That’s No Sniper Rifle, It’s a Lightsaber – The Farkiller Breakdown
From a certain point of view, the Farkiller was either a powerful sniper rifle or a long-range lightsaber. Either way, we break it down.
The galaxy is full of powerful weapons that seem like something hatched out of a fever dream. A base that wields the power of a star. A hidden fortress capable of destroying a planet. Swords are made out of energy that can only be wielded by people sensitive enough to use them. And General Grievous.
But no weapon may be as feverish a dream as the Farkiller. This weapon was the signature companion of the Jedi Apostate Oo’oob. With a range that could reach up to 100 kilometers, the Farkiller combined the power of a lightsaber with the long range of a sniper rifle to deadly effect.
The Farkiller – Wait Really?
Little was known about the construction of the Farkiller, as both its bearer and its constructor were “purged” by the Jedi after being declared apostates. What scraps of information remained came from the work by Professor Korin Aphra, titled: Notes on Jedi Heresies. According to Heresies, the Farkiller was constructed sometime after the Corsair Wars.
“…in the aftermath of the Corsair Wars Jedi Master Oo’ob broke doctrine to pursue a pre-emptive approach to threats. In this, he recruited noted crystallist Var-Whill to modify lightsaber tech for more…remote applications. Oo’oob’s work with the ‘Farkiller’ can be conjectured to have killed several hundred “emergent” despots. The Jedi Council—naturally—felt his methods lacked restraint. Oo’ob and Var-Whill were pronounced apostate and purged within the decade.”
Crystallist was a title given to an individual with knowledge of both crystals and lightsaber technology. In the time before the Galactic Civil War, Var-Whill was the crystallist of the order and worked in secret to create a weapon capable of killing targets 100 miles away.
The Farkiller Apostate
The weapon itself was wielded to great effect. Though Oo’ob and Var-Whill were both excommunicated and killed for their heresy, the legacy of the Farkiller lived on. In the year 16 BBY, Professor Korin Aphra recovered memory crystals detailing Oo’ob’s existence, which he used to try and track down the Ordu Aspectu, a splinter group of Jedi.
Twenty years later, the rogue archaeologist and daughter of the professor, Chelli Aphra discovered the Farkiller while infiltrating the Slinani Migration Shrine known as Red Mist. Here, she found the weapon and stole it before being captured by Rebel Alliance operatives who wanted to use its technology to assassinate Emperor Palpatine.
However, this was ultimately a lite, as the assassination plot was being coordinated by Minister Pitina Voor out of the Empire’s propaganda division. The plot was ultimately unsuccessful, and the Farkiller passed into history.
Lightsaber sniper rifles, what’s next?
