- "It's a lightsaber that rewards a fit body and a disciplined mind."
- — Tulsar Leidias
Chrona was the primary lightsaber of Jedi Master Tulsar Leidias, known to many as one of the most skilled lightsaber users of the post-Imperial Period Jedi Order.
Tulsar named the weapon in honor of the planet Chrona, the place where he was born. Even though he moved with his family to Juoi when he was only a few years old, Tulsar felt it was important to acknowledge the planet that had been a home to him and many previous generations of the Leidias Family. As the last of the family to be born on the planet, he felt a responsibility to preserve that legacy.
Despite naming it, Tulsar rarely referred to his lightsaber aloud as Chrona, preferring instead to simply call it what it was - his lightsaber. His reasons for keeping the name mostly to himself are unclear, but was likely his way of maintaining an image of authority and professionalism with those he interacted with. Notably, his wife and children all knew the true name of his lightsaber.
Although Tulsar had many other lightsabers, both to train himself and to train others, he always chose to use Chrona for when things mattered. It remained with him from the time he first built it at the tender age of 14 to his eventual death during the Battle of Arcanix in 18 ABY; a span of 44 years.
The lightsaber would be recovered by Tulsar's daughter, Kalja Sairu Leidias, who gave it a place of honor within the archives of the Temple of the Force.
Specifications[]
Although Chrona appears to be a standard, if well-built, lightsaber on the surface, the weapon holds a few secrets that aren't immediately obvious to the average user.
Chrona's blade is exceptionally strong compared to most other lightsabers. The unique construction and components allow it to emit much more power into the blade than would ordinarily be considered safe, which also gives the blade the intense blue color that differentiates it from other blue lightsaber blades.
Chronamite Alloy Hilt[]
To play into theme of the name, the casing of the hilt is forged from a special Chronamite alloy. The forging process removes the poisonous aspect of the Chronamite ore and creates an exceptionally durable metal that can be used for the hulls of vehicles and starships.
Thanks to this alloy, the hilt of Chrona can take a lot more punishment than lightsabers that use more standard metal alloys. The trade-off for this extra protection also means that the lightsaber is heavier than other lightsabers of comparable size. Tulsar saw this as a benefit since it meant an enemy would be thrown off by the extra weight if it ever fell into the wrong hands.
Pontite Crystal[]
Perhaps the greatest secret of Chrona is the extremely rare Pontite Crystal that is used as the primary crystal for the lightsaber. This special type of Adegan Crystal has the ability to emit an aura that cools skin and tempers.
Tulsar used the Pontite's cooling aura to keep his lightsaber from overheating from the amount of power used within the blade. The same setup with any other crystal likely would have caused the lightsaber to overheat and explode.
The other effect of the Pontite was something that Tulsar used to help him keep his mental discipline while facing some of the worst traumas of his life. This also likely helped him to recreate and master Vaapad without succumbing to the Dark Side.
Waterproofing[]
Tulsar would end up modifying Chrona once he began his hunt for Sivter. The variety of different worlds he visited made it clear to him that his lightsaber would need to be functional in any environment, so he added a bifurcating cyclical-ignition pulse to allow it to function underwater - just in case.
Family Crest[]
Per the tradition of the Leidias family, the bottom of the hilt of Chrona is branded with the Leidias Family Crest.
History[]
The history of Chrona is almost as long as the history of Tulsar himself. After it was constructed, it remained at his side throughout all the trials and tribulations that he would experience during his life. It was a constant companion and sometimes the only thing he had that remained consistent and reliable.
Creating Chrona[]
Early in his life, Tulsar discovered that he had trouble accessing the Force outside of combat situations due to some type of mental block. His father, Halsor, decided to work within Tulsar's limitations and trained him almost exclusively in lightsaber combat in the hope that Tulsar would eventually work through his mental block. Progress was slow, but steady, and Tulsar learned everything he could about lightsabers in the meantime since the weapon seemed like the key to eventually overcoming his barriers.
When it became time for Tulsar to build his own lightsaber, he was able to choose his crystal from a collection that had been kept and passed down through the Leidias family for generations. Tulsar allowed the Force to guide his hand and he settled on a Pontite crystal without realizing what it was, or how rare it was, until his father explained it all to him.
Tulsar then designed the rest of his lightsaber around the Pontite crystal, spending months coming up with different designs and schematics until he finally settled on a design he liked. With his father's help, he was able to obtain some Chronamite and get it forged into the hilt design he wanted. After he had gathered all the pieces he needed, Tulsar practiced assembling dummy versions of his design until he was confident he could put together the real thing flawlessly.
Thanks to Tulsar's diligence and patience to get everything right, the moment of Chrona's first activation occurred without any mishaps.
Defending the Weak, Destroying the Wicked[]
A young Tulsar meditating with Chrona.
Chrona would stay at Tulsar's side for the rest of his life. He quickly discovered that his focus and ability to wield the Force was far superior when using Chrona than it had been with his training lightsaber. This would lead to him developing the technique known as Combat Meditation and spur his drive to master all the classical lightsaber forms. It would also be with Chrona that Tulsar would help teach his future wife how to use the lightsaber, as well as their children. Thanks to Chrona, he became so skilled in lightsaber combat that it was generally taken as a fact that nothing could touch Tulsar or his family.
That would change when a Darksider known as Sivter arrived on Juoi.
After Sivter was soundly defeated by Tulsar in lightsaber combat, the sadistic Defel fled into hiding and patiently waited until Tulsar was away from his family. The opportunity would arise when Tulsar took his daughter, Kalja, to a fair in a nearby town, leaving his wife and son alone. Sivter returned and murdered them in retaliation for Tulsar stopping his ambitions.
The incident would spur a decades long hunt for Sivter as Tulsar tirelessly sought to bring the Darksider to justice at the end of Chrona. He and Sivter would clash many times and it was always with Chrona that he would confront his longtime enemy. Although Sivter was no match for Tulsar's combat skills at first, he always found a way to slip from Tulsar's grasp. Despite his failures to stop Sivter for good, many of the Darksider's schemes would be thwarted due to Tulsar's dogged pursuit of the Defel. Tulsar used Chrona and Combat Meditation to deal with his rising frustration at Sivter's ability to evade him.
Training Future Generations[]
Kalja would eventually depart from the hunt for Sivter and join the Jedi Order. As a result, Tulsar found himself aiding the Jedi numerous times, as the only thing that meant more to him than destroying Sivter was the well-being of his daughter. Although he never applied to join the Jedi Order like Kalja had done, he was quietly recognized as a member and even officially acknowledged as a Jedi Master as well as their preeminent Battlemaster.
With Chrona ever at his side, Tulsar not only helped the Jedi face various threats, he also developed the "Tulsar Method" to help teach lightsaber combat. The Tulsar Method was the unofficial name given to a series of instructional holos Tulsar created that were designed for accelerated learning of the classical forms.
The training was exhausting and unforgiving, but the various drills and exercises were effective in teaching the classical forms correctly. Tulsar initially created the holos to help teach Kalja's students at the time, Akain Karna and Caitlyn Sinclair, during a period where Kalja was away on a secret mission. However the holos proved to be a useful training aid for others in an era where the Jedi were besieged on all sides by enemies.
The holos would eventually be enshrined in the Jedi archives for times of crisis.
The Last Battle[]
Near the end of the War of Darkness, Tulsar went undercover to join the Cult of Shadow as a man named "Dakarn" so he could patiently wait for the right opportunity to finally kill Sivter. The only possessions he managed to smuggle with him were two lightsabers: Falsyn and Chrona. Tulsar's patience would pay off during the Battle of Arcanix, in what would be the final conflict of the war, Tulsar broke his cover and used Chrona to cut down any cultists in his way until he came face-to-face with Sivter.
His longtime enemy was at his most powerful and knew all of Tulsar's moves, so their duel appeared to be mostly one-sided in favor of Sivter. However, Tulsar had been expecting such a scenario and at just the right moment he turned Chrona off, allowing Sivter to unexpectedly impale him. The sacrifice allowed Tulsar to get past Sivter's guard and activate Falsyn, which in turn burned through Sivter's chest, finally bringing closure to Tulsar's long hunt to bring his family's killer to justice.
The Temple of the Force, where Chrona is stored.
Both Sivter and Tulsar would die that day. Tulsar's body and his lightsabers were recovered by Kalja after the battle. Tulsar would be interred on the family homestead on Juoi, next to his wife and son. His legacy would carry on through Kalja, who helped to bring about a new era of peace thanks to his teachings and his resolute efforts to fight evil in all its forms. Chrona, Tulsar's now legendary weapon, would be stored in the Jedi archives at the Temple of the Force on Tython, just in case it should ever be needed again.