FORSAKEN IV - Harbinger of Chaos

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Zilvara worked on the workbench at the armory, building a hinged double-bladed lightsaber with the help of the holobook. She used osmiridium for the hilts with pitted chromium details, dark plasteel grips, and forked emitters. When she finished, she went to the dojo in the common deck, where Elynn was training with Syrran.

"Somebody knows her weapons," said Syrran, turning off his shotos, checking the Enforcer blaster and the over-hand, curved-blade Jalinese knife she chose in the armory.

"K'Kruhk hired an Echani mercenary to teach us martial arts and how to use blasters and melee weapons."

"Smart Whiphid."

"Well, show us your lightsaber," said Elynn.

Zilvara reached behind and presented the folded hilt constructed with great artistic flair. She extended it to its full length it with a flick of a switch and activated the brown blades. "So, what do you think?"

"That's pretty alpha. I love the design of the hilt."

"I wanted to be a Jedi Artisan before the Purge. "

"She's also a music fan who can play a mean xantha," said Syrran. "I'm glad you didn't give up being an artist, even when you had to work as technician on the Dredge."

"Where did you get that holobook?" said Kilvara.

"The Jedi Archive" said Elynn. "I had it with me when I escaped the temple during Operation Knighfall."

"Why a saberstaff?" said Syrran. "I thought you wanted to double-wield."

The question delighted the Twi'lek. "Check this out."

She twisted the hilt in opposite directions to separate it and performed a basic Niman pattern with them, ending in a defensive stance.

"Okay, that's pretty alpha," said Elynn.

"Your Niman needs work," said Syrran.

"I knew you were going to say that."

"What forms do you know?"

"Shii-Cho—of course—Djem So, Ataru, and some Niman," said Zilvara. "But I can't wait to learn Mano Cerrada."

"Why wait? Step right up." Syrran waved her onto the mat.

A thrilled Zilvara jumped at the invitation.

Not far away, Jarriss meditated, floating cross-legged in his cabin. The pieces of his curved-hilt lightsaber orbited around him, and his indigo kyber crystal hovered in front of his chest. His quarters lacked décor since the Miraluka perceived energy fields instead of reflected light like most species. Therefore, Jarriss adorned his living space with patterns made with fiberoptics only visible to him.

The news about Abeloth's survival and what that meant to the future of the galaxy worried him, particularly in light of his previous vision regarding the advent of Abeloth. Jarriss sought to foresee anything that could guide the Je'daii to stop The Mother of Chaos. He did so with the knowledge that he didn't control when he would receive these revelations or what form they would take. As it happened, the sudden influx of images surprised Jarriss.

The visions manifested in a similar fashion as those in a dream, part visual, part emotional, sometimes real, and others surreal; at times disconnected or linked by feeling rather than reason. Following his training as a Jedi Seer, Jarriss began to record what he saw in the holojournal he kept on his desk. The device activated to the sound of his voice.

"I see Addia in a distant land to which I sensed she arrived to without traveling," he said. "An unsettling smile over the flash of a dark blade. A reflection in the dark to the sound of thunder. The eyes watching didn't stare back. I perceive effort, fear, death, pain, accomplishments, closeness, familiarity, loss... These are challenges, perhaps? Tests? They're in the past, but in the future..."