First Lessons

[Froste]

Anaxes.
Abandoned One Sith outpost.

Darth Roth sat aboard his ship along with his newfound apprentice, Freeosk. He was a large creature, who was sensitive to the force. While force sensitive, he had been unable to use this power due to never having a teacher. Fortunately for the Yuzzem, Darth Roth had agreed to take him on and teach him how to manipulate the force for his advantage.

Now, the Sith Knight and his apprentice were being brought down to an old One Sith base. It had been here where Darth Roth's master had taught him the basics, and now Roth thought it was fitting to bring his own apprentice here as well.

As the ship came to a landing, Roth was the first to step out onto the planet. He gave the entire outpost a quick once-over. He could recall his first time on the planet, years ago. It had been right after Konrad had picked him out of the rest of the rabble of acolytes. Before they had began Roth's training, Konrad had secured him a commission in the One Sith Army. A bit of sad nostalgia sank into Roth for a moment, seeing the outpost in such poor shape, but he was here to begin a new chapter.

Soon enough, the Knight turned to Freeosk and allowed a grin appeared on his maskless face. "We've arrived. Are you ready to begin?"

[member=Freeosk]

 

[Freeosk]

Puny humans, always making furniture so small, Freeosk thought to himself. His knees bent, back curved, feet planted on the bottom of the bunk above him, he was attempting to lay in his bunk aboard Darth Roth’s ship, without much success. It was nothing new. He decided he could use his time more effectively, and comfortably, anyway. So, after squeezing out of the bunk, he stretched his massive limbs. Then dropped to the floor. With one hand behind his back, he began doing a few push-ups, as a warm up exercise, “One, two, three…” he counted, “100, 101, 102…”The ship thudded to the ground. They’d landed.

This was all so new to him. The fact that he’d picked up a Sith in a soup kitchen located within the bowls of the slums had been weird enough. Now, he was on some strange planet with that Sith, about to start his training as a force user. He had little conception of the power the force could bring him once properly trained. All he knew of force users were the stories of Sith and Jedi that had made it into the gladiatorial pits. Those stories were enough, though, to wet his appetite and make him intent on possessing that kind of power.

Power is freedom.

With a massive push of one arm, he flung himself upright. He walked through the ship. The rocky world of Anaxes was slowly revealed to him as he descended the gangway. Much of the rocky surface was covered by some sort of red plant-life, giving the environment something of a menacing appearance. Darth Roth stood in front of an abandoned outpost, he turned to Freeosk and grinned, “We’ve arrived. Are you ready to begin?" He asked.

Freeosk wondered what the grin was about. Perhaps Darth Roth was amused by the thought of what he was going to put him through. Good, he thought. Freeosk snorted, cracked his knuckles then his neck, “I was born ready,” his deep voice boomed, then he smiled, “Can’t be worse than your beds.”

[member="Darth Roth"]

 

[Froste]

Darth Roth's apprentice cracked various joints, then said "I was born ready. Can't be worse than your beds." With the Yuzzem's comment, Roth gave a light chuckle. "I'll try to have those beds fixed." Then the Sith Knight backpeddled a few steps. "Stay here." Then he turned and started in a jog to the outpost's armory. He could only imagine how ransacked the place would be. Once the soldiers heard about the fall of the One Sith, they probably grabbed what they could and ran off. There more than likely hadn't been anybody to stop them, either.

Roth pushed the door open and looked around the room. Most of the rifles, grenades and other blaster-type weapons were gone. But the practice sabers were still snugly fitted in their spot. In the chaos of the news, the soldiers probably had not even thought of taking those sabers. They weren't really weapons, anyway. Quickly, the Knight grabbed the two sabers his master and he had used all those years ago, and went back outside.

When Roth was about ten feet in front of Freeosk, he tossed the practice saber in his offhand to the creature. The weapon was almost comically small in Freeosk's hands. "I know it's a bit small for you, but I'm afraid it'll have to do. When you make your own lightsaber, you'll be able to make it whatever size you wish."

@Freeosk

 

[Freeosk]

“Stay here,” Darth Roth Said before baking up, then jogging, toward the abandoned outpost. When he returned, he held a lightsaber in each hand. About ten feet away, he tossed one to Freeosk, who caught it easily. The hilt was nearly consumed by his grip, he puzzled at it.

“I know it’s a bit small for you, but I’m afraid it’ll have to do. When you make your own lightsaber, you’ll be able to make it whatever size you wish.”

“Oh, so more motivation to master this… thing… I presume,” he said confidently. Finding the switch, he ignited the saber with a buzz. He waved the weightless crimson blade around. Besides the fact that it was obviously too small for him to start, it felt weird. Freeosk had fought with more melee weapons than he could ever count, or remember. Some, more successfully than others, but it was fair to say he knew what he was doing when it came to close quarters fighting.

This was so much stranger than anything else he’d used. The weight stopped at the hilt. The blade glided effortlessly, unbalanced with the rest of the weapon. He swiveled it around awkwardly.

Clumsy, of all things.

He couldn’t get over how unskilled he was with the weapon as he tried practicing with it.

Maybe this was going to be more difficult than he’d thought. And yet, the stories had made it seem so simple.

“Why the karking hell would I use this… thing…? I could use a Ryyk blade, vibroknucklers, vibrarapier, Stun Baton, Stun Gauntlests, or even a Neuronic Whip so much more effectively than this awkward weapon?”

[member="Darth Roth"]

 

[Froste]

"Perhaps now you could use those weapons more effectively than a lightsaber, but once I train you properly with it, it will be one of the only two weapons you need." Roth cracked his neck before he continued. "Your lightsaber and your manipulation of the force are all you will ever truly need. Everything else will be extra."

The Knight moved his training lightsaber to his other hand, and used his now free hand to demonstrate. "Let's get started. We will begin with the very basics of the first lightsaber form, Shii-Cho. Within Shii-Cho, there are six zones. The first is the head, the second includes the right arm and side, the third the left arm and side, the fourth is the back, the fifth the right leg, and the sixth the left leg. When practicing Shii-Cho, all attacks and parries are relative to these zones. I find the form to be limiting, but there are some who can master it and are formidable foes."

Roth pushed the button on the training lightsaber and stepped into his opening position. "First, you need to copy my stance. One leg forward, feet positioned as mine. As we delve deeper into dueling, you'll find your footwork is crucial."

@Freeosk

 

[Freeosk]

After Darth Roth explained that the lightsaber and the force would be the only two weapons he’d ever need once he was properly trained, he shrugged and responded, “I’ll take your word for it boss, after all, that’s what I’m here for.”

Once Darth Roth described the basic form of Shii-Cho, then ignited his lightsaber and instructed him to copy his stance, Freeosk’s instincts for training kicked in. He’d never been afraid of hard work, and if there was one thing he was good at, it was training. This time wouldn’t be any different. He ran Darth Roth’s words through his mind, repeating the information about Shii-Cho over and over to lock it into memory. Then, he analyzed Darth Roth’s stance and moved into position, one leg forward, feet placed just so.

He started to move his left hand to the lightsaber’s hilt for a two handed hold and then remembered the hilt was barely large enough for his right hand, let alone both. He spun the saber in a circle, listening to it wiz and buzz through the air, he was anxious to begin.

The blade stopped spinning and moved into position, “What now, boss?”

[member="Darth Roth"]

 

[Froste]

With his their feet in place, Roth brought his training lightsaber up to head height, holding it horizontally in a blocking manner.

"This is the block for zone one."

The Sith Knight waited for his apprentice to copy his positioning once again, then gave a nod. "Very good." Next, the Knight moved the training saber above his head, and brought it straight down. If there had been an opponent blocking in front of him, their blades would be perpendicular.

"This is the attack for zone one."

He watched [member="Freeosk "]go through the motion once. "Perform the attack a few more times, make sure you get a feel for it."

 

[Freeosk]

Freeosk obediently went through all the motions he was instructed to perform. It quickly became clear there was a lot to learn considering this was just one form of many and considering he still knew nothing about the force. That thought didn’t upset or discourage him. In fact, he liked it, for, something that required so much training was bound to be powerful.

Though he had a very long time to go to even be considered a novice with a lightsaber, he felt himself slowly becoming increasingly more comfortable with the weapon, with how it felt to hold, how its weight ended at the hilt. It even started to feel like a less awkward weapon. Maybe he could even sense some of its beauty, precision, and power.

[member="Darth Roth"]