Public LOTS │ Tenets of the Lightsaber (Open to all Sith)

[Arcturus Dinn]

The temptation to just kick the boy in the face was high.​

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Had it been anyone else he was sparring he might have. But given what the two had just been through, and the scolding received for straying too far from the lesson's point, he did not.​

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And the way he had launched himself up planted both feet firmly on the ground.​

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No, he was struck against both ankles by the boy who had crouched down. Training sabers or no, it hurt like nobody's business to have each struck in such a way, left then right, and when the motion was finished he stepped back and winced, light of foot but unable to really ease the pressure on either without succumbing to further pain in the other.​

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It wasn't the time to fall back entirely, though. If he gave Rax an inch he felt sure the boy would keep going, so instead he brought his blade down from the upper reaches toward Rax's head, in a manner similar to a Djem So practitioner. If nothing else he hoped it would tempt the boy into giving him the room he sought, into resetting the stage to so speak.​

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Rax Tremira ​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

It wasn't fear that filled her eyes as she found herself helplessly lifted in the air. Annoyance. Anger. Not at Darth Empyrean , but at Darth Arkanus and The Asphodel . The Lord just finished telling them they needed to take advantage of surprise. They should of jumped in as soon as she did, if they truly wanted to take the lesson to heart. And yet, she was left hanging. Literally.

She struggled, but avoided trying to use the training saber. At this point she needed to avoid angering him anymore than she already had. When she was finally let go she stumbled, coughing and gasping for air. Any longer and it might of actually knocked her out. At least the bruises were already starting to heal. Alina rubbed at her throat before pushing her way back to her feet, groaning lightly.

"This time don't hesitate." Her voice rasped out as she lifted her saber back up and ignited the blade.

 

[Chasianna]

Location: The Royal Academy of Korriban
Equipment: White Sith Robes │ Miniaturized Double-Bladed Spinning Lightsaber │ XXXS Training Saber
Tags: Grundark (Focus) Darth Empyrean

The First Sister sailed down to the ground, her blade striking dead air as the massive beast dashed out of the way of her strike with a sudden application of Force. Just after she landed, the Cragmoloid moved to bring his blade down on top of her, followed immediately by his entire mass. Bright cyan eyes went wide upon realizing Grundark’s play, but the Sister did not hesitate in throwing herself out of the way, channeling the Dark Side within her body to lend her legs a blistering burst of speed to evade the Cragmoloid’s body by mere inches as he crashed to the ground with a booming vibration.

From there, the Sister did not wait for the beast to push himself up from the ground. Now more than ever, the square-cube law would likely work in her favor, her small size lending her a higher power-to-weight ratio that allowed her to quickly recover from her maneuver and climb on top of the beast’s fallen form. Then, pressing her weight on top of her partner’s upper spine, the tiny Qilin pulled up her robes and straddled both of her legs to either of the Cragmoloid’s thick neck.

Dark energy spewed forth from the font of pain and anger within, lending the Qilin one last infusion of power as power was channeled into her body to amplify her physical strength far above what she could harness without. Then, with a savage cry, the tiny Sithling began to squeeze her thighs around the neck of the beast in an effort to cut off his air and force a surrender...

 

[Grundark]

With a laugh he put his hands under him to push himself back up when he felt her legs move around his neck. It was a good move, but his biggest issue was how to counter it without hurting her. He could simply stand then slam on his back, but with her injuries he wasn't sure how badly that might hurt her. Well, he suppose there was no choice about it now he had to do something.

Reaching up he grabbed her thigh in his hand and as his breath stopped he squeezed on her thigh. Pulling on the force he strengthened his grip prepared to crush the very bone within if necessary for a moment. Then he simply stopped, and nodded around her legs. She'd capatilized one a move of his own, and had put herself in a good position. If this was real combat he would have punted her not fallen on her. He'd screwed up because he'd been trying not to permanently damage her.

It seemed like that was the best decision on the surface, but was it? Would another monster in combat have spared her? Of course not he'd done them both a disservice. So now instead he'd literally rip her leg off and throw her around like a rag doll because she had played to her strengths? Patting her leg he gave her the point of the round. He'd lost because he'd underestimated her due to size and held back.

Coughing for a moment he drew in a deep breath from his trunk before he laughed. "Well played, friend, you're an honor to your herd. Another round?"

Chasianna

 

[Darth Empyrean]

As each of the students lowered themselves, Maliphant couched the force pike into his armpit letting the blade lazily graze across the ground in front of him - as if to make a scorched durasteel line in the sand. Back and forth it would swing, taunting them as it did so; all while the Sith Lord kept a straight face. His eyes danced between them, waiting to see who would make the first move.

"Spend to long planning, and you'll lose the advantage of coordination.", he said plainly.

The blade snapped up and forward as Maliphant brought his front leg up - leaning out to force the dark sided blade directly at Darth Arkanus . It was slower than he normally fought, as they needed a chance to raise their confidence to succeed, but it was fast enough to test the limits of Dral's reaction. Instant, surprising, Maliphant hoped he had done it just fast enough to force him on the back foot, but just slow enough he could still dodge it - assuming he was paying attention, and ready.

As the staff hit its maxima, Maliphant snapped it back to where it was, couched in his armpit as he balanced on his back leg - the other raised with a black boot waiting for the first of them to approach. A taunt, but a ready position for the Sith Lord regardless.

Darth Arkanus │ Alina Tremiru │ The Asphodel

 

[The Asphodel]

SOUND OF SILENCE
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When it came time to change partners, Asphodel gave a nod of acknowledgment to his first sparring partner. Chasianna had given him a taste of a challenge, a pleasant surprise in comparison to what he'd been expecting. As new instructions came about though, the grin on his face could only be described as wicked.

"Three on one Ma-Darth Maliphant? Hardly fair for-" the screams from another pair's exchange cut him off, interfering with his systems enough to leave him stunned. With a pained grunt, a hand raised to behind an ear where a cochlear implant dug into his skull. A moment later, the pain faded, his world now reduced to silence. It was an unideal situation, especially if they'd been on a mission where awareness was key, but for now it at least left him able to focus on the task at hand.

Readying himself, pausing for a moment to lip-read before being spurred to action by Maliphant's sudden lunge, he cast a quick look at the others as he moved. One hand reached out as if to pull his master's balancing leg out from underneath him while his other hand swung with the training saber, aiming for Maliphant's midsection. Whether or not he backed off or continued the assault on balance, he'd leave up to his current allies' actions.

Darth Arkanus | Alina Tremiru | Darth Empyrean ​

 

[Darth Arkanus]

With a sudden movement Dral stepped back just moving out of the way for the blade that was coming straight for him, jumping up into the air in the blink of an eye, kicking out towards Darth Empyrean sending a rush of the force towards him before he landed, setting his feet on the air. Damn that was fast, If I hadn't been channeling the force as I had I would've definetly not had a good time there. Dral thought to himself as he took a deep breath focusing back up.

It had been a long time since Dral had been in a duel like this, luckily this was only a spar, and things shouldn't get out of hand.... at least too much. Maliphant had many years on all of them of intense study of the force and lightsaber combat, and with his unique blade this would definitely be an interesting combat. Dral knew that to even stand a chance of staying at the same pace as the Darth they would need to work to each other's strengths.

Alina Tremiru had been right, they couldn't waste their surprise, and with Maliphant making the first move they had most definitely lost it. Next to him The Asphodel was attempting to use the force on the Darth in front of them. Seeing this as at least somes sort of opening Dral made his way in swinging towards the blade-side of this torso. Attempting to force him to have defended his weak side.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina took a breath, still herself as she watched Darth Empyrean surge forward with his first strike. It was over in an instant, Darth Arkanus barely getting out of the way. Faster than she could react. Matukai had made her fast, but against a Sith Lord? They'd certainly need to work together. But how? They barely knew one another, let alone how to fight together. They were more likely to get in each others ways, which only put them at more of a disadvantage.

And they both went in close. Her brow furrowed as she watched The Asphodel and Dral rush for the Lord together. She'd certainly get in the way if she joined them. So, maybe she could help in her own way. She reached a hand up, focusing on Maliphant. Her ability usually created a field of dead energy around her, but did that mean she couldn't target it?

No better time to test it out. She had no dreams of severing the Lord from the Force, but she might be able to mute him enough to give the other two a chance. She focused only on that, her brow furrowing with concentration.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

The pull from The Asphodel was targetted at his leg, and Maliphant would do nothing to stop it from pulling him - rather expecting his one leg to be targetted. Balancing on the one leg was a clear 'weak point' in his stance, so playing into the pull was easy since his muscles were already prepped for it. As the one leg was swept out from under him, he would let it swing up and around with the force the pull into a kick - aiming it directly at his apprentices chin. Fast, it was fully intended to interrupt his midsection strike - and while his intention was to reinforce it with the Force to toss the apprentice back, he could feel the sudden draw on his power. It would still be enough to interrupt Asphodel, but the unexpected support from Alina had dulled his kick's sharpness.

As the kick moved, he brought his spear down and back - letting the handle of it work like a baton to block the strike from Darth Arkanus . I was quick with minimal effort - but Maliphant wasn't in a position to strike back against him, lucky for the Zabrak; his attention suddenly pulled the single acolyte not directly engaged with him at that moment. Using the encouraging power of the staff, Maliphant lifted a hand and pulled Alina Tremiru with a startling force, hoping to throw her directly into Dral, hopefully sending them both away from him so he could deal with one of them at a time.

"Keep up the pressure.", he offered them as he grounded his stance once more, twirling the staff in a juyo flourish.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

It was working! Only a bit, but it was still doing something! Alina was plety surprised by this, though it wasn't a very long believed boost of confidence. She singled out Darth Empyrean , but that meant she wasn't able to protect herself. She could only blink as she was helplessly thrown towards Darth Arkanus . She did what she could to try and lessen the impact into her horned ally, but there wasn't much she could do.

When she did recover from the throw she sprang up immediately, saber reignited. Focus back on the Lord. They couldn't afford a moments rest. Not here. But she also wanted to avoid stumbling over one another. So she waited. She was the fastest of the three, of that she was sure. So when Dral and The Asphodel struck, she'd find her own openings to sneak in her own strikes.

 

[Darth Arkanus]

He felt his foot connect with Darth Empyrean 's staff as he landed at his feet. Watching as the man suddenly lifted his fellow acolyte Alina Tremiru and threw her towards him. His eyes flashing towards the incoming flurry jumping above the woman flying towards him. I have spent more time in the air today avoiding weird bantha crap in these spars than actually hitting things with my lightsaber.

Landing he would not let the moment go, his saber slicing towards the Darth aiming for the side where his saber was attempting to force him on the defensive with the weak side due to the fact that is where he held his staff primarily.

Backing off he leapt up and sent two kicking motions towards the man, sending two powerful pushes with the force against the man. The feeling of emanating from the staff filling his senses as he continued his attacks with the acolytes around him, hoping that Alina and The Asphodel would be able to capitalize on his attacks.

 

[The Asphodel]

CONTINUED ASSAULT​

He saw the boot coming his way, should've anticipated it too, but already locked into his attack he could only grimace and bear it as the boot made contact with his jaw, effectively shifting his intended strike from midsection to middle of nowhere. Still, he'd consider himself lucky, taking a kick to the face over a collision with the other acolytes.

A quick shake of the head did well to reorient himself, spitting out a chip of a tooth in a combination of saliva and blood before diving back in for more. If there were words to be exchanged, they were lost on him. While Alina Tremiru took to a calculated waiting and Darth Arkanus pressing both by blade and by force, the Teevan jumped back into the fray with renewed vigor. His systems calculated and suggested "optimal" routes to take, many of which he ignored.

It was a full court press. Stay close, stay fast. When Dral swung his blade one way, he went the other and if Alina joined in on the onslaught, he'd aim to time with her attacks, too. All with the intention to not give Darth Empyrean a chance to do anything more than block their attacks.

 

[Chasianna]

Location: The Royal Academy of Korriban
Equipment: White Sith Robes │ Miniaturized Double-Bladed Spinning Lightsaber │ XXXS Training Saber
Tags: Grundark (Focus) Darth Empyrean

Upon feeling Grundark’s paw tap on her thigh, the Sister relented, her muscles relaxing as the Dark energy she had channeled into her body retreated back from whence it came. Her anger dissipated into exhaustion, forcing her onto her knees after climbing down from the beast’s neck. Fortunately, one of the medical droids was quick to detect her injuries, administering a pair of bacta injections before she was even aware of what was happening. After coughing out what was left of the blood in her lungs onto the ground, the Sister glanced at the laughing Cragmoloid, unable to restrain a smile as he congratulated her.

At the proposal of another round, the Sister was initially hesitant, but bacta was very much a miracle medicine. As such, she quickly began to feel better, enough to perhaps engage in another round, albeit by no means close to one-hundred percent.

“My herd? Well, why thank you.” She answered shyly, scratching her head as an endeared expression came over her pale features. “I think I can handle another round.” The Sister added, pushing herself up back on wobbly feet as a beeping cleaning droid arrived to clean up her blood from the floor. “I presume that this time, you won’t go so easy on me, hmm?” She teased, before taking up her training lightsaber once more.

 

[Rax Tremira]

Absolutely not! As his saber struck at the ankles of Thesh, he would move to his full height, attempting to deliver another power-filled blow at Thesh's saber. If successful, or not; he wouldn't press the advantage. He had struck at the other support. Even with training sabers, Rax knew an attack like that hurt. Perhaps he should've took his time from here on out. As such, he would stalk Thesh. Maintaining a perfect distance at all times from the other. If they approached, he would fall back. If he moved to retreat, Rax would follow. For now, he would pick at the others defenses until a proper avenue presented itself.

Again, his heart was beating, mind ticking at the ways he could get into the others guard and deliver a good shot. Blissfully unaware that the other had contemplated letting Rax taste his boot. In fact, Rax would've been upset to learn that Thesh had held back. He didn't want it to be easy, he wanted to earn his victory. For now, he would allow the other just a moment to recuperate. Thesh could consider it Rax paying him back for Thesh's guidance just a moment ago.

 

[Grundark]

It was only while she was getting seen to by the medic that Grundark realized the extensive wound on his chest. One look at the ground showed it too. Where his chest had hit the floor was more then a simple smearing of blood. Velok Brokentusk had done a number on it, and without the Force blotting out the pain it was quite the noticeable wound.

Of course it was all a circular situation, even as his battle lust ended the pain created other power which the Cragmoloid let beat like a war drum in his ear and cut out the pain once more. Drawing into himself a dark rage like thunder clouds on the distance he prepared himself for the next round as Chasianna returned. "Easy on you? HA! No that wasn't easy on you merely foolish on my part. I worried too much over your wounds crippling my own attacks instead of just calling over the medic. Ah well, we all still have much to learn it seems."

Pulling the force in settled it into his skin strengthening it as he waited patiently. She was a small blur, and a fireball. Instead of chasing he would turn into a stone wall, conserve his energy. "You're a brave one indeed with your wounds, you're a fine warrior. It's been a pleasure to spar with you." They'd both been good engagements, and despite the fact that both of them weren't actually with the Lords he was pleased they'd come.

Chasianna

 

[Darth Empyrean]

The three grew in aggressive coordination with every strike - attempting to use their strikes as traps. Where one would strike, the next would come from the other side in an attempt to restrict his options; most notably he could see it with The Asphodel attempts to time their strikes with Alina, coming directly opposite of Dral. For most, it likely would have been enough to stop them - but Maliphant had years of experience over them.

Still, if they were able to look close enough they could see the smallest tinge of a smile on his lips as his staff struck out.

Dral, committing to the same strike as before - or close to - found the heel Maliphant's staff bearing down on him. It'd lock with his saber, only for the Impervium spike to slide down his blade to slam into his chest as the other end of the staff moved to catch The Asphodel 's blade. A quick catch turned to a quick strike as he pulled the staff away from Darth Arkanus only to slam the lit saber end into Asphodel's neck, then the back slammed again into Dral's Chest.

That was, leaving of course, Alina - who of the three seemed to bide her time with explosive speed. While the others created the distract, complimented it, Alina once more sought to take Maliphant by surprise with the opening to his lower body. Staff raised high, she rushed up from the ground to meet him with saber extended in a stabbing motion - but there would be a brief moment where she could see Maliphant watching her.

The saber would miss only slightly as the Force drove it just barely enough out of the way to strike Malphant's robe, turning its frayed edges to ash, but she would only meet a solid knee with her chin. Maliphant quickly backed away from them to keep them on one side - but the message was clear. They had just come very close to striking Maliphant with a strike that mattered; only stopped due to Maliphant offering them a slightly larger glimpse at his overall reserves.

"Very good.", he said to the three as he moved to keep them in front of him - saber pike pointed outwards to the first that would come towards him.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

And just like that, the one true strike he'd made throughout his spar with Rax went nowhere.​

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Saber locked with saber as the boy swiftly rose up, and the Lorrdian could feel the rumblings of the darkside worming its way throughout him. That haunting lullaby had returned, flitting around him and filling him with intrigue as it so often did. This time it was Rax who broke off, stalking at just enough of a distance that neither could land a true strike.​

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It was true, he stood on uneasy footing, but Thesh had powered on through far worse. On the edge of the Galaxy, with no allies and no saber to speak of, he'd been put in difficult spots. Yet he had clung on.​

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He would cling on.​

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Without much in the way of warning, he plucked the boy from his spot with a well timed tug of the Force and pulled him into the path of his lightsaber. Though the sabers themselves might have been the focus of their exercise that day, as one who was almost certain their future lay within the realm of Niman it was only a natural response. The Ataru practitioners propelled themselves with the Force, followed through on feats impossible without it, Djem So heightened their physical state, Soresu built a foundation of sense and precognition.​

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Niman?​

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Niman blended it all.​

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It was no Force Scream, that which he utilized was not the sole attack. It simply accompanied it, worked alongside it. Because in the end it was the lightsaber which would be doing the damage.​

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Not the Force.​

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Rax Tremira ​

 

[Rax Tremira]

Rax supposed he had that one coming, considering he had almost deafened not only Thesh, but himself a moment ago. Though, considering the most previous verbal, and metaphysical lashing from Maliphant, it was fair to say he absolutely did not expect Thesh to do what he'd done. It wasn't necessarily a pull, but still Rax noted Thesh's little bout of vengeance. If he was more well trained, he would have used that forward foot that was used to catch himself to catapult himself in the air, and in fact, had be been expecting such a move; he probably could have.

Instead, he was off balance, straightening himself just at the point when Thesh's training saber lashed across the outside of both of Rax's wrists. "Aaaarrrgh!!!" he cried out briefly, the agonizing burning a fair trade. His arms immediately felt rubbery. His nerves again seemed to become slightly dulled. He landed on all fours, the training saber was in his hand, still activated; and in a testament to his mental fortitude, he was aware of the positioning of the person just behind him. A crescent slash was sent back, not even looking at Thesh as he swung the blade again at the others lower portions.

If Thesh was prepared, he could easily disarm Rax by blocking the saber solidly, considering he was barely gripping the saber in the first place after Thesh's attack had landed.

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

And disarm he did, though it was not so effortless an action as it might have been had Thesh even intended for it to happen.​

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He turned as the boy moved past him, propelled by that tug, bringing his lightsaber around with the motion. Sheer dumb luck, that's all it was attributed to, Thesh knew it and no doubt from the look on the Lorrdian's face Rax knew it too.​

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Before the boy could scramble for it, Thesh hastily kicked the damn thing aside and pointed the tip of his saber toward him. His breathing was heavy, his ankles hurt like nobody's business and both ears throbbed mightily. It all made for quite a disorienting soup of sensations.​

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Wary of the fact that the boy might simply recall the saber into his hand, Thesh stepped forward and gently reangled the point of his blade away from him. Then he offered down a hand, a sincere offer to help the lad back to his feet should he will it.​

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Rax Tremira ​

 

[Rax Tremira]

The saber leaving his hand was a point of shock, of course his body tensed immediately; he made a motion for the blade, though it was kicked. Instead, he was left on a knee, at the mercy of his opponent. He expected pain. Expected the other to punish him with the blade, which is (bet your bottom dollar) what Rax would've done had the tabled been turned. Though, it would appear as he had been defeated. To be honest, a few thoughts crossed his mind. Rax could be attributed to something of a pitbull. Knee him in his privates, then go for a headbutt? Drill a foot into his stomach, using his lowered, and smaller form as leverage to flip him over, and hopefully crowning him with the hard floor? There were options....

However, uncharacteristically... Thesh was greeted with the boys hand clasping onto his own. Eyes locking as he allowed Thesh to help him to his feet. A groan released as Rax got up. "That was a dirty trick, Actus, or Arctic... Or whatever your name is" Rax spat the words at him, though out of pure respect for the true nature of fighting, he didn't take it personally; he simply noted it. pulling back his sleeves and observing what would likely be fresh scars on the outer sides of both arms. He balled his fists, looking at the other, then slowly stepped around towards his saber. Oddly enough, his guard hadn't dropped, he was just going with the flow that Thesh had presented with him assisting the boy to his feet.

All the same, Rax did count this as a defeat.