Trigger Discipline

[Kana Truden]

Location: Forest Clearing, [REDACTED]

It had been a roughly three weeks since the invasion of Alderaan; three weeks of self-doubt. Kana had tried to phase it out but she had seen the initial reports and heard the requests for help. She hadn’t been able to do anything about them and it really annoyed her. But it wasn’t her lack of action that irritated her; it was her lack of ability.

She had sweet talked her way out of every potential fight she ever had and now she was paying the price for it. If she knew how to proper defend herself then maybe she could have been there to help, maybe she could have made a difference.

But she didn’t and she couldn’t have. However, deciding to take things into her own hands she had managed to reach out to Commander [member="Noah Corek"] of the Omega Protectorate. He was a soldier and she needed an express course in how to protect herself.

Having asked him to meet her at an undisclosed location known only to him and her through their messages she waited patiently for the man to arrive. Maybe all this secrecy was a bit over the top but she wasn’t sure if the Order had rules for these sorts of things so keeping the location from others seemed like a good idea.

For the moment there was no one else here. It was just her, the wind and the rustle of the trees. Had things been different then perhaps she would have enjoyed spending some time alone here but for the same reason that concentrating on anything had been hard lately she simply couldn’t enjoy it. So there she was in her gray jumpsuit, sitting in on a rock and trying her best to meditate.

It wasn’t working.

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Kana Truden"]
Noah had a way of moving that seemed impossible for a man just over six and a half feet tall and over 220 pounds, he had learned how to walk lightly in his days as a commando for the Republic. It was no small feat for him to do that in his armor though combine that the fact that he was dragging a sled filled with multiple types of weapons, it was almost a miracle he made it to the edge of the clearing without being detected by the Jedi Padawan. This was good though, it was time for Kana to learn her first lesson. Pulling out his Corek Custom Revolver, he kept the safety on and the hammer in down, so even if he did pull the trigger it wouldn't do anything, the fact that it wasn't loaded helped to. Walking up behind her and pressed the muzzle against the back of her head. "Lesson number one: always keep your eyes and ears on your surroundings." Noah informed her as he kept it pressed against her skull, just to see her skills.

 

[Kana Truden]

Kana froze in position as she felt the gun press against the back of her head. She had felt it coming in her gut but having bad feelings about almost everything seemed to have become part of life ever since her first few days of practice. Slowly rising from her spot with her hands up Kana turns around to face the man holding her at gunpoint. It was a tall man and he had brought what seemed like a truckload of weapons with him. This must have been, [member="Noah Corek"].

"Well you got me, Commander Corek." Kana said as she remained perfectly still. "I, uh, guess you can see why I called you over, huh?"

Lesson learned: Keep your eyes and ears, as well as your mind, open at all times. Things are off to a great start, Kana.

The girl resisted the urge to move until told otherwise. Though she had to admit her current position was kind of uncomfortable the fact remained that Noah had a gun pointed at her which usually meant he was the one who did the talking. She let her eyes wander back and forth between the gun and the front of the man's helmet in an effort to get him to lower it.

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Kana Truden"]
Noah stood there with the slugthrower at her face for a few more moments and then sighed as he holstered the weapon and pulled his helmet off and looked her in the face. "You were supposed to try and disarm me. You've got a lot to learn kid." Noah informed her as he put his helmet on the ground and went over to his sled, pulling out a vibroblade and a vibrosword. Tossing the vibroblade over to Kana and looking over his blade to make sure that it was in good condition, no ding or blimishes in the blade. "Since your a Jedi, the most important thing I can teach you is blade combat, but since your obviously don't have your lightsaber, you'll begin with a vibroblade."

 

[Kana Truden]

"Yes, sir." Kana said as she caught the blade in mid-air. "What did you have in mind?"

She grabbed the sword in both her hands and weighed it up and down for a bit. It reminded her of the old knife she used to carry around except it was bigger, way bigger.

"I've had some basic sword fighting techniques explained to me." Kana said and grabbed the blade's hilt with both her hands and held it by her waist. "I mean that as in I am not completely incapable, I just haven't had the chance to apply what little I know yet."

She got herself into a upright position and awaited the soldier's instructions.

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Kana Truden"]
Noah looked at Kana as she held the blade, so far it was good, though holding the blade was a small part of the very large circle of blade combat. Once he was done inspecting her form, Noah got into a defensive posistion, making sure he was good, Noah looked at Kana and made the 'come hither' motion with his fingers. "Show me what you got kid."

 

[Kana Truden]

Kana took a few deep breaths to prepare herself for the dance off.

"Alright." She exhaled. "I got this."

Not.

Her first attack was a horizontal slash towards his abdomen, a easily deflected blow quickly followed by a more aggressive upwards swing towards his shoulder. The second attack is widely off-target and she manages to miss it completely. However, using the momentum of the missed swing she tries to bring the blade down upon him.

It seemed like a good slash, but to her she had proven herself incapability. Kana reverted back to the slightly hunched ready position she was in before the attacks and looked up at the soldier.

"How's that, commander?" She tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. "Hopeless case or is there a shred of potential?"

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Kana Truden"]
Noah had easily blocked all of the strikes Kana had sent his way. While dodging the attacks, he noticed that she had innate talent but not skill, something that would take time to hone. "What you lack in skill you make up for in raw talent." Noah informed her as he swung his blade, downwards, putting all his strength into the blow, seeing if she could deflect it.

 

[Kana Truden]

Kana was about to open her mouth and speak as another bad feeling came over her. This time opting to act on it rather than ignore it she reaches her sword out to block the man's swing at her.

The blades clashed and the force of the swing caused her to stumble back a bit before regaining her balance. She looked at herself in surprise.

"Wow." The amazement was still settling in. "Did you see that?"

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Kana Truden"]
Noah didn't respond, he just kept pressing the attack. A slash across her mid-riff, a stab aimed at her head, another slash intended to cut her from her shoulder to hip and he finished it up with something Kana wouldn't expect, he threw a punch aimed directly into her gut. "Lesson number two: never stop fighting, never stop no matter what, you stop that gives your enemy a chance to retaliate." Noah told her as he walked backwards. "But that block was pretty impressive kid." Noah wasn't a believer in tough love, so he decided a compliment would be better then scolding.

 

[Kana Truden]

Oh crap!

Kana should have figured letting her guard down was a bad move. In a new set of attacks her trainer launched several attacks that she wasn't ready for by a long shot. The first blow was deflected even if barely. The second blow was dodged by leaning over to the side and was followed up by a third blow that she met halfway. As she thought the man would cut back she was proven wrong as a punch landed square in her gut.

Kana grunted as most of the air was knocked out of her and she knelt down. That hurt like all hell! She gave herself a few moments to catch her breath and think about what the man had just taught her. Don't stop fighting, something that seemed like a good suggestion for next time. After regaining most of her breath she shakily got back up into her ready position while using her blade for support.

"Thank you," She chipped as the pain started to settle in. "...Commander."

That was going to be sore the next day.

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Kana Truden"]
Noah resumed his stance and looked her in the eye. "You feel that pain kid? Get use to it, pain is a inevitable outcome of battle. Hell once I fought through a entire battle against Bando Gora reavers with a broken collar bone." Noah informed her as shot forward, bringing his blade down a wide arc and then cut across her neck, trying to decapitate her.

 

[Kana Truden]

"Impressive."

Kana didn't need to say anything else. A fist may hurt and bruise for a bit but a broken collarbone? The mere thought was painful enough.

As the soldier swung his blade towards her head she sidestepped. In a sense this whole thing started to feel like she was starting to get it, not all of it but it was starting to become a lot clearer. Just attack and never stop, outsmart them and outlast them and victory is yours.

With renewed confidence she unleashed a flurry of blows towards the soldier, each of them a slash aimed for different parts of his body. One at his legs, the other at his head and the last one towards his lower chest. While most of them were quite easily deflected she decided to try something new.

"What you're saying is, " She cut her repetition short before stepping back for a second and then immediately thrust herself and her blade towards the man's gut. "Pain is a preferable alternative to death."

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Kana Truden"]
Noah smiled as Kana pressed her attack, she was definetly learning. They were easily blocked though, since Noah was six and a half feet tall and two hundred and thirty something pounds, he had lots of muscle, only three percent of his body being fat. The quick thrust to the gut caught him by surprise, but a side-step and a elbow to the back would deter her from making the same mistake. When he heard he talk about pain, his smile widened. "Exactly, pain is temporary. death is forever, if you can fight through the pain, you'll win." Noah told her as he reached down and played with some sand that was in his hands, before throwing it, right at Kana's eyes.

 

[Kana Truden]

The dunk on her shoulder was indication enough for her to realize that her experiment hadn't been quite as successful as she might have hoped it would have been. Nonetheless she took it with a grain of salt and rearranged herself to face her teacher once more. His praise was enough to let a small smirk appear however it quickly faded as the Commander threw sand in her eyes.

"Aaah!"

The sand burned as it came in contact with her eyes and she quickly moved her left arm to wipe away what she could before the commander launched his follow-up attacks. She had come to expect as much from him by now.

With vision as hazy as a spice den and a river of tears running down her cheeks she got herself back into ready position once more. Truly her stubborn will to endure this torture amazed even herself. She was not going to quit this, that isn't how these things work.

"Ignore the pain, Kana. You got this."

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Kana Truden"]
"Remember lesson one kid. Listen to my voice, my foot falls and when the wind whistles when I swing my blade. Predict where I'll strike and try and block." As Noah said this, he began to silently walk behind Kana, gripping his vibrosword in a highly offensive matter, he struck forwards, aiming to impale her through the heart. After that was most likely blocked he began a flurry attack, aiming at nothing in particular but aiming to break her concentration and overpower her with sheer strength alone.

 

[Kana Truden]

“Listen to the whistle, got it.”

There was something about the sparring that felt good. Not necessarily the fighting and definitely not the sand in her eyes, but something felt really relieving about it. As Noah’s blurry figure left the corner of her eyes she decided that her she had endured enough and she closed them.

Kana listened intently for anything that would give away the man’s position. For all it was worth she could at least give the man his credits due when it came to being silent. At least she still had that strange sensation in the back of her head that told her he was in fact behind her. She turned around until she unknowingly faced Noah head on.

That’s when she heard it, the whistle that was coming right for her. She moved her blade to meet Noah’s and the metal clang was evidence enough for her that she had successfully blocked his attempted stab.

However try as she might she couldn’t keep up with the man’s flurry of attacks. The first hit was blocked easily; the second one was met with great resistance and the third one with even greater resistance and she began to grow weary.

With a fourth blow the commander managed to have her drop her blade and she let herself collapse and fall on her back in exhaustion.

“I’m. Sorry.” Kana spoke between breaths. “I know. I am not. Supposed. To do this. But I. Am exhausted.”

She remained still on the ground as her panting continued. He was good at this, really good. She wiped the remaining sand from her eyes and cheeks as she sat up.

“It’s too late for me. Take the rest of the team and go!” She said jokingly and smirked. “Tell my family I love them!”

She let herself fall back onto the ground. That was worth it.

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Kana Truden"]
Noah chuckled as he looked down a Kana on the ground. She was clearly exhausted, while Noah on the other hand had barely broken a sweat, though you couldn't tell from the helmet that was over his head. Noah walked over and grabbed her chin, tilting it so he could see her eyes, he grabbed the canteen off his belt and poured the water into her eyes, hoping to get the last of the sand out of her eyes. "Well since you've shown good promise lets move onto something else." Noah told her as he walked over to the sled and began to search through its contents.

 

[Kana Truden]

The relief as the remainder of the sand washed away was almost unexplainable. Kana stood up and looked over at the commander as he stood sifting through his box of weapons. It was a big crate, how had he been able to get here without her noticing?

The initial gasps for air had come and gone but it was still there. As long as her instructor was busy with other things she could just as well do what she can to regain her stamina and so she sat down. She sat on the ground, crossed her legs and straightened her posture as she tried to remember what Shaw had said. Meditation, find your center and let the force refresh you - calm you.

That was what she had tried before with little-to-no success. Kana gave it a second shot for the sake of it. She cleared her mind and blocked out the rest of the world, seemingly.

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Kana Truden"]
Noah smiled as he found what he was looking for, a Corek Custom Blaster Carbine No.2. After finding it, Noah grabbed it and three target drones. Walking back over, Noah saw Kana was meditating, deciding to be a little funny, Noah flipped the safety off and fired a shot into the air, most likely it would gain her attention and give her a little fright at the same time.