Adventures of Eegan #2: The Unexpected

The Adventures of Eegan contain extensive spoilers for Star Wars: The Old Republic. If you intend to play the game yourself, you may not want to read these posts. If you're just interested in my adventures, mishaps, and how thoroughly I get involved in the role-playing aspect (very, very, very), and don't mind hearing the story in the process, welcome aboard.

You are entering the Eegan zone. From here on out, the word “I” means Eegan, a young female Zabrak Jedi Initiate.

I conquered him.

I'm not sure how, but I did. He stood wounded and disarmed before me, staring at me with widening eyes.

I couldn't quite believe my ears when he, almost reverently, announced that I was what he'd been looking for. I was the one who could defeat the Sith.

He was completely serious.

He begged me to allow him to give me the power I would need to restore the Republic to its former glory. Not knowing what else to do, I knocked him out and tried to revive my Master.

He awoke, apparently none the worse for wear.

He took it all in at a glance, and his words of commendation warmed me to my soul. He lifted his fallen Padawan into his arms and set out to return to the Temple.

I didn't like to watch him go without medical attention, without backup... without me...

But he'd given me a new mission.

And now that he knew the lay of the board, Master Din wasn't likely to be caught off-guard again.

So I put trust in him, and turn back to the Forge.

Still overwhelmed from my fight and nearly losing my Master, I was confronted with a new surge of adrenaline.

My lightsaber.

My lightsaber.

Finally, I was allowed to build one.

I could hear the crystal singing to me, a sweet song for me and me alone. The crystal that lives for me.

I climbed the jagged stairs and stepped into the mountain.

The air was cool inside, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dimness.

The Forge responded to my presence. It knew I was there.

I spread the components before me, closed my eyes, and reached out to them with the Force. T7 waited beside me, patient and silent. Somehow, even in that sacred moment, he wasn't an intrusion. He seemed to understand this ritual had deep significance, and his respect for it and me felt alive.

Many sentient living beings wouldn't have treated me as well.

I think T7 is something more than one might expect. A droid, yes... but I'm not sure that negates his personhood. I certainly find myself thinking of him as a friend.

When I opened my eyes again, there it hung, suspended in the air before me.

Not what I had designed... but something I had envisioned already in my hands.

The extension of me that had always existed, but never had a chance to reach physicality before.

In awe, I took the saber in my hand. Its metal was cool against my fingers, and its weight felt good in my palm.

It felt right.

A caress of my thumb, and the blade lit the cave. Blue and cold as ice, yet with a burning kiss.

It's beautiful. I can say that without self aggrandizement. I didn't choose its shape, nor did I create its heart. No, the crystal guided the creation, just as the crystal chose me. Within seconds, the pulse of the saber's heart was as familiar to me as my own, and I couldn't quite understand how I'd functioned without it before.

If I lost the saber now, it would feel as though a part of me had been stolen away. An ache, a discomfort, an... unsettled disturbance, scratching at my soul until I was rejoined with my blade again.

The crystal and I had bonded.

I hadn't known what the Masters meant when they said this weapon is your life. It's a familiar mantra. I couldn't tell you the times I've heard it. Now I think I understand.

The crystals are... dare I say it... alive.

And now that mine has bonded to me...

Its existence and mine are intertwined.

This weapon... is... my life.

T7's squeal hit my ears almost simultaneously with a roar.

I spun around, heart in my throat, to discover a great beast moving to attack me. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. I gripped my saber tight, the crystal harmonizing inside and around my soul, and I moved to fight.

I didn't want to kill it. It was a beautiful creature...

But it wouldn't allow me to leave the Forge alive, so I defended myself.

And then, racing past the corpses I had strewn about on my way through the pass to find Master Din, I headed for the Temple.