Total Recall (Ossus)

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Going to be a general training thread/montage, though open for people to dip in and out of as they please. [member="Talon Vosra"] will hopefully be able to pop in from time to time!


Jacen kept his core tight as he lifted one, and then two legs off the ground. There was a moment of joy as he held there for a fraction of a second. Feth, he swore to himself as he tucked his chin in and turned his collapse into a forward roll. At least he managed not to swear out loud this time, the last profanity had brought him some distinctly unimpressed looks.

He slapped the ground with one hand as he righted himself. When he’d been a teenage in the academy, he was damn certain he’d done this on one hand, floated a pile of stones and waved at passing girls. It had taken him hours just to start attempting to get upright without the aid of a wall. The pair of stones that he had placed next to him remained untouched. The exercise kind of required some stability before even attempted to use telekinesis.

Across the section of the training ground a whelp was standing on one hand, eyes closed and a serene expression plastered across his little face. Cocky little…no you’re projecting who you used to be onto the poor lad.

He had enough experience to know that sometimes it was worth calling it a day and moving on. Only so many hours could be dedicated to a single task. Gathering his things into a simple bag, he headed for the gym.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

One stone was relatively easy work. It hadn't taken many hours of mental agility exercises interspersed with meditation to bring that ability back. Some skills really did get deeply ingrained it seemed. Jacen sat, cross-legged, on the cold hard flagstones in his chambers. His vest was soaked through with sweat, and he was beginning to regret not cracking open a window. Damn but the physical training was harder than he ever remembered. Even coming from relatively harsh military fitness regimes, keeping up with the teenagers being pushed to the limits by the Knights was near-killing him.

Sitting like this didn't help much either. His hip had never quite healed right, and the dull throb from the morning's exertion wouldn't go until he sat straight, or laid down. He took a few deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth and tried to cleanse his mind of idle thoughts.

The small stone bobbed around the room. Lifting was easy, lateral motion a little more tricky. It was almost like holding a balloon up with a fan; keeping it still was fine, but as soon as it moved it tended to fall. This morning it was coming more easily, and he even gave it a small torque to send it spinning as he let it bob round the room in circles.

As soon as he tried to lift a second, they both came crashing down. Still, as he roused himself from the light trace, a smile crept up from the corner of his mouth: a war won was just a series of small victories.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Jacen sat still for nearly thirty minutes. His body tried to complain about being locked in one position for so long; about the cold flagstones on his arse; about the growing hunger pangs. He tuned those all our and tried to focus on one purpose. His lightsaber laid across his lap. Just picking up the old thing had been difficult for him. It was an object that brought back dark memories and conjured up emotions he didn't want to feel.

Such things were not befitting a Jedi Knight. A Jedi Knight was above emotion, peerless in their focus. Well, not feeling like crap when I look at the thing would be a start.

In one smooth motion he lifted himself up off the ground. He lifted the hilt above his head and then slowly lowered it down before him. He tried to find the positions that he had grown up learning, to try and trigger some memories of doing this before, to try and get his body to relive the forms without his stupid brain getting in the way.

A small remote floated into the air, moving very slowly with the difficulty set to minimum. It fired a shot right into his knee.

"Ah, you little bastard!" he exclaimed and hopped back. He guiltily looked around, but no one appeared to be paying him any attention.

"Fine, fine," his saber snapped into life and he Centred himself.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

He tried to ignore the swell of pride as the very first stun bolt glanced off his blade and up into the air. There was no time for emotions of extraneous thoughts. There could only be focus, action and reaction. The second bolt clipped his thigh. Too slow, got to be able to cover all sectors!

Jacen adjusted his footwork and blade position as the remote bobbed about. His grip remained the same, but the blade half-tracked the motion of the remote. The eddies through the Force were sublte, but his hands were moving before he was even consciously aware of them. His hands brought the blade up towards his head, but his grip was already shifting for the next bolt.

His blade caught the high bolt, but his left hand kept moving upwards. His blade angled down as a consequence and deflected a bolt for his right shoulder. Jacen returned to a neutral stance. He was beginning to recall this. Your vision had to stay slightly out of focus so you could absorb the periphery. The Force was the prompt, but your eyes still helped adjust the posture. Your hips and shoulders stayed loose, ready to flow from block to block.

The remote hummed louder, almost as if the simple drone was issuing a challenge.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

The little drone swung back and forth rhythmically. As it moved it slowly spun about its own axis, it's multitude of ports opening menacingly. Jacen tried to move smoothly between postures, but muscles tired from hours of physical training were stiff. This was almost an exercise in of itself, he reflected. As soon as the thought cross his mind his saber was moving. The yellow blade slide just a few inches to the left and caught a bolt, but Voidstalker was already moving again.

Following instinct - the Force - he pulled back his right leg and brought his saber down and across his body. The remote had already shifted, dropping to try and fire under his guard. The block was clean and the remote resumed it's previous motion.

Back and forth the little thing went, but Jacen hardly noticed it. His breathing had slowed, his eyes half closed. His saber lazily tracked the drone, but for the first time in decades he had sunk into a deeper connection with the Force.

One, two, three, the little remote fired it's little bolts. Each met with a clean block. The little remote buzzed, almost as if frustrated. Without warning it went into a frenzy, ducking weaving and firing. Jacen back pedalled and swung furiously. He missed a step and almost stumbled, which had the effect of rousing him from his semi-trance. His connection reduced, three painful stinging bolts hit him in the thigh, stomach and shoulder.

Jacen flicked off his saber and the remote floated back down. The little machine made a quiet, almost contented noise as it deactivated.

"Hmm, these things should be tested for personality development," Jacen remarked to a passer by, the tweenager who had been standing on one hand whilst floating rocks. The kid cast him a curious glance and carried on. Jacen though a few distinctly un-jedi thoughts.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Jacen lifted his head off the pillow a few centimetres, before resting it back down. The stones sat there in the middle of the floor accusingly. The handful of small, smooth rocks served only to amplify the sparse nature of the room. The walls seemed to stretch out away from him, leaving him alone and exposed in a great empty space.

He growled under his breath and forced himself up out of the bed. There was nothing to be achieved by lying in bed under a storm cloud he knew. Perhaps experience and the ability to recognise his dark days helped, but it didn’t guarantee the cycle would be broken any shorter.

The old padawan took far too long washing down his face. He let his head hang over the sink, stray strands of hair slick to his face, and watched the drops of water “ping” against the ceramic bowl below. Jacen realised he was taking deep gulps and air and sighing out with each breath.

After a few more moments he looked up and risked meeting his own eyes. Seeing the sadness in them was to directly confront the problem. “I can do this,” he said quietly to himself. A curt nod to himself and he turned away from the mirror.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

The pebble clattered to the floor uselessly. It was no good, he knew. In this frame of mind he simply couldn't muster the concentration to do this. A few days ago had demonstrate he did have the capability to use the Force competently, but clearing his mind of extraneous thoughts was easier said than done.

That dark cloud hung over him today. No matter what he did, as he closed his eyes to concentrate on the task that sinking feeling built in his stomach. A hollow sort of sadness, that brought self-doubt along for the rise.

No, I won't be beaten by this.

Jacen set his jaw firmly, clenching his fists. He would go for some PT now, the morning air and some endorphins would do him good. He'd push his body to the edge and burn out the shadows.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Jacen barely made it back up the stairs to his room. His legs had suffered enough punishment to ensure that each step was heavily protested. All his limbs felt heavy and lethargic and his shirt wad coated in sweat. The padawan stepped into his room, still taking deep breaths of air.

He opened a drawer under his bed and pulled out a container of powder. He poured a few scoops into a glass water and gave it a stir before knocking it back. The mix of carbs and proteins would help his body recover from the regime.

Taking a moment to towel himself down, he sat cross legged in the centre of the room. Whilst his body had been pushed to the limits, his thoughts now felt clear and unhindered. The shadowy clouds had been pushed back to the recesses of his mind.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Closing his eyes, he reached out through the Force to the smooth pebble. Jacen allowed a mental image of the object to form, letting his modest grasp of the Force “feel out” the object. He could visualise its size and surface, imagine how it would weigh in the hand. With barely a thought, he hefted it up from the ground with the Force.

He repeated the process with a second, and then a third stone. For some reason, taking the time to sense out the stone made the process of manipulating it more straightforward. Eyes closed, enjoying the feel of the sun on his skin and his renewed focus, Jacen allowed himself a small smile as the stones floated around his head.