If you read them you'd know theres no Commander rank in GAIA. And that we aren't looking for army-type characters. We need field agents, jacks of all trades, etc.
This is a CQB Area. Our enemies will have blasters, and lots of them. A Lightwhip would be useless in a small area, especially against blasters and the light spear you would have difficulty to move around and block shots with, But that can be taken care of.
No, Imagine it like this. A regular sword has a guard on it. Essentially at the base of the saber at the emitter there are four small about two to three inch blades forming a four sided guard. It would prevent a blade from sliding down past them.