I Need A Teacher [Samka Derith]

[Rexus Wenck]

Rexus Wenck stalked the streets of Avalonia like he owned them. The stormtrooper was constantly amazed at what his hometown had become. Once rundown neighbourhoods, and bordellos had become prosperous suburban sprawl and commercial districts. Where Rexus now walked, was formerly the slum he grew up in Roxborough. The new architetcture had wiped out the old landmarks like Old Mags' place, The Red Rum Inn and The Karkpoint Brothel. Now, he was a stranger in his domain.

Still, the stormtrooper captain didn't particularly mind this trip down memory lane. It reminded him first and foremost of the progress he and his friends had fought, bled and died for. And right now, Rexus was looking to help avenge his colleagues. The Battle of Kaeshana had scarred Rexus, and his unit. About half of the Gundark Gunners had either been grievously injured or killed by illegal Firemane combatants. Them, and their automatons had wrought havoc on a unit which had once been considered the scum of the order.

But, the battle hadn't been without its successes. Rexus had been thrilled upon recieving the lightsaber, and when he felt well enough, contacted his superiors about having some form of training. It had taken the bastards long enough, but now they'd gotten back to him. Some kind of FOSB safehouse, from what Rexus could gather. Nestled in Roxborough would serve as the dojo for him to learn the ins and outs of saber combat.

Attired in a leather jacket, wifebeater and cargo pants, Rexus gently knocked on the door of the safehouse. He waited silently for an answer with baited breath.
[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

Sam sat in a chair, absentmindedly spinning left and right as she flickered through her datapad. On it was the service record of one [member="Rexus Wenck"].

"A Stormtrooper?" Samka's eyebrows rose almost out of her skull. "I'm to train a Stormtrooper? This is nonsense."

Had been her reaction earlier but she had accepted the mission regardless. There may be merit in such a course of action. It would catch the enemy by surprise to say the least. Still she couldn't help but wonder about the choice of candidate, Wenck was a strong combatant but his attitude off-duty was troublesome.

A former gang member? She shook her head.

There was a knock on the door as she studied the debriefing report of Kaeshana, surprised to see they'd fought not far from one another.

The young Ren rose to her feet, wondering if the man had any idea what was about to transpire. "Enter." He'd find a youthful girl, glad in all dark clothing and cloak, observing him with a cold gaze.

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Rexus entered the safehouse upon the command. It was cold and chilly compared to the outside. Immediately, Rexus' hair stood on end. He didn't like the look of this place. It was dark, and dimly lit, a massive contrast between the well lit streets outside. The stormtrooper was taken aback by the girl. She didn't look right.

The stormtrooper eyed her cautiously, "So, uh, I'm Captain Wenck," Rexus began, "Umm, I'm here to see someone about a bit of special training." He said, his voice void of the usual bravado or cheeriness that accompanied it. "You wouldn't mind going and grabbing them, would you?" It was partially out of sexism, and her youthfulness that Rexus had assumed she wasn't his teacher.

In fact, his first thoughts had come to the conclusion she was perhaps some kind of concubine, or escort. Rexus had partied with the likes of Rolf Amsel, among other less polite sorts. He personally speculated that FOSB spooks were a creepy lot, who were into all sorts of depraved debauched things. But nonetheless, the captain stood there expectantly.

[member="Samka Derith"].

 

[Samka Derith]

"I know who you are, Captain," she stated evenly as he introduced himself, "and I know why you're here."

But at his next words her lips pursed together in displeasure. She thrust her palm out and called upon the Force, it was directed not upon the officer but the door behind him. It loudly clanged as it locked tight behind him. "I am your instructor for this evening, Captain."

She folded her arms behind her back and strode up to the man, using the Dark Side to put a chill down his spin as she did so. He needed to know who was in charge. Her belief that the First Order's rank and file were all highly disciplined, respectful types had been broken many times. In the past she had played too nice with the likes of Rolf Amsel and allowed herself to become a mockery for it. No longer.

"Do you know what I am, Captain Wenck?" She asked as she circled the Stormtrooper like a predator sniffing prey for any sign of weakness.

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Rexus turned to watch the door close. There was something about her voice that put him on edge. Her voice, her authority, and her posture made him wince. The captain who had prided himself on his combat readiness, almost jumped when the door slammed. His hazel orbs eyed her cautiously. All of a sudden, he felt cold. It was a bloody spring evening for Sieger's sake!

"So, you're my teacher?" Rexus asked, responding to her question with a question in kind, "Look, I don't want to be that guy," Rexus began, "And I mean this in all due respect here," He continued, "But you look like you should be at school, with your head down a toilet." he confessed, "I don't want to be that guy," He reiterated cautiously. At least what he believed was cautiously at least, it was really relayed with the nuance of a rancor at a high tea. "But you don't seem like the sorta person who should be teaching me how to use a lightsaber." he gestured to the blade on his belt, "I was sorta expecting some spook or Mandolorian."

[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

"Head down the...?" She repeated beneath her breath. "Would you... care to elaborate on that one, Captain?" Sam asked with a single brow raised so high it almost seemed likely to detach from her face.

She began a standard trick of exerting control over those less gifted than herself. A subtle pressure would start to rise up in the Stormtrooper's throat. At first it would be barely noticeable but gradually would build into a powerful choke with the air of leaving the man a gasping wreck on the floor. On her part she stood perfectly still, her petite form looking up stony faced at the well-built man over a foot above her. She just watched.

Releasing Wrenck from her grasp, the young Knight of Ren turned on her heels, putting her back to the officer and marched a few steps away. "I am exactly the type who should be teaching you, appearances can be incredibly deceptive." Almost lazily, she extended a palm back at [member="Rexus Wenck"] and called upon the Force once more, this time snatching the Lightsaber from his belt, letting the weapon hurl through the air and into her grasp for inspection.

"Curious," she said, twisting the lightsaber back and forth in her gloved hand. "Where did you find this again?"

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Wenck gasped, and wheezed as he felt his windpipe contract. The soldier fell to his knees, and then hunched over. He looked up at her, and watched as she forced the saber from his belt. He tried to snatch it back, stretching his arm out in a vain gesture to retain the weapon. What was this? Some kind of horror film? Had he been lured by some kind of wench who was going to lob off his knob, and eat him? Was this some kind of joke? Who was she? Those were the questions which danced in the stormtroopers racing mind.

He listened to her, figuring it was probably for the greater good. "Jedi....." He wheezed, "My men killed a Jedi on Kaeshana, and...." His voice was raspy, he was trying to save his breath, but he simply couldn't. "And they gave his thing to me." His cheeks were red as roses, and his eyes seemed to bulge from their sockets. "Please...." He wheezed, "Help....." He limply added, reaching up to her.

[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The Ren exhaled loudly from her nose and pursed her lips together.[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] Perhaps I've overdone it, [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]she thought looking at the man wheezing on the floor. She walked out of the man's line of sight only to return a moment later holding a glass of water. She knelt down beside the soldier and offered to glass to his hand.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]"No hard feelings, I'm sure, Captain Wenck," [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]she said a little more gently. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]"My duty here is to help you survive in the future, not to kill or cripple you. But you have to understand the situation and you have to respect the abilities of your instructors."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]She rose to her feet, offering a hand to help the soldier up if he needed it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]"A lightsaber is no standard sword or knife you swing blindly,"[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] she said, getting to the main buisness of things, returning her attention to the Jedi weapon in her free hand. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]"I hope you understand just how intense training for such a thing is? Especially without a strong connection to the Force."[/SIZE]

[member="Rexus Wenck"]

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Rexus nearly fainted when the hold on him was released. The stormtrooper fell to the floor, and lay there, panting like a hound. When she returned, Rexus nodded his appreciation for the glass, and immediately skulled it like a shot of Effekt Vodka. The trooper began to pull himself up as he listened to her. "Alright," Rexus grunted as he hauled himself up from the cold of the floor. The stormtrooper dusted himself off and then eyed the Knight.

He politely listened to her thoughts on the lightsaber. While he did agree in some sense, that the lightsaber was different to the baton and blades he was used to. There were also things he could not agree with. Who needed the force for a lightsaber? In fact, why the hell shouldn't all stormtroopers have one? There seemed to be a surplus of Jedi in the Galaxy, aren't there? Stormtroopers could viably wipe them out if they were trained in the same arts.

However Rexus washed himself of his thoughts, "Well, let's get started, shall we?"

[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

"Mm" was the only sound out of her mouth as [member="Rexus Wenck"] requested they begin. Other than the desk and chair she'd been sitting at, the warehouse was seemingly barren with just a few crates scattered around and a few closed doors to backrooms, lots of empty space to practice. Instead of giving his Jedi trophy back to the Stormtrooper, Sam reached inside of her cloak and withdrew a different weapon, a training Saber typical of that used by the Order of Ren, and passed that to Wenck instead.

"That shall sting if it connects but cause no lasting damage," she explained. "The most challenging part of using a lightsaber for beginners is not cutting yourself open."

"Come," she said igniting Wenck's Jedi trophy in her hand. "Hold your finger on that button there, to keep the blade out. Now come at me. I need to see how you handle yourself first." Samka stood in a fencer's stance, positioning herself evenly and waiting for the Stormtrooper to attack.

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Rexus felt the training saber. It was a little light to what he liked, he'd handled his saber before, and enjoyed the weight. He toyed with the training saber, and then ignited the blade. He held it up against his face, and raised the saber, before running at the youthful Knight of Ren. As he came closer, he began to lower the training saber, ready to clash with the young woman. Rexus wanted to prove himself to her. Show, that despite her having a majority of the power in this scenario, Wenck was not about to give up trying to assert his authority.

[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

She side-stepped the attack from [member="Rexus Wenck"] and brought the borrowed Jedi Lightsaber to clash with his, knocking it to the side and careful not to accidentally cut the man while doing so. His weapon may be relatively harmless but the one she was using had no such restriction. It was partly deliberate, a warning, and if he was clumsy enough to seriously injure himself against an opponent not fighting back then he would have shown himself to be thoroughly incapable to using a Lightsaber to begin with.

With a leap backwards she disengaged. "As expected," she noted, "An aggressive style making use of your physical strength. You'll probably favour either Vaapad or Ataru." Samka paused, realising the words may be going over the man's head. "These are ancient techniques created to make the best use of an individual's personal strengths. I... have to be honest, without a connection to the Force, I don't know how well you can utilise typical techniques but we'll have to see for ourselves. Tell me, did your military training include much in the way of melee combat? Perhaps we could integrate that?"

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Rexus looked at her, and nodded. "Yeah, we did." He admitted, "We did a whole course on crowd control, with them riot batons." He disabled the training saber, "They're a lot heavier, and you have to swing at a different angle," He admitted, "So for me, not having some kind of nice weight with this things-" he paused to think of the word, and surrendered, "Stabby-end, it really buggers me." The stormtrooper looked at the Ren, "I'm a halfway decent shot with a pistol," He added, "When I got this thing, I sort of didn't imagine solely using it, y'know?" He cautiously began.

"I sort of imagined it being a fine addition to the collection of arms a bloke like myself has." He said, "Now, don't get me wrong, it's a nice thing," He gestured to the saber she carried, and the brilliant golden glow emitted b the blade, "But I don't imagine myself using it too long, y'know. I sort of want to use it, when neccessary, and if need be lob a Jedi's 'ead off." And probably a bunch of other people's too. Because let's face it, the ability to mutilate excessively was one of the main reasons Rexus was here.

[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

"You were planning to keep this as little more than a 'fine addition to your collection'?" Sam raised an incredulous brow. "It's a well made blade, despite the typically sub-par Jedi standards, that would have been a waste."

On her part, Samka couldn't comprehend a lightsaber taking a secondary role to any other weapon in an arsenal. To entertain the thought felt almost blasphemous to her. But she supposed that's why she was the Ren and not the soldier of the two. Logically speaking, there was tactical merit in the Stormtrooper's words. "So you'll want something good for short bursts, appropriate," Samka nodded. "In a prolonged duel against a Force User, you would be at a heavy disadvantage."

"Tell me," Sam waved her hand, calling on the Force to open one of the crates on the warehouse. From within the crate floated out three spherical training droids which hovered over the head of [member="Rexus Wenck"] almost threateningly. "Did you plan on using this weapon defensively at all?" The Ren asked.

 

[Rexus Wenck]

"Well, I kinda knew that," Rexus said, regarding her comment about force users being at the advantage, "But fact is, is that if I learn to be half way decent with this thing, I can catch a Jedi by surprise," He began, "And if I manage to be able to do that, then karking hell, if I'm good enough, I could probably kill the bastard with a quick one-two." He gestured this by raising his fists, and launching two devestating uppercuts at unseen opponents. "Cos, let's face it, us stormtroopers, other than the sonic rifles, we're not really equipped to fight Jedi at close range."

When the crate opened and the training probes came out, Rexus eyed them cautiously, he activated his training blade and nodded. "Kark yeah." Rexus said, "Imagine being able to deflect blaster fire." He said with a wide grin, "I could be nearly invincible if I play my cards right." He added with a smirk, "So, I've seen some movies, like the Last Dinner At Oharu Ranch, and know what these things do. When do they turn on?"

[member="Samka Derith"].

 

[Samka Derith]

"Probably kill them, hm?" Sam looked Captain [member="Rexus Wenck"] up and down. "You think it will be that simple? You may be a skilled soldier but a Jedi is something never to be underestimated. If you do not understand this then I am wasting my valuable time training a man who shall lie dead within a minute of encountering his foe."

"Deflecting blaster bolts won't be easy for you," she warned. A running theme it seemed. "Typically, the wielder calls upon the Force to guide their movements, to predict and respond to attacks in the blink of an eye. You have no such benefit." She paused to let the meaning behind her words sink in. "It'll be a good job you wear armour on the battlefield," she added. "We'll start now."

With a single nod of her head, she triggered the droids to begin firing. They shifted positions, turning from clean circling to awkward, unpredictable lunges and twirls. Then they would open fire with small stinging bolts aimed at random parts of the Stormtrooper's body.

 

[Rexus Wenck]

"Now?" Rexus began, "Why-" But the stinging began. Wenck ignited the training saber, and stumbled backwards, waving around the lightsaber, as flashes hit his vision, he swung to deflect them. At first there was pain. Excruciating jolts of electricity which jabbed, and hit his nerves in all the wrong ways. But as he felt the pain, the resolve to be better. To become stronger kicked in.

Rexus didn't know how long it took, but he began to deflect the bolts, first, clumsily and landing them in the wall. And then, hitting the drones. It took what seemed an eternity, but Rexus finally finished it. He stepped over the smoking husk of the final training probe, and looked at Samka. His body was coated in sweat, making his body glean in the dim light.

"So, what's next?" Rexus asked, wiping his forehead down with his mechanical mandible. He had a triumphant grin on his face.

[member="Samka Derith"].

 

[Samka Derith]

It felt like hours watching the soldier flounder around with the blade. Perhaps it was. She drummed her fingers together, not quite sure what advice to offer. Normally she'd make remarks about the Force, about the need to immerse one's self in it to truly predict incoming danger or to harness the pain from the training droid's attacks to bolster their power in the Dark Side. But there could be none of that today. She grimaced as the Stormtrooper came perilously close to slicing himself on several occasions.

Instead she remarked on his positioning, how he over lunged, treated the weapon as heavier than it was. There was no chance that he'd be able deflect attacks with the foresight of a Jedi, Ren or Sith through a combination of sharp reactions, skill and sheer dumb luck, the Captain had deflected a few of his enemy's attacks.

Sam watched him panting and sweating, exhausted by such a simple task. "Now," she stated, "I have other business to attend to." Samka walked towards the exit, throwing back the Jedi lightsaber to its owner. "We'll schedule another date at another location to continue now I have an idea of your abilities in person and can more adequately prepare for it." Calling on the Force once more, Samka unlocked the door with a wave of her hand then looked at [member="Rexus Wenck"]. "Any objections, Captain? Feel free to speak your mind."

 

[Rexus Wenck]

"None," Rexus informed her, taking of his singlet, and stretching. "Though, I think I have to ask, is there a shower or something I can clean up in?" He was a rather well built physical specimen. The captain was well built, sturdy. His cold, mechanical arm clashed with the flesh, the dark metal contrasting poorly with tanned muscle and skin. As did the tattoo of a phallus on his right pectoral. His stomach was littered with scars, from surgeries, but mostly from war. The thermal detonator, which tore through his left side left its mark in the form of deep scratches, and burn marks. Although, they were faded, they still were a raw reminder for Rexus of what he had suffered through. Though the arm still showed that, the tenderness of his stomach was something that he held dear.
[member="Samka Derith"].