Forging

[echo_of_a_jedi]

Who: Meetra Surik/The Exile and open
Where: A shop in the Cancer district, then an open space in Gemini
Summary: Meetra makes herself a less deadly weapon
Warnings: People have lost arms this way, but no, not really
The shop was nothing special, selling small electronics and cell phones, but Meetra had chosen it because they had a large workbench sitting in the public area of the shop that they didn't mind lending to her. Or possibly to any attractive, muscular foreign woman who planned to sit at it for several hours wearing a tanktop, sweatpants, and a focused expression.

The components she was using were prosaic as well. Basic electronic components, a broken flashlight, some custom lenses designed for telescopes that she'd spent most of her Government stipend on, and a small clear synthetic crystal she'd happened to have had in her pocket when she was brought here. With the knowledge native to Hinoto-Ri, one could have made a pretty kickass laser pointer (and Q probably could have made one that could kill people).

Meetra's knowledge went further, though. She could build something truly remarkable, something she'd made twice before, and customized and tweaked into a perfect partner. This one would not be as special as the one her Master had helped her build, that she'd given up on Coruscant. Nor would it be as deadly as the one Bao-dur had helped her build as a replacement on Dantooine after days of muddling around with a heavy, clumsy vibroblade.

Just because it wasn't meant for killing or cutting, though, didn't mean she could afford to focus any less on its construction. No, the key and absolutely necessary thing here was to tweak the emitter to create the strongest possible containment field, a task to which she devoted herself with the concentration most people reserve for performing surgery.

Which is not to say she didn't take a few breaks over the course of the two or three hours it took to complete her task, if anyone noticed the highly focused Jedi and wanted to bother her.

---

Later, in a nearby park on Mount Utsugi, a now robe-clad Meetra faced down a pile of scrap metal she'd assembled from the droids she'd had to fight during the 13th Hour. As the cuts of the durasteel indicated, lightsabers normally sliced pretty cleanly through the metal.

She drew and ignited her new lightsaber, white rather than light blue, and attacked the stacked metal with several fast strikes. When each resulted in nothing more than a concussive knock and slight scorch, she nodded, satisfied, and shut the training saber off.

Comments

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"This is a new one," she said, shutting the blade off and looking carefully at the beam emitter from the side. "A training lightsaber. This way I can fight with or around civilians and not accidentally dismember anyone."

[greyerrant]

"Well, I can see the benefit in that. But why not use something like a shock-stick or a staff or the like if that is your concern."

He eyes the lightsaber a little, considering it somewhat over-engineered. Not in a sneery way, but a bit confused why she chose to make this particular kind of weapon.

"The Astartes mostly train with lethal weapons, except for when we're firing bolters at each other."

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"Fighting with a lightsaber and fighting with a physical weapon are entirely different styles," Meetra explained, "at least for the faster saber forms I use. If I'm fighting seriously, I want to be using something weightless."

"Besides, I wanted to see if I could put one together with what I had available here. I've lost a lightsaber before, and it never hurts to be able to make your own equipment," she admitted.

[greyerrant]

"I can't imagine myself wielding a weapon without physical heft, if only for purposes of parrying. That being said, I do know some varieties of power weapon are nothing but a projected power field, like you are speaking of, so the concept is very strange to me."

He nods his head,

"I still carry the same blades I took to Istvaan, I don't think I could craft my own weapons, left to myself. The mechanisms of the chainsword are beyond my skill to construct, though I can certainly re-chain or do minor field repairs on it."

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"The lightsaber is a unique weapon," she said. "Meant more for elegance of movement than overwhelming power. That's also why we make them ourselves; they're an extension of our presence in the Force as much as they are weapons."

"Plus, without cortosis or phrik in the melee weapons around here, I don't even need to parry with my regular one. It'll slice right through most metals," she mentioned.

[greyerrant]

Garviel just raises his eyebrow at that. He's parried power swords before with his chainsword, most notably Libertas, the blade of Nathaniel Garro, his honor-brother. Then again, anything designed to be used by Astartes is probably ridiculously resilient anyway, due to how hard they hit everything with it. Robust construction is de rigeur.

"So they're more like force blades than anything else. I've heard tell psykers in service of the Imperium also create their own blades and staves in this way, using crystals and such as a focus for their power."


"How long does it take to make one?"

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"The hard part is finding or synthesizing a focusing crystal and making sure you have good electronics," she said. "Actually assembling the thing can be done in a day or less if you have the right components. Then there's the testing to make sure you don't lop your own arm off because of a short..."

[greyerrant]

"You should talk to my techpriest Ferrus about this. I'm sure he'd find the technique very interesting."

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"Techpriest?"

[greyerrant]

"Yes, Ferrus. He is one of the Martian priesthood, those that are the keepers of all high technology where I am from. They maintain my armor, and provide me with my weapons, that I may slay my foes."

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"That just seems like kind of an odd term for someone who distrusts religion and the supernatural," she said.

She probably would like Ferrus, though. Between job descriptions and treating machinery like a religion he sounded like Bao-Dur.

[greyerrant]

"The Adeptus Mechanicus and the Imperium are two trees that have grown together. We are not the same but our roots have melded. They are the gatekeepers of all technology, from the great war Titans to the secrets of designing battle-plate. Even my bolter and chainsword come from their forges, initially. We are somewhat uneasy with one another, since the Emperor's truth is secular, and they find their god in the machine, but they need us, and we need them. While the Emperor is the greatest mind, scientifically, Mars is the greatest manufacturer and has the most specialized facilities."

He looks uncomfortable admitting it, especially given his own experience with traitor techpriests and Titans on Istvaan.

[echo_of_a_jedi]

"Everyone looks for the truth of the Universe in their own way," she said. "I guess you can compromise if they're friendly, right?"