Lightsaber - Old

Lightsabers are weapons from the Star Wars universe. There is a detailed article on the original Star Wars wikia known as wookiepedia that details them, but this page will summerize them and perhaps introduce a few variants. Also, this page will serve to introduce the way lightsabers were invented and used in this alternative star wars inspired sci-fi universe. See Lightsaber Combat for details on how the weapon is used in battle.

Invention
The religious order known as the Jedi Order are often given credit for the invention of the Lightsabers, and while they were the first to master them, and the first to build models that could work effectively, real credit goes to the Rakata. The order of the Sith perfected the invention, and the Jedi soon adapted their technology.

Construction
Details about how a lightsaber is constructed can be found on wookiepedia, however, the use of Lightsaber Crystals in a lightsaber may vary slightly in this setting:

In short, a lightsaber has three main parts, the hilt, the core and the crystal-setup.

The hilt is custom designed, or at least originally they were entirely custom built, but not long had passed before most designs had been tried and tested. Several "base hilts" were created, and most jedi use one of those to create their unique hilt from, meaning many hilts look very alike. Hilts are often designed in a material and design that somehow reflects the user, which makes it relatively easy to guess the owner of a lightsaber. Or for that matter to recognize a saber.

The core of the saber is the actual saber. The hilt is technically not necessary, but the lightsaber would grow way too warm and be very unwieldy without it. The core is made up of several entirely normal and common components that are found in many weapons and tools, but also a few components that are generally very rare and almost only found in lightsabers (at least in the appropriate sizes). These parts include: An energy pack, a blade emitter. an emitter matrix and a focus lense. The core of the saber is almost always the same. The parts are produced and most of them put together in large machines similar to modern-day CNC machines, but certain parts must be very carefully put together which requires very high technical expertise or force sensitivity. In the end, the core of any Jedi Saber built in the same decade is likely to be nearly identical. Of course any custom functions or other alterations a jedi might make to his lightsaber are done in this phase. The Sith have through out their history been very bad at working together, and tend to have to custom build everything, but they have managed to get similar set-ups built on Korriban.



A lightsaber requires at least two crystals to work. The primary crystal, known as the color crystal, is the most important. It's technically possible to substitute the focus crystal, which would be the other crystal required, with almost anything that has a crystaline structure, some times, the crystal a force user uses as color crystal is even big enough that he can just make two crystals out of it, instead of one. It is technically even possible to make a lightsaber with only a color crystal, but this creates several difficulties and makes the blade considerably more prone to shorting out.

The color crystal is the bigger of the two crystals, and also the more important. Both Jedi and Sith believe that it's important to meditate on the crystal before using it. This is actually far from true however. The meditation is to purify the crystal, and through the force, the force user removes any impurities in the crystal structure, or gently alters the structure to make the impurities (if many) line up in a way that will not disturb the blade, or even better, add to it's properties. Through this process, the user is also attuned to the crystal, which means the force user will have a bond with the crystal, allowing the user better handling of the weapon and also the ability to sense the presence of it, but infact, any crystal placed in the blade must go through this process to achieve the best results. Not doing this tends to produce a weaker blade, but this can be avoided by creating the crystals synthetically. The reason the color crystal is named as it is, and also considered more important, is because it's the bigger crystal which decides the primary color of the blade. The focus crystal and any other crystal in the blade will only alter the color slightly.

More crystals, known as power crystals, can be put in the blade, usually to alter the properties of it. In some cases, lightsabers are made with several crystal sets, allowing different settings or blade lenghts to be used.

Variants
There are many lightsaber variants, of different designs. Following are the most common.

The basic lightsaber
The most common lightsaber variant has a straight hilt, a blade of at least 1,3 m (for the average human) and an activation button that must be held and a plug for a charger. Basic lightsabers are primarily used by the Jedi Order  and The Silver Knights. A regular straight hilt saber has a hilt length of about 25 - 30 cm, and a perimeter of at least 12 cm. All other lightsaber designs are based on the straight hilt design and are variations thereof.

Long_hilt_saber.jpg
Long hilted variants of the straight hilt saber are generally uncommon, but do exist. They typically have slightly longer blades, and the long hilt can have various designs making it as much a weapon as the blade itself. Typycally, long hilted lightsabers are about 40 cm long, but much longer variants exist giving the weapon more "spear like" attributes. Generally, though, hilts long enough to be used as spears by their wielder are referred to as saber pikes, while those that are simply longer than usual, are referred to as Long Hilted Sabers. Especially designed for the Niman and Jar Kai fighting styles combined.

Curved_hilt_saber.jpg
Another variant of the lightsaber is the curved hilt, or dueling saber which is a straight hilt lightsaber that has been curved in various places, making it more ideal for one-hand use, but more awkward to use in two hands. The curved hilt makes the saber especially well designed for the Makashi style, and it is by far the most common lightsaber design in the Sith Empire. The one handed design makes it ideal for use with the Niman and/or Jar Kai styles. The curved hilt gives the saber more rotational reach, making it awkward to duel against using a regular saber.

The saberstaff


Surprisingly uncommon, the saberstaff or double-saber is essentially two lightsabers fused together at the middle, or very long hilted lightsaber capable of producing a blade from both ends, simultanously (at least normally so) and naturally has to be straight hilted (with very few exceptions) and the total hilt length must be at least 50 cm (if it's designed to produce  normal lenght blades), which is 20-25 cm longer than a normal lightsaber (approximately double length, sometimes a little shorter or longer). The blades are typically at least 1, 2 m long (commonly slightly shorter than the regular lightsaber blades). The Temple Guardians of the Jedi Order use special ceremonial Saber Staffs with Yellow, and unorthodoxly short blades, but apart from them, saberstaffs see use only in training of higher ranking members of the order, and when the occasional padawan creates one out of the desire to master it. The Saberstaff is also gaining ground in the Sith Empire slowly, but is drastically more uncommon amongst the Sith than with the Jedi. Saber staff's can typically have their blades activated seperately, enabling a would be wielder to use it propperly without learning any additional styles, how ever the style of Jar Kai must be mastered in order to use both blades simultanously, how ever the the saberstaff is so impractical that doing this drastically reduces the defensive capabilities of the wielder, unless the style of Niman is also learned, to balance out the defense issues with additional offensive capabilities, and acrobatic performances.

The Shoto
Shotos or short lightsabers are almost always simply shorter straight hilt lightsabers of simple of design. They are typically too small to be propperly  wielded in two hands, and produce a blade that is much shorter than a full sized lightsaber, how ever, their lenght varies it is commonly about half blade length. The hardware of a shoto is weaker as it isn't necessary to produce as long a blade. Smaller wielders prefer shoto's as primary weapons, while they are typically wielded as off-hand weapons by Jar Kai practitioners.

The Lightfoil
Lightfoils are not as powerful as lightsabers due to smaller powercells. They are wielded in one hand only, and are more compact than even the shoto, but the blade is full length, which is essentially what makes the difference. They have the same weaker hardware of the shoto, but producing a full lenght blade, the blade is also weaker. Typically made with curved hilts, but not always. The lightfoils are actually in all ways simply weaker and more limited versions of the curved hilt sabers.

Other design variations
Many other, smaller, and less drastic variations to the sabers could be made, without the weapon changing category.

Electrum Hilts
Some lightsabers are made with electrum covered hilts, this is primarily used by Darths in the Sith Empire, and Jedi Masters and is merely for show, as it does not have any practical function. The Electrum hilts are recognized by many who have studied the Jedi and Sith cultures however and will be met with increased respect by certain people.

Activation buttons
Lightsabers usually had held-down activation buttons, but many variants existed. Some used several different buttons, while some used switch buttons that locked the saber in either activated or deactivated state. Saber staffs typically had many activation buttons in case the weapon got severed, with one or both halves still working.

Protection
Some lightsabers had protective features, such as a claw made of lightsaber resistant material, emerging from the emitter, which would protect the saber itself, and the wielder of course, from sabers sliding down the blade, during saber locks. These protective features took many forms and shapes.

Training Sabers
Training sabers exist in several variants, used at different stages of training.

Electrified Lightsaber Bokken

 * 1) The first used are not even real lightsabers, but rather extremely Training_Saber.jpgweight fiber pipes, lined with "lanes" of electrified magnetic repulsors. These training swords are used when the transition from regular melee weapons to lightsabers begins and are known as "Dummy Sabers" but are actually quite a lot more lethal than regular training lightsabers and require that the trainees wear padding.

Practice Sabers
Later, training sabers with  increased magnetic fields are used. They increase the difficulties asociated with wielding a lightsaber, and most of them have special ignition mechanisms that can only be activated through the use of psionic abilities. These first training sabers are practically hilts with weightless electrified clubs attached, despite technically being real lightsabers. These training sabers are made with synthetic crystals, typically white with all white blades. Practice sabers could be altered quickly by someone with the right knowledge, to become a fully functional lightsaber.

Less-lethal Saber
The next level of training sabers usually have both regular and psionic activated mechanisms, the regular activating a secondary crystal setting that sprouts a blade made with a dantari crystal, making the blade too weak to inflict serious injury, but still lethal enough for self-defence purposes. It's important to note, that while less lethal, lightsabers are incredibly lethal and these less lethal sabers are still quite lethal. While they may not be likely to cut off a mans head or his limbs, nor impale him, they can cause deep wounds and incredible burns that are lethal on their own. The less lethal sabers are usually designed so that they are much more effecient against robotic enemies than normal sabers are, how ever.