Private Showing the Ropes

[Darth Strosius]

Before he could pull his blade back from it's thrust he found it locked in place between the two blades of the Acolyte, a look of surprise crossing the masked Sith's face for a moment at the sight. Alisteri's inexperience with dual blades was beginning to rear its head. Not that he was going to admit it or act like it of course, not yet anyway.

He hardly noticed the foot movement until he glanced down and saw the attempted sweep to knock him off balance. With a shift to put his weight on his back foot he lifted up his front most one to avoid the sweep, kicking forward towards the Acolyte's stomach in an attempt to push Lukas back and gain some distance.

Lukas

 

[Lukas]

As his foot missed its target, Lukas’s eyes widened, the major flaw in his plan becoming even more obvious as he was unable to move his blades in time to react. The Acolyte tensed his stomach a moment before the impact, which did little to help him. While him tensing stomach had prevented him from being winded entirely, he still coughed and spluttered, stepping back away from the knight.

“Close.” He said, before once again making his way towards the knight, his right blade hovering around his stomach, where he had just been kicked. Once he got closer to the Knight, he pushed off hard from his back foot, dashing forwards and closing the remaining distance much quicker. He was more explosive and wild in his movements than he had in any prior attack, slashing his left blade straight downwards, aiming to catch it on top of the Knights left shoulder.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The kick proved to be the right course of action, with Alisteri quick to reset his stance and bring his blade back to a more defensive posture while the Acolyte stepped back. "Always be wary of your opponent's limbs and opportunities. Good attempt with the sweep though, I've seen far too many Sith rely on their blades alone to carry them through a fight."

He tensed as Lukas moved forward again and he prepared himself to fend off whatever assault was coming his way. The quick charge did catch him off guard somewhat but his reactions were quick and decisive, swinging his own blade upwards to deflect the left blade coming down on him while his right leg lashed out in a kick aimed towards the other Sith's knee.

Lukas

 

[Lukas]

The Knight’s blade clashed with Lukas’s, knocking it upwards and of course. He planted his feet firmly onto the floor upon being parried, frowning as his shoulder jolted upwards uncomfortably from the impact of the clash. His eyes glanced downwards, having noticed no attempts to counter from the blade, noticing the kick just about in time. He raised his own leg slightly, so that the Knights foot smashed into his shin, as opposed to its original target. While this did cause the Acolyte to let out a stream of sounds that sounded vaguely like any kind of words, mainly just insulting the Knight in various ways, as a kick to the shin was never a nice thing. However, as it hit his shin, and not the knee, his balance wasn’t horrifically impacted, more of just inconvenience, as when he replanted the leg, he hobbled on it slightly.

Once again, as he had done many times prior, his right blade was simply thrust forward towards the Knights stomach, however this blade did seem to be fueled by his annoyance and discomfort caused by the kick to his shin.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

A satisfied smirk adorned his face as his kick connected, albeit not with the intended target, and the blade was deflected away. The string of expletives that followed was merely the cherry on top as it were. Nonetheless Alisteri once again adopted his defensive stance quickly as the Acolyte replanted his foot, still not going back on the offensive just yet. He still had a lesson to teach after all.

The simple thrust didn't seem to worry him at all as his reaction consisted of merely tensing up and, rather than try to parry or block it, leaping to the side in an attempt to dodge the thrust altogether. At the same time he swung his blade in a wide arc aiming right for Lukas's torso. It was a little risky, but if it paid off then it would be worth it.

Lukas

 

[Lukas]

After the stab attempt had failed, the Acolyte backed up, although it was more of a hobble backwards, his eyes widened at incoming slash. “Damn.” He muttered, his left blade slashing across towards the incoming blade. Over the course of the fight, the Acolytes physical conditioning, or lack of, had increasingly become an issue, his breaths becoming more and more laboured, and this was beginning to catch up with him in a drastic manner. Despite his attempt to parry the blade, he missed, but his clumsy movements managed to position him so that the blade slashed across his shoulder, mirroring the hit that the Acolyte had landed on the Knight earlier on in the spar.

Lukas hobbled even further back after having taken the shot to his shoulder, resetting his stance, a flash of discomfort coming across his face as he moved his right blade into position. “Shouldn’t of kept up that aggression.” he said, before simply waiting once again, seeing if the Knight would try and keep up the momentum he had created.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Despite having the initiative and already making a strike, Alisteri still didn't follow up and exploit the Acolyte's fatigue or sloppy movements. After his strike managed to land across the other Sith's shoulder he simply pulled back and resumed his stance as he watched Lukas hobble back and do the same. He nodded with the assessment and relaxed, the training weapon dropping back down to his side as he let out a short laugh. "Finally someone who's self aware! And here I thought that all the new Sith were lost causes."

The Knight gave another nod, as if in approval of his own remark. "Alright, I think we can call our sparring session done. With the hits and your heavy breathing, you stand little chance of succeeding against me if I go back on the offensive." As tempting as it was to keep going and knock Lukas down and out of the arena he didn't bother. His point had been proven and beating down Acolytes wasn't necessary for it to be learned. "You showed good promise and even managed to get a hit on me. Now tell me where you think it went wrong."

Lukas

 

[Lukas]

The Acolyte grinned at Alistieri’s words, dropping the two practice blades with a relieved sigh. “Stamina definitely was part of the issue, after I stopped with the forwards planning and just tried to be aggressive, I was already tired by that point so that increased pace worsened matters.” He pulled his sweat soaked fringe off of his face, rolling the shoulder that had been hurt. “I think things also went wrong when I stopped trying to plan my attacks, as that’s where my initial success came from. I also think I should have probably attacked with both blades at once, but that just seems risky to me as it leaves me completely exposed.”


The Acolyte glanced back to the weights he had brought down with him with a frown. “I also forgot about those past the first attack, I’m sure those could have been used.” He paused for a moment, thinking back on the spar. “All things considered, I don’t actually think it was that bad, and I think my style of fighting could work but I’ve just got to keep more of a level head consistently and just get a bit fitter.”

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The masked Knight nodded as he listened to the self evaluation, content to reserve his own judgements until later. All in all Lukas was correct in his assessment of the sparring match and Alisteri was glad for it. Far too many other Sith would fall into arrogance and resentment upon their defeat instead of reflection and improvement. "Very good. Your performance was overall above what I had anticipated, take pride in that. Stamina, especially when going on the offensive and with aggressive tactics, is always a concern. Managing your own body an energy can mean life or death in a fight, even a more experienced and deadly opponent will fall prey to easy mistakes if you can wear them down."

He stepped around the Acolyte as he spoke and idly nudged one of the weights with his foot. "Unexpected actions like using these weights, evading and forcing your enemy to come to you, and careful planning in the heat of battle are all key components to winning your engagements. These things will come in time and with experience. Reflect on how you began failing, on what you could have done differently." He turned back to look at the other Sith and nodded in approval. "There is one final lesson I wish to impart on you before I let you go back to your quarters. Tell me Lukas, why are you here?"

Lukas

 

[Lukas]

The Acolyte nodded to the Knights words, walking back over to retrieve the mask he had thrown aside earlier, pulling it back over his head. He nodded at the man's words, making sure that he would remember to work on his own fitness.

“What am I here for? That’s a broad question…” His voice trailed off, beginning to mull the question over, trying to come up with some kind of answer. He wasn’t entirely sure whether the knight meant here in the literal sense, as in why he was there training or why he was there with the sith at all. The latter seemed more probable, so he decided to go with that question in his answer. “I may be answering the wrong question here, but I don't think there’s any major reason why I’m here. I was discovered to be force sensitive and then taken in. That’s the basis of the reasoning I suppose, but why I want to stay is that discovery was a great opportunity. I want to learn, I want to be strong and I want to.. Well, I want a lot of things.” He shrugged, having no shame in his greed and ambition. “Being around this order seems like a good way to go around that, so that’s why I’m here.”

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

"Hm." That served as his only remark for nearly a minute as he stared at the Acolyte, as if trying to pick apart any hidden or deeper meanings with his gaze alone. Finally though he shifted, planting the training weapon blade down into the arena floor and resting both of his hands on the hilt. "Ambition. Greed. Desire. Anger. These form the core of any Sith's motivation and we all carry them to varying degrees. What many fail to realize in their years as an Acolyte is that these alone mean nothing."

His tone was fairly cold and straightforward, like he was speaking some little known yet important fact and nothing more. "Carnifex, Maliphant, the Worm Emperor, and all those that came before them had the very same core motives. And yet where others have fallen, failed, perished, and the like, they have succeeded. Regardless of how little I approve of them and their ideologies, they stand as some of the most influential and important Sith of our age. So what did they have that you lack? Not in their current states, but when they were little more than fresh faces of the Sith. What made them into the beings they are now? In your opinion."

Lukas

 

[Lukas]

“I’m sure there’s many answers here that I could say, but I’ve got a feeling there’s probably one that you want..” He paused, taking a moment to think about the answer, and as he had said many things sprung to his mind about what he could possibly say, and would probably be correct in saying so but not the answer that the knight was looking for.

“I feel like the answer that you’re looking for is something along the lines of drive, or ambition. They have those traits that you spoke of, but they acted on them more so than any normal sith may.” He stopped talking for a moment, frowning. “Now that I’ve said that, I doubt that’s the actual answer but it’s all that springs to mind at the moment.”

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The masked Knight clicked his tongue and shook his head slowly as the Acolyte answered. "Indeed, you still speak of intangibles and emotions. You have the basic understanding of it all but the basics will only get you so far. Drive and ambition can be conjured up by any Sith worth the name, it is action that separates the ambitious from the successful." To demonstrate his point, Alisteri held the training weapon out by his side. "Take this for instance. On its own it is little more than a piece of junk in the shape of a weapon. Alone it is nothing but an object awaiting something to move it. But when it is wielded,"

He swung downwards and slammed the weapon into the ground, making a noticeable dent in both the floor and the blade. "It becomes a weapon. Something that can be used to kill, maim, bludgeon, and through it being used as a weapon it can serve as a tool of intimidation. Intimidation creates motivation, motivation heralds actions, and actions are what shape the galaxy." The Knight brought the weapon back and laid it over his shoulder as his other hand pointed to Lukas. "Ambition and drive are much the same. Without acting upon them again and again they are little more than common junk. Do you understand?"

Lukas

 

[Lukas]

The Acolyte remained silent for a few moments after the Knight had finished his speech, somewhat annoyed with himself as that was the idea he had wanted to describe, but saying drive was probably somewhat misleading in hindsight. He glanced down towards the dent in the floor, frowning beneath his mask. The Acolyte idly pressed his own foot against the floor, feeling how hard it was.

“Huh..” He let out, before responding to the knight's question. “Yeah, I understand that. I tried to say that somewhat when I spoke about drive, but I suppose that wasn’t the right word. I suppose that can all serve as the emotions to fuel the force or something along those lines? Then utilising that they just continued to work, and work past when others dropped off?”

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri nodded and shifted slightly to prod the dent in the floor with his foot. He was sure that his waste, and protentional destruction, of equipment would probably earn him a reprimand later but he hardly listened to the overseers anyway. They would fix what they could and throw out what they couldn't, and he was far from the first to get rough with the training equipment.

"Indeed, pick your words very carefully Lukas. There are many Sith who don't care to find reasoning in the words of their perceived lessers." As long as the message was understood it hardly mattered either way. "But yes, ambition and emotions are the fuel of our efforts. You must rely not on your willpower alone, but in the strength of your arms and the strategy of your mind to fulfill your ambitions. Make allies, destroy enemies, but above all remember that the Sith are what have given you this chance."

Lukas

 

[Lukas]

“I see.” The Acolyte nodded, continuing to press his foot against the floor for a moment longer, considering the Knights words as he did so. He was ambitious, yes, however now that he was thinking it over, he realised he wasn’t sure what it was he was ambitious for or that he wanted exactly, just that he did want.

“Before I even think about acting in any way, I should probably actually have something more set that I want to strive for. I don’t think acting on that ambition will accomplish anything if I have a goal as wide as ‘I want a lot of stuff’.” He once again paused, continuing to think over the knight's words. “This has given me a lot to think over actually.”

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

"Exactly. Now you're thinking like a proper Sith instead of another faceless Acolyte!" Alisteri had no idea what it was that Lukas would be seeking and striving for in his time as a Sith, not that it mattered too much just yet, but he was relieved that such a needed lesson was learned so soon. "Find something to work towards, to fight for, and remember that not all paths lead to what you want. Not everyone needs to occupy the top seats to enjoy the show as it were."

With that he had said his piece and figured that leaving the Acolyte to think on the lessons today would be for the best. For now at least. He turned and headed back towards the exit of the arena. "Let's put all of this training equipment back where it came from and return to the barracks. I believe you've learned all that I intended to teach you today."

Lukas

 

[Lukas]

“Yeah, I’ve learnt a lot today.” The Acolyte moved back to the spot he had dropped his two training blades earlier, leaning over and retrieving them. Lukas just continued to think, trying to come up with some kind of ambition that he could focus on, and act on. What was it that he wanted? It was useless for him to continue following that general desire that he had, and it wasn't focused enough a goal or desire for him to be able to utilise that in any meaningful way.

As he reached the exit of the arena, he lifted the weights, carrying them back to the training room. “Thanks.” He dropped the weights and training blades off, before beginning to make his way off back towards the hallways.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri set his training weapon back on the rack and lifted the remains of the droid that he had zapped earlier back onto the table with the others of its kind. "Indeed, I believe it was a very productive session. I look forward to seeing how you distinguish yourself from your peers." Most Sith that lacked masters had to learn such key lessons on their own, if they ever did at all.

With any luck, the Acolyte would have in mind exactly what he wanted the next time that they crossed paths. "Remember the code and stay true to yourself Lukas." He wouldn't offer any other proper farewell as the other Sith left, simply waiting in the training room and crossing his arms behind his back. It had been a productive day indeed.

Lukas