Preparing for the flight to Ilum took a decent amount of time. Jedi harness slowly, and that's a fact... Because when I went to the warehouse keeper and confronted this, undoubtedly in a past life Russian, man with the fact that I needed clothes in my size made of special fabric, a couple of warming generators created for colonizing cold worlds, boots, and a bunch of other necessary things — this individual scratched the back of his head for a long time, muttering something like "Old Republic fighters — yes, even a couple of big smuggler haulers can be found... but where am I supposed to find such clothes?" But a Jedi couldn't refuse to help a sufferer preserve his dignity and other body parts, and asking me for a day for inventory, he saw me out, saying everything would be ready by departure.
Well, fine... What exactly is a lightsaber? As I've repeatedly marked in my memory, a lightsaber is a weapon dreamed of by hundreds of millions of boys around the world. To become a Jedi... Many desired such an honor until they grew up and started on forums, foaming at the mouth, proving that Jedi are weaklings, while Sith reined in bandits, pirates, and, most importantly, corrupt officials, thereby campaigning for the Empire, the Tsar, and so on. Though it's nonsense that dictatorship in itself rids the state system of corruption. Examples? Corruption scandals in the Russian Federation — removing the Unnameable and his investigations from the equation, even without him, they steal a lot in my Homeland and get caught... Mostly those who, for some reason, got too big for their britches, while the rest are treated... with understanding.
About lightsabers. The construction itself isn't that difficult, considering they made us literally memorize it. We could also disassemble and assemble training lightsabers: the hilts of those are standard and quite inconvenient for some species. Individual custom hilts are another matter entirely — those are made with the help of a droid. And that droid, as far as I remember, is literally the Ollivander of the Star Wars world. Of course, I would attribute him more to the New Canon, which I wouldn't want to end up in, rather than to Legends. Though his existence is amusing... An individual hilt, an individual crystal.
Very little remains before earning the rank of Padawan. Why am I so concerned about forceful methods of solving problems? Mastering combat Force techniques, waiting for lightsaber lessons, learning to pilot a fighter at the expense of diplomacy? It's very simple — I'm counting on my knowledge of the canon and roughly understand what to say to whom in the Order to try and launch the needed reforms. After all, everything started with the Order, and everything will end with it. The Senate won't change unless the Jedi Order changes first. And diplomacy lessons in the context of the task "change the Order" won't give me much. To be listened to, or more precisely, to be heard, I need to become a fairly authoritative Jedi. And there are only a few paths to that.
Jedi Explorers, traveling the galaxy, seeking new worlds, races, knowledge. Explorers who have been through a lot are quite authoritative...
Diplomats. Diplomats negotiate, and that says it all. I'd like to put my stake on diplomacy, but let me put it this way. Can I negotiate with pirates? Or with bandits? Or with some mercenary? Not always, so I need to be able to defend myself. On the other hand, is it bad that I intend to focus on this going forward at the expense of diplomacy? Yes and no. And more no than yes. As I've already realized, I know the canon perfectly — both Legends and, relatively speaking, the New one, forgive the Force. So later I'll be able to figure out diplomacy easily… But with martial arts, fencing, combat Force use, starfighter piloting, and the rest, without having a child's knack for learning (and children always pick up new things fast), it would be very hard. While my body is still young and childish, I can develop its parameters. And I'll have time for diplomacy later.
Well, and the third option — peacekeepers. The same defenders and, in part, guardians fall into this last category. Their main purpose is in the name of the specialty. They investigate crimes, take part in aggressive negotiations, destroy pirate gangs — though lately only those whose existence is inconvenient to the Senate.
Overall, it's all quite conditional, but I saw myself more as the latter. And I wanted my visions to match the Force's vision of me. Walking into the lecture hall, I looked around at those present. Right now only our group had class — the flight to Ilum is important, and obviously we'd be accompanied… One of the Padawans, sent by the Council, would accompany us.
"Finally you're here, Flyingstar," Cin grumbled. "I was starting to think His Majesty wouldn't deign to show up."
"How could I miss something like this, Cin?" I asked with a smile. "But as for why I'm late — I was asking the supply depot for cold-weather gear. I'd advise you to do the same. It's cold on Ilum."
"Is that so?" asked a tall man with black skin. He had short, curly hair with a Padawan braid coming out of it. Dressed in classic brown Jedi robes. "In principle, it's a reasonable decision, though you'll be issued the necessary minimum regardless."
"I'd prefer to have something in reserve," I told the Padawan.
"Reasonable," the man nodded. "Alright. Since you were late, I'll introduce myself again. I am Padawan Mace Windu" I blue-screened. Windu! And he hasn't even been thrown out a window yet!^Author's note — fan joke. "Windu" sounds like "window." And in Episode III, Mace gets thrown out a window. Hence — "Mace Windu got windowed." — "I will be accompanying you to Ilum."
"I… I see. I'm Light Flyingstar," okay, calm down. You've already met Grand Master Yoda. And this is just Windu. Plus I've glimpsed Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Dooku, and even Qui-Gon, and Feemor and Cin Drallig are studying in my group.
"I've heard of you," Mace nodded. "So then, clan. You've demonstrated your skills, abilities, and talents, and you will be permitted to visit Ilum to find your kyber crystal and assemble your lightsaber." Windu drew his lightsaber and ignited a blue blade. Wait, blue? But what year is it? By my calculations, fifty-nine years before the Battle of Yavin. He'll assemble his purple blade, a la Revan, in about a year or so. Right now his blade is blue. The most common crystals on Ilum are green and blue; yellow and white are rarer. It's all luck — or rather, the Force decides. "Ilum, as you already know, is a cold planet. Therefore, each of you, adjusted for species, will be issued a set of clothing."
"Does Gol even need a set?" Feemor quietly asked me. "He's a Wookiee, covered in fur. Have you seen his bed? He even sheds."
"I don't want to know the details," I quietly replied to Feemor. "And besides, are you in love with him or something? Stalking his bed…"
"I was trying to make a joke," Feemor whispered, offended.
"Uwa wau uaw (Trying to make a joke? Just wait, we'll get back from Ilum and I'll show you, leather bag)," Gol grumbled, having overheard our conversation, making Feemor himself hiccup.
"Enough," Windu abruptly cut us off. "You are the future of the Jedi. And as our Code states — 'there is no emotion, there is peace.' Cast aside your emotions and focus on what awaits you. Otherwise… You will be very uncomfortable. Understood?"
"Yes, Padawan Windu!" everyone chorused.
"I hope so," Windu said importantly. "We depart from the Temple Hangar in four days, early in the morning, at six standard hours. Look for the frigate 'Consular' number three-twenty. That is all."
Windu left the lecture hall. I should hurry the quartermaster, and also re-read the memories about the trips to Ilum a couple more times.
* * *
The alarm clock blared viciously, waking our boys' room. Though I felt no hatred for that device. I'd gotten enough sleep, confirmed by the light meditation right after I woke up and my normal mood, unlike Drallig and Feemor, who couldn't fall asleep all night and instead were playing 'Supergalacticfighting' an analogue of Mortal Kombat where you could even play as a Jedi, though when Drallig asked Roan about this game, he grimaced as if he'd swallowed a lemon, though he didn't punish the insolent youngling. The reason became clear later when Feemor found an old magazine saying that long ago, the future Knight Roan himself had asked the then-Master of Battle about this game. That one wasn't known for patience and beat into the youngling's body everything he thought about 'stupid idiots who play games and fancy themselves Jedi.' And my clanmates would have continued looking like mummies — the kind you could only bandage up and pass off as pharaohs in pyramids — if I hadn't shared my stimulants with them.
Of course, after they wear off and the crash hits the next day, they'll look like hamburger meat. But when will that be? We have five days of flight to Ilum. The crash comes the next day. They'll have time to recover and arrive fresh and in good health for the crystal search.
We packed quickly; I stowed all the necessary items in my bag. I'd managed to wrangle a couple of portable thermogenerators, plus a supply of warm clothes, from which I immediately put on long underwear so I wouldn't freeze my bits off. Gotta remember that there are plenty of beautiful girls and women in the galaxy, and I'd be very disappointed if I couldn't at least once appreciate them… Probably.
The girls, surprisingly, got ready faster than us. Apparently, an invention like makeup is only in use among Padawan girls. Youngling girls aren't yet able to buy this invention of the sentient races, and accordingly, they don't spend five hours getting ready. We ran to the hangar — though credit where it's due: in formation. The huge hangar was bursting with ships of varying degrees of modification, newness, and paint jobs. We'd glanced in here a couple of times before. Jedi are basically communists, if you think about it. There are no personal ships in the Temple Hangar, only shared ones. Anyone can use them. For example — a Jedi gets assigned a mission: they can take any Temple ship. There are a couple thousand of the standard Consular-class alone. Enough for a small fleet.
And one of them was sitting right on landing pad number three-twenty, where Windu had directed us.
"So," Windu deigned to tear himself away from contemplating the ship to turn his dark eyes on us. "As I've already said, you've performed worthily. Light, Cin, Gol, Feemor, Versaria, Rela, and Maru," he recited our names. "You are being given a unique opportunity to create your own Jedi lightsaber. But the saber is nothing without the crystal. The crystal is what focuses the Jedi's Force. And that is what we are going for."
"Awesome!" Drallig exclaimed.
"I wasn't finished speaking," the Korunnai pinned him with a look. "Listen when your elders speak, Cin Drallig!"
He's maybe two years older than us, but he acts like he's King Alaric and we're just newborn Sephi.
"The trial that awaits you on Ilum… is somewhat different from what you're used to here in the Temple. I know," he cast a glance at the girls, who looked away in embarrassment, "some of you have already tried to find out from the Bear Clan and others what the trial consists of. So — no one will tell you anything, and you will tell no one about it. Because every trial is strictly individual for each youngling. You'll understand what I'm talking about when you see it. Now, please, everyone aboard."
How hard that flight was for me. And not because Gol, Cin, and Feemor were literally aching to get a lightsaber. Even the girls — and they always kept themselves separate from us boys, especially after that memorable xenobiology lesson where they explained that girls mature before boys, which sowed seeds of vanity in the fair half of our group. Even Versaria, Maru, and Rela were aching with impatience. Minutes felt like hours. Then the ship entered hyperspace. It flew… A shudder of the vessel, and Windu announced we'd exited hyperspace. The flight to the planet itself… And the incredibly intense cold. Though we were all already dressed and ready to endure the freezing temperature. Ilum seemed to be waiting for us. I focused slightly, sensing the currents of the Force on this planet.
The wind howled like wolves at the moon. The snow, if not for the protective goggles I'd put on — with heating, by the way — would have filled my eyes. And the cold, judging by Feemor's and Drallig's shivering, was bone-chilling. Good thing I brought the thermogenerators. Portable boxes, no more than three kilograms each, generating warmth in a radius of about a meter and a half from the body. Which literally made me popular among the girls. Rela and Maru practically leaned their bodies against me. Though it happened because they tripped, and I almost fell myself.
"And how are we supposed to get through?!" Drallig exclaimed when we hit a wall. Credit where it's due, we'd landed not far from the wall itself.
A wall of ice blocked our path into the cave, behind which lay the entrance to the caves with kyber crystals.
"Focus on the Force," came Windu's voice. "Together, and only together, can we overcome this barrier!"
I started first, closing my eyes and extending my hand toward the wall. My classmates started doing the same a moment later… A crash sounded; the ice cracked with fissures like lightning, and finally crumbled down, opening the entrance to the location… The primary cave, where there were no crystals… It was noticeably warmer inside than outside, so I turned off the thermogenerators, relying only on my clothes.
"What were you two even doing?" I asked Rela and Maru as the Twi'lek and Togruta peeled away from me in embarrassment.
"Um… Thank you," Rela smiled as softly as she could.
"You did the right thing," Windu praised me. "Helping your comrades is the right thing for a Jedi."
It's not like I particularly wanted to help them. Although, no, I did help them! I warned them about the planet!
"You've come, at last," a high, cold voice sounded. Before us stood a man with aristocratic, well-proportioned features, straight dark hair, and in light Jedi robes… And his aura! Incredible power, almost like Yoda's, emanated from him. "I am Jedi Master Dooku," everyone remembered Dooku as an old man who fenced at Yoda's level. Here, his younger version was present. "You have come here for kyber crystals, haven't you, younglings?"
"Yes!" Drallig exclaimed, earning a cold look from both Mace and Dooku. "Kyber crystals. How do we get them, Master Dooku?!"
"Patience you must learn," Dooku said, using the Force to turn the lenses hanging from the ceiling. The entrance was frozen over with an ice wall again. But the lenses began to focus light, and the ice… turned to water. "Not so much time do you have. You must enter the cave and find YOUR," he emphasized the last word, "kyber crystal."
"But how will we know it's our kyber crystal?" Rela asked. "Master Dooku," she added at the end, embarrassed.
Dooku approached the girl, bent down to eye level.
"You will know," he nodded, turning away from the Twi'lek. "Each of you, the moment you see the crystal, will know that it belongs to you and only you. Focus, sharpen your perception, rely on the Force and… overcome yourself. And remember, you have less and less time."
I didn't wait to hear the rest; I dashed toward the entrance. They'd catch up if they wanted to pass the trial. The dark cave was dimly lit. I had no trouble orienting myself, and neither did the others, as they quickly caught up with me at the fork…
"Three paths?" Feemor asked. "What does that mean?"
"Three paths," Versaria said thoughtfully. "Does that mean we need to somehow split up?"
"Can seven be divided by three?" Drallig asked.
"Uwa wau uaw? (Are you serious?)" Gol asked.
"Not entirely," I added. "This isn't about discussion, it's about choice."
"And how do we do that, huh, smart one?" Cin asked me, pointing at the paths. "You think it's that easy? Like your Force lessons?"
"There's nothing difficult about it, Cin," I replied seriously. "Just focus on the Force, and it will show you the way itself. Remember what we're trying to become. Jedi. And what did Master Yoda tell us? The Force is a Jedi's ally, and a powerful ally it is."
I closed my eyes and focused on the Force. The path… I need to find it… Ilum's Force filled me as I raised my hand and…
"I'm going that way," I said, pointing at the right entrance.
"And you'll just go like that?" Rela asked. "Leaving us behind?"
"Not exactly," I shook my head. "Choose your own path. And if anyone, after connecting with the Force, chooses my path, they'll come with me."
Five minutes later… I was calmly walking through the dark cave, lit by tiny crystals.
"You'll protect me, won't you, Light?" Rela asked. "From monsters."
The Twi'lek was clinging to me, and it was a bit annoying. I have a rough idea what she thinks of me, and honestly, those thoughts of hers — if she and I give in to them in time — will only distract us. It's too early now. I need to become strong enough that they'll listen to me on the Council and everywhere. And so that if I fail my plans, I can at least fight off a squad of Imperial Stormtroopers and a couple of Inquisitors.
"If you'd read the manual, you'd know there are no monsters here and never have been. Ilum's cold climate is uncompromising toward life forms, especially fauna," I noted, slightly coldly. Though there is some fauna here, it's rare enough to forget about.
"But I'm still scared," maybe you're walking too close. "What's that?!" Rela exclaimed, pointing at a piece of ice. I instantly probed that direction with the Force.
"What do you see?" I asked Rela.
"It's… glowing and… shimmering with the Force!" the girl noticed.
"There, you've found your crystal," I noted. "It's a bit high, though." I didn't see anything, not even in the Force, but it was sparkling for Rela specifically.
"A bit high?" Rela asked. "That's impossible! What do I do?"
"What's impossible?" I asked, looking at the girl.
"Weeeell," she drawled, "I'm, like… a little afraid of heights."
"What did Master Dooku say?" I asked. "Prepare yourself and overcome yourself. You found your crystal; only you will understand how to take it. As for me," I ran my hand along the wall that led to the crystal. The wall's surface was scored with crevices… The cave seemed to know that a person had to climb. "I'll go further, Rela. I need to find my crystal."
"But I…"
"Hey," I walked up to the girl, infusing her body with the Force, trying to pass on my confidence. "You believe in my strength, right? Now try to believe in your own. I won't always be around to help you. Go on, Rela."
Hopefully I motivated her…
"Yes," the girl nodded, her gaze filling with confidence. "You're right! I have to. And I will!"
Right attitude. There are no attempts in the real world. There is only action. It's either a failure or it isn't. My crystal… I must find you.
I walked for not long — by my internal clock, about ten minutes… Yes, I know everything from canon and supplementary materials. Fully prepared for everything… I… AAAAAH. Unexpectedly, the corridor broke away, the ice collapsed beneath me, and I plunged into incredibly freezing water. So freezing that no thermal underwear saved me. What is this… How cold! Fast! Crucitorn, barrier… Enhancement. The Force spread through my body, giving me some semblance of warmth. Where's the shore?! The exit! I swam toward the shore, paddling away from the collapse.
"Ff… Ff," I spat out the cold water. "That's a bit… Brrr… Too much! I'll catch pneumonia at this rate! What the?!"
An ice block crashed down right where my body had been a couple of seconds ago. A nasty crack rang out… The cave is collapsing?! Damn it, where did I end up?! This never happened in canon! Not in canon, not in legends! Nowhere at all! I ran — I could be buried alive… I ran down the corridor as it kept collapsing. During the run, I applied full-body enhancement, accelerating and improving my reflexes… An ice block fell in front of me, partially blocking the passage. I dove under it, sliding through. Over the next block I flew, performing a jump, pushing off with my left hand… Up ahead, the passage collapsed! Either jump to the remaining passage or plunge into the water again. But jumping, even with enhancement, is too far. Wait, what? The left part of the wall is ice, but the right looks dirty… The whole analysis took me about a second. Remembering my survival lessons, I jumped onto the right side of the wall, ran along it, pushed off, and leaped into the passage… My legs fell through again, and I slid downward, jumping out into another cave. A dead end? No, the cave "turns" almost a hundred and eighty degrees, the branch leading back… Running to the dead end, I did a "reverse," jumping onto the dead-end wall, turning my body, and ran on. Another collapse? How many times?! This time I can make the jump with enhancement… Sprint, jump… I reached a ledge, grabbed it, and climbed up.
"Ugh," I breathed heavily. "Always wanted to be a parkourist. The way they control their bodies… Thank you, Force."
You're welcome… I could almost hear a sarcastic voice, considering I'd made a rookie mistake. The ledge gave way, and I with it… What the hell?! Crucitorn, body enhancement. It still hurt and was unpleasant when I hit the ice…
"KHA!" I spat blood onto the cave walls. "That hurts! My ribs!" I touched the spots that ached after the fall. "Fu**ing hell! Let someone tell me just once to come back here! Not for all the tea in China! After all that running I did, I get tossed like this!" somewhere in my ears I could hear Palpatine's laughter… Brrr… Wait, what's that?!
Walking a few meters, I noticed a strange glow. A glow that drew me, literally called me and my entire being to approach it… My kyber crystal? What was the trial about? It was… It was about understanding that not everything always goes according to plan. I'd prepared so much, studied information, gathered equipment, but in the end, I still got my ass kicked. The generators are broken, the cold is bone-deep… A long corridor that doesn't end in a dead end. Two blocks of ice holding my kyber crystal in the center of a huge hall. Right behind it, apparently, is the exit from the caves… I jumped forward just in time — another ice block almost crushed me! This place just wants to kill me! I'll have to disappoint it! I lunged forward again, under the crash of falling blocks. Not everything goes according to plan; plans can fail — that's the lesson being taught to me. So I have to rely not only on the information I know but also on what I see with my own eyes… Blocks fell, I overcame them. Every obstacle, no matter how it arises, is just part of the path. Below, above, from the side… An ice wall appeared unexpectedly — it wasn't there, and then it was… I threw my hand forward, and the wall shattered into fragments. Finally! Under enhancement, I jumped up, grabbing the crystal mid-flight as it shimmered green, then pushed off the lower part of the block that held it to reach the cave exit… Stepping back from the ledge, I turned around… The cave I'd run out of was completely collapsing, buried under ice blocks.
"Time to go home?" I asked myself.
Right… I retrieved the crystal, but it's too early to relax. Limping, slowly, I moved forward. I know for sure I'll exit the cave now… Yeah. Then onto the ship, where I'll drink a couple of liters of hot caf and get the hell off this damned planet!
Shivering and limping, I tumbled out of the cave entrance…
"Congratulations. You're third," Dooku nodded, beside whom stood Rela and Gol. "Well, show me."
I held out my crystal to the master. He studied it with curiosity. In someone else's hands, it stopped shimmering green and dimmed slightly.
"Yes, that's right," Dooku nodded. "The crystal is larger than usual. You've found a Pontite, boy."
"Pontite?" Rela asked. "I've heard it's more powerful."
"Correct," Dooku nodded. "Though not everything depends on the crystal. Much depends on the Jedi themselves. But in the Order, Pontite possessors are considered… far stronger. Such crystals usually resonate with the Force of the most potential Jedi…"
"Uwa wau uaw (Light has fourteen thousand midi-chlorians)," Gol remarked — and who asked him to open his mouth?
"Is that so," Dooku stroked his chin. "Then there's little surprising."
"That's all well and good, but Master Dooku… Could I have some… uh… caf to warm up…"
"To warm up?" Dooku gave me a thoughtful look. "The Force! What happened to you in there?" He felt my body, infusing it slightly with the Force. Right, probing for damage and healing what he could.
"Ah… I ended up in a corridor like an obstacle course and… I had a," the cold was taking over; I wasn't using Force techniques anymore. And my clothes were wet and cold. "A real ru… run. And it all started, for fun, with me being thrown into a cave lake."
"Padawan Windu," Dooku looked at Mace.
"Let's go," Windu waved a hand. "You need to warm up. You passed the trial. Well done."
Already sitting in dry, warm clothes, drinking my third mug of caf, I spotted my group entering the ship. They were all literally glowing with happiness… Breathing heavily, warm and satisfied, the younglings joined the caf-drinking.
"Hutt!" Drallig expressed himself. "I came in fifth! And again I'm worse than Flyingstar!"
"Does that even matter?" asked Feemor, who came in seventh, puffing. "I don't even remember us competing in anything."
"Matters… Matters… Exactly!" Drallig exclaimed. "Flyingstar, how does it feel to lose to Gol and Rela? Especially Rela?! You even lost to her…"
"Uwa wau uaw (Look who's talking)," Gol noted.
"I don't care," I remarked, opening my left hand and making the Pontite, shimmering green, levitate. "The main thing is my crystal. I maaade it… It was a dangerous trial."
"Indeed," came Windu's voice. "You got off no easier than I did in my time. And what I ran into," Mace winced, "I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. In any case, you've proven that you understand the Force enough. Each of you overcame yourself in that cave."
Yeah. I prepared and planned my trip to Ilum so much. But the Force played a nasty trick on me, throwing me into an extreme situation and making me run a cross-country through the cave. But I got to test my body, and I was thrilled. It's not perfect, no, but even so — I'm capable of things I used to only drool over as a kid. Somersaults, rolls, various jumps. I still remember. Assassin's Creed, Mirror's Edge, Vector… What used to captivate me in those games — parkour. Overcoming uneven terrain. Especially in Assassin's Creed, where it's shown a bit more realistically, in my opinion. I appreciate it, so to speak… And Jaro Tapal was right: for a Jedi, any obstacle becomes a path. And it doesn't matter whether the obstacle arises during a run or in politics. Overcome it… And that's that.
We dropped out of hyperspace. Not near Coruscant, no… Now we're heading to the ship of 'Mr. Ollivander' from Star Wars. The droid Huyang, who, based on our preferences, will help us select the remaining materials for the lightsaber. Why do I call him Ollivander? The answer is simple: he'll provide us with hilt materials, and hilt materials are strictly individual for each Jedi and change — like the form and the kyber crystal of the saber — very rarely. Mostly only after a total personality break, which isn't in the cards for me. So I'll pick myself a companion for my entire conscious life in the GFFA… And then I'll go around doing good and dispensing justice, as planned, as minimally as possible, trying not to stand out too much. Or else… A knife in the liver, and no one lives forever, as some used to say. And although killing me is problematic, still… Even a lion can be brought down by a mob. So one has to be careful… Yes…
* * *
The ship we were taken to was called the Forge. And it, too, was literally saturated with the power of the Force. Thousands of Jedi had passed through this ship — no… hundreds of thousands, if not millions, had assembled their first sabers here… It seemed even Drallig, whom everyone called 'the barbarian' behind his back, was awed by the atmosphere and remained silent, barely even with his mouth open…
"Here you will meet the one who will help you assemble your first saber," Windu announced as we approached the table. "Wait for him; he'll appear shortly…"
And right on cue, a heavily modified protocol droid came out to us. At least, he looked very much like a protocol droid. The silver plating gleamed; he'd been cleaned recently, and judging by the drips, his oil had been changed too.
"Greetings, young Jedi. My name is Professor Huyang, and I will be the one to teach you how to create your first lightsaber," the droid introduced himself.
"We're going to be taught by a droid?" Drallig grimaced.
"I hear skepticism in your tone, and don't try to fool my sensors," the droid said, approaching Drallig. "Hmm..." He snatched the green crystal from him. "Pontite. You have potential, but you're a bit wild." A snicker came from the girls. Wild he was, that was certain. "Your hand is rough. Judging by everything, you spend a lot of time training in swordsmanship. I think an old, proven method will suit you." He walked over to the cabinets with materials. "Nothing too fancy. Yes. Simplicity is the key to health. Where is it? Here it is." He placed a hilt in front of Drallig. "There. A hilt made from a special steel alloy will suit you. It'll be neither heavy nor light — a sword with excellent balance for you and your potential weight class. Perfect for practicing Form V."
"Uh," Drallig stalled.
"Next," Huyang proclaimed. "Sephi." He looked at me. "Quite small. At least they didn't think to take you by birth into the Temple nursery? Still, Sephi develop a bit slower than humans, hence the lifespan. But... a sword for a Sephi. Long arms, long fingers. Bronzium will suit you perfectly." A bronze-colored hilt was shown to me. "Unpolished, light as a feather. Suits fighters oriented toward speed styles. Neuranium would also work, but not now. Bronzium will be more convenient for you."
Pushing a box of tools toward me, Huyang switched to Gol.
"A Wookiee!" the droid exclaimed. "I'm glad to see you in the Order..."
Never mind... I focused on the offered parts. I recalled the schematics... I could even sit down in meditation right here. Sighing, I sat cross-legged, concentrating on the laid-out components. The bronzium pieces were mixed with leather inserts to make gripping the blade itself more comfortable. The metal pleasantly cooled my hand... The first thing to do was to saturate every part of the lightsaber with my own Force, so it would become truly mine. Which I set about doing, saturating every millimeter with my Force... Done. Every part that would become an element of my lightsaber...
"Done!" Drallig exclaimed, activating his lightsaber. I surfaced from meditation...
"Stop! Don't activate it!" Mace Windu ordered, but Drallig, drunk on the moment, pressed the activation button. Only Windu's reflexes saved him from death. He simply and straightforwardly used telekinesis to knock the saber out of Drallig's hand. The saber flew off, exploding in midair.
"WHAT?!" everyone asked almost in chorus.
"A classic beginner's mistake," the droid explained impassively. "He positioned the focusing crystal incorrectly. Thereby nearly killing himself and all of you. After an explosion like that, as a rule, only the crystal remains intact, and it goes dark forever." The classmates edged slightly away from Drallig; only Gol muttered words of regret. Cin himself walked off with a grim expression to retrieve his crystal.
Poetic... No, genuinely poetic... I returned to the floor and lifted the parts again with telekinesis. How many times had I done this with a training lightsaber? By the Clone Wars, younglings train with sticks, but we used training lightsabers. Yes, universal ones, no frills. But we passed the assembly and disassembly test. And I'm not Drallig — I won't botch a moment like this. I don't need a length regulator; it's better to adjust that by the lens power and get used to the required length right away, but a power regulator will come in handy. Next — the energy modulation circuit, then place the cyclic field chargers behind it. It's especially important to pay attention to the placement of parts, the fitting. They mustn't block the output channel. The charging device doesn't fit... Pick a second one, smaller. The focusing crystals are universal and issued to everyone; they go behind the focusing lens, while the primary crystal, right behind it — that's what we just obtained on Ilum. Pontite, shimmering green, settled into its place. I paid special attention to its alignment, making sure I hadn't made Drallig's mistake. Well, then — the blade's power cells... Done!
The saber dropped into my hand, filling me with strange emotions. There it was... Was it ready to work with me? I rotated the hilt, as I was used to doing before a fight, and caught Mace's gaze. He was looking at my saber, scanning it with the Force, and then nodded, smiling with the corner of his mouth.
"Activate it," the Padawan said just that one word.
I pressed the black activation button. I pointed the hilt upward. A green blade burst from the hilt with the familiar hum... But its energy was different from the training saber's. Not because the crystal was Pontite, no... It was because this was entirely MY lightsaber. It was so warm, so pleasant, so familiar... We will accomplish much, I could feel it...