Lightsabers Page 3

LIGHTSABERS

  ^ With great delight, he held them in his long hairy fingers in front of

  Em Teedee's optical sensors. He growled with pleasure, and a hint of

  smugness.

  Em Teedee replied with some degree of petulance, "Well, of course I

  could be wrong."

  ^

  ------------------DAYBREAK FOUND TENEL Ka atop the Great Temple

  limbering up in preparation for her new exercise routine. After tying

  back her wavy redgold hair with a few simple braids, she stretched each

  muscle slowly, deliberately, efficiently. Her lizard-skin bodysuit was

  even more abbreviated than her usual reptilian armor, so as not to

  restrict her movement. The sparkling blue scales rippled with every

  flexing of her muscles.

  Standing barefoot on the ancient weathered stone of the temple, Tenet Ka

  reached toward the sky, stretching first with one arm, then the other.

  She felt her body begin to loosen up, as the jungle around her blossomed

  with the scents and sounds of the dawning day. A light breeze stirred

  the leaves, and Tenet Ka took in deep breaths, letting her mind focus on

  what she needed to do. She would make her new routine as rigorous as the

  calisthenics Master Skywalker himself performed each morning.

  She had been surprised by her reaction to the Jedi

  ^ LIGHTSABERS

  ^ teacher's instruction for them to build their own lightsabers. Despite

  her fierce pride at knowing she would soon begin earnest training for

  real battles, Tenet Ka had resented the implication that she would

  somehow be judged on the basis of the weapon with which she would fight.

  Earlier, she had scaled the Great Temple using nothing more than her

  grappling hook, her fibercord, and her own muscles. Wasn't the warrior

  who wielded the weapon much more important than the weapon itselp she

  asked herself. Even holding a simple stick instead of a dazzling

  lightsaber, Tenet Ka was capable of defeating an enemy.

  When she felt truly timbered up, Tenef Ka hefted the meter-long wooden

  staff she had carried to the top of the temple. For half an hour she

  practiced throwing the stick into the air and catching it, alternating

  between her left hand and her fight, first with eyes open, then closed.

  Next, she practiced twirling the wooden rod over her head and jumping

  over it as she swung it beneath her feet.

  Perspiration glistened on Tenet Ka's neck and forehead, and was

  trickling down her spine by the time she moved on to the next challenge.

  Finally, once Tenel Ka was satisfied that her reflexes were as finely

  tuned as she could wish, she grasped one end of the staff with both

  hands as if it were a lightsaber and began sword drills.

  After an hour of that, Tenet Ka was ready for more exacting physical

  activity. Taking a deep breath, she sprinted down the steep outer stairs

  of the pyramid to ground level and began her tenkilometer run for the

  day.

  The breeze felt cool against her face as she ran.

  Glancing down at herself, she assessed her lean muscular arms and long

  sturdy legs, reveling in the unrestricted motion and complete control.

  She sped up, pleased to note that her muscles were more than equal to

  the demands she made on them.

  Yes, she decided, the warrior was what mattered, not the weapon.

  After her fifth day of intensive drilling to hone her skills as sharp as

  any weapon, Tenel Ka felt ready to begin fashioning the handle of her

  personal lightsaber. Still glowing with perspiration from her morning

  workout, she decided to swim in the warm jungle river while she

  considered her next task.

  She thought of the many materials available for her lightsaber handle,

  as she stripped off her exercise suit and dove with easy confidence into

  the swift current.

  Tenel Ka was a strong swimmer, trained on both Hapes and Dathomir, at

  the insistence of both grandmothers. It was one of the few times she

  could remember that her parents' mothers had ever agreed on anything.

  Augwynne Djo, mother of Teneniel Djo, Tenel Ka's mother, had taught her

  to swim, saying that the LIGHTSABERS

  ^ strongest hunters and warriors were those who could not be stopped by

  a mere lake or river. Ta'a Chume, on the other hand, matriarch of the

  Royal House of Hapes and mother of Tenel Ka's father, Prince Isolder,

  had taught swimming as a defense against assassins or kidnappers. In

  fact, her grandmother had once escaped an attempt on her life by umping

  from a wavespeeder into a lake and swimming for shore underwater, so

  that the would-be assassins assumed she had drowned.

  Tenel Ka surfaced from the river, drew a deep lungful of air, and struck

  out upstream against the current. It was difficult swimming, but she

  used the added strength she had gained in her recent lightsaber training

  . . . which brought her back to the task at hand.

  She supposed she could fashion her lightsaber handle from a piece of

  metal pipe, or even carve one from hardwood, since a lightsaber gave off

  little heat. But somehow those did not seem right for her.

  Tenel Ka propelled herself forward with long smooth strokes, keeping a

  steady rhythm. Left.

  Right. Left. Right.

  Stone would be too difficult to shape, and too heavy for her purposes.

  Tenel Ka needed something that would suit the image of a warrior from

  Dathomir. She pictured Augwynne Djo's proud form clad in reptile skin, a

  ceremonial helm on her head, riding a domesticated rancor. The taming of

  these ferocious beasts was an appropriate symbol of the courage of her

  rugged people, since the huge beasts were powerful and their sharp claws

  deadly.

  Tenel Ka allowed herself to sink below the surface of the river and

  changed to a new stroke, recalling that she had kept two teeth from her

  grandmother's favorite rancor when it had died a few years ago. They

  were not the rancor's largest teeth by far, but each was the perfect

  size and shape to be a lightsaber handle. . . .

  A week later, Tenel Ka studied her handiwork with justifiable pride and

  etched another deep groove into the pattern she had carved on her rancor

  tooth.

  Lowie, sitting ahead of her in the tiny cockpit of the T-23 skyhopper,

  turned and roared a question at her. She waited for a moment for Em

  Teedee's translation. "Master Lowbacca wishes to inquire whether you

  have any preference as to the volcano in which you hope to search for

  crystals."

  Tenel Ka glanced out at the rich green jungle canopy rushing beneath

  them. "You may choose," she said.

  Lowbacca gave a short bark. "It makes little difference to Master

  Lowbacca," Em Teedee told her. "He has already assembled the components

  he intends to use for his lightsaber. The primary construction on his

  instrument is complete, and he has only to tune it now."

  LIGHTSABERS

  ^ Tenel Ka blinked in surprise, not only at the length of Em Teedee's

  translation after Lowbacca's short reply, but also at the thought that

  Lowbaccaand perhaps Jacen or Jaina-was so far ahead of her. Well then,

  she would have to make her search quickly and assemble h
er lightsaber

  without delay.

  "The closest volcano," she said, reaching forward and pointing. "There."

  Then, gruffly, because she felt foolish for having asked Lowbacca to

  take her out on this effand, she said, "I apologize. I would not have

  troubled you with my request had I known your lightsaber was almost

  complete."

  The Wookiee growled and dismissed this with a motion of one

  ginger-fuffed hand. "Master Lowbacca wishes to assure you that you have

  not inconvenienced him in the slightest," Em Teedee supplied. "It has

  been many days since he enjoyed solitude and meditation out in the

  jungle, and he delights in the opportunity to assist you in this manner.

  The Wookiee snorted and gave the little translator droid a flick with

  one finger. "Oh-that is to say," Em Teedee amended, "it was Master

  Lowbacca's intention to take a break anyway, and he's pleased he could

  help."

  The young Wookiee sniffed loudly, but accepted this translation. He

  brought the T-23 skyhopper down on a patch of hard-packed volcanic sand

  between the jungle's edge and the base of a small m volcano. After

  Lowbacca woofed a few words, Em Teedee said, "When you have completed

  your search, successful or not, simply return here to the T-23. Master

  Lowbacca and I will watch for you from the treetops."

  Tenel Ka nodded curtly. "Understood. Thank you." Without further ado,

  she turned and hurried up the slope toward the volcano.

  Though none of the volcanoes near the Jedi academy had erupted in quite

  some time, tendrils of white steam still curled from this one's peak.

  Skirting the sharp black rocks on the perimeter, Tenel Ka soon found a

  gaping lava tube leading in toward the core of the volcano, as she had

  hoped.

  A pungent sulfurous odor filled the warm tunnel.

  Tenel Ka pulled the finger-sized glowrod from a pouch at her belt and

  ignited it to light her way.

  Black crystalline sand crunched under her feet and glittered like

  thousands of fiery sparks, throwing back the light of her glowrod. As

  she trudged farther in, the sandy floor became hard rock, glassy like

  obsidian. Ahead of her the rocky corridor radiated an eerie red light,

  and the heat grew stifling.

  Occasionally she heard a rumbling, rushing roar, as if the volcano

  itself were breathing deeply in its sleep. The stony walls around her

  took on a cracked, broken look. Some of the larger fissures ran from

  floor to ceiling and leaked puffs of acrid white steam. But she saw no

  embedded crystals.

  LIGHTSABERS

  ^ The lava tube wound on and on. Losing patience, Tenel Ka had just

  about decided to turn back when she rounded one last corner and

  encountered a wave of searing heat. She had found what she was looking

  for.

  "Ali," she said. "Aha."

  She wouldn't be able to bear the heat for long, but she had to risk it.

  On the floor of the tunnel lay a huge slab of glossy black rock that had

  broken free from a crack on the tunnel wall. Ripples of scorching air

  danced before her in the dimness.

  Rivulets of perspiration ran down her forehead and into her eyes,

  blurring her vision. Even so, she could not mistake the chunks of spiky

  crystals that grew on the broken slab, glittering and hazy.

  The rock surrounding her was too hot to touch, so Tenel Ka worked

  quickly. Holding her glowrod in her teeth, she pulled a small scrap of

  lizard hide from a pouch at her belt, wrapped it around a clump of the

  crystals, used her grappling hook to chip away at a few of the crystals,

  then pried them loose.

  Tenel Ka tucked the crystals, still wrapped in their protective lizard

  hide, into her belt pouch, then headed back up the tunnel at a trot.

  Holding the glowrod high above her head, she raised her voice in a loud

  ululating cry of triumph that echoed down the length of the lava tube.

  Back in her quarters, Tenel Ka sat at a low wooden table with the

  components of her future lightsaber spread in front 'of her. Everything

  she needed for assembling her weapon was here: SW itches, crystals, the

  covering plate , a power source, a focusing lens, and the rancor-tooth

  hilt.

  She ran a light fingertip over the intricate battle etchings she had

  carved on the ivory lightsaber handle. The markings had turned out even

  better than she had hoped.

  After returning from her crystal hunt, she had applied to the rancor

  tooth a paste made of dampened black sand from the floor of the lava

  tube.

  When she polished the tooth to a soft luster, pigment from the dark sand

  had stained every crevice of her carving to bring each etched line into

  sharp relief. The decorated rancor tooth was a beautiful piece, worthy

  of a warrior.

  A yawn of contented weariness escaped her lips as Tenel Ka began to

  piece the components together according to Master Skywalker's

  directions. She frowned when she realized that the hollow inside the

  rancor's tooth was not quite large enough to contain the arrangement of

  crystals she had hoped for. She frowned again when she noticed on close

  inspection that each of her hazy crystals contained a tiny flaw. She

  suppressed another yawn and shook her head in resignation. Well, she

  didn't have much choice. There hadn't been time to examine the crystals

  more carefully in the searing lava tube, and now it was too late to

  search for more.

  LIGHTSABERS

  ^ Tenel Ka thought back over the past two weeks, the drills and

  exercises she had put herself through.

  Her reflexes were lightning-fast, her skills and senses sharp as a

  laser. She shrugged, trying to loosen the knot of weary tension that had

  crept into her shoulders. She would have to make do. After all, in the

  long run it was the warrior and not the weapon that determined victory.

  She nodded to herself as she picked up the lightsaber handle and began

  placing the components inside.

  ^ : ----------------THE JUNGLE CLEARING was alive with thousands-no,

  millions!-of living creatures and interesting plants, strangely colorful

  mushrooms and droning insects, all of which offered great distractions

  to Jacen. He had to work very hard to keep his mind from wandering. At

  the moment it was far more important to pay attention to Luke Skywalker

  as he set up the first lightsaber dueling exercise for the young Jedi

  Knights.

  During the construction of their weapons, the trainees had sparred with

  dueling droids and with each other, using sticks the same length as a

  lightsaber blade. After completing their lightsabers, they had spent a

  week Practicing with their real weapons against stationary targets,

  accustoming themselves to the feel of the energy blades.

  Now, though, Master Skywalker had deemed them ready to move on to the

  next step.

  The clearing was a burned-out spot where lightning had sparked a brief

  but intense forest fire. The jungle dampness and lush foliage had

  quickly

  ^ LIGHTSABERS 37 smothered the blaze, but a huge Massassi tree-its trunk

  chaffed and weakened by the searin
g flameshad toppled over, taking with

  it several smaller trees and bushes. The rest of the clearing was a

  matted maze of pale green undergrowth-weeds and grasses and flowers

  attempting to reclaim the burned and crumbly soil.

  Because today's exercises would be both mental and physical, Uncle Luke

  wore a comfortable flight suit, as did Jacen and Jaina. Tenel Ka's

  ever-present reptilian armor left her arms and legs bare, giving her

  complete freedom of movement. Her long reddish-gold hair had been

  plaited into intricate braids, with special ornamentation on each one.

  Lowbacca wore no garment other than his belt, woven of strands he had

  harvested from a deadly syren plant in the deep forests on Kashyyyk. Em

  Teedee hung in his accustomed place at the Wookiee's waist.

  All of the young Jedi Knights carried something new and special this

  time, though-their own lightsabers, completed after weeks of delicate

  construction.

  While Jacen stood with his friends, flicking occasional glances in the

  direction of rustling leaves that hinted at the presence of strange

  creatures, Luke Skywalker took a seat on the massive fallen trunk. At

  last he unslung the mysterious pack he had lugged all the way from the

  Great Temple.

  "What's in there, Uncle Luke?" Jacen asked, unable to restrain his

  curiosity. Since he couldn't investigate the interesting insects and

  plants, he needed to focus his mind on something else.

  Luke gave a secretive smile and withdrew a scarlet sphere the size of a