THE STORY OF BALIK JARO
In the last days of the Gallactic Republic, no one in the Jedi Order was a finer craftsman of lightsabers than Balik Jaro. He tutored young Jedi when they built their first lightsabers and he consulted with Jedi of all ages and ranks when they needed to build new sabers or make repairs.
When the Gallactic Empire rose up and the Jedi were nearly destroyed, Jaro fled. Most of his tools and materials were lost, but he escaped with a large Kyber crystal, which is the kind usually used in lightsabers to focus the blades.
Agents of the Empire eventually tracked Jaro down, but before they did, he hid the crystal for safekeeping. He completed his last two lightsabers while he was in hiding and he hid information necessary to retrieve the crystal in their handles. It's a kind of secret message. Jaro knew that if the sabers fell into the hands of the Empire all of their code breakers and engineers would be likely to overlook the message, but it should be easy to find for anyone attuned to the Force.
YOUR MISSION
Balik Jaro's cyrstal would be a big help to restore the Jedi Order. To claim this geocache, locate his two lightsabers, decode his hidden message, and find the crystal.
ADVICE
If you reach the geocache and you're not sure what to do, here are some things to consider.
According to stories that have passed from person to person, it requires both lightsabers to decode the message.
Jaro was an artist first and an engineer second. His puzzle won't require any complicated math or code breaking. He knew that's how the Empire would approach it. It's more likely that he wanted you to be observant and perhaps to look at things in a different way.
When Jaro held a lightsaber, he felt the beautiful and complex flow of the Force around it. Try moving the two lightsabers around to see how they relate to each other. The Force surrounds us and flows between physical things. To solve Jaro's puzzle, consider the space in between the objects you're looking at.
You'll have more fun if you give yourself a chance to solve the puzzle. There is a nice moment when the answer clicks. However, if you get stumped and start to feel frustrated you can follow this link to read the solution.
Solution to the Puzzle
To open the padlock, enter the combination and then push upward on the black part so that the silver shackle is pressed down into it. To lock it when you're done, scramble the combination and then press the shackle back into place.
Good luck, and may the Force be with you.
PERMISSION
Permission to place this geocache and park in the Walgreens parking lot has been granted by the store manager, Roger Stark. Permission has also been granted by Assistant Pastor John Spriggs of West Bend Community Church.
AWARDS
This geocache won the Cache Wars competition for the 2017 West Bend Cache Bash.
The Wisconsin Geocaching Association named it Best Cache in Wisconsin for March 2018.
On 08/13/2018 it became one of the top ten geocaches in Wisconsin based on favorite points.