saber. Master M'ti had pretty attempted to confiscate the thing on sight, claiming that it could be tainted by the Dark Side, but Laura was obstinate. It was just an object, she said. There was no proof that the Dark Side had tainted the crystal, she said. It was highly unlikely, she said. It was a family item, her Dad's first lightsaber crystal and it would be hers too, she said. But this crystal has been used to kill dozens, hundreds of people, Master M'ti said. Not anymore, Laura had replied. With that, the Grandmaster of the Jedi Academy had consented. There was no stopping Laura when she got something in her mind. Not even Master M'ti.

As she reached the area designated, she realised that others had got there first. There was an older girl, younger boy, and another girl around her age. Laura immediately felt her heart skip in shock and she looked away frantically, hanging shyly on the outskirts of the conversation that was developing. She sat down cross-legged twenty metres or so away, emptying the contents of her bag onto a blanket placed in front of her. Assembling this wouldn't be hard; the girl was mechanically gifted. It was the Force part she was worried about. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the girl around her age assembling it by hand, likely to get a feel for how the pieces connected so she could do it properly, with the Force later. Not a bad idea. Keeping consciously to herself, the girl focused on the task at hand.

Picking up the diatium power cell, she connected it to the vortex ring and began fitting the field conductor and insulator around it.

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Morgana Forceborn"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] [member="Micah Talith"] [member="Laura Na'Varro"]

The bifurcating cyclical-ignition phase clicked into place, then the last couple bits -- nothing important, right? -- and Mara hefted the lightsabre with a critical eye. She contemplated turning it on, but for once she listened to her gut when it whispered bad idea. A little way off, a girl about her age was going through the same process. Mara kept an eye on her -- the other girl smelled like determination -- while stripping her sabre down to the components again. Good fething luck putting this together in meditation with so many other kids around. She needed to find a way to get just a bit of silence, just a bit of aloneness, without alienating them.

She chucked her chin in the direction of the newest arrival, a little ways away. "Who's that? Either of you know her?"

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Wiping his hands clean as a boy is apt to do, Micah would sit up straighter on his tree branch. That's when he heard the soft rustle of leaves, a small series of steps off to the right. The young pre-teen would swivel his head from the low murmurings of Mara and Morg. Bright twin suns would search through the brush and the clearing to settle upon [member="Laura Na'Varro"].

Curious is as curious does, Micah would observe her for a few moments. Having a full blooded Lorrdian mother had its perks, some of which were a healthy instruction in kinetic communication, but also in reading non verbal clues and cues to what really went on. Well she was feeling shy, maybe even a bit nervous. However, as he was his mother's son...

His boots hit the floor with a light sound; he had far more of his father's garhan linage for being deft and quiet of feet than his other siblings. Well... Maleah was a whole 'nuther level there, but that was another story.

He heard Mara ask a question, a shrug answering along with a shake of his head. But by then he was already wandering over to the new girl.

A few seconds later, his shadow would fall over [member="Laura Na'Varro"], the rays of the sun filtering behind his mop of his dirty blonde hair, silhouetting his form.

"Hey," he'd say in greeting.

He then plopped himself down beside her, tossing his hair away from his curious eyes. A half smirk danced on his lips.

"How's it going?"

 

[Laura Na'Varro]

Laura concentrated deeply on the process going on in front of her, finding that the best way to deal with her prevalent social awkwardness was to tune out the other kids and focus on her task. Setting aside the power assembly, Laura began work on putting together the crystal component. Taking up the golden Kaiburr crystal, she began the fiddly process of setting it into the focusing lense when-

"Hey!" She heard [member="Micah Talith"] and his abrupt interruption before he plopped down next to her, startling her. "How's it going?"

Green eyes met his enthusiastic orbs briefly before they shot down to the ground, shocked and embarrassed by the sudden attention. Laura found herself go red and a chill of dread ran up her spine. Interaction was not her thing, that much was obvious.

"I'm good.." she managed, looking up at the boy shyly. He looked friendly enough, she supposed. "How're you?"

That was what you were supposed to say ... right?

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]@ Morgana Forceborn

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

Like the others Morgana had sensed the arrival of the new girl, turning to look as she rustled in the leaves. She perked an eyebrow, curious about this new girl who seemed to be snooping around. Even when [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] had asked who she was Morgana only shrugged and shook her head, that being her best answer. At first she was ready to volunteer to go and speak with her first but, of course, [member="Micah Talith"] had beaten her and Mara to it. She just hoped he wouldn't do anything to scare her away. She seemed shy, a little self-confident. Nothing new to Morgana that was for sure. At least she was speaking though.​

​

Walking over to try and add another voice to the conversation she said "Hey there. You new around here?" She peered a little closer before adding "Hi. I'm Morgana. And you are...?"​

​

[member="Laura Na'Varro"]​

 

[Laura Na'Varro]

"Hi. I'm Morgana. And you are...? A new girl entered the conversation, this one older, while the other one assembling her lightsaber hung back. If there was anything that made Laura the most uncomfortable, it was being centre of attention. Her secret fear was that everyone would keep her talking, and when she talked too much, they'd find out she was tankborn. Then they'd definitely hate her, or find her a weird, interesting thing and not a person. As a result, Laura started to mentally retreat from this conversation. She knew consciously that this was the wrong course of action to take. They were nice, they didn't care if she was a clone or not, and likely would never find that out anyway. You're being stupid, Laura. But she couldn't shake that feeling of nervousness around peers. She just couldn't.

"Uh ... Laura. Laura Na'Varro." Her blush deepened, so she focused on finishing the crystal energy chamber. Taking up the activator, she slotted it into place. The entire hilt had been designed so she wouldn't have to weld a thing. The cold weather would help. Once she had assembled it with the Force like she was supposed to, she'd take it into the heat and let the components expand, locking the hilt together.

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Laura Na'Varro"] [member="Morgana Forceborn"] [member="Micah Talith"]

Oh blessed silence.

As Morg and Orangeface (still working on the name) converged on the other girl, Mara returned her attention to her recalcitrant lightsabre. She'd slotted the components together; now, concentrating with all her limited might, she started matching them together with the Force, smoothing out the flaws, attuning the whole mess to her circuit path by circuit path.

And in a sudden burst of familiarity, she consciously realized that today's task wasn't something she had to struggle with or fear. It was something she'd trained for all her life. She'd been raised by three of the finest mechanics around; a lightsabre was simple compared to a hyperdrive or a whole starship. Only now, as the sabre began to come together in a serious way, did she wonder how much of that training had been focused on teaching her to attune a piece of electronics to herself during its construction. It made sense: the Gypsymoth, followed by the D'Lessio, was pretty much her dad's lightsabre anyways.

Snap-hiss.

Mara opened her eyes and took in the silver light of the krayt pearl.

"...sick."

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Laura Na'Varro"] eh?

"I'm Micah," the boy would say with a grin, moving his arms back to rest against them. He certainly seemed to be pretty comfortable and easy going, as if he had no trouble at all simply talking to strangers.

Which he didn't. Just like his mother, Micah enjoyed being social.

"So whatcha got there?" He'd ask, all curious. No sense of boundaries, he'd lean closer to curiously inspect her lightsaber components.

"Oh that gonna be your focusing crystal??" He didn't stop with the questions, reaching as if to take the crystal to study it...

 

[Kon Uulon]

As the group continues on with their day, a transport ship would enter Yavin IV's atmosphere with what could assumed to be the new arrivals for the Jedi Academy...

Kon takes his first steps off the transport ship, stretching his arms horizontally as he moves his arms in a circular motion and takes in his surroundings, inhaling deeply as he does so. So strange to breathe in this type of air, not like home... he thinks to himself. Kon is then given a complimentary tour of the Academy, where he would then see the group working on their sabers but is then led away to different sectors of the Academy...After the tour is complete, the Headmaster then introduces himself to the new comers whom he referred to as 'Future Jedi'. After all the introductions and tours are complete, Kon goes back to the area he had saw the students working on their sabers and sets himself down across next to [member="Micah Talith"], watching [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] and [member="Laura Na'Varro"] focus on their sabers. Before he begins staring at their sabers and watch them work, Kon introduces himself by standing up once more and giving a slight bow as he says "Hello, humanoids. I am Kon from the planet of Dorin." and sits back down.

 

[Laura Na'Varro]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Kon Uulon"]

Shocked, Laura instinctively reached out for the crystal and grabbed it, keeping it out of Micah's reach. A split second later, she realised that the boy meant nothing by it ... face red with shame at her reaction, she held the golden Kaiburr crystal out to him.

"Sorry ... you can look at it ... it's just ... it's my Dad's first crystal, and ..." She didn't finish. Looking hard at the ground, she continued assembling the lightsaber without the crystal, then began fitting the hilt over the working parts. It was almost done. However, it didn't look like she was going to get the alone time required to put the thing together with the Force.

In the midst of this Micah-driven confusion, an older Kel Dor came and sat down next to them. He then got up, introduced himself, and sat back down. How odd. Laura wondered if he was a synthskin droid or something, but no ... she could sense that he was organic. Just odd, then.

"Hi," she said shyly, waiting for the much more social Micah to take over with his inexhaustible energy ... and hopefully, she could finally finish her first lightsaber off.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Laura Na'Varro"] [member="Kon Uulon"]

Both brows went high up on his forehead at the sudden protective jerk of the focusing crystal, then the subsequent red-faced apology and offer of it for him to see it.

Oh she was embarrassed. Her body was thrumming with it. There was shame, shyness, and a bit of an overwhelmed anxiety. Micah, took the crystal, flashing an encouraging crooked smile and a look that said no harm no foul.

When the Kel-Dor arrived, he shifted his attention to him, using this opportunity for the girl to gather her bearings back together. She reminded him of a cricket. Happy to do what she wanted to alone, but as soon as someone came over, would quiet her song.

"Hi there," he'd say in friendly greeting to the Kel-Dor, "You building your own saber too?" he would ask, bringing the kaiburr crystal up to peer at it through the sun's light. There was something to it. Beyond the touch of power. It was her father's she had said? Therefore attuned to him.

Would she be attuning it to her own self as well?

Continuing on the conversation, he would quietly return the crystal back to Laura, placing it right in front of her carefully. Another flash of a smile, but his attention would go to the Kel-Dor. Not to ignore her, but because she clearly didn't want to be the center of attention at the time.

 

[Kon Uulon]

Kon shakes his head to [member="Micah Talith"], saying "No, I am not, for I have recently arrived to this temple with a load of other Padawans." After speaking and a moment of silence fills the group, the Kel-Dor turns to face Micah again, asking him his name.

If he were to receive a response, he'd simply nod towards Micah and say "Nice to meet you, Micah." and bring his attention to [member="Laura Na'Varro"] once again, focusing on her as she builds her saber. If he were to not respond, he'd still focus on Laura building her saber, eyeing her with what can be assumed to be curiosity. Kon then suddenly speaks once again, "Miss, I feel that you are troubled, or rather nervous. Is there something that is bothering you?" He leans back into the seat, awaiting a response from Laura.

 

[Laura Na'Varro]

Laura finished assembling the thing, finally, fitting the last piece of the hilt into place. Good, she thought with satisfaction. Now to disassemble the lightsaber, calibrate the crystal to her, put it back together again with the Force, and wham! She had her own lightsaber. Quickly and efficiently, with her mind for machines, Laura disassembled the pieces and laid them out in a neat, tidy order in front of her. She was just about to close her eyes and try to concentrate on putting it together when the Kel Dor tried to engage her in conversation again. It was about her shyness, or nervousness ... which only served the purpose of making Laura more shy, and more nervous.

Going red, she completely froze.

"Uhhh ..." she said. Her green eyes flicked to Micah, and then at the ground. "I'm fine."

[member="Kon Uulon"] [member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Laura Na'Varro"] [member="Kon Uulon"]

"Well just cause you are fresh off the boat doesn't mean one shouldn't learn what makes a lightsaber work," MIcah said, a wink tossed over at Laura's direction with a mischievous flair. Feeling for her, he would roll to his feet, dusting himself off from the bits of grass and leaves stuck to his pants and tunic.

He would wave for the Kel-Dor to follow him, leaving Laura a moment of alone time. That is, if Kon would bother following Micah.

"You know about attuning a lightsaber crystal first right?"

 

[Kon Uulon]

Kon looks over to [member="Micah Talith"] as he speaks and his gaze follows him as he gets up and waves for him to follow. The Kel-Dor gets to his feet before saying his farewells to [member="Laura Na'Varro"] . Kon begins following Micah before he is asked, "You know about attuning a lightsaber crystal first, right?" The Kel-Dor shakes his head as he says "I do not know how attuning the crystal works, nor how to assemble a lightsaber. Do you know how?"