Kunst des Fechtens

[Cotan Sar'andor]

With Coren's lesson on Force use out of the way, Cotan had been planning on leaving Eira Pechal and getting back to his duties as one of the Outer Rim Coalition's roving Jedi-substitutes. Nearly as soon as he arrived at his ship, though, his droid had told him he had a new message.

From Coren, of all people.

So now Cotan had trudged his way back through the cold to the Jedi Praxeum, walking into a training room, where Coren stood in the center of it. "You called?" the younger man asked, a small grin on his face. "Can't let me leave without giving a personal goodbye, can you? You're too sentimental."

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Starchaser was definitely adapting to the role he had. It’d been a number of years since they had lost Coruscant, but he found himself equally helping the Jedi out on a grand scheme, as well as moving and taking shots. He knew that Cotan had to get out there, keep an eye on things on the Rim, but well, he also knew that he could call on the other any time they needed assistance.

But he wasn’t letting Cotan get out into the world quite so easily. The Praxeum was good, but it was different. It was quiet.

“Well, I really can’t. Someone has to keep the Covenant on the Rim in line. I’ve got some things I need to handle Core-ward before I head back out towards Sullust…” He stated, feeling like he was droning. “But also, you been here too long. You sure you’re ready for duty on the Rim?” He had his lightsaber in hand and a grin on his face.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan's grin grew wider, as he took his own lightsaber in hand. "More ready than you are, old man," he growled good-naturedly. He started walking in a wide circle around Coren, keeping a careful watch on the man. "Are you sure you're up to running around in the Core or on the Rim? Seems like you're generally better off leading classes here in the praxeum, rather than flying around leading raids and sorties." He stopped, activating his blade; its amber glow instantly overpowered the rest of the light shining on Cotan.

"I'll be nice, and let you decide how to start proving it to me," he said, adopting a magnanimous tone. Then he settled into a battle stance, gesturing openly at Coren. "Your move!"

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Old man… He supposed he was entering that realm of the Jedi. But there wasn’t time for him to fully evolve into the leader the Jedi needed. He had [member="Veiere Arenais"] to handle being the respected one, the one who could speak well for all. Coren was a fighter, and he needed to be on the front line. “My classes don’t really help the majority…” Coren grinned for a second. “Its not all Jedi that can do what we do.” The blue bladed saber cracked into existence.

“If I don’t run the raids, who will?”

The saber’s hilt remained the size of a one handed lightsaber. Giving it a twirl in his hand, he stepped for Cotan, coming in for his right side, chest high.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan remained nearly perfectly still as Coren quickly approached, before the older man lashed out with his blade. He brought his own blade up, twirling his wrist as he caught Coren's blade; the blue blade went high and wide, passing completely around its target. Then, with a quick backstep, Cotan returned to his previous stance. "Maybe you should give someone else the chance to lead the raids," he suggested. "Let yourself take a break, for once."

He grinned again, raising his blade back up. There were few things that gave him as much excitement as a duel with live weaponry, be it for practice or for real. "After all, you're going to need to be a lot quicker than you just were to fight the Sith." He quickly advanced forwards, lashing out with his blade; one jab high and to the right, one low and to the left, both feints to draw Coren's attention, before he brought his wrist and arm around, lashing downward with a diagonal cut aimed at Coren's right shoulder.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

As the blades connected, Coren grinned. He wasn’t going for death blows here, but he was going to take the spar and start moving a little bit quicker. He was in probably the most peak he’d been since he left the Alliance for parts unknown for his year of… what was it, sabbatical? Wander? Sojourn? It was what I was, he left, found himself, and returned, with a few new tricks up his sleeve. “Do you know who has the capability to lead strikes like that?” He had a fleet, and a lot of Jedi behind him.

“If I take a break, that pulls me out of the game.”

He shook his head as Cotan came for him. “And I am.” He grinned as he moved his saber, side-stepping the jab, and catching the blade low and eyeing Cotan, feinted a slow rotation, but activated the telescopic handle in order to catch the blade coming for him.

“Not all about speed.”

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan's blade being parried wasn't the thing that bothered him; the manner in which it was done and the words delivered alongside it were. And while Coren may have been a master, that didn't mean he was always right. With the sequence broken, Cotan stepped back, returning to a ready stance. "Tricks like that might come in handy every once in a while," he replied, slowly strafing around Coren again. "But you should know as well as I do that they'll never make up for actual skill."

Just to demonstrate his point, he flourished his blade—far faster than he'd been attacking Coren. "If I was just a hair faster, or your telescoping hilt a little slower, you'd be needing a new replacement arm," he commented. "Footwork, proper body mechanics, and blade work will be more reliable than any technological surprises, in any fight." To say that Cotan was a bit of a purist when it came to dueling would be an understatement.

At the end of the flourish, he shifted into a different ready stance, more akin to that of Soresu than Makashi. "Your move, Starchaser."

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The man was a Jedi sentinel. His skills and abilities were greater with the knowledge he had, and how to eliminate the dark side. Lightsabers and Force powers were one thing, but he had the third avenue of simple tricks and nonsense to help him win the day. It didn’t always work with some of his opponents, so he fell into one side, that of the Force power practice. Light was an effective counter to most dark siders. “Sometimes its just the one thing that throws everyone off balance, brother.”

As Cotan moved and call him out on losing his arm, all Coren could do was grin. “You are the bladesman, my friend.” He moved quickly and Starchaser was only keeping up, barely. He knew where his skills were. The arm was a bit more than met the eye, just like Starchaser.

When he had the turn, he came at Cotan from his right side, hoping to egg the other duelist into going for the cybernetic hand. And if the slash came, Coren would be ready and moving to catch the blade with his hand. A silent statement to say that he was ready for the fight if it came to him.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan's eyes narrowed slightly at Coren's blasé reply. Unlike normal, however, he didn't give a reply himself. He'd seen how the man's arm could take a hit from a lightsaber in previous fights, but it currently seemed like the older man had something else up his sleeve. Or maybe it's actually in his arm. There was no immediate telling. When Coren attacked Cotan from a somewhat different angle than normal, leaving his cybernetic arm wide open, that only cemented Cotan's suspicions.

So, instead of falling into the trap of predictability, Cotan did something abnormal, even for himself. He jumped up and over Coren's weapon, and over the man himself in a quick frontflip. In the middle of the flip, in a maneuver pulled straight from Ataru, Cotan flung out the tip of his weapon for Coren's left bicep. If it connected, it would only be a light, grazing cut—but it would be very painful nonetheless.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

See, that was the trick, in a duel like this you couldn’t really egg someone on. If it was in the field, and there were a handful of lightsabers running around, or blaster bolts firing around, the Jedi knew he could throw the tricks around. But for Cotan, no. The Judge knew too much about how Coren worked and what he was capable of. It was partly why he wasn’t going to be throwing Light around. But he didn’t think it’d even effect Cotan.

Looking at the other as he leapt over him. His lightsaber was not best for attacking a flying target. It was for tripping up someone who had an unbreakable defense. Ataru was definitely different. Faster, harder to pindown. Starchaser did what he could to duck away from the blade, feeling the heat on his robes as he fell into a forward roll. As the man landed, Coren grinned.

Throwing a hand forward, he was reaching to stun Cotan, or at least hold him down for a moment.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan landed deftly, his eyes held firm on Coren's retreat. His blade came close to cutting Coren's arm, but—somewhat thankfully—the only thing that was cut was a small strip of cloth that landed, smouldering, on the floor. He was honestly surprised that the maneuver was successful at all; Cotan never practiced Ataru, and certainly not acrobatic measures like that. Still, against Coren's weapon, it seemed to give a bit of a small advantage.

Before he had time to enjoy the small victory, however, Coren reached out with a hand, and Cotan's limbs began to lock up, refusing to move. Tricky Nerf-herder. Still, without fully defeating him in a battle of wills, Coren couldn't truly stun him, or even slow him down—and Cotan didn't intend to lose that battle. Cotan drew in his own focus, and pushed back, hard; first driving Coren's energy away, and the next with a Force push aimed to send Coren rolling further back. "Two of us can play at that game," he muttered as he did so.

Still, he'd have to close the distance quickly, because he wasn't anywhere near as good with the Force as Coren was.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Starchaser knew that in an all out duel, Cotan was the way to go, and as a result, he was doing his best to keep up, and keep ahead of his longtime friend. The Corellian was more of the one that used the Force in combat, a bit of a blend of bar fighting, barriers, and throwing photonic energy at people. Today that meant Cotan.

But it also meant a bit more than just those. He could delay a person, hold them still and freeze their limbs. A good way to prevent combat was to slow it down, or stop it completely. Hoping to even just get him momentarily stunned, the next moment wasn’t what he was expecting. Cotan broke through it. The push, Starchaser moved his hand to try to block the push, but he caught it on an edge, throwing it partially to the side.

Not completely, and it caused Coren to spin, knocking the blade from his hand. Reaching out for it, he had an eye on the other. Wasn’t like Coren needed a form to fight, he just fought.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Nope.

Cotan knew better than to try and run in at Coren when the man was disarmed; there were too many tricks he had up his sleeve, let alone anything he might try with the Force. However, there was another option he had available. He wasn't without his own few tricks to use, though unlike Coren's style, he didn't rely on them whatsoever.

Still, in a circumstance like this, they would prove quite useful.

He dropped his free hand quickly to his belt, quick-drawing his DE-10 pistol and thumbing off the safety; then he quickly depressed the trigger, sending a flurry of stun bolts flying down range at Coren, while he quickly advanced behind them. Is this what they mean by "covering fire?"

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The Sentinel turned Watchmen had a lot of tricks in his arsenal, and the bigger ones were just starting to show up as he trained more with the Force. From his implants and cybernetic repairs, to the weapons he carried, he was always working to get one up on a foe if he could. It’d help because in a straight-up fight, it was hard for Starchaser to take the licks and give it all back. Maybe with the Force.

But against Cotan, he had a feeling that wasn’t going to work.

As the stunbolts came forward, Coren turned, not using the Force to block them, he was going to pull the energy from them. Tingling more than kill-shots, which he was well versed in, the stunshots were definitely slowing him down, almost causing feedback to what he was expecting to deal with. Shaking his head, the Jedi Master could feel his pool growing, and he stepped forward hand glowing from the Force, making an attempt to swing a spar-strength, albeit Force enhanced punch at Cotan’s chest.


[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]