So How Good Are You With a Blade Again?

[Camellia Swift]

@Valara Tiall

Well seeing as how they were both in the Rendili Defense Forces, Camellia Swift saw no reason for her to not meet her fellow officer and get to know her better. Although perhaps one could say that selecting the training room within Rendili's military academy on the students day off was a more strange choice. Honestly there wasn't much reason to it, Cam merely felt nostalgic and that meeting someone as far up the ranks as Valara Tiall in a formal stuffy setting like her office on the shipyards or on one of the warships would make having an actual opportunity to get to know her comrade and fellow soldier more awkward and uncomfortable.

Honestly there was little she knew about the other woman aside from the fact Valara had graduated from Carida's prestigious military academy and had returned to serve the Republic on Rendili since her family had supposedly originated from there. The qualifications the Commander had were quite extensive and impressive, it made Camellia feel rather inadequate since she had done little outside of minor service after her graduation. She didn't count becoming the CEO of Rendili Stardrive since her grandfather had practically given it to her. Maybe if she were actually higher up among the ranks of the Defense Fleet or Blademasters of Rendili she would feel more apt to feel as though she had done enough to merit her status.

Nonetheless she wouldn't let a few insecurities ruin the little get together planned. She hoped actually the academy's training room setting would feel more at home for Valara assuming the woman had visited a similar room often on Carida. Not to mention Cam did feel a little interested in seeing if rumors about Carida trained soldiers being of a high lever were true. They did have a denser gravity field than Rendili, more than most worlds in fact. Plus they trained extensively there in all fields. Likely few would find better military training than at Carida. Maybe Anaxes? It was also a celebrated world as well, not that Cam didn't think Rendili lacked in facility quality.

Maybe Valara would though? She'd have to ask how the Academy compared once Valara made her way to her.

 

[Alana Sunrider]

Valara checked the directions through the Rendili Academy and headed to the training room. This place was so much smaller than the Carida Academy, which made sense, actually. No need to have on as massive as Carida's for a single system. It would be an inefficient use of resources. She double checked the door number and stepped into, examining the room and the other woman inside. Surprisingly, she was almost the same height. That certainly didn't happen often.

She strode forward and nodded her head in acknowledgement, "Hello, you must be Captain Camellia, correct?"

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

@Valara Tiall

Yes there were no aspirations in Camellia's mind of Rendili's academy being anywhere near the likes of Carida. A world specifically meant and oriented as a military academy was bound to have earned its claims many times over. However, if Camellia had had any sort of thoughts in her mind it was that Valara would be much shorter than the other woman turned out to be. A planet like Carida with greater gravity tended to result in its inhabitants ending up shorter on average because of the force applied on their bodies. The fact that Valara was as tall as her. . . .no maybe even a little bit taller, was interesting. She wondered how tell her fellow officer might have become had she grown up elsewhere.

"Yes I am, you must be Valara then? Or would you prefer Commander Tiall?" Smiling softly as she wandered around the room towards a wall lined with various wooden melee implements, Camellia wondered how she ought to start looking for common ground. "You're taller than I expected considering Carida's gravity. That must have made your training there difficult as well, I hear you grew up your whole life there too, you must be much stronger than the average human by just a little bit huh. If it's alright with you do you think we could spar a little with practice blades while we talk? To be honest I'm a little interested in seeing how Carida training really breeds its students. Plus I haven't been to any sessions with anyone from the Defense Force since business with Rendili Stardrive kicked up."

 

[Alana Sunrider]

Valara shrugged, "I will accept either of them." She strode over to the wall with the wooden practice swords and scrutinized them, running her hand along the line, testing each one. "Yes, my height was a complication at times." Nothing too serious, but it did require a few hospitalizations to get her heart strong enough to be able to cope with the extra pressure, as well as intensive aerobic exercises for her entire time on the planet. Space didn't have that issue, which was one of the reasons she had always to live there.

"As for sparring, I see no reason why we could not. It has been some time since I ever practiced bladework though." It had been an elective class for physical readiness training. She shrugged at the comment, "I wouldn't know. My parents attended the Rendili Defense Force before transferring to the Republic Navy and then becoming instructors, so any opinion I could put forth would be biased."

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

@Valara Tiall

Personally Camellia enjoyed her height, but she did agree there were some poor combat weaknesses that could be exploited because of it. Nonetheless such issues were non-existent in space combat where it was the level of skill of a person's piloting and the strength, speed, and quality of their machine that mattered and not the size, shape, or physical traits of the one behind the controls. Still, Cam was rather pleased she had taken the time to learn how to wield a blade, even if she wasn't very far up the ranks of the Blademasters at all. It made her feel more in control of her own surroundings and security having learned some of the techniques for real swordplay.

"Well you likely have the edge on me in physical strength and speed so consider the skill gap to be a factor that levels the playing field for me." Grinning as she picked up one of the practice blades, Cam wondered a little about Valara's parents considering they must have had an interesting life experience with so many years and regions of service as well as the honor of teaching at Carida. Hefting the wooden weapon in her hand, Camellia contented herself with its feel before angling it toward her side as she wandered toward the center of the room. "So what made you think about coming back to Rendili? Our system is near the border nowadays, but we are technically at peace with the Omega Protectorate for the moment so it won't see much action for a while."

 

[Alana Sunrider]

[member="Camellia Swift"]

Valara drifter after her towards the rows of practice blades, running her hand along each one, testing it. She paused at one and picked it up to examine it.Heavier than many would find usable, but not terrible. Wasn't as agile as some others, but it would work. It would a be a level playing field for sure. Speed and strength had very little against technique and skill when it came to blades. What had brought her to Rendili? She shrugged and took a position opposite of Camellia, rotating the sword to get used to its heft.

"It's a temporary reassignment that's also part leave before whatever my next one will be." Technically at peace? What did that mean? "What do you mean by technically at peace?"

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Valara Tiall"]

Camellia noticed Valara choose the thicker and larger blade from those arrayed on the racks against the wall. It made the young Captain wince thinking how much it would smart if the full force of a blow with the other woman's strength were to hit her. She wasn't really aware how much stronger someone raised and trained in Carida's environment was compared to the average person, but all the same she didn't want to know first hand. . . . rather dumb in hindsight to turn their meeting into a sparring match for fun then if she was going to worry about bruising. The little worry made Cam chuckle as she watched Valara twirl the practice blade around and listen to the other woman's questions.

"Ah I see, well that technically peace could be why you're only reassigned here temporarily. Technically yes we're at peace, but they are their own galactic powers we weren't always at peace with. We could wind up in such a similar situation of war with the Omega Protectorate or CIS as we are with the Sith right now, and then Rendili would be right along the edge of the conflict. It's also foolish to believe there aren't spies or incidents being caused regardless as governments try to one up each other and subvert control of worlds from each other. The Republic likely does such things itself. One can never know unless they are at the top, so everyone else must merely be prepared to consider and await any possibility. An Omega Fleet could appear within the Rendili System tomorrow, taking advantage of the Chaos the One Sith have been causing elsewhere, or perhaps the CIS grows tired of letting the Republic sit so cheerfully on so many Core Worlds and wants in on the disputes over them going on right now because of the trouble the Sith have stirred. I'm not saying such things will happen or are likely, but they may, no reason to think oneself safe just because there is peace, especially on a prime real estate world that is now along the border. Things are calm now, but I wish to ensure this side of space is protected if something does happen, because at any moment that calm could be shattered by a sudden attack!" Lunging forward poetically after making her statement, Camellia dashed forward and approached Valara quickly to initiate a quick yet simple thrust at her fellow officer.