Following the Yuuzhan Vong Incursion in 27 ABY, it was decided by Darth Sarin that the Brotherhood could no longer afford to hold its Journeymen back from combat capability. In response to the threat of the Yuuzhan Vong and any possible future threats from Jedi or other Sith groups, the Grand Master of the time saw fit to mass-produce lightsabers for Journeymen of specific ranks.
Origin
While the usage of standardized lightsabers can be traced back as far back through history as the era of Lord Kaan's Brotherhood, although true manufacturing techniques were not in existence even then. Due to the imprecise nature of a lightsaber crystal's shape and the precision needed to properly align the gemstones in the hilt, weapons had to be constructed by individual wielders, a method still in practice among the Jedi and often adopted by Sith groups such as Lord Bane's Order as a rite of passage. While these methods meant every saber was fine-tuned toward a the strengths of a particular Jedi Knight or Sith Lord, it prevented either group from rapidly outfitting armies of lesser or partially-trained Force sensitives.
It was not until the arrival of Dessan and his Reborn cult that a standardized method arose, a technique later used by the starwars:Disciples of Ragnos. It has not been confirmed, but many believe that either defecting members of Tavion's cult or House Marka Ragnos - another offshoot of Lord Ragnos's followers - brought the techniques for mass-production into the Brotherhood. Wherever these techniques were found, however, they were limited by the Dark Council, the Elders of the Brotherhood, and the Star Chamber; many knew that such knowledge would lead to increased conflicts and a lack of stability among the already-estranged Clans.
Such measures would soon find their downfall with the conclusion of the Second Darkness exercise and subsequent award ceremonies. Because of their complete lack of any Force signatures - and the resulting inability of any Force user to foresee them - the battlegroup of Supreme Commander Nagto Mel was able to take the Brotherhood's Fleet by surprise and inflict heavy casualties. The resulting conflict would see many of the Brotherhood's ships disabled or destroyed, alongside a heavy toll of casualties. Many of the dead had been killed in shipboard explosions, but a staggering amount died in melee confrontations against the well-equipped Yuuzhan Vong Warriors. While many Knights and Equites managed to just win confrontations against the Vong due to their lightsabers, the Journeymen of the Brotherhood were left at a severe disadvantage; the majority of those who met with the Vong in combat lasted no longer than common soldiers and security personnel.
Following the arrival of Lord Sarin's secretly-constructed fleet from the Roche system and the subsequent Braata Option, the Council, Star Chamber, and Elders of the Brotherhood reconvened to decide on how to prevent future assaults of such crippling magnitudes and how to better-preserve the Brotherhood's Journeymen. It was decided that new, mass-produced weapons known as "armory lightsabers" would be issued to Journeymen at and above the rank of Protector, though advanced training in lightsaber combat and construction methods would be left incomplete until the rank of Dark Jedi Knight.
Due to the heavy rates of Journeyman casualties prior to this decision, many of the Brotherhood's current Journeymen take the armory lightsaber's usage for granted.
Weapon specifications
Focusing Crystals
Armory lightsabers are built with only one focusing crystal; while the optimum number is three, what is largely considered a mass-produced training weapon hardly requires more than the minimum of one gem. Provided by many sources, including mines throughout the systems of the Brotherhood and mines, merchants, and even the black market throughout the galaxy, focusing crystals for armory lightsabers are inspected by Dark Jedi in service to the Iron Throne before being sent to various manufacturing centers for inclusion in the weapons. These gems are always blue, green, or red in hue; the two naturally-occurring hues are quite common and relatively inexpensive throughout the galaxy, while the red synth-crystals created through techniques pioneered by the Sith are easy enough to create that they see widespread usage. While some green and blue blades utilize differing synthetic crystals, it should be noted that every synth-crystal utilized by an armory saber is thoroughly scrutinized to ensure complete stability.
Something of note is that, upon reaching the rank of Knight, some of the Dark Jedi in the Brotherhood choose to modify their armory lightsabers rather than constructing entirely new ones. These sabers, using a design commonly known as the "Armory" hilt but often quite varied in their internal compositions, may contain any functional number and variety of crystals within them. Like any lightsaber, these "false-armory" sabers are designed entirely in accordance with their wielder's specifications, some even including underwater modifications or other extrapolations. Conversely, there are times when a Knight will elect to keep the stable crystal from his armory weapon, but will engineer an entirely new lightsaber around it - rather than attachment to the design, these Dark Jedi simply lack the resources or the desire to find stable crystals from a new source.
Internal components
Created for the ideals of stability, standardization, and mass-production, armory lightsaber components are often created with materials that are easy to procure and safe to use. pommel caps on these weapons are designed only to hook the blade to a belt, holding no special equipment such as backup power cells or magnetic plates. power cells are produced from standard, medium-grade materials and are known to require recharging or replacement after extreme usage.
Non-conductive materials of a common nature, often found in much-simpler electronics throughout the galaxy, are used to insulate the weapon and keep it from electrocuting its wielder. Lenses are made from common refractory crystals and are designed to produce stable, commonplace beams that hold no specialized qualities. Mass-produced emitters lacking shrouds or specialized attachments are utilized in their construction, while their matrices are designed very specifically to keep the blades focused at lengths of about three feet - modified only on very specific grounds for short species or other Dark Jedi with special concerns. A point of note is that these designs are completely inflexible; if a Knight wishes to change the length or focus of their blade, they must often replace most or all of the weapon's emitter and matrix. This prevents any Journeymen from discovering the secrets of dual phase lightsabers by mistaken or lucky experimentation.
The circuitry and other commonplace workings of the armory lightsaber will vary at times, but only insomuch as that they are created from different widespread materials. No properties of these different components will widely vary; all will still produce the same stable, unremarkable blades(within a few degrees of specification). This is done in part because of the ease of acquiring multiple substances and in part because of the lack of suspicion when Brotherhood-owned shell corporations order different materials in massive quantities - discovery by the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance remains an ever-present threat that must be avoided.
When armory lightsabers are damaged, destroyed, illegally modified, shorted out - or see their owners killed, maimed, or advanced to a point where such a weapon is no longer needed - they are sent back to the Dark Council's manufacturing corporations for repair and refurbishing. If the weapon is lost beyond any efforts to recover it, Dark Jedi will often see cursory destruction of the saber before allowing it to be discovered. In times where it must be abandoned, many Houses and Clans will return to the site of abandonment to recover the weapon. Whenever it is destroyed or disabled beyond repair, its parts are sent back to the Dark Council for any possible recycling or salvage.
It should be noted that, in some cases, Journeymen possessed of arrogance or a desire for more will use their armory weapons and partial training to gain supremacy over criminal elements or other illicit groups. These will often attempt to wreak havoc on the Brotherhood's controlled systems or other systems, using the power implicit even in partial training with such a weapon to destroy opposition and pull of heists or other crimes. Silencing these individuals and all those associated with them is given priority by most Clans and Houses, and these are often classified as high-risk Rogue Jedi - survival or escape of such a target is absolutely impermissible. Should the Houses and Clans ever fail in this task, the Dark Council would step in to eliminate the individuals in a quick and efficient manner, their existence and unpredictable nature being too much of a risk to allow their freedom.
Trivia
- Armory lightsabers are awarded to Protectors and above - capable weapons for their rank, though they are still incapable of taking on Knights and Equite Dark Jedi.
- The Armory hilt remains in the Lightsaber Creation Tool's selector after the promotion to Knight, though its color and trim options are expanded to include all Knight-level options.
- Because of the Dark Council's adoption of the controversial House Odan-Urr into Brotherhood ranks, the Jedi therein provide their Padawan learners with armory lightsabers. However, they commonly shun the red-bladed variant of this common weapon.
- Though adding any components, crystals, or other modifications to a Journeyman's blade is prohibited for all members of the Brotherhood, Equites and Elders who apprentice Journeymen have been rumoured to tamper with the armory blades of their students' rivals. While these sabotaged weapons are refurbished as normal and the official explanation for such incidences is defective manufacturing, Dark Jedi who do this are subject to strict penalties - provided that they are caught in the act.
Concept Origin and Design
- Armory lightsaber concept created and authorized by Grand Master Sarin and the Dark Council.
- Wiki article created by Kal di Plagia Vorrac.
- All content subject to change or removal by the Dark Council, and in compliance with DJBWiki Policy.