Two months after getting my new hand, I finally could handle it as if it were always part of me. Yes, it was heavier, colder, and wasn't responding as my natural hand when I called on the force, but it was still working perfectly. In some aspects, it worked even better than a regular hand. I mean, mostly when it came to handling energy. I could grab lightsaber blades and deactivate them, plus I could hold it out and let blaster bolts hit it, dispersing them just the same. Best thing? Energie fields. Useless. Yep! I tested it out of curiosity, and I could overload security fields by touching it and the cortosis in my hand, causing a runaway feedback cascade... So, in a way, I began using it more and more.
That's what started all this... As for what I mean, I have to start at the beginning.
Makashi had always been my form, the one that called out to me since the beginning. I liked how precise and balanced it was, focusing on the art of the single strike, countering my opponent... but with one hand missing, it felt a bit off. Every old motion that I had learned demanded some kind of symmetry that my body no longer had. Even after becoming familiar with my new hand, there was nothing to do about it, and I couldn't just relearn years of conditioning... So, instead of forcing the old rhythm that I was used to, I decided to create a new one, based on the old.
With that, most of the mornings meant that I was occupying the upper terrace, which was now open for us after being named as proper Jedi. Even if it was the wet season, I was there when it was raining... On such a day, the air was still damp from the rain just an hour before, but I was once again there, practicing, using the puddles to simulate different scenarios and making sure that I wouldn't slip. My left arm was extended in the basic dueling stance, my blade angled perfectly, while my right arm was held behind my back in classic Makashi posture as I went through Form II's sequences, one by one, linking them up perfectly.
Then came the moment of truth, which I had been building up to. I brought the cortosis arm forward and drove a punch through the air, imagining a second opponent who was pressing in close on me. The tiny servos inside my arm whined a little as my balance shifted, and the motion I was using ended in a clean pivot and a strike at my imaginary opponent... which would have snapped most training dummies in half. It wasn't beautiful, but it worked... and I need to practice and rein in my power so I wouldn't kill anyone if I punch them. As for what this all meant, really? Well... It was a bit of chaos that was introduced into my previous order. A kind of new... balance. Or at least, that was what I told myself. Because my Makashi is all about precision, prediction, and style, I will use my new hand to add some unpredictability and crudeness to balance it out.
"You're still at it?" Vila suddenly called out to me, leaning on the railing. "You're going to wear a hole in the floor and let the rain into one of the master's alcoves..."
"Nah, the stone is more sturdy than that!" I said, catching my breath, turning towards her.
"You're obsessed." She grunted, probably angry that I snuck out from next to her again and she woke up alone... again.
"You do know that you can't say that." I smiled back at her.
"Haaah!" She sighed and unclipped her sabers. "Fine, fine, you are right!" She chuckled, "Come on then! Let's test your masterpiece."
We took our places on the slick stone, facing each other as usual. Then, when she pressed too close, instinct took over, allowing me to listen only to the Force, let it flow through my limbs, up to the tip of my fingers... including the cortosis one. I... I don't... it just... right there, in the action of it all, it did feel like I managed to connect to the mechanical part of me. So, without holding back, I stepped inside her guard, caught one of her orange sabers in my metal palm, and twisted on it as if it were just a wooden baton. Sparks scattered everywhere as her blade flickered and died, while my blade-wielding hand redirected her other saber, leaving her defenseless... If I wanted, I could have ended the duel if this were an actual fight... right there and then. It was our shortest ever duel.
"I told you to not do that!" She jumped back, her eyes wide in anger. "You shorted me again!"
"Reflex," I said, deactivating my own weapon, my face flushing. "You were aiming for my shoulder... and I just... moved..."
"It's training!" she protested, then sighed, pinching the ridge of her nose. "You realize you just invented the most terrifying variant of Makashi in the galaxy? No? I don't even want to train with you... You are like... cheating... I can't win!"
"I'm sorry..." I repeated, walking up to her, feeling actually ashamed of myself.
"Oh, stop it! Don't make me feel guilty now!" She smirked despite herself. "Haaah... You can't help it, I get it... I'm not mad, I'm just sad... I always loved sparring with you, Kael... I don't want to lose that. I don't want to lose what makes us... us."
"You won't." I whispered, hugging her waist and pulling her into a kiss, "I promise."
"Better be..." She whispered, leaning against my chest afterward. "Rouge..." she giggled, snuggling up to me, already forgetting why she was angry.
That... was fine... But, a week later, Master Ben and several other Masters turned up during my morning practice held in the training arena made for Jedi Knights within the temple itself. I was mid-sequence, with Vila as my partner, allowing me to perfect the punches I might throw in a fight, when they stepped into the room. I stopped instantly, blade at rest, bowing at them. Besides Ben, I could recognize some Council members, as there were Master Vaelin, who was usually away on different diplomatic missions, and Master Solara, too...
"Continue," Ben said. "Let us see."
I could tell immediately that something big was going on... I felt it... but I did follow his orders. Soon, one opponent became two, then three as they added training droids to the fight, their blades set to maximum intensity. The duel flowed naturally, and my left hand was weaving perfect Makashi arcs with my lightsaber. At the same time, my right was stretched out just at the ideal time, intercepting the incoming, yellow blades, touching them one after the other, turning them off before they could hit me. The reason I wasn't using training droids became apparent the next moment because after a spin and a punch, a sudden crackle came from one of them as the droid's emitter sputtered out under the cortosis's touch. I expected them to have something to say, but... The rest of the Masters only whispered to one another while Ben was just looking at me.
Uh-oh. I knew it then that there was something... very off. I was being suspected of... something. Ugh...
"That movement," Ben said slowly, "the way you extinguish your opponent's weapon... it indeed resembles an ancient form, one that we don't speak of often and for sure aren't teaching to our Padawans."
"Huh?" Vila twitched her lekku, sensing the air shifting around them, already standing with me, "He's not using anything dark, I swear—"
"Stop," Master Vaelin, standing with Ben, raised a hand. "We didn't say dark, we said forbidden. Its name is... Tràkata."
"Never heard of it," I answered honestly.
"You wouldn't have," Master Solara nodded, "It was banned before even the Jedi Purge. Practitioners used deception in that form, deactivating the blade mid-strike to bypass guards and kill in a single motion. Elegant? No, Efficient…? Yes... But mostly treacherous. It turned dueling into murder..."
"I fought against the actual use of Tràkata." Ben crossed his arms, suddenly coming to my defense. "That's not what Kael's doing."
"No," Vaelin admitted, "but it looks close enough to invite imitation."
"..."
"We will have a Council meeting about this," Ben said finally, making me realize the seriousness of the situation.
And there was not much I could do... So here I was in the current predicament because just that afternoon, I was summoned to the Grand Hall. Entering, this time alone, without Vila being let in, the Council chamber felt colder than usual, making me take a deep breath to calm my nerves. Of course, Master Jaina Solo was the one who presided in the center, and the other Masters were arrayed around her. To my surprise, though, Grand Master Luke sat quietly off to the side, hood down, watching without me being able to see his eyes. Yet somehow... his presence made me calm again, my emotions settling. Using the Force to calm myself completely, I faced the rest, bowed, and waited for their decision.
"Knight Varo," Master Jaina began, "several other Masters have raised concerns about your developing technique. Please, explain it to us."
"Yes, Master." I took a breath, gently nodding my head. "Honestly, it began as my rehabilitation, nothing more. My new arm changed my balance, so I adapted my Makashi style to match the changes. The cortosis reacts to energy, and I think I can feel it one way or another... So, I just did what I believe the Force told me to use... as it is now part of me. I followed what I believe in, and I use it to end fights faster. I swear on my connection to the Force that there is no treachery and no killing strikes in my intent whenever I use it."
"For now," Master Aren interjected, "Yet the visual similarity to Tràkata is undeniable. You catch the blade, you close distance, you disable—"
"I don't deactivate my weapon," I countered, because, of course, my Master quickly told me everything he knew about the technique before the meeting, preparing me as best as he could, within his limits. "The field in the metal disrupts energy contact... I couldn't fake that even if I tried."
"..." Master Vaelin frowned at that, "Intent doesn't always survive replication... What if the youngsters, impressionable others, might copy the motions without the same restraint? And lead them down on a dark path? That technique is forbidden for a reason."
"So you'll ban a technique because someone else might misuse it?" I realized too late that I'd said it too sharply. Somehow... It burst out of me, and maybe it was Vila's style rubbing off on me... But I don't think that was the best way to respond at this time. Ugh...
"Sometimes, we must look at the collective." Master Jaina's voice stayed calm, and I could feel the understanding behind her voice. I could tell she wasn't angry with me at all, but there were many who wouldn't want to risk history repeating itself. "Our past is littered with the misuse of techniques. The last time we ignored resemblance to darkness, we lost many... And I lost a brother..."
For a moment, no one spoke, and even I took a deep breath. She was right, and she wasn't talking to me just out of fear, but genuine caution and care. But... there was a feeling within me that I was doing the right thing.
"With respect, Master, I'm not turning Makashi into an assassination art. I'm trying to make it suit me, to make it whole again, because if I use it how it is now and how I am... It just doesn't feel right."
"..." Ben's gaze softened. "He's right about that," he spoke up, looking at the others, "The Force is guiding him, not a desire for victory or anything else. You all can feel it, I know."
Master Vaelin opened his mouth to reply, but another voice cut across the room, silencing everybody, because it was coming from the Grandmaster himself.
"Intent," he said, pulling back his hood, "is the foundation of every art... Forget that, and the form means nothing." he stood up slowly, moving into the light. "Tràkata was banned because it used deceit for the sake of the thrill of killing. I don't include it in the texts, because it can ruin a developing mind, that is right. It can lead to an easy victory, and our path is anything but easy. That's... the road to the Dark Side." He glanced at me, serene, and his aura as warm as the sun itself, "But what I see here is adaptation born of necessity. Tràkata could be taught." He also added, glancing at the masters now, "To the individual who understands it, respects it, and knows what it means to use it, how to use it. Why do you think you all even know about it then? It's not inherently evil... It only becomes that if you use it for wicked goals..."
"We hear..." Master Jaina exhaled slowly. "You would permit it, then?"
"Mhm." Grandmaster Luke nodded once. "Under supervision. Let him document it and develop it properly. The moment it becomes a tool for deception in your hands, young Kael, your journey with it ends." He said, directly to me, drilling his gaze into my eyes, "But while it serves defense, and it serves you the right way, it belongs to the Order, and it belongs to you. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Grandmaster," I bowed immediately. "I understand. If I ever use it in a way that strays from my path, I will return it to you, along with my new hand. I promise."
"Mhm." He smiled faintly behind his graying beard, "Then let us hope that the day never comes and you will never stand without a hand, ever again."