Star Wars New Order - Volume 1 Chapter 7 Kyber Crystal

The next day, Vaner, Raskta, and Bhak with another dozen of soon to be Jedi padawans board a starship with master Yoda as their guide. Bhak had succeeded his trials easily and was selected by a Jedi master and not any Jedi master but one skilled enough to be selected to join the high council recently however learning it was Jedi master Shaak Ti cool down the young boy quite a bit. While master Shaak Ti was a strong Jedi master that had taught two padawans already these two died soon after becoming Jedi knight causing rumors to spread between the initiates that being her student lead to death.

This news caused Vaner not to know how to react for a while before saying Bhak that all of this was probably mostly bad luck as this padawan didn’t die during their apprenticeship meaning they had reached the skill needed to be knighted and Shaak Ti skilled as a Jedi couldn’t be questioned as she was chosen to join the high council. Hearing what his friend said calmed Bhak quite a bit as he was right his master was one of the strongest who had already trained 2 Jedi knights, he just to learn what she taught him while finding out the mistake the other two made to not make the same.

Soon the starship took off heading for Ilum, Ilum was a secrete planet whose existence was known only to the Jedi and even within them the location of this planet was only known to few. This planet was sacred to the Jedi as it contained kyber crystals also called lightsaber crystal. These crystal were what made this planet so precious as they were attuned with the Force, the light side of the Force, making them the perfect power source for Jedi lightsaber.

What the soon to be padawan didn’t know was that obtaining a kyber crystal was in itself the real trials to be a Jedi padawan as the crystal the student would obtain was one that matched them, this matching was made by the Force itself and during this trial, the young Jedis would go against their own fear to see how they would react leading to them to the crystal that was tailored for them.

While some padawan could know what would happen on Ilum they didn’t understand that the trial starts with the beginning of their travel to the star as this travel would last a month which would test the apprentice’s self-control and patience.

The month of travel was hard for each Initiate as there was nothing to do, the starship being only a small freighter big enough for all of them to be in with no type of entertainment whatsoever putting the students to a test of patience as while in the temple they weren’t much entertainment they could at least do some physical work which was hardly possible and the only activity possible was meditation that master Yoda had start from the moment the ship had taken off to the end of the trip.

Finally arriving on Ilum the apprentice felt overjoyed and rushed outside only to be greeted by the cold environment of this snow planet. This was the second test of Ilum while hot clothing was prepared for the initiates they weren’t sufficient for them to be able to stay on the planet for a long time. This test was to test their use of the first aspect of the Force, Force Control.

And so, the disciple who had rush out rushed back only to find the other starting to wear the clothing that was given by master Yoda. Once clothed the apprentices head outside using the force to keep their body heat, this technique was called Tapas, it was a basic technique but essential to master to survive on a cold planet.

Looking around themselves the still Jedi Initiates search the Jedi temple that supposed to be here but with no success only to be informed that they needed to work together to clean the snow and ice using the Force as the Temple was beneath. Already using the force to keep themselves warm the apprentice understood that the trial on Ilum wasn’t easy like they thought, they were harder than the official one.

Even Vaner who was the strongest Force user of their group had some trouble, in the beginning, to use the Force to do two things at once but he fast succeed only to realize that this first trial wasn’t an individual one as the strength of the Force he could use was nowhere strong enough to clean the temple and he would combine it with his fellow apprentice. After finding this he started to help the other to use this technique which seem new to them but who wasn’t really like the exercise they did in the temple prepared them for it.

The young Jedi start cleaning the temple as time passed and soon the light of the sun could be seen appearing on the planet as the children finished the cleaning and entered the temple only to find master Yoda already in it sitting cross leg while waiting for them making them realize that he wasn’t with them before.

Looking at children entering the temple master Yoda nod before moving his hand and using the force, feeling the temple trembling for master Yoda action the initiates look around themselves only to find above their head a giant crystal rotating as the sunray pass through it strengthening themselves before passing through another crystal to finally hit a giant wall of ice which start to melt under the effect of the concentrated sunray.

Seeing a whole part of the temple melt before their eyes shocked the young Jedi and some of them became agape seeing a passage appear. Master Yoda then explain to them that at the end of this pathway was the crystal cave were the kyber crystals, the heart of their future lightsaber was and that to find them they only need to let their spirit follow the Force.

Hearing that they finally would have their lightsaber, excitement conquered the exhaust apprentice who regain instantly their energy but their fervor was cut short and replaced by anxiety as master Yoda said they had only so much time as the ice wall would reform and soon the wall would be here again and if they had not come out they would be trap inside the cave.

The group of students made their way in the crystal cave hoping to find their crystal fast enough to be able to go out. Seeing his classmates being stressed by this made Vaner secretly shake his head as such whole would be easily broken by master Yoda and all of this was just to make this trial harder on them however he said nothing as it was a part of the trial.

As time passed, the group of apprentices headed deeper in the cave and their group became smaller as others had already felt the call from their crystal. Vaner who was in the middle of the group let out a sigh, he didn’t understand how he still hadn’t heard his call, Bhak and Raskta had already left for their crystal and while were the strongest in the use of the force he still didn’t find his own. Vaner followed the other until he realizes that he didn’t hear them and he realizes that he was alone.

Looking around he saw no one, he knew he was still in the crystal cave and so he knew that he was the last one to not have heard his crystal call. This made him dumbfound and he starts thinking about what could the cause of his failure until here, maybe his crystal was just farther but with his talent, other crystal should want him no? This thought made him realize where was the problem the kyber crystal on Ilum was attuned to the light side of the Force and so reject the dark side and like his master said he was walking near the dark side and from before he was arrogant one of sith characteristic explaining why no crystal called him.

This realization made Vaner understand that in fact he was the one with the less chance to obtain a crystal but even after recognizing this fact Vaner didn’t panic but stayed calm and sat cross-leg trying to enter meditation to enclose his dark side as much as possible. However just as he entered in meditation the Force inside the cave start to envelop him and soon he was standing while still being in deep meditation.

After standing Vaner start to move, at first, it seemed to be martial art with punches and kicks being made but soon as the speed of his movement started to increase what seemed to be a fighting style became what seems to be a dance. This dance was the Echani martial art, the Force and the crystal inside the cave not knowing what to do with Vaner decide to make him reveal his true self as he entered meditation leading to this.

Once the dance began it was calm, steady like a calm sea or mountain gently embracing the snowflake coming from the sky, Vaner seemed to be one with nature and the Force causing crystals to start calling him however the once calm dance soon became wild and explosive, the once calm sea became a tempest and the gentle mountain became an explosive volcano. Vaner himself was not one with Nature and Force anymore but seemed to try to make them bow before himself.

This sudden change causes the call from the crystals to stop but the dance didn’t end here and continue in a loop were Vaner would switch from a state to another confusing and frightening every crystals. While demonstrating the Echani martial art Vaner was following the call of the crystals and was moving in the cave.

When his meditation end Vaner found himself in the depth of the cave where the light was just enough to be able to guess what was in front and in his hand was a crystal.