"I don't believe I've seen your kind before young one, A rare species with a rare kyber crystal to match."
The droid analyzed my features before focusing its monocle lens onto my crystal, carefully squeezing it between its metal fingers.
Master Ti had introduced the droid as Huyang an architect droid professor who's taught younglings to build their lightsabers for generations. He had the basic human shape but had 2 more robotic arms on his back, he seemed studious and his voice had a strangely gentle tone in its sternness.
After I collapsed, I eventually woke up and managed to climb my way out of the caverns. When I got sight of the 3 masters, Anakin had charged me, tackled me with a hug into the snow. Apparently the absolute physical agony I had experienced had transmitted through the force to everyone present.
The masters managed to tune it out, realizing that whatever I was doing was by my intention, but a few of the others took the full brunt of my physical pain. I saw Zeephy the Twi'lek huddled on the ground holding their knees in distress, apparently having failed to get their crystal due to my unbearable agony. That put a smile on my face.
~back to present~
"What are your people called young one?" He turned toward me.
"Irkens."
"Irkens? I'll be sure to remember, If fate is willing for me to meet more of your kind in the future. What are Irkens like?"
"Why do you want to know?"
He brought his hand out, offering my crystal back to me.
"You'll find that often times ones lightsaber is a reflection of not only who they are, but who their people are."
I pondered his words for a moment before deciding to explain.
"Irkens are a industrious race, there's not an inch of vegetation on our home world, before we are even one year old we are given jobs to support our civilization, and everyone is a soldier." I spoke proudly
"Sounds quite sad really." Huyang humbled my words.
"WEL—
Before I could reply to what felt like an insult, Huyang rushed to a row of drawers looking through rows and rows of lightsaber components. He spent mere seconds before he came back toward me, multiple hilts in his hand.
"Tell me how this feels."
hmph!
I grabbed one of the hilts, closing my eyes and trying to 'feel' if it fit me, as Huyang had instructed another youngling to do.
"It feels....too boring..." That was an honest response, the material gave me the feeling of being...lame??
"Interesting." He shuffled around with the rest in his 4 hands before handing me another.
"Try this one"
Repeating the process again "Its too...boxy?"
Huyang had no facial expressions but I swear he seemed incredulous.
~
It was nearly an hour of back and forth with the droid before he pulled out one last hilt.
"This one has been waiting for its master for quite a long time now young one, it is one of the most expensive of my materials."
He handed over a hilt, of darkish metal. I played with the hilt in my hand. It definitely felt the closest to what I desired.
"Close...but it feels too...dumb?"
"Close you say? That is interesting. That hilt hails from the planet Mandalore. It was donated to my collection by a Jedi of Mandalorian descent. Interesting to see that it even slightly speaks to you. You're people must also be proud warriors hmmm?
But if this hilt doesn't suit you, I'm afraid no other aboard our ship will."
"wait." I said softly as a thought crossed my mind.
I coughed up irken starship plate metal I'd been carrying around. Most of the material in a shade of dark purple but several pieces in a deep red or light pink.
"Now that's an interesting ability" he grabbed at the components in my hands.
"Is this the material your people use? Fascinating...
Strong, light, sturdy, interesting colors as well...
I suppose you'll wish to have me try to make a hilt from this material?"
"yes please"
"Very well...
give me a moment" He collected the components from my hands before disappearing into another room. It would actually be several hours before he would come back out with 3 completed hilts.
"Try this" He handed me a dark purple hilt, red outlines covered its edges and it had a smooth roundness in its curvature that spoke to me
"This—this is perfect" I said excitedly, genuinely pleased with the connection I felt with the hilt.
"First try? that's almost disappointing, but I did base the design off that machine attached to your back so perhaps my keen insight was sure not to fail"
Huyang put the remaining two hilts away, before going on long tirades of galactic history and teaching me how to actually connect the hilts internal components. Due to my hilt being custom made, I was actually the last to finish my lightsaber.
DING. Passive Progression: Advanced Weaponsmith (Lv 8 → 9).
On the first test fire, an Amethyst blade shot out of the emitter. Identical to the color of Master Windu.
"Impressive" Master Ti had kindly added.
"How does it feel?" Luminara questioned.
"It feels amazing!"
With the completion of my blade, we were to finally leave and head back to Coruscant.
On our departure many of the younglings wanted to personally hug the droid goodbye, which he didn't seem to resist. Seeing an opportunity I also lined up to hug the droid.
When my arms finally wrapped around his torso—
"Thank you soooo much" I said in a tight embrace.
Warning: cannot store living material!
Well...that answered that question.
"You're very welcome, may the force be with you"
"and with you" I replied to the living droid.
~
When we returned to Coruscant I immediately went to my room and departed to my universe, having well overstayed longer than I wanted.
~Later~
The Anti‑Acid Gel sold out immediately. You slathered a fingertip on, applied it somewhere on your body and magically water couldn't hurt you anymore if you were Irken.
Anti‑AcidGel...Something I had created shortly after my return. Reading its description almost gave me a seizure, the absolute rage that went through my being was indescribable. The only saving grace was my alchemy skill leveling up.
Rumors spread on the Irknet about its developer having to be part of some military research team, because the gel was a game changer. Of course many aliens knew of the Irken weakness but few worlds really had all that much water to use against us. Those who did however had found themselves at near the pinnacle of galactic trade.
Because for many worlds, water was a form of security against the Irken presence, but now that wasn't the case anymore. A single potion of the Gel could be easily applied to over 100 Irken soldiers and lasted over 24 hours. And with the outrageous price I was asking for, the monies just kept coming.
I had thought my invention would warrant Tallest or Control Brain intervention, I didn't know it at the time but it was actually something else that caught their attention.
~CONSEQUENCES~
An allied species pinged the Empire directly. More RedComet. The request went up. Not for my new Anti-Acid Gel but actually for the basic health potions I had been selling. With the slow but steady improvements to the formula and also leveling of the skill, the potions effectiveness improved drastically. Able to heal 50% of someone's health. And for people with anything from terminal illnesses to genetic disorders this was a lifeline.
This of course didn't sell all too well in the Empire, since Irkens were almost always healthy because of our PAKs. But outside our borders it was a different story.
The Tallest—Miyuki—asked for the maker to step forward for promotion.
I ghosted. Immediately brought all production down to zero. That bold action seemed to grab public attention as well.
The public got confused. No Irken would disobey the Tallest. Maybe RedComet wasn't Irken?
Good. Be confused.
I sent Scat a cake and a note that said: "Shut everything down! Burn all the evidence!"
He sent back: "donut taxes just doubled."
~Elsewhere~
"He doesn't want to come forward?"
"No my Tallest. He just recently destroyed all his means of production and halted sales" The investigator replied.
Investigators poked around and found Scat, because he ran the farms.
The Tallest pondered for a moment...
"Such an inventive young soldier, perhaps he has bigger plans" The Tallest rationalized, believing perhaps the sales were merely to procure funds for a bigger project.
The Tallest—fair, curious—respected his "choice" and promoted him anyway.
~
I had gotten a message from Scat shortly after the potions fiasco that he had been promoted and reassigned. That made me slightly sad as he was the closest thing I had to a friend in the Empire. It did make me wonder what he had done to warrant a sudden promotion though.
Regardless we decided to celebrate his promotion, and with the admirals help I was given a shuttle to take down to planet DIRT. Bolts tagging along.
And after gathering everyone in the base and tossing out some of my tastiest creations we had a massive going away party.
We had tables lined with the sweetest most sugariest foods we could get our hands on.
And when we started eating it was like everyone had lost their mind.
At first things went well, everyone happily stuffing their faces and saying farewells with warm send offs. Jokes and laughter flying through the air every witch way. But like a herald of what's to come—
DING. Skill Gained: Drug resistance (Lv 1/10).
-Congratulations, you're less fun at parties. Reduces the harmful effects of drugs, toxins, and stimulants on your system.
I blinked at the notification hovering in my vision. The force gently curled at the edges of my awareness like it was trying not to laugh.
WELL THATS JUST GREAT!
I turned about to run toward an alarm thinking we were poisoned only to see a soldier headbutt a table of cupcakes with tears in his eyes.
That's when I noticed the colors were… wrong.
Around me, the room was devolving into something. A cake fight had broken out in the corner. Someone was trying to dance with a mop. Bolts perhaps trying to break up the fight shouted out "EMERGENCY FOOD RAVE". I didn't even know he knew the word rave. He threw a cake that landed on the shortest irken in the room, his entire body encased in frosty goodness.
That sight had the room absolutely lose it as food start flying everywhere.
I stood in the eye of the sugarstorm, frosting clinging to my boots.
Then a brownie slapped me in the face.
...
I laughed. I laughed hard. I laughed until my PAK issued a respiration warning. Because of course this is how Scat's farewell went down.
Bolts ran to me, tray stacked with cakes. GOOD ROBOT SERVANT!
"SCAT!" I shouted into the chaos, "DON'T RUN!"
I flung two cakes at him. He threw a doughnut back at me.
And the party raged on.
DING. Passive Progression: Drug resistance (Lv 2 → 3).
~
It would be later, when Bolts wiped the frosting off my face, and I actually inspected the food that I realized what had happened.
[Cupcake of Delight]
—Euphoric overload, mild hallucination
I wasn't drugged. I was the drug dealer. I was wondering why my PAK hadn't detected anything, but of course the PAK didn't detect it—it was enchanted, not chemical
In my rush to make food for the party it looks like my intent to 'have a good time' leaked into the food.
Everyone had basically fell into a 'Sugar High'.
Of course their was a small investigation by the base commander after the ordeal, but with no evidence of any type of drugs the story turned into everyone just going crazy with a good time.
It was a good send off. But midway through that chaotic skirmish one of irkens present called me ugly jokingly.
I did the dumbest brilliant thing: I dumped 5 points into CHA
I didn't realize the effect at the time, but one day the admiral came by for his massage.
"Did you get taller?"
The Admiral had been taking strange peeks at me since walking in, right before the massage started he asked the question.
It had caught me off guard, but I pinged my PAK for a body scan and yes in fact I did get taller.
Height: 4'6.5"
I was two and a half inches taller.
"Planning to outgrow your station, soldier?" he asked lightly, while face‑down on the table. There was the ever so slightest hint of anxiety in his voice. After all if I was tall enough I didn't have to lower myself to the mans personal masseuse.
Instead of replying, I continued the massage as usual. In a particularly good mood thanks to my newfound height. It would be several months later that I would dump another 5 points into CHA
Height: 4'9". I bragged to anyone with ears. Including the Admiral.
Vrek's smile got thin. My station was too low for my current height. I was an average soldier before but now I was taller than at least 75% of all Irkens. He worried he'd lose me to the Control Brains reassigning me to a station worthy of my height. He might.
Several days later, while cooking up things in the oven and Bolts serving customers. I suddenly noticed an eerie silence take hold of the room. Extremely unusual considering you would always here someone eating, having conversations, and generally just making noises with their movement. Looking up from my desk I spot a soldier standing enraged, his hands clenching a donut in a death grip, 3 others dropped their food and drinks onto the ground as well, everyone looking in the same direction. Looking around some faces show blank expressions, some angry, and some on the verge of sadness. Confused, I walked my way over, spotting a monitor displaying some type of emergency broadcast. In bold breaking irken letters.
Tallest killed by an infinite energy absorbing monster!
Tallest Miyuki is dead.
In that moment I imagined that somewhere, a small green idiot smiled like destiny had remembered his name.
Ahh Zim…
"Here it comes," I said to no one.
Here comes Operation Impending DOOM.
and while that thought hits me the irkens in the room flood with a mix of reactions. One begins silently shedding tears, another yelling any profanity that comes to mind hurling his fist any which way. One keeps a straight face, almost not reacting but perhaps merely in denial, his eyes portraying his internal turmoil the best. It's as if time in the room slowed seeing such emotion come out of these usually stoic irkens, our leader gone. Worst yet they were said to be the best leader the irken empire had in hundreds of generations. Irken generations were quite literally thousands of years
~LATER~
The Empire was in uproar, the only thing keeping the cogs in the empire turning being the Control Brains. The base had abandoned its duty and the few officers managing the planet didn't seem to care. Our ship and the few ships in orbit that ensured security and supremacy over planet DIRT took off as soon as the news hit. Probably toward Irk…
With Thousand of Irkens disobeying orders and threatening acts of violence against one another, the Control Brains had somehow managed to gain order through the announcement that the next tallest was currently being carefully considered at this very moment. This put the entire irken military on edge. Its future leaders would literally decide the fate of the irken race. They had announced a short waiting period of 2 months while they analyzed the potential prospects for tallest.
During this it seems I had been completely forgotten, no more strange requests for massages or baked goods. It seems the dire nature the irken empire was in had taken over everyone's thoughts. The hallways onboard the ship had become something of a ghost town. Not a single irken was roaming the halls or doing their duty.
I tried sending Scat a message to see how he was doing but I got no response.
I had assumed that perhaps an irkens reliance on our PAKs was causing some type of mental glitch within the average soldier but if even Scat was the same way then perhaps the problem was me. Sure my leader was gone but overall I knew the empire would be fine.
Perhaps…perhaps it was because I knew that the empire would be fine that I ended up not affected, a terribly stupid theory but still a possibility. Afterall I also knew beforehand that the Tallest was gonna die.
I found myself alone with Bolts and the force.
Days passed with this complete plunge in productivity and while most seemed to stay connected to any information source I found myself focusing entirely on my abilities even further. Of course not a single monie was made during this time leaving my bank account quite sad especially after the Anti Acid Gel just ramped up production. But I managed despite that. The first real achievement happened while repairing more damaged B1s, managing to max my mechanic skill.
DING. Passive Progression: Mechanics(Lv 9 → MAX).
DING. Trait gained: One with Machines
-Machines feel your presence and prepare accordingly.
At the time I had not a single clue what the benefit of the trait provided but as I was working on disassembling rusty droid parts l I noticed the rust slowly peeling away. It was as if the rust was shedding very slowly. I curiously looked over the process for the next few hours, the components seemed to cleanse itself with dirt visibly disappearing from its surfaces. I conjured a few more damaged B1s privately and slowly their deformed components ever so slightly melded back into place. It was an excruciatingly slow process, one I could accomplish much faster given my own effort, but it was amazing nonetheless.
I NEVER HAD TO DO MAINTENANCE AGAIN!!!
That revelation had me smiling my entire day, while I shifted my focus to fixing and upgrading blasters wanting to max another skill.
I was in such a good mood that I decided to laze around for the rest of the month while waiting for the news on the new tallest…
~LATER~
Finally after the two month period had ended the control brains announced the broadcasting of a new tallest. One who I was completely unfamiliar with. I settled in my room, sitting on a chair I had stolen from Naboo.
Strange…I don't remember another tallest before Red and Purple ever being mentioned
The tallest himself had small green eyes, the color not unusual but the size would be considered tiny by irken standards. They were also more wide apart, much more similar to a human. His physical appearance had me quite perplexed. Funnily enough it looked like he was in the great convention hall on planet CONVENTIA, the same hall where the GREAT ASSIGNING would take place decades from now. His appearance had me so off guard I barely realized that he was going on some aggressive rant and just as I was about to actually start paying attention—
!BOOOOMMMMM!
A huge giant green blob monster suddenly bursts through the back of the convention hall, the fresh tallest being grabbed instantly by a multitude of green slimy tentacles, my jaw dropped in absolute shock just as the tallest screaming for his life was dragged into the maw of the humongous monster.
Right as it crunched on his body the broadcast fizzled out with a 'TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: PLEASE STAND BY' text appearing. I Barely managed to recover from the shock as I just stared at the screen.
….
Well at least i know why i was completely unfamiliar with this Tallest…
~LATER~
With nothing of significance happening in both universes I found myself doing the everyday mundane task of an Irken soldier, and a Jedi Padawan. By the near end of this year I found myself falling into the repetition of day to day Jedi training, philosophy, and history.
And in my universe with all the free time on my hands I began to start trying to scratch at the peak of my Chef trait.
I began carefully preparing everything I needed to make a cookie, a sugar cookie to be exact…I had done the same process i had performed hundreds of times by now, this time with a touch of worry as I wanted this one to come out to as close to perfection as possible, I won't make dozens of cookies like usual, but simply one good cookie. I even took it a step further and used sugar I had acquired from the galaxy far far away, while there shouldn't be any actual difference. I was hoping the uniqueness of the dish would have some type of effect.
Several minutes passed and eventually I extracted a beautiful sugar cookie from an oven, glistening yellow and looking very soft. A thought hits me and I begin to hover my hand over the cookie, imbuing the force into it, I feel the force follow my will and easily flow into the dessert.
Then I focus on it….
Special Sugar Cookie
- Increase random stat by random value between 1-10
My eyes widened at it. Incredible! How have I never made something of this quality before? This had actually left me pretty perplexed because I definitely had put effort into making food for myself but had only ever gotten temporary effects…
You know what…I'll just keep this one for myself…
I stored the cookie in my inventory.
Class: Necromancer (Level 4 / 100)
HP: 75 / 75
MP: 50 / 50
SP: 50 / 50
Unallocated Stat Points: 10
Stats
STR: 10
END: 10
DEX: 10
INT: 10 (+50)
WIS: 10
CHA: 20
LCK: 10
Active Skills
Raise Undead (Lv 1/10)
Force Sight (Lv 6/10)
Force Telekinesis (Lv 7/10)
Force Imbue (Lv 5/10)
Force Heal (Lv 6/10)
Enhanced Movement (Lv 3/10)
Precognition (Lv 4/10)
Passive Skills (Categorized)
Force‑Based
Force Sensitive (Lv 5/10)
Force Meditation (Lv 7/10)
Force Veil (Lv 3/10)
Mechu‑Deru (Lv 1/10)
Magic / Necromantic
Anatomy (Lv 2/10)
Alchemy (Lv 5/10)
Herbalism (Lv 4/10)
Pharmacology (Lv 1/10)
Physical / Combat
Sprinting (Lv 3/10)
Acrobatics (Lv 3/10)
Parkour (Lv 3/10)
Brawling (Lv 3/10)
Melee Weapons (Lv 1/10)
→ Knives (Lv 2/10)
Lightsaber (Lv 3/10)
Stun Resistance (Lv 1/10)
Weapons / Engineering
Marksmanship (Lv 2/10)
Ranged Weapons (Lv 2/10)
→ Small Arms (Lv 3/10)
Computers (Lv 4/10)
Advanced Weaponsmith (Lv 9/10)
Driving (Lv 2/10)
Piloting (Lv 3/10)
Survival / Tactical
Chemistry (Lv 2/10)
Traps (Lv 2/10)
Pain Resistance (Lv 4/10)
Drug Resistance (Lv 1/10)
Utility / Social / Misc.
Merchant (Lv 9/10)
Masseuse (Lv 8/10)
Muscle Memory (Lv 1/10)
Knot‑Tying (Lv 3/10)
Sneaking (Lv 3/10)
Dancing (Lv 4/10)
Woodworking (Lv 3/10)
Painting (Lv 1/10)
Singing (Lv 2/10)
Traits
Mana Gifted
One with THE FORCE
2nd Mind
Robotic Stamina
Dimensional Traveler
The Chef
Acid Punk
One with Machines