Dark Jedi Clansmen
Having been the First HeadMaster of the Dark Jedi Shadow Academy and a 'Master' of the Dark Side of the Force, the Grand Admiral initiated the intense tutelage of several Dark Jedi Apprentices and younger Dark Jedi with the precepts of Clan Alvaak. In fact,
GA Ronin prefers new pupils with no previous training in the Force that will require 'unlearning' prior to their specific training in the Dark Side. The Dark Jedi Clansmen of Clan Alvaak are reputed to be among the best trained and most loyal of all Dark Jedi in the Emperor's Hammer Territories. Their skills in battle and prowess in the Dark Side of the Force have been feared for centuries throughout the Old Republic and the early days of the Empire. During Palpatine's Jedi Purges in the early days of the Empire (~18 years before the events of Star Wars IV: A New Hope), the Clansmen Dark Jedi went underground, fearing Palpatine would have had them executed out of fear they would one day challenge Lord Vader's power. Although most of the Clansmen on other Imperial worlds were eventually caught and executed by the young Anakin Skywalker turned Sith Lord, several survived the Jedi Purges. Ronin's grandfather, father and now Ronin were among the survivors who saw the outcome of the Galactic Civil War with the Rebel Alliance. Ronin has sworn to reactivate the Clan and has called for the Crest Of the Clan to be moved to Aurora Prime, his new capital planet.
As former First Headmaster of the Dark Jedi Shadow Academy, Ronin has transferred several instructors from all three Orders of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood (Sith, Krath and Obelisk) to the Clan Hall on Aurora Prime (see Systems Manual). The Clan Alvaak Hall has been constructed underground adjacent to the Fleet Commander's Palace.
Almost daily can be heard lightsaber duels and arcane instructions into the Dark Side of the Force. Due to the isolated location of the Hall and the abundant life in the jungles of Laconica, this locale provides an ideal training area for the Dark Jedi Clansmen. A few select Clansmen have been specially selected to further their starfighter pilot and Dark Side training aboard the Torpedo Sphere under the watchful eye of the Proconsul, stationed on the Torpedo Sphere Empress Teta being retrofitted in orbit above Aurora Prime.
LightSabers
The following presents the "canon" description of the Star Wars(tm) LightSaber as excerpted from A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Bill Slaviscek, Del Rey Books, 1994, pp. 279-280:
"The lightsaber is the elegant weapon of the Jedi Knights. These power swords project blades of pure energy capable of cutting through most materials-except the blade of another lightsaber. The design seems simple from the outside: a handgrip with several switches ends in a mirror-like, concave metal disk. Inside the handgrip, power cells and variously shaped crystals are activated to produce the narrow beam of meter-long light that gives the lightsaber its name. When activated, a lightsaber hums with power. Considered archaic when compared to blasters and other modern weapons, lightsabers are nonetheless impressive and powerful personal weapons that require extensive training to use effectively. Tradition dictates that lightsabers be constructed by their Jedi owners as part of the knighthood training.
The lightsaber is a compact technological wonder built into a handle from twenty-four to thirty centimeters long. A single power cell produces a tremendous charge of energy which flows through a series of multifaceted jewels within the handle's interior. The jewels focus the energy into a tight beam that can be emitted from the concave disk atop the handle. Sabers with a single jewel have a fixed amplitude and blade length. Those with multiple jewels (usually no more than three) can alter their amplitude and change the length of the light blade. This is accomplished by rotating an exterior control that varies the distance between the jewels. The emitted beam arcs back from its positively charged continuous energy lens to a negatively charged high-energy flux aperture set in the disk atop the handle. The power amplitude determines the point at which the beam arcs back, setting the blade's length. The lightsaber's blade emits no heat, though it does fluoresce."
The Alvaak Clansmen Lightsaber
The Alvaak Dark Jedi Clansmen Lightsaber is based on an ancient design used in the days of the Sith and the Krath. This designs differs mostly in the length of the handle and the blade. The handles typically measure 30-40 centimeters and the blades can extend to as much as 2 to 2.5 meters (6 to 7 feet)! This is achieved through the use of boosted powercells and FIVE focusing crystals of the highest quality (Adegan Crystals are required to construct the specialized Alvaak LightSabers). Although the length of the blade is permanently fixed during its construction, the additional crystals are required to maintain the unusually lengthened amplitude. To make the Alvaak Lightsabers easily recognizable in battle, each has been modified to fluoresce a distinctive, purple-hued color. There are tales of horror spun by survivors of battles with the Alvaak Dark Jedi Clansmen wielding these monstrous but extremely deadly lightsabers. With intensive and unusually long training, the Alvaak Dark Jedi Clansmen have learned to wield these effective and deadly weapons with the utmost precision. Alvaak Dark Jedi Clansmen do not receive their Lightsaber until they have reached the Rank of Dark Jedi Knight in the Dark Brotherhood.