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I’ve covered material from Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast before. This has included reborn warriors and their Force-infused Artusian crystals. As you might imagine, Artusian crystals are from somewhere: namely Artus Prime. While it may have been the last planet between Kyle and his lightsaber, I think it’s high time we take a visit to that world.
ARTUS PRIME
Astronavigation Data: Artus System, Kwymar Sector, Outer Rim Territories
Orbital Metrics: 328 days per year / 23 hours per day
Government: corporate hierarchy
Population: 37,000 (humans 92%, others 8%)
Languages: Basic
Terrain: canyons, plateaus, toxic rivers
Major Cities: none
Areas of Interest: mining facilities
Major Exports: minerals, Artusian crystals
Major Imports: foodstuffs, technology
Trade Routes: Listehol run
Special Conditions: exposure to toxic waterways pose immediate threat to most forms of life, sporadic meteor showers interrupt topside activity
Background: A world long passed over by surveyors, Artus Prime only saw development as a mining colony after the declaration of the New Republic. Artus Prime is a barely hospitable world, with rocky plateaus giving way to steep canyons filled with toxic rivers. The atmosphere is breathable by most species, if heavy and acrid smelling. Life is limited to small, fierce creatures such as the mine crab. The corporations now operating mining facilities offer substantial sign-on bonuses to entice workers to this otherwise wretched planet.
The Artus system was originally surveyed by Mirialan explorers in the years before the Republic. Finding much better prospects for resourcing and colonization, Artus remained unsettled for thousands of years. Artus Prime’s mineral wealth, specifically in the form of the native crystals, was known since these early days, but extraction technology has only recently advanced to make mining viable. The system’s remote nature has proved useful for those trying to lay low, whether it be smugglers seeking refugee on Artus Prime, or fleets hiding in the clouds of gas giant Artus Five.
The only redeeming quality of Artus Prime has been, and remains to be, Artusian crystals. Similar to Kyber crystals in their capacity to channel high energies, Artusian crystals must be refined and cut through a much more intricate process to achieve similar properties. Project Stardust, the construction of the first Death Star, considered the use of Artusian crystals in lieu of increasingly rare Kyber, but found it much easier to simply loot worlds, such as Jeddha and Christophsis, than to solve the problems of refining Artusian crystals. With the destruction of the second Death Star and a significant stock of accessible Kyber, plus the development of new technologies, Artusian crystals have finally become economically viable for use in the New Republic’s high energy reactors.
CRYSTALS IN THE ROUGH
Several precious minerals can be found within the crust of Artus Prime. Chief among there are green crystals with incredible energy capacity. Sharing their name with the planet, Artusian crystals are difficult to extract but can serve in lieu of increasingly rare Kyber crystals. Several companies have recently established mining operations in Artus Prime to test prototype extraction technologies. If successful, high energy products across the New Republic may switch to using these crystals.
Just like the more commonly used Kyber crystals, Artusian crystals are capable of connecting to the Force. With the right shaping, the crystals are entirely suitable as the heart of a lightsaber. Not only can Artusian crystals channel the energies of a lightsaber, they can also hold Force energy. Unlike their Kyber counterparts, these crystals possess no innate connection to the Force. Instead they can act as batteries, holding power imbued within them by Force vergences or users. This little known ability makes Artusian crystals attractive to those who would weaponize the Force.
Christopher Hunt
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