Night of Before

[Jairdain]

Technically what she was doing at the moment was beast control and Yuroic figured that out. Holding up a hand when he spoke though, she allowed him the chance to figure out what role each ant had. When he was done, she lowered it and focused on half of the ants. They in their turn started lining up on the ground and apparently waited for something.

"Yes, getting them here to us was beast control. However, now comes the training. As you have felt the tiny minds of these ants, they are an army. You have your allies and I have mine."

He asked how he could command them without it being beast control and he got a smile before she spoke.

"Beast control at its most basic is about the control of a singular mind and being. Battle Meditation isn't about control, but enhancement."

Or demoralising the opposing army.

"What you need to do is focus on their minds and just support them, give them hope in dark situations. At the same time, you need to also work on your enemy. In this example, that would be my small army of ants. I'm not going to get into a battle with you, but with your ants. I think in a real battle, against real opponents, we would have to meet and fight mentally. If this is something you want to learn how to perform in battle, then I think you'll need some additional help in playing mind games."

It wasn't meant to be an insult, but to her it was a statement of truth.

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

Yuroic watched as the group separated into two groups and understood where Jairdain was guiding him. This wasn't a tell them what to do situation, they knew what to do. This was inspire them, motivate them to give their all to the cause. It was interesting and Yuroic mind set about the task, opening his mind to all the ants under his control. He sent a wave of calm and reassurance as he also attempted to strengthen their resolve.

"Hey, I play mind games..." He paused and chuckle. "I don't play them very well but I play them in my downtime during Hyperspace travel and before bed." He was being honest, it was the only form of entertainment that sharpen his mind and intrigued him. He wasn't much of a partyer and didn't find vids that much fun. It was mostly repeats and boring shows. Mind games and reading were things that keep him active but not overly active, it also relaxed him. He attempted to boost the morale of his ants and lower the morale of hers, it was tricky doing the both at the same time. He could tell this was not something one session would suffice.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

"I don't quite think that is quite the mind game I am talking about..."

She said this with a slight smile and a dry tone. This was something Jairdain had almost perfected. Trained as a mentalist, Battle Meditation was a skill she was a master of. Meditation was second nature to her and found it easy to fall into one.

Having said she wasn't going to battle Yuroic in this training, she only found the minds of her ants and focused on them. Sensing a rival army, they formed up and started to attack those of his in front. Not all at once, but in waves.

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

"No? What mind games were you talking about?" Yuroic was genuinely curious as he wanted to practice to get himself ready to use this in a more combat based use.

Before she answered his question, Yuroic noticed that Jairdain had moved her ants into attack positions. He found himself picturing the battle as a leader and through the Force, guided his ants into strong defensive positions, taking the waves of attacks from Jairdain's ants and used their defensive stance as a way to protect their numbers while whittling down the enemy's number. It was support with a boost of morale and guiding their movements to be swifter and better at blocking the opponents attacks.

He was interested in seeing what Jairdain's response would be.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

"There are the mind games you play with people, such as cards or those holo-table games. The mind games I'm talking about are Force related, like mental spars and this...Battle Meditation. You're playing mind games with my army and trying to demoralize them. Same as what I am doing to yours."

She was going to say altering or taking memories away, but that was very close to revealing what she had done to him. Nothing he yet knew about and Jairdain wasn't going to reveal that even accidently.

The ants knew what they were doing, but some of them felt Yuroic's attempt to take their spirits away. Since she wasn't here to fight him so much as teach and guide him, she allowed them to flee from the field of battle. Others of hers though, she kept from being touched and put up some resistance to him. With a small push, she then focused on taking the morale away from his front line defence.

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

"Well hard to spar against others in mental games when you don't have a sparring partner, huh." He gave her a wink but his point was valid, he wouldn't have been able to practice his skills in those areas without a partner to help him improve and push him as he would in return. He could tell that she was hiding something but it wasn't important to the listen so it wasn't something that he was curious to ask about.

His front line got decimated by Jairdain's demoralising tactics, it was difficult to not feel disheartened but losses were inevitable so Yuroic boosted the morale of the ones left. Ones that fled from her group gave him some encouragement as Yuroic stepped up the demoralising of her forces, hoping that if he put in enough effort, her forces being destroyed morally would give his own a better chance. He didn't forget about his own men though as he knew that she was trying to demoralise them so he encouraged them to carry on, to fight for their fallen allies. It was their turn to be on the offensive.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

It was a good thing Jairdain was able to maintain her control on her Meditation and kept her focus on it. However, the words Yuroic said really hurt her. Suddenly she was quite angry with herself. If she had been around, he would have had that sparring partner and she totally blamed herself for everything he had been through.

When she had ended their relationship before, she had felt it had been the right thing to do. Now she totally regretted it. Time couldn't go back though and the mistake would be need to be lived with. There was still a chance to rekindle it though, but it would take time. Just based off their conversations though, she wasn't sure it could ever happen again.

The battle was still going on between their armies of ants. They clashed together again. She had no focused on keeping the morale up with her ants on purpose. It would give Yuroic the opportunity to know what it felt like to actually connect with the enemy. His attempt worked and at that point, the remainder of her army fled and that give him the victory.

"Good job, Yuroic. That was just a start. Hopefully you will be able to do that again and I am always willing to help."

There the offer was out, it would be up to him to contact her again. Even if they never developed anything more than the friendship they had, she would still be there for him.

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

 

[WelshPsych]

The sudden anger emanating from Jairdain was surprising. It took awhile for Yuroic to realise that she was angry at his words and not the match they were having. "Jairdain, calm down. I didn't mean to make you angry about no one being here to teach me these games. Plenty of others in the Order know this power, I just never felt the need to learn till now. Don't be hard on yourself, it's not your fault. The Order just didn't feel like home as it once did." Yuroic knew why she left and while it hurt a short time, still being able to meet and talk made things easier.

"Anyway, you have a life with Commenor, you were helping some Prince right?" He was curious why she'd feel so angry about having a life without him always there. "Believe I heard that you were engaged to him. Were you able to located him after the rebellion?" Yuroic had found her crying for losing her fiance during the Sith Invasion. The game had been his but he wanted to make sure that Jairdain was alright and not returning to her drinking ways again.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

That wasn't why she was angry, but Yuroic couldn't know that. He requested she calm down and not feel angry.

"Much easier said than done. My time with the Sith did teach me how to express my emotions and not box them away until later. I do understand about the Order not feeling like it was the home it was. Probably why I moved away. However, there are a few friends I have that keep me tied here."

He was one of them and Asaraa was the other.

"Yes I was the advisor to the Crown Prince, but he's disappeared. No, I never did find him and he is still missing. The engagement is off though. If he does come back...he's going to not be the same man."

Jairdain had gone further than just drinking in those days. Only one person knew exactly what she had done and been through and she intended to keep it that way. One person can keep a secret...tell anybody else and it is no longer secret.

[member="Yuroic Xeraic"]