Inquisitor Saber

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The Ithorian laughed, his hands fluttering and his underdeveloped chin bouncing. “You think you’re quite the negotiator, don’t you?” the woman said for him. “How about this, then—I say the lightsabers are not for sale.”

“But—”

“None except for this one.” Dok-Ondar pulled out an oddly shaped saber hilt from beneath the others. “Which is broken. It’s the only one I might be persuaded to part with, and only if you ask more nicely than you’ve asked so far. I know a ruse when I see one, and I know a farm boy from a lesser world when I see one, too.”

“I’m no farm boy!”

“Not literally, no. Your hands have held something softer than a plow. But you know the sort I mean.” The Ithorian held the broken lightsaber close to his chest. “Such deception may work on lesser beings, but it will find no quarter here.”

“I told you, I have money.”

Dok flicked his wrist. “If you had money, you would’ve shown it by now—which means you have less than you pretend.”

[...]

The Ithorian sighed and spoke. The woman looked like she was trying to fight a smile as she translated, “I am going to let you see it. Not because of the ridiculous stunt you just pulled. But because of the difficult path you have chosen if my suspicions are correct.”

That made Karr feel uneasy, but he said, “Yes, please.” The collector released the saber from his grasp. Cold and dead, its handle was in two pieces—both of which the merchant set down on the counter.

“This lightsaber belonged to an Inquisitor,” the woman said.

“Not a Jedi? What’s an Inquisitor?”

“The Inquisitors were the weapons of the Emperor, sent out into the galaxy after Order 66 to track down and kill any Jedi who remained.”

Karr’s mind reeled. He had never heard of these Inquisitors and had no idea the Jedi were hunted even after the Clone Wars ended. That would explain why they seemingly disappeared.

“When assembled,” Dok continued to explain through his translator, “this particular lightsaber could be used in one of two modes: crescent or disc. In crescent setting, it would produce a single blade. When used as a disc, a second blade would appear—and do tremendous damage if spun around at any speed. It was a terrifying weapon when it was intact.

“Here. Tell me what you think. How you feel. Is this perhaps within your price range?”

[...]

Karr struggled to find words, failed, then managed to nod. “I…how much do you want for this? I’ll buy this. I’ll…I’ll take it. This should come with us.” He pulled out his credits and dropped them on the counter like he didn’t care how many the shopkeeper took. He retrieved his gloves and wormed his fingers inside them.

Warily, Dok-Ondar looked at the payment. He pushed it back toward the boy and then looked Karr up and down with those bulbous eyes. “If this is so important to you,” the woman translated, “if you’re looking for more, or even looking to run from something—you might try a friend of mine. In exchange for this lightsaber, broken and worth very little, if I’m being honest with you…I would rather have a favor than your money.”

“A favor? What kind of favor?” Karr asked, his voice a little shaky.

“I have a package I’d like to send to a friend. On Takodana, you will find a pirate castle and its queen, Maz Kanata. Don’t look at me like that—like a frightened mouse. She’s no danger to you, so long as you appear before her with pure intentions. I have something for her, and I have not yet been able to send it. If you’ll serve as courier, you can have the lightsaber. Is that fair?”

RZ-7 saw that his master was still flustered and trying to gather his thoughts, so he answered for them both. “More than fair, good sir. We would be happy to deliver your package to your friend.”


- Force Collector, Chapter 14


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Back on board the Avadora with their package for Maz Kanata, Karr sat in the copilot chair while RZ-7 readied the ship for another hop across the galaxy. The boy was still stunned, staring straight ahead through the viewport as if he could learn something from the open space on the other side, but it didn’t tell him anything at all except that the galaxy was made of so much darkness, with precious little light.

“Sir,” said RZ-7, “there is almost certainly a mistake. You are not a Jedi, nor have you ever been one. You could not have seen a vision of yourself dressed as one, because you’ve never worn such robes. You could not have seen yourself killing a Jedi, because you’ve never met one. There is some other explanation. We simply don’t know what it is yet.”

“I know what I saw, Arzee. It was me. I was the one with the lightsaber, and its beam was so bright.…It was green, and I held it like I knew how to use it.”

“Another problem, sir. Considering you’ve had no training and, if you’ll forgive me saying so, no idea how to use one.” The broken one was stashed in a cabinet back beside Karr’s bunk, next to the package they were carrying to the pirate queen.

“I know you’re right, but I still know what I saw.”

“Your visions have never shown the future before, have they, sir?”


- Force Collector, Chapter 15


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