Kaiburr crystal



The Kaiburr crystal was a powerful glowing Force relic located on the planet Mimban. Local legend said that the god Pomojema used the crystal to heal the wounded, but in reality it was the Force that was responsible. The crimson-colored gem had the ability to enhance Force powers a thousandfold.

Creation, legend, and use in the galaxy
Little is known of the crystal's origins; it is known to have existed as early as 3,951 BBY. Due to the mysterious nature of the crystal, residents of Mimban began attaching the crystal to one of their legends, stating that the crystal was created by Pomojema, a third-rate local god. In his temple, he and his priests would supposedly heal the sick with the Kaiburr crystal. While many elements of the myth were believed to have been fabricated, there was a grain of truth within the myth, accredited to the Kaiburr crystal; however, as Luke Skywalker would later prove, the crystal was only the agent for healing, as it was instead the Force which was healing Pomojema's patients. Beyond the localized use, a fragment of the Kaiburr crystal was found off of Mimban, though why it was separated from the main crystal is unknown. As it was during the time of the Jedi Exile in 3,951 BBY, it is possible that, in her travels, the Exile acquired the powerful crystal, and utilized it in her lightsaber as a focusing crystal.

The shard
For almost four thousand years, though, the crystal was mainly forgotten by the galaxy, known only to the citizens of Circarpous V as a local myth. Shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star in the Battle of Yavin, Halla, an elder, Force-sensitive woman who knew of the legend and the reports of xenoarcheologists concerning the crystal, approached Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, stranded on Mimban while en route to a Rebel Alliance meeting on the nearby world of Circarpous X, due to a crash-landing forced by the Imperial mining operations taking place on the surface. Halla revealed a sliver of the Kaiburr cystal, which she held in a small box for safekeeping.

After explaining the supposed properties of the crystal, Halla offered the two stranded rebels a chance to gain passage offworld, in exchange for assisting her in finding the crystal. Unfortunately for the older woman, Leia remained skeptical throughout the demonstration; it was not until Halla offered Luke the shard to hold, so he could feel its power, that Leia agreed to the expedition. However, due to a fight caused by Luke and Leia, the two rebels were detained by Captain-Supervisor Grammel and held in a converted Mimban temple, serving as the Imperial headquarters. Luke still possessed the crystal fragment; Halla and the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 had escaped detection and were in hiding. Once at the Imperial headquarters, Grammel interrogated the two; Luke attempted to hide the nature of the visit to the Circarpous Major system and was moderately successful. However, Grammel did recognize the two as the same two who had met with Halla, known locally for her stories, and frowned upon by the Imperial presence. Grammel requested that Luke hand over the box containing the crystal shard. After a brief attempt at escape by Leia, Luke was forced to hand over the still-open container, and the two were placed in the maximum security cell located within the prison, shared with two Yuzzem.

While Grammel contemplated the crystal fragment he contacted Governor Bin Essada, who in turn contacted Darth Vader because of Bin's recognizing of the young female as Princess Leia Organa. Meanwhile, the Yuzzem, who identified themselves as Hin and Kee, turned out to take a liking to the two new roommates. Luke was also able to communicate in the Yuzzem tongue, thereby allowing Luke and Leia to learn of the two's slavery and service to the Empire. The four were eventually able to escape, with the timely help of Halla, C-3PO, and R2-D2. When Halla learned that Grammel had indeed captured the fragment, she was unmoved, convinced that the group would soon possess the actual crystal.

After the escape and following destruction, Grammel, injured (and later treated) from the blasts of grenades thrown by Luke, met with Darth Vader.

Aftermath
Unfortunately, it was shown that the crystal lost its power directly proportional to its distance from the temple. Luke nevertheless retained the crystal, and used it as a teaching tool for his students at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. Some of Luke's students, including Leia Organa Solo, utilized fragments of the crystal for use in their lightsabers. Lumiya, an Imperial agent, infiltrator, and Emperor's Hand, also utilized a Kaiburr crystal sliver for use in her lightwhip. The piece she used was the same as the one Halla possessed, and that Darth Vader had acquired. Lumiya had acquired the crystal from her former master's personal items, and used it from then to her death.

Properties
The Kaiburr crystal was a crimson-colored crystal, which glowed with a faint inner light. When in the presence of a Force-sensitive or in the Temple of Pomojema, the crystal shone brighter. The crystal felt much live it looked: a cool, glowing piece of glass. However, when held by a Force-sensitive, as was the case of Halla and Luke, this feeling was enhanced by a sensation much like touching a live electrical current; this was due not to any inherent chemical properties of the crystal itself, but instead its connection to the Force.

Proportionally according to size and density, the Force's power was magnified greatly; while a single shard would give off a minor jolt, the entire crystal gave off such a feeling of power and clarity of the Force that one's entire being would course with the energy. The full crystal was also able to channel the Force into a method of healing; Luke used this inherent power, along with his limited connection to the Force, to bring both himself and Leia from death.

Unfortunately, the crystal's power, be it the full crystal or a mere shard, decreased substantially in direct relation with its distance from Pomojema's temple. This meant any meta-physical properties held by the Kaiburr crystal became less and less powerful, and by the time the crystal made it off-planet, it was essentially worthless, save for its history and legendary uses.

Behind the scenes

 * The second and third drafts of the script for A New Hope involved "the Kiber Crystal," a small diamond that could amplify the power of the Force. In Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays, George Lucas explained why this concept was ultimately dropped from the film: "I felt the Kiber Crystal was a way of articulating what was going on, but I decided that I didn't need it. It was better to make the Force more ethereal than to have it solidified in a thing like the crystal." This concept later made its way into Splinter of the Mind's Eye as the Kaiburr crystal.
 * Early drafts of the script for Episode II re-used the name, referring to a 'Kyber Dart'. However, by the final version this had shifted from 'kyber' to 'cyber' to 'sabre'.
 * "Kaiburr" is a cheat code in the Episode III video game that enables the player to have infinite Force powers. This is an obvious reference to what the crystal was intended to be in A New Hope.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Splinter of the Mind's Eye
 * Splinter of the Mind's Eye comic
 * The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
 * Young Jedi Knights: Lightsabers
 * Tempest
 * Exile
 * Inferno