All in the Footwork (Open to SSC, others PM to join)

[Sorel Crieff]

She was sixteen and other than others her own age and her former Master - who favoured Makashi, she had limited experience of sparring outside of those circles. And given she left Ossus two years ago, her only recent practice had been droids and training exercises. So the power of his blows were new to her. She knew she had to parry but knowing and doing were two entirely different things.

Getting into position to deflect his saber was not the challenge, ensuring she was not going to expose herself as she looked to counter was. For all her speed and poise, the weight of his attack unbalanced her. In her mind she parried and countered but her body was unable to fulfil the promise her conscious thought made. She stumbled under the double blow and fortunately pulled up before attacking, for her balance was off and she would have been an easy target - presenting her back to him. Her arrogance was unabated but it was at least tempered with an understanding that he presented an opponent she had yet to face. She would beat him, she decided, but it would take time to acclimatise.

"Not bad old man," she said, "I defer to your greater knowledge. Anyone who has been fighting for as long as you have, deserves to be given respect. That and the fact you must be due for retirement soon." She simply couldn't help herself, the taunts flowed as she set herself for his next attack.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Quenladose]

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Sorel Crieff"]

The jedi knight looked at the sparring and remained there until she heard it and turned to look at Connor Harrison and the padawan he was dueling. A look on her face of barely suppressed laughter being the nine hundred year old one there. She was glad she wasn't facing the padawan she might have had to make a comeback... Instead she could just go and get the cooling gel for Connor. The others in the area were moving while she went to the side when the twins were challenging her padawan. She raised an eyebrow wondering how he'd handle and deal with it but took a small position wondering who was left for practicing.

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

Tyyni looked excitedly at the spar that was happening before him, so intently that he almost missed being asked for a spar himself.

Looking behind him, he saw the twins that had approached him before, and thought about their request. Scratching his chin, he answered. "Of course... Will it be two against one? I can do that!" With a smile, Tyyni began to make his way back to where he had sparred earlier, and held up his lightsaber. The Hutt's pain in his wrist had all but faded, replaced by a dull ache. He would have to avoid using that hand if he had to.

"I am Padawan Tyyni Oluja. We can begin whenever you are ready." Holding up his saber again, the Soresu of his stance palpable, the Hutt waited for their introduction and attack.

[member="The Wicked Truth"]

 

[The Wicked Truth]

[member="Tyyni Oluja"]

The pair were looking at him and then at each other while they nodded in unison. Moving with him and going to either side as they withdrew the training saber from their belts. THey had little need for the offhand blades in a duel like this while they spoke interchanging the dialogue. "I am Lyna." "I am Syna." The sound of twin snap hisses came though as they were both there taking twin stances and looking at the hutt. Smiles on their faces while with one hand they shifted to present the channeling gaauntlets with its phrik weave to catch blades and force enhanced strength. "We are ready when you are?"

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

Tyyni hesitated as he was given the first move. The slow Hutt was still quite uncomfortable with the attack, and he knew the twins had already observed his first duel. He had to think of a different approach.

Tyyni began to slide forward at a snail's pace, edging closer and closer to their dual forms. As he slid along, Tyyni began to gather up the Force within him, like he saw Vorian do. He calmed his mind, opening it to the cosmos. He felt the twin's auras, intertwined together to produce tandem results. He thought about his little excursion to Dagobah, and the Witch. Letting his mind go, he felt their auras, their strong bond, their determination. Tyyni knew what he had to do.

The Hutt stopped his advance a few meters from Syna and Lyna. He kept his lightsaber up, ready for the counterattack that was soon to follow his action. Then, he focused all of the Force he had gathered on their mental bond, trying to interpose his thoughts to disperse it. He shoved his considerably strong mind forward, just as powerful and projective as his own fighting style. If he succeeded, they would both get a bit of a headache, and lose their psychic link for a short time. If he failed his attack, they might get a stab at his own mind. The reward outweighed the risk. Tyyni figured these girls had been fighting with each other like this for years, and making them adapt to a new situation would be beneficial. Either way, he kept his form up, and prepared for the worst.

[member="The Wicked Truth"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He was showing signs of rust. Maybe he should have flexed his muscles and reactions with a blade on his own for a while before jumping right back into it. However, Sorel was certainly what he needed - a reminder of the youthful energy that the Padawans held.

"Retirement? My dear Padawan I'm not even 40 years old yet. Why, some of the greatest Jedi - " he pushed her blade to the side with his, " - lived to be over 900 years old! Plenty of life in me yet."

And with that he did his favourite move to inflict a nice bruise and a little breath taken away; he turned and pushed himself hard into her side, a heavy shoulder barge to knock her back and discomfort her. Not all combatants played fair.

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Setzi’s biggest challenge probably was not Master Ticon’s experience with a blade – although that would be on the list, among other strengths. Taunting was the first thing that normally rattled the quiet padawan. But she attempted to breathe through Keira’s verbal jabs and re-position herself, almost clumsily as though her attack moments before had been a false start.

Shaking off the nerves, she knew she only had seconds to redeem herself. The “Dun Moch light” and her own Makashi was a recipe for slipping into a darkside mode, and Setzi didn’t want to do that in front of a crowd of padawan learners.

She lunged forward in a Soresu salute, her blade high and perpendicular to her wide stance. One hand thrust forward, and with telekinesis, blasted Master Ticon with energy, a sharp push but not enough to throw her into the courtyard wall behind them. Still, strong enough to have her land in the crowd if she was completely unprepared for it.

“Then I’ll stick to Soresu,” she said with a smirk, remaining in the guard position, ready to defend herself.

[member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[The Wicked Truth]

[member="Tyyni Oluja"]

They were looking at the hutt and preparing for the fight. Their focused energies between them when the pair stayed still for a moment as the sigils started to glow around their necks. The necklaces from when they were helping the jedi find ways to combat the harvesters. Its force augmentation and mental shield was something they had to offset the more. They looked from each other towards him while moving with their blades in opposite hands as the circled to divide the hutts attention and push in to duel him. They had been with havoc, with the protectors and special forces under the Republic with Cody who liked dueling force users. The Syna moved focusing her strikes to try and disable with quick contact burns to his hands. Lyna slashed trying to draw his blade and defensive stance to come after her.

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

The Hutt frowned. Well, that didn't work. Then the two divided, and Tyyni let a smile cross his face. Almost as good. Tyyni kept his grin up as they circled him, and he anticipated their tandem attack. Instead of combating them on their terms, he decided to turn the battle more towards him.

As they both lunged at him, the Hutt picked a target. One seemed to be using a wider sweep, and the other had a more concentrated stance. Tyyni singled out Lyna. Augmenting his body with the Force, Tyyni slid at a close angle with Lyna, narrowly dodging her slow sweep, while rocketing away from Syna. Now, he had them in relatively the same place. Quickly turning around, the Hutt rocketed towards his target's back, and feinted a charging jab at her, anticipating Syna to try and come to her sister's rescue. Now they only have to fall for it...

[member="The Wicked Truth"]

 

[Tyberius Fel]

The total white orbs that were Vorian's eyes watched as the glowing, multi-color blurs of lightsabers consumed the courtyard. It seemed his brief bout with the Hutt ignited a storm of spars like a lit matchstick to a powder keg. Even Tyyni, shrugging off his sprained wrist to engage with two Jedi Padawans simultaneously. "....Impressive." Muttered Vorian underneath his breath. The Arkanian however, did not consider himself quite as ambitious, and thus perched himself on the flat top of a nearby rock, folding his legs and contenting himself to semi meditation as he surveyed the string of spars erupting infront of him. The analytic mind of the Arkanian searched for any new or particularly innovative tactics to incorporate into his own skillset.

 

[The Wicked Truth]

[member="Tyyni Oluja"]

Lyna watched the hutt move and he had speed she could give him that while she was moving using her speed when it didn't impact to build up to spin on her heel and try to slash again as she was still going forwards. The twist not stopping her direction just where she was looking while she kept her eyes on the hutt holding her free hand out and open . Syna moving in the same speed while she focused letting the force move while she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. the free hand was there and slowly she grabbed while surging to meet her sisters speed so they could both jerk to the side being able to slash in a whirlwind style attack with her foot coming up behind her blade while she was in the air to try and catch his blade and give him what he wanted. Both of them protecting each other while her feet in the combat boots came to kick against the hutt as Lyna was ready with a follow up in much the same way.

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

As he saw the girls begin their tandem attack, Tyyni knew his plan was going to... Well, to plan. With more grace than a Hutt has possibly ever had, Tyyni used his forward momentum, and a little extra Force, to catapult him into the air, a few meters over the Twins. He felt the same sensation as when he was thrown into the air by [member="Vorian Adasca"], but he was more prepared for the inertia. He tried for a second time to control his descent. The last time hadn't gone so well, but as they say, second time's the charm.

With a little difficulty, Tyyni began his descent. The Force immediately took hold of his fall, shaping and directing it at the twins, now close together. As he got within range of them, the Hutt's Soresu training took hold, his lightsaber out in front of him, prepared to block their attacks. He attempted to bat their training sabers away, and body-slam them both with his long body. If he succeeded, their duel would end with the girls flattened to the ground. He could always miss, though. He was very new to this whole "be the leaf" thing.

[member="The Wicked Truth"]

 

[The Wicked Truth]

[member="Tyyni Oluja"]

The twins spun and looked up when they saw it.... he was flying or trying to and they were imaging his master would be proud while they were moving. He had the speed to come in for an impact but both of them thought of the same thing in a fight..... Belly flops hurt when they did it.... him doing it on the ground even with all that birth while they moved force pushing each other away faster into a backflip as Lyna felt the push on her chest and Syna a front flip going backwards with the push on her feet and legs. They moved in a unison while crouching down and waiting for him to flop before looking to see the others movements. <He has speed> <yes but he is still learning, we have anti force training from Selena> They were conversating for a moment before holding the sabers at opposite sides.

 

[Quenladose]

Quenladose took a moment to stare in wonder as she was tempted to jump on [member="Connor Harrison"]s shoulders to really get a good view and tilt his head to look at the sight of it all.... the wonder of a hutt flying as she spoke. "Be a leaf on the wind." Her grin was there on her face enjoying it as he seemed to be thinking outside the box before she looked to see what the others were doing briefly. She caught sight of the other padawan while moving and looking to see the aftermath of the flop while she was hoping her didn't hurt himself to much. SHe really really didn't want to have to explain how her hutt padawan got a maybe a dozen feet in the air and fell.

[member="Tyyni Oluja"] [member="Vorian Adasca"] [member="Setzi Lunelle"] [member="Sorel Crieff"] [member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

Tyyni saw them both leap out of the way, and prepared himself for impact. He didn't have a plan past this point, or what he would do if they vaulted out of the way. So Tyyni surprised himself, and probably everyone else, when he tucked in his fat head, and rolled head-over-tail as he hit the ground. The Hutt rolled for a few feet, his long body curling around himself like a snake's around a branch. Tyyni ended his roll, coming up into a Shii-Cho position.

The Hutt faltered a moment, still stunned by the acrobatics he had just performed. The Hutt brushed off his robes, and stood up a bit straighter. "I... Totally meant to do that... Let's continue." The Hutt, now gasping for air with the effort he had just exerted, kept his form up, prepared to take on the two opponents again.

[member="The Wicked Truth"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

“When forty years old I reach, look as bad I will not, hmmm?”

It was good to get the barb in, but at what cost? No sooner had the words left her lips and a feeling of smugness washed over her, than her small frame was battered by his significant body mass. She’d definitely have the bruises to show for it – and had she been less keen on being sarcastic, she knew she had the speed to avoid him. Which is what really hurt. Not that she would be black and blue from the shoulder barge, but that her arrogance cost her the hit.

“Classy–“ she started then stopped. She was in danger of being distracted again if she wasn’t careful and suffering a similar fate. There was inverse Dun Möch and then there was letting her mouth run away with her. And she knew deep down which she was guilty of right now.

She stared him down. She was angry with herself but knew that was not the way forward and calmed herself. Then she swiftly attached the two hilts to make a single saberstaff. Twirling it, she smiled. “We are both full of surprises, yes?”

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor retreated a few paces, like a fighter in the ring, watching Sorel and cutting the air gently with his blade, getting a feel now for the terrain and his opponent. She was brimming with a desire to succeed, more than usual. When her dual hilt became one, he pursed his lips.

"My, my, we are indeed. What is it with this new generation of fancy hilts and tricks? Can’t you just rely on the good only one standard blade and your wits?"

He had battled a dual sabre before, and this was where the Force helped to amplify his movements, to be one step ahead and always prepare for that second attack; the twist, or the swipe, or strike. Time for his little game.

"So, Padawan, please, tell me who have you failed previously that makes you so hungry to triumph today? "

He stood his ground; baiting.

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

As Padawans go, she was no doubt a decent duellist. She lacked practical application for sure – but that was true of most Padawans. Her opponent was a Master and had been fighting Sith no doubt for longer than she’d been alive. His experience vastly outweighed hers, which is why the winning of the spar was entirely about learning. If she gained knowledge, then she’d win. If she defeated him and gained nothing, then she’d lost. She knew this and therefore appreciated it when he bested her – it was exposing a gap in her knowledge and she was able to grow from it.

“A saberstaff is nothing new.” She dropped the attack on his age. She’d used it to limited effect and would instead stick to the facts. “Since before the Clone Wars, a long time before. And unfamiliarity is a weapon the Jedi and Sith have used for millennia to good effect. My choice of weapon is in part based upon history.” How she arrived at the design, she still didn’t know – but that didn’t matter, at least for now.

She narrowed her eyes. His question was testing, searching in fact but was of limited impact on her. “I have failed nobody. Not my Master, the Order or the Force.” She wanted to add that others had failed her, in fact two of the three she listed had, but she was not about to share that with an opponent, even a friendly one. “Why, do you have experience of dealing with failure? Of letting people down?”

They were circling each other now, both waiting for an opening it seemed, both it seems hoping that a taunt would provoke a rash move. Her shoulder was starting to hurt now, the immediate adrenaline rush diminishing, leaving only pain behind.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor retreated a few paces, like a fighter in the ring, watching Sorel and cutting the air gently with his blade, getting a feel now for the terrain and his opponent. She was brimming with a desire to succeed, more than usual. When her dual hilt became one, he pursed his lips.

"Forget your Master, or the Force. How about letting yourself down? I deal with failure all the time – those weak enough to try and prove they are something they’re not. They fall at the first hurdle. They are susceptible to the darkness and easy prey for the Sith."

Time to move and work her stamina – he span the blade a quick 360 to get his limbs limber, and pushed the attack, wanting to see how she fared in defence holding two blades in one, and how she used them to attack when she had an opening. The plasma sparked.

"I sense you’re going to fail yourself again today. You don’t have the Force as your ally yet," he said softly her in within earshot.

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[The Wicked Truth]

[member="Tyyni Oluja"]

The two were standing there and watched as they started to clap slowly and silently with a grin on their face. All of the attention going to what they had to deal with in dueling him but there were the others there as well. All of the attention from their work in the duel going to looking at the hutt who seemed to be getting his breath for a moment as they spoke moving back next to each other with their saber at the ready. "Good hangtime, didn't quiet stick the landing, might need to work on that." They were seeing the other duels and it seemed to be winding up and down in some cases before preparing to continue the duel.