Private Only What You Take With You

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Equipment: Jedi Robes | Lightsaber | Khair Stone
Tag: Corazona von Ascania Valery Noble

Gatz had, once more, left his vessel in Valery’s capable hands.

This time though, it was less about doing a trusted friend a favor, and more about necessity. He, Cora, and Valery had all lost something similar during the Battle for Coruscant—their lightsabers. It was actually a little embarrassing really: that the Grandmaster, her star pupil, and her worst pupil could all somehow find a way to destroy their very badges that marked them as Jedi.

On the bright side, because Valery and Cora had lost their lightsabers, that meant they had no room to criticize him for losing his own. Val was pretty good at doing that nagging thing that older sisters did. And, best friend or not, Cora’s disappointed tone was something Gatz would rather not experience—he’d been on the receiving end of it many times (deservingly) during her tenure as his tutor.

Not that their lectures would be borne out of anything less than love. But Gatz preferred to avoid them all the same.

As Valery piloted The Red Night to Ossus, where the three of them would search for new kyber crystals, Gatz busied himself in the cargo hold—where his workbench was jammed up against the starboard wall. He had all but finished constructing his new lightsaber. All that was left to do was to machine the emitter, and that was what he was doing at the very moment.

It was funny: he’d always been good at fixing and machining, or really just anything to do with his hands. Yet, he remembered just how confused and frustrated he’d been, trying to build his first one. Gatz had nearly given up at the time—because how the hell was he supposed to understand a technology that used a mystical, magical crystal as part of its design?

Now, as Gatz depowered the lathe and removed his newly machined emitter, he couldn’t believe how easy it had been to design and fabricate his second lightsaber—with a few added bells and whistles. So it was with a sense of pride that Gatz clicked his emitter into place atop the hilt of the new weapon. He admired it for a moment, satisfied with his work. All that was left now was to find and set new crystals within it.

“Would you look at that?” he murmured, turning his new weapon over in his hands, “I might make for a half decent Jedi after all.”

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber

This wasn't ideal.

Valery briefly looked at the hilt of her double-bladed weapon and sighed. There had been a time when she preferred the weapon over the standard lightsaber, but it could never fully replace one. Tight spaces already prevented her from using double-bladed weapons and certain opponents made it difficult to use them. She needed the traditional weapon of the Jedi, for that purpose and to continue teaching others how to use it.

At least, she wasn't the only one needing something new.

"We'll be arriving in a moment," Valery told Corazona von Ascania as they dropped from Hyperspace. Gatz had kept himself busy already designing his new hilt, so it was just the two of them for much of the journey. She was planning to design her own lightsaber again soon enough, but it would need a heart first.

"Have you been to Ossus before? It's an interesting planet if you like Jedi History."

Gatz Derrevar Corazona von Ascania ​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

The trials of Coruscant had left the three of them without proper lightsabers. Except – and she wouldn't admit this unless asked directly – Cora had lost hers on Jedha and wasn't able to procure a new crystal before the Dark Empire invaded. She'd used a loaner during the battle, and perhaps it was something of a perverse blessing that her opponent was more of a mentalist than a duelist. It was the second blade she'd lost.

Her very first lightsaber was still sitting above the mantle of Horace's study.

"I haven't yet, no."

Cora smiled over to Valery, a little sheepish. Much like the Master, she'd yet to prepare the hardware for a new saber hilt. Gatz was more prepared than the both of them.

"I've read quite a bit about Ossus, but the Force has yet to guide me there. Until today." Her expression shifted to something less ashamed and more thoughtful. "I certainly hope that the three of us will manage to find what we're looking for there."

Ilum had been fruitful for her as a Padawan, but would she be as fortunate on Ossus? Would Valery and Gatz be as well? Speaking of…

Cora glanced behind them, towards the doorway.

"Should I go and fetch Gatz? He can probably tell that we're getting close."

He was a seasoned pilot, after all. Even from the depths of the cargo hold, he'd be able to feel the telltale pull that came with exiting hyperspace.

Gatz Derrevar Valery Noble

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Equipment: Jedi Robes | Lightsaber
Tag: Corazona von Ascania Valery Noble

Gatz felt the telltale pull as his ship exited hyperspace. He thought he could be struck blind, deaf, and dumb, and still he would know every slight movement of The Red Night. This vessel had been part of his very being, once. It had been both home and career. Shelter and transportation. In many ways it still was, but his life as a Jedi had taken him away from the dastardly dogfights and pirate encounters that had made up his storied past.

He missed them sometimes. And the money. And the freedom. Gatz would never go back to his old life... but he missed the days when he was able to do more than just scrape by on the Order's tiny stimulus.

In his pocket, Kragan's wealth practically burned a hole in his thigh. But as per usual, Gatz ignored the temptation and moved on.

"Should I go and fetch Gatz? He can probably tell that we're getting close."

The door to the cockpit slid open, and Gatz stepped inside, mostly finished lightsaber hanging from his belt.

"No need, Princess. I felt your desperation to see me from the cargo bay and came running."

Gatz sat himself down in one of the auxiliary seats with a satisfied smirk on his face. Maybe Jedi life didn't make him happy, per se, but his friends did, on the oft chance he got to see them. Were small trips and assignments with Valery and Cora worth dying nearly every other week? A normal man probably would have said "no." Gatz, however, had little else in his life.

He was willing to brave immense danger and a near-certain early demise, if it meant having friends who cared about him as much as these two did.

"So, Val, when are you going to tell us why you chose Ossus, and not Ilum?"