Practice Never Hurt Anyone

[Darlyn Excron]

It was somewhat amusing really, a year or two ago and Darlyn would've been hunting a Jedi, fully intending to put a bolt through their head, take a picture, and collect payment. Now? He was sitting in the Illaria woodlands, not terribly far from Commenor's new Force Praxeum, waiting for a Jedi to come for a friendly sparing match. Of course the darksider was heavily suspicious, Jedi weren't known to be fond of those cloaked in darkness such as himself, but the man clad in Desperado armor hardly felt afraid.

On his hips were his weapons, the blaster and drifter shotgun having been left behind to save on space and show his goodwill. He didn't wear the helmet, letting his face and scarred neck remain visible, but had his hat on to cover the mess of red hair. After a while, he heard the sound of approaching individuals, and felt the growing presence of someone wrapped in light. The man nodded, and rose to his feet to welcome them, hopefully without issue.

[member="Piper Lovelady"]

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Piper would have been invited to a friendly sparing match, she put much thought into whether or not to attend this duel. This man was a known darkside user but she had a good feeling, so she decided to go. She would put on her white robes with gold leafing and make her way to the meeting location, she had her saber on her belt

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn offered a tip of his hat as she approached. "Welcome to Commenor, I hope the hike's been pleasant. It's a bit out of the way I know, but the woodlands are a lovely place for a friendly bout." He chuckled a bit, rubbing his wrists. He'd kept his weapon systems equipped, the flame launcher and missile launcher, but did opt to leave them completely un loaded. It'd be pretty pointless for this bout. "Well, name's Darlyn Excron. And yours?" Very calmly he unclipped his lightsaber, made of old spare parts it appeared, and held it calmly in his left hand, deactivated.

[member="Piper Lovelady"]

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

"It is a lovely place for sure" She said looking about thinking a good friend of hers would love this place, as the man unclipped his saber she would look at it, it didn't look impressive but she knew not to judge the duelist by the weapon. "The name's Piper." She said taking her hood down, most people looked at her like she was a monster because her lacking of coloring. She would also unclip her saber with its strange shape and ignite it holding it in a form II salute

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn chuckled, nodding his head. He didn't seem at all shocked by her appearances, though to be fair his best friend for a time was a herglic. So it wasn't like he was one to stick to the usual company anyways. He lowered his weapon, igniting the yellow blade and holding it in a Nimanlow-guard stance. Of course, he'd set the weapon to practice settings. It'd be stupid not to, after all. "Feel free to go all out, I've got plenty of practice fighting Jedi in the past." He smiled, and slowly moved into a more comfortable combat stance.

And by comfortable, that meant his lightsaber held firmly but visually loose by his side, with his left hand completely free. He wouldn't open up the attack, he wanted to see how refined her Makashi was first.

[member="Piper Lovelady"]

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Piper would move forward, and make her first move, a stab at his midsection. She was just toying with the man for the moment being, her dueling skills were often compared to those of the long dead Jedi turned Sith Count Dooku, she was truly a master of Makashi. She also wanted to get a feel for how refined his form was

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[Darlyn Excron]

With his weapon down by his side, it was a simple matter to step to the left, and raise his weapon to deflect the almost playful thrust to the side. The blade went up to deflect the blow, meaning his arm was still retaining its mostly comfortable position, making it easy for him to make his own counter. He stepped inside and drew his arm back slightly, and made a swing for her waist. The attack wasn't meant to hit, but to force [member="Piper Lovelady"] back a few steps. Darlyn's varient of Niman was all about minimalist moves and practicality, as his swift, and simple movements made evident already.

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Piper would see the style he practiced was all about simple movements, as he swung for her waist she would step back and parry his blade with her own. She would then step forward, and she would make a very precise slash towards his leg. She expected him to begin to strike at her with very very heavy strikes, she had dueled form v before and she had beaten it before.

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Of course while Darlyn borrowed heavily from form V and VII, especially with the focus on heavy strikes, the true advantage was his form VI's focus on including the force in combat. So as he preformed a low guard to protect his leg, the blade angled downward, he summoned up the force in his left hand. He could feel the heat almost radiating off their blades, and he was grateful Makashi wasn't known for heavy swings. Had she done one, he'd have had to use both hands to stop it.

Instead, he was able to extend his hand outward, and send a force push at her. "Very very nice. I haven't fought a Makashi user that understood the form's purpose this well in a long while."

[member="Piper Lovelady"]

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

She would feel this force push but it wouldn't move her far, she had experienced a lot more than that. "Why thank you, I have studied all of the forms." She said. She would then step back forward and make her move. She was going to continue stalling him until she either found his weak spot which she normally did or utilize Soresu and wait him out til he tired. She would make a slash at his chest with one hand and force push him with the other.

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"You'd be amazed how much I learned by simply watching and never getting properly trained." He managed to catch her slash again, but it left him open to the push, which sent him back much further than his had with her. Of course, most Jedi and Sith now would incorporate force into combat, he hadn't expected her to do so however. Makashi users tended to have that flaw in his experience, all sabers, no variety. "Good hit there, my turn."

This time, when he summoned up the force in his left hand, rather than the telekinetic abilities of Jedi, it was the crackling energies of lightning. The arcs of energy wrapped around his arm, before he sent them shooting forward at her. If she was able to block the ability, she'd find it surprisingly strong, as it was boosted by his possession of Exar Kun's lightsaber (Though she wouldn't know that bit). And if not, well he'd quickly release it, and give her little more than an annoying shock if he could. Practice makes perfect.

He made his way towards [member="Piper Lovelady"], raising his weapon and making a strong, overhead swing down at her, regardless of if she blocked, avoided, or was shocked by his short, momentary burst of lightning.

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Piper was momentarily in awe at the power, as he went for the overhead strike she saw the lightning. In that moment she would make her decisions, she would step back to avoid the strike, she would also lift her weapon and block the lightning, it was difficult but she did it. SHe would then step forward and using the force to boost her speed she would make two strikes quick as lightning, one for his stomach and the other for his shoulder

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[Darlyn Excron]

One strike he could manage, two? It was going to strain him. His arm had gone through, having hoped to force her into a contest of strength, and was only in a position to deflect the stomach strike. However... grabbing his second weapon with the force, the blue blade (again set to practice mode) ignited with a hiss, catching and causing the second strike to instead graze his shoulder as he moved it up. He winced in pain, as he stepped back. Two blades now, if anyone doubted he was a genuine form VI user, now was the time to cast them aside. "You're very quick. I can appreciate that. Sorry I spoiled the surprise, Niman has many uses, I had hoped to show off more single blade work first. Oh well."

Something he used, though hardly practiced. Jar'kai combat was exceptionally difficult, but not hard to understand. Overwhelming offensive. And that's what he intended to do. Poor [member="Piper Lovelady"] would have to deal with him coming at her full strenght. The blue Blade in the left, the yellow in the right, as they came at her one after the other. Truthfully it wouldn't take much to stop him, a thrust at his midsection would force him to disable his attack.

But with the blue sweeping left to right, and the yellow coming in from above, she had to choose quickly.

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

As Piper grazed his shoulder and the second blade was pulled she would think of the duels she had with people using two blades, that wasn't many, but she believed she could hold her own. She would see the two blades coming, she would have to switch to Soresu more likely than not. She Would sidestep the blade coming in from the top and block the blade coming left and right. She would slash attempting to take his shoulder

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn planted his heel and turned sharply inwards towards [member="Piper Lovelady"], the clear and evident joy of having a decent opponent evident in his smile. He raised Exar's lightsaber to block the strike, and ignited the second blade as he continued moving around her blade. It caught the edge of his arm as he spun the second blade, which went in the reverse of the usual position, to strike at her head, followed by finishing the spin with the yellow blade cutting at her waist.

He began to breathe a little bit, having exerted himself to keep the momentum. "Lovely footwork, absolutely stellar. You're quite the duelist."

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

"Why thank you, it has been my focus, you aren't too bad yourself." She said, she would then jump but not high enough to clear the saber, it hit her ankle, she would cringe in pain as she came back down she would fall but get back up, regaining her footing she would decide she needed to get inside of his guard to win this duel

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn did not intend to make such a task easy. He was growing tired, and it was beginning to show. Perhaps it was the glancing blows, but he'd already exerted a lot recently and this was hardly simple for him. He gave Exar's saberstaff a twirl, it's two blades creating a circle of energy as it gave off the malevolent energies instilled in it by the old sith lord himself.

He had to be rather aggressive to win this. He deactivated the reverse blade, and swung both his lightsabers upwards, creating an X shape, before swinging them together in from both sides like a pair of scissors at her midsection. It left him wide open to counter attacks, but his hope was she would be too busy on the defensive.

[member="Piper Lovelady"]

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Piper could tell he was getting tired, it showed on his face as well as his actions showed this. She would know that he was about to get very aggressive to try to win this fight. As he began to swing the saberstaff she would back up a little, then as he swung in the x formation she would circle him. As he made the scissors for her midsection she would panic a bit, then she remembered what her master had told her, trust the force, let it guide your feet. If you do then you will be the best duelist ever known. She thought on these words and in that moment let the force guide her. She would end up using her very quick reflexes and ducking under his blades and attempt to cut his legs

[member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[Darlyn Excron]

In that moment he felt the pain of her blade striking his legs (or well, his left one), and realized he wasn't likely to win if she escaped the position she was in. But, she'd ducked down, and with his armor mainly consisting of beskar he could justify a retaliating blow. So, he spun the blades down, and attempted to thrust the blades into her back from above. If she managed to escape, he'd have to jump back, in the event she still went on the offensive.

[member="Piper Lovelady"]

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Piper was tired, she would try to leap backwards but wouldnt make it out of the way in time, his blades would slice her back, she would scream but then roll over backwards and regain her feet. She knew this wasn't going to end pretty, but she kept on the attack, she would slash at his shoulder towards his neck not leaving herself open for a retaliation

[member="Darlyn Excron"]