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There was no reason to hold back, no reason to not use his skills and abilities. He was certain Braze felt the same. They were training, preparing to fight the Sith. To help protect people from the Sith. So as the thrust came, Aris's hand burned to life as it had before to a bright white color. Then he went to simply catch the thrust in his palm while slicing out in a quick counter right for Braze's neck. Nonlethal, of course, but the sheer speed and strength behind the blow left little doubt if the saber had it's true blade on it would be.
Location: Ship
Objective: Help train other Jedi
Tag: Casaline Ryiah
"Casaline, it's good to meet you too"
Briefling nodding he folded his arms and smiled once more "There's nothing wrong with that, we were all in your shoes at some point" the knight said with encouragement "You've already taken a step closer to developing those skills by turning up, now you need to refine and aim for a target you want to reach in the short time we have together" Silas explained, creating a goal himself of trying to teach this padawan something useful before the end of the day.
"I presume you have a basic understanding of using your saber correct?" he asked at first, trying to get an indication of her level "If so, I may be able to show you a few things in regards to Sorusu to help you in your upcoming classes and real life engagements"
Braze recognized Aris's attempt to grab his blade, having seen him do this before and had a very visceral response to it previously he endeavored to find away to deal with this kind of tactic. Aris was very likely using Tutaminis to absorb the blade's energy. Reacting swiftly, with a fluid flow Braze deactivated his saber with the force using Tràkata, causing Aris's hand to grasp an empty space as the blade vanished.
In the same fluid motion, Braze reactivated his saber with the Force, parrying the incoming strike aimed at his neck. Utilizing Aris's overextended position, he slid inwards and under Aris's extended arm, almost hugging him he came so close. His sword arm hand tried to lock on to Ari's shoulder, shifting his weight and leveraging Aris's momentum, Braze attempted to throw Aris over his shoulder, using his opponent's strength and movement against him with the upwards pivot adding a touch of force to assit.
The message was clear; Whilst Aris had strength, Braze had speed and technique.
It was a quick and efficient move. Aris found nothing in his grasp, which only had the small grin on his face widen just a little. The last time he used that trick it'd brought their spar right to an end, had them fight not with their fists but with beliefs. It had been uncomfortable, but now, that didn't matter. What did? He was airborne. He laughed as he was thrown over Braze's shoulder, but rather than hit the ground in a loud thud he caught himself on his free hand. Aris wasn't just strength. Strength, speed, and technique were all he had without being able to feel the Force. When his fellow Padawan's were learning how to move things with their minds, he was honing his skill with a lightsaber. When they were learning to influence the minds of others, he was practicing his unarmed form.
With his saber wielding hand being the part Braze had grabbed, and his other on the ground, there wasn't too much he could do. So he rolled. Wrenched his arm around with his raw strength. Braze was either going to come with him or let him go and he'd re-find his footing.
Objective II: Wartime Training
He introduced himself as Jacob, another recently arrived padawan like Zaiya Ceti
. At the mention of classes the Kazelrrian frowned slightly in thought, she couldn’t remember seeing his face in the most recent ones she’d taken… but she had seen an occasional flash of bright red hair around the halls before who could’ve possibly been him.
She’d visibly flinched as the taller boy pointed in her direction, confirming with Vera Noble
that the smaller girl was indeed his opponent. Part of her wasn’t certain how to feel about the way he spoke, instead choosing to focus on Vera as she wished them well and guided Zaiya towards a nearby spot—close enough they could still shout to one another, without the worry of accidentally stepping into the other’s sparring grounds.
"It’s nice to meet you t-too, Jacob." The fiery strands coloring her hair had diminished, though her tips still retained a bright orange hue as the Kazelrrian focused on her opponent. The familiar fwoom of Vera’s green blade signaled the girls were getting ready on their side, with the Kazelrrian reminded of the training mode her master had installed on her own blade.
She was nervous about sparring with someone that wasn’t her master, worried of any accidents that could arise, but perhaps that’s exactly why the lesson had been scheduled in the first place? Her steps had placed a considerable distance between Jacob and herself, before a dull pink glow highlighted her skin as the blade sprung to life at her side in its lowest power setting.
"R-Ready when you are," A nod was given in the boy’s direction before the Kazelrrian held her lightsaber upwards in front of her, bringing it down vertically to point at the redhead across from her in the traditional Makashi salute. "You can go first."
A practiced flourish of her blade created an X shaped pattern in the air before the Kazelrrian took her stance, feet shoulder width apart and her blade pointing down by her right side as Mahsa waited to see what Jacob would do.
Without thinking too hard, she pivoted off her front foot, twisting around the bladelocked sabers and onto Acaadi's right side. The movement was tight, efficient, and subtle
Acaadi certainly felt quite proud of himself for the expression put onto her face by his change of pace. It was a trick, but it would only catch her off guard once.
He should have been able to capitalise on the moment. His body still knew the muscle memory, but he hadn't been reinforcing those old lessons. His conscious brain was working between her actions and his reaction.
Sabers hissed and spat in protest as all three blades were in contact. He lowered his body weight and prepared to disengage a blade to strike high but she was already in motion.
"You are quite the duelist, Acaadi." She voiced her observation and flourished her lightsaber while she spoke. "Will you be on the ground at Coruscant?" She asked curiously before lunging at the man.
Braze was in rare form today. He didn’t intend to keep hold of Aris; with only one workable arm, he needed to keep it useful for himself and avoid getting tripped up. He had a plan to maintain pressure on Aris. Almost immediately after the shoulder throw, he attempted a Force push to create some distance and set up his next attack. He had to think several steps ahead, but thinking too far ahead could be devastating. He didn’t want to give Aris much time to think about how to respond. Braze was determined to win today, evident in his tenacity. Hurting Aris wasn't a viable option, so his only alternative was to win through a knockout. He needed two things to enact that plan: to keep Aris’s mind preoccupied with the physical combat and to catch him off guard when he wasn’t guarding himself with the Force.
Aris was an Epicanthix, so Braze didn’t know to what degree, if any, the Force Effects of the Mindshattercrystal would affect him. Then again Aris did grab hold of the blade, and Braze hadn't ever shown him this particular crystal or it's effects. Time would tell.
Cora spun on her heels, narrowly sidestepping the strike. A lock of blonde hair wasn't so fortunate as she dodged, sheared by his lightsaber and floating pitifully to the ground.
The glare she fixed him with was no longer playful, and Cora growled from deep in her throat.
An unpleasant scent reached him. Singed hair. He looked down at the floating lock of hair and back up and Cora. She was already boring into his would with that glare.
Uh oh.
No hesitation as she stepped in and launched a quick offensive routine. She was mixing pieces of more simple routines, a sign of her advancement, as she put him on the back foot.
"Crap, crap, crap," he muttered as he back pedalled. He needed to regather himself, his cocky attitude had been completely undone and replaced by him mentally wilting in the face of the onslaught.
"I'm sure..."
He bit into a firm block, but she rolled her sabre and refused to be drawn into a battle of strength. Instead he was forced to step back again as another thrust came his way.
"...it will be fine..."
Makko had to switch into a more focused, professional demeanour. With each swing she was a little closer to finding the key that unlocked his defenses.
Anger at an impromptu haircut might have fuelled her, but there was control in her strikes and her footwork was controlled. He recalled the Ukatis assault, where she had been in a sith uniform and some part of his mind imagined having to cross blades with her for real. He had nearly fallen into a life as an assassin for a Denon gang, but it was Cora who had drawn him back from that future.
Makko knew who he was now and he knew why he drew his blade. His focus narrowed into an edge. He kept his saber work neat and contained to an imaginary inner circle, before giving a final sweep that tried to create some space between them.
He paused, chest heaving. He gave a small nod of respect before he visibly checked to his left and right to make sure none of those probing strikes had severed a lock of black, purple or blue hair.
The young teen did not let himself come off as reluctant as he felt, or so he hoped. Jacob had been in the room to observe the way the others used the first form, not use it himself. His grandfather’s voice quickly popped into his mind in the form of a memory. “Stop observing and start training.” There was a time to watch and there was a time to do, and it seemed that Vera had made the choice for Jacob in the matter.
It was time to do.
Jacob notices his partner’s hair color change again, or maybe just mute. There was not much he missed. One benefit of the training he received from his grandfather was that it made him a more observant person. Subtle changes and nuances made a difference in combat or the outcome of a mission. He had learned to pay attention to the smallest of details, though he was still learning. At thirteen years old, Jacob was not really the master of anything.
“First… oh force…”
Her lightsaber blade was pink. For some reason that seemed like a fitting color. The young padawan had no idea how the colors really worked, or if they meant anything. For all he knew a Jedi picked their lightsaber color based on how cool they thought it was. That’s why his was purple, anyway.
His blade came to life. This was practice so everyone was setting their sabers to the lowest setting. At least no one was losing an arm today. He settled into his opening stance rather quickly. It was textbook Shi-Cho. Jacob did not waste time with a flourish of his blade or anything which indicated he knew what he was doing, nor was he about to show off. Combat was straight forward, at least his grandfather had said, so there was not reason delaying it.
The simplicity of the first form did not leave him many options for an opening strike, especially when the opponent was expecting it. He nodded.
“First… okay.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth when Jacob took a step forward and opened up with a horizontal slash meant to strike across Mahsa’s waist moving from her left to her right.
Objective II: Wartime Training
It wasn’t long before his own blade came to life, a pretty purple shade that Mahsa hadn’t been expecting—though she had to admit it suited Jacob well. She recognized the Shii-Cho classic stance as Jacob got ready, the first form she had learned shortly after her arrival to the temple. The story behind its creation had entranced the young girl, unsurprising given her penchant for reading and learning, but she had struggled with its chaotic rhythm in combat.
Despite the relaxed appearance of her Makashi stance any trained or observant eye would’ve been able to pick up the tenseness of her muscles and the way Mahsa gripped the hilt of her lightsaber a bit too tightly. She was nervous to duel someone else, someone new, but the Kazelrrian did her best to push out her insecurities as she focused on her redheaded opponent.
“First… okay.”
She barely had time to nod in acknowledgement to his words before Jacob was closing the distance between them, slashing horizontally towards his opponent. She knew nothing of his fighting style or how much power the boy could pack behind his attacks, so she chose to expect the worst and planned accordingly.
Instead of crossing her arm to block his blow Mahsa chose to pivot clockwise, an arc of pink marking the trail of her blade before it collided with Jacob’s purple lightsaber. Her back was exposed to him for just a blink but Mahsa’s intention had never been to contest his strength, allowing her blade to serve as a guard as the Kazelrrian’s footwork followed the momentum of his sweep to circle around Jacob.
With their positions now reversed she attempted a light jab in the direction of Jacob’s back, her steps light and ready to step backwards to place distance between them if needed.
Jacob knew he was in trouble the moment Mahsa did not do what he expected. The form he was using would have made the block of his attack a rather obvious maneuver, but Mahsa was not using Shii-Cho. Their blades collided with a crackle that only seemed to intensify as her blade scraped along his. Her steps were nimble and quick, more practiced than his own footwork. Jacob could use melee weapons, he had used melee weapons. Lightsaber combat and swordsmanship were not the same thing as using a staff or electrowand. More finesse was required.
Mahsa seemed to have it in abundance.
“Frak that hurts,” he exclaimed as the jab made contact with his back.
The tip of her blade burned though his shirt at left a welt where it came into contact with the first layer of skin on his back. She had landed her mark, but only because Jacob had clearly underestimated her.
He turned around to face her, a little stunned. His blue eyes showed the discomfort he felt as his free hand reached for the painful spot at his lower back.
“That’s not Shii-Cho,” he said, emotionless and matter of fact. “What is it?”
They were supposed to be learning, and it seemed in just one maneuver Jacob had learned something new. He was aware of the other forms, he had just never seen them in use. For all he knew she was a padawan using form four or form five. Granted the chances of that were slim, but not if she had mastered the first form already.
Jacob was behind when it came to this particular discipline. He knew it, but now…
Aris had a natural defense for his mind, like most Epicanthix. But that was it when it came to the Force. He was strong, he was fast, but he had no real defenses against how the Force could be used against him. As apparent by how easily he was pushed away across the ground before he could roll back to his feet and re-engage his ligthsaber. Space was a problem. Without an actual defense to the Force he would easily be worn down.
He didn't have any defense.
He burst forward in a flash, sprinting with his unnatural speed to reclose the distance and bring his blade down again and again now. Quick, heavy slashes one after the other to keep the pace under his control. He wasn't going to let it go to Braze's plan, whatever it might be.
A leap into the air, kept the boy mobile. Still, he went for at first what looked like a haymaker, only for him to summon his saber into his hand and transition into a wide swing.
Amani smirked again, "We're Jedi. It's good to get a reminder of our ascetic roots every now and again," Comfort was nice. But they need to be able to live without as well. A few extra roommates and crowded halls were hardly the worst a person could be asked to tolerate.
Valery's admission to Prosperity's weakness came as a surprise, wiping any enjoyment from the Chief Healer's face, "Really?" Not just the Prosperity, but any other temple Thalia may have visited could possibly be exposed, "That's… troubling," An understatement, clearly, and her tone indicated as much, "Do you think they'll go out of their way to target said temples?"
The Empire seemed to have grander ambitions than that, but she wouldn't put it past them.
Objective II: Wartime Training
She hadn’t missed the look of surprise on his face, the way those vibrant blue eyes had widened considerably as his attack had been met with a wholly unexpected response. So when she’d thrust forward with her blade Mahsa had done it carefully, certain that Jacob would respond and block her attack—
“Frak that hurts!”
Mahsa had quickly pulled back, the glow of her lightsaber gone as it was powered off. "I-I’msorry!!!" The light smell of burnt fabric still lingered in her nose, while the once dull orange tips in her hair quickly regained strength—almost rivaling the natural shades of Jacob’s hair.
Maybe this hadn’t been a bright idea after all…
"A-Ah no," She felt awful about the incident, and the lack of emotion in his voice as Jacob spoke only exacerbated that feeling. "It’s Form II, Makashi…?"
Despite the initial incident it seemed that Jacob was ready for another round, though the same couldn’t be said for his opponent. She had picked up Makashi because the wilder approach of Shii-Cho hadn’t meshed well with her own nature, but it was clear a decision had been made when Mahsa ignited her lightsaber again.
Both hands held onto the hilt as Mahsa adopted a traditional Shii-Cho stance, a silent nod given when Jacob signaled she should lead this second round. Her eyes glanced over the boy as she wondered what approach to take, hesitant to swing anywhere near his head for fear of a worse accident than before.
Finally she decided to mimic his initial attack, the Kazelrrian stepping forward with a horizontal slash identical to the one Jacob had tried on her moments before… though it was clear her heart wasn’t all in this time around.
Makashi, the second form. It made sense considering it was the next form. Jacob definitely had never seen it used before. The girl's hair was near bright red again, obviously because of what had just happened.
Jacob frowned slightly.
"It's okay. Pain is a teacher."
Naturally he was quoting his grandfather, General Solay. It was not a Jedi philosophy of teaching, at least Jacob was pretty sure about that. He had been among the Jedi for a little while, but long enough to get an idea for who they were and what they were about.
Jacob set his feet, taking up the opening stance again, and the frown dipped further when his partner mimicked the Shii-Cho stance. Just because he was hurt did not mean she needed to change her style on his account. The boy did not want to feel like she was taking it easy on him.
She attacked before he could gain the courage to say something. It had been his same opening attack.
The red headed teenager stepped into the attack, turning us wrists so the tip of his blade pointed toward the ground as light clashed and sizzled once more. Jacob held his blade against hers for a moment.
"You can use Makashi, I'll adapt and learn. It's what I do."
He knocked her blade away, hoping to open her torso before brining his blade diagonally across from her shoulder to her hip.
“Commander Roche, Lieutenant Rennek.” Briana greeted, inclining her head respectfully towards Sara before turning towards Aiden and offering him a small, wry smile. “I came to offer my help and lend a hand with the reinforcements, though I almost feel like I’ve arrived too late after seeing all of the progress that’s been made. Still, perhaps I could assist the Lieutenant here with the recon on those towers for you, provide a Jedi's insight."
The Commander nodded by way of greeting. "Thank you, Lady Jedi. Your skills will be valuable in scouting out the positions." Sara took in the Jedi's smile and gaze towards the Lieutenant. Ah, I see.
"Take the time you need- it's no use to rush things if it jeopardises the outcome." A pang of regret in her heart- so much lost time. Should never have gone and fallen into the abyss so often... well, it's all over now.
As expected, the news wiped the joy from her friend's face and shifted her mind into focus. This Empire wasn't quite like the Maw had been — it felt less chaotic and their focus on destroying the Jedi wasn't nearly as prominent. But the Jedi were still a crucial component of the Alliance's defense, so why wouldn't they target the Temples?
"I'm not sure if they'll go out of their way for it, but is it worth the risk?" Valery asked and sighed. "Much of their leadership is the same or closely connected to those who led the Maw and they were already trying to find a way to the Prosperity. Luckily, we don't really bring our Jedi to Ilum, Corellia or even to New Cov, and the Vonnuvi Enclave can't be found with wayfinders." She blinked and paused.
"...right?" she asked, just to be sure.
"It makes the herdship the only guaranteed Enclave where they're safe. Unless we construct something new."
Kha'la did not support blind funding to weapons or military efforts either. She had been raised as a tactician, and an important part of developing a sound strategy was to be aware of the whole picture. Pull funds away from one thing in favor of another, and the consequences could be severe if it wasn't thoroughly researched beforehand. But she knew Alicio Organa
wasn't the type to propose something impossible.
His ideas came from a pure heart — from a willingness to actually help people — and while some would argue that it made him too idealistic with these ideas, she knew it only drove him to be even more thorough. He wanted his plans to succeed, so he would not submit his proposals until he knew they were realistic.
"You have my support, Senator Organa, on behalf of Hapes. I would only request a very thorough plan that details the credit streams." Some of the money would go directly to people's basic needs, such as food, water and medical supplies. But she imagined that they'd need to forward funds to building temporary or even permanent housing as well. They'd need ships and other vehicles to make the logistics work, and pay people to help.
This was no easy task.
"I agree on the topic of allies as well, but first let us settle this bill."
Braze
