Unlocking The Potential Ch. I

[Zef Halo]

“You have ambition within you and you have potential. It is time to unlock this potential with your ambition, Einarr Warscream.” Darth Talon’s projection spoke highly satisfied at the owner of her holocron. “Hand-to-hand combat.”

Einarr nodded with his typical wolfish grin on his face. Cracking his knuckles he put his lightsaber hilt and axe on the ground. The Valkyr proceeded to the center of the empty training hall and awaited her instructions.

“You cannot train here. You must come to my realm.” Darth talon said as gestured for him to sit. “Go.”

The Sith knight sat on the ground and focused on the holocron. Channeling the Force, he aimed to ‘enter’ the holocron itself. To the realm where the gatekeeper of the Holocron was. That is where he would be actually able to train his hand-to-hand skills.

His presence manifested within the holocron and Einarr found himself in a dark and eerie, long abandoned training hall. Perhaps something of the past where her training had been when she was alive.

“Welcome to Korriban, Einarr Warscream.” Darth Talon’s voice echoed throughout the place and she appeared out of the shadow to confront him in a guard stance. “Attack me.”

With his wolfish smirk on his face, the Sith Knight lunged forward to attack Darth Talon.

Time to unlock the power within.

 

[Zef Halo]

Every single attack Einarr tried on Darth Talon, the tattoed twi’lek evaded or parried easily. She did not even go on the offence. He was completely useless against her. The Valkyr was highly frustrated while Darth Talon’s face was painted with a smirk.

“You might be handsome, Einarr Warscream, but you’re far behind on unarmed combat. Something that is the foundation of all types of combat. Something to utilize when you fight with your weapon as well.” Darth Talon explained to him as she dashed at him suddenly. Her speed mesmerizing. “Speed is always key but speed alone is nothing without being unpredictable.”

She did not only feint once or twice but triple times before her combination ended with an uppercut at Einarr’s chin. He felt the impact and was surprised of the force behind it. Darth Talon’s speed and offensive combo was highly hard to anticipate. It was a mix of very contrasting moves that ended with a clean uppercut that sent him back away from her.

“If that was a weapon, you would be dead. If I had not stopped, that clean punch would’ve just given me more momentum and initiative. Your defence is crude and although you do share a good connection in terms of precognition, it is not enough for you to defend against a simple attack such as this one, Einarr Warscream.” Darth Talon scoffed at him and continued. “Now, attack. Channel your inner frustration not into a blind rage but into energy. The Jedi believe of us that we are simply brutes that tap into their emotions to go into rage. Many Sith do but that is also their undoing as I can guess has been a lesson to you many times throughout your life.”

Einarr’s frustration was kept low after that lecturing statement and he prepared to attack, this time a strategy in mind.

 

[Zef Halo]

This time Einarr was more reluctant in delivering lethal blows rather than trying to outplay Darth Talon, either she had let her guard down or he was indeed becoming more unpredictable and strategic in his offence. The combination of the attack was not solely heavy punches but kicks and feints. True, she did evade them all and parried those that she could not evade.

His onslaught continued upon her until she used his momentum of a right hook that he aimed at his chin to crouch and strike his stomach. It was not the strength behind her punch but her punctuality that took his air out. With an athletic climb on his knee, Darth Talon reached his head with her knee to strike him in the chin once again.

Blood escaped his lip as a wound formed where the strike had connected.

“You are definitely quick and agile for such a massive body that you have, Einarr Warscream but you need a lot of sharpening.” She said as she stepped back at a safer distance. “Such speed and agility gives you an element of surprise and the ability to engage at a closer distance rather than using your long reach to keep an opponent at bay. Yet, such surprise is best utilized when in a counter. Use your height, give your opponent the illusion that you are using your length to fight standard for a man of your height – keeping the distance from your opponent, yet give them a window to get within where they will believe that getting past your reach’s barrier means a clean strike. When that happens, you surprise them. Use the Force to cloud your opponent’s anticipation.”

“Second key factor in hand-to-hand combat. Disable.” Darth Talon said as she went into a guard stance. “Killing may be the end goal but it is a process rather than a single step. A process that needs the steps of disabling an opponent. Make them weaker, always keep the upper hand. Prepare yourself.”

Einarr nodded, the blood from his lip he licked with his tongue. His smirk became wider as he prepared himself for Darth Talon’s attack

 

[Zef Halo]

The following assault by Darth Talon was nothing like the last one, it was by far much more advanced and she quickly landed numerous hits upon him. The strength behind them was slightly dampened until she grabbed his counter punch and delivered an aggressive hit at his inner left thigh. The accumulation of nerves at that point made him not only lose his balance but also his concentration.

This immediately followed by her sweeping him off from the ground. Thus, the large Valkyr fell badly as he could not land more gracefully due to her holding his hand still.

“Unpredictable, fast, disabled. Knocking someone down nine out of ten times guarantees victory. Your feet must always be strong.” She stated and then added with a foxy smirk. “But if you’d fallen like that on the ground, I would’ve done something completely different than kill you.”

“Right.” Einarr smiled awkwardly as he stood up. “I know the different points of the body that can destabilize or stun someone.”

“Then use them, Einarr Warscream.” Darth Talon said as she moved backwards. “Now. Third key factor in hand-to-hand combat. Your enemy is your friend. Do not lift your eyebrow like that. Attack and I will show you. Best lessons are learned when beaten.”

“We will see about that.” Einarr replied ambitiously and charged forward at the tattooed Sith Lord.

 

[Zef Halo]

Einarr was learning fast, at least that is what he believed by the improvement of his attacks and the higher rate of successful strikes. Darth Talon was right – one learned best when beaten. Every strike that she had landed upon him had been a small dose of experience for him. Something that he will try to use to sharpen his skills in hand-to-hand combat.

His punch flew straight towards her head but at the last moment she sidestepped unbelievably fast and slightly pulled his striking hand. Just this slight pull was enough for Einarr’s whole body to be pulled by his punch and Darth Talon was suddenly to close for comfort. She had the time and she used it to deliver a strong punch in his ribs.

Einarr immediately pulled himself back and parried her next punch aimed at his stomach. The strike in the ribs had been quite a hit. He immediately moved back, immense pain in his ribs. Broken. Definitely.

“Your enemy’s momentum is your friend is what I meant earlier. Although you are quite the endurable one, Einarr Warscream. To be able to defend and move to a safer distance to recuperate after such a strike is truly a feat.” Darth Talon said with a smile. “No breaks. There are no breaks in the real life, so why here. We continue. Next key factor. No rules. Come again at me, Einarr Warscream.”

 

[Zef Halo]

The Sith Knight’s emotions were a mix of frustration, anger, satisfaction and enthusiasm at the same time. All these he channeled them through the force, the dark side recuperating his pain accumulated after Talon’s strike at his ribs. Lunging at her once again, this time his thoughts were further ahead.

One step ahead.

His combat style was slowly turning from the brutish and crude ones that he used to one that fitted him and his mentality. Slowly, he was unlocking his potential under the guidance of the tattooed twi’lek Sith Lord that was now on the defensive from Einarr’s calculated assault.

Out of nowhere – a spit. That angered him highly but also surprised him immensely and halted his whole initiative and advantage upon her. Darth Talon immediately used that to once again sweep him of his legs. This time she failed. The giant Valkyr had learned his lesson and literally jumped at her.

Both tumbled on the ground with the large man pinning the Sith Lord on the ground. Her eyes widening at what happened clearly indicated that he had been a good student to what she had learned. The twi’lek grabbed his face and kissed him. The Valkyr’s eyes widened and when he realized that his arrogance was his mistake she had delivered a kick straight in his pride. The Sith Lord rolled away and stood up.

“I am glad you’re learning your lessons, Einarr Warscream but do not underestimate me. Pinning some on the ground and simply gazing at them is not victory. At least not when in battle. Although, I enjoyed the taste of your lips.” She chuckled at him while he stood up grinding his teeth. His ‘pride’ was in pain.

“This time, I am the one that attacks.” She announced, her smirk still on her face as she dashed forward with extreme speed at him.

 

[Zef Halo]

Darth Talon’s attacks were relentless and much upgraded to what she had come at him initially. It seemed that she was testing the water at first, while now she was all out. Yet, Einarr did not falter neither did he overestimate her. She was the one that had to be careful to underestimate him. There was no lie that the twi’lek Sith Lord was stronger than him but that did not necessarily mean she was not prone to mistakes.

His defence was becoming better and better, her successful strikes were much less than before and he used his agility to his advantage to lure her into falsely created opening for her to exploit. Despite falling in his trap numerous times, she was able to sustain her initiative and keep Einarr at bay. The Sith Knight tried his previous trick of bear hugging into a pin the twi’lek but she easily sidestepped and let him fall. He literally heard the kick coming for his head and the Valkyr immediately rolled to the side.

“The same trick does not work twice on me, Einarr Warscream.”

Both continued their hand-to-hand combat, the Valkyr focused on defending himself completely and with an aim to lure the Sith Lady into a trap. A trap that would be able to turn the tide of the battle and bring him into an offence or at least deliver a dangerous counter attack. Her stamina seemed endless but the same could be said for the physically gifted Valkyr. It was in his genes. He was born to fight. Something the Heavenshields did not understand.

Soon.

 

[Zef Halo]

Their bout continued with Einarr being pushed completely on the defensive, his thirst to attack and strike was an obstacle as the Sith Lord immediately began increasing her success rate of strike on him. Darth Talon proceeded with her seemingly infinite energy pool to batter him and straining his defence. She was eager to strike him clean anywhere, her disabling attempts were well defended by the Valkyr.

You will die here.​

Einarr scoffed at that attempt to spook him out or destabilize him via a Force echo. It was something he used in his fights, although mostly when static. She was able to easily deploy it in the midst of a very heated battle with it hindering her momentum at all. Yet, Einarr was satisfied to show her that he was not just another Sith Knight in possession of a powerful holocron.

This bout will prove it to her.

This fight would unlock for him the deeper and more powerful knowledge in the holocron.

The Valkyr saw her frustration increase as her battering of him seemed to be close to useless. Einarr’s defence was absolutely rock solid and slowly the Sith Knight began to see the gaps in her attacking movements. He ignored the wounds and pain that her hits made or amplified existing ones. The dark side of the force helping him and his focus. The pain being channeled into strengthening his link to the Dark Side.

Opening!!

Einarr did not hesitate when he surprisingly quickly, utilizing the Force, stepped back and pulled her hand towards him. She lost her balance but the Valkyr would not let here, he was much stronger physically. Augmenting even more his strength, the Sith Knight put his body infront to use it as support for throwing her at the wall.

Never underestimate a Valkyr’s strength.

 

[Zef Halo]

“Hmph, not bad.” Darth Talon said with an arrogant tone as she stood up on her feet once again. “You’re finally learning something, perhaps you might be better than expected.”

“You would be surprised how much better, Talon.” Einarr replied straight back at her with a similar arrogant tone. “I have planets to raid. Come, attack me.”

Apparently issuing orders the way she did was not something Darth Talon took with pleasure. The little he had known beforehand about her due to the Sith archives was her short temper. Considering her grimace, that was turning to be true. The Valkyr expected a heavy assault and believed that perhaps enraged she would be an easier target.

She disappeared.

Behind!

Einarr blacked out for a moment as a kick augmented by the force rocked his head from behind. He staggered and almost fell forward, his Valkyrian genes saving him from falling unconscious or even falling down. What was that ?

“The Force is infinite. Teleportation!” She announced as if she had read his mind. “Time to die, Einarr Warscream.”

All the alarms in his head began to ring and the Valkyr immediately stood up, rage was engulfing him as the lightning fast Darth Talon approached him intent on killing him with her own hands. Einarr Warscream will prevail. As he always did.

 

[Zef Halo]

If Einarr believed that her previous assault was her peak, this was an assault beyond the limits. Every strike, even if not clean, did hurt the durable Valkyr. Every attack by her was Force augmented to such a degree that the Knight could feel the kinetic energy behind it even when he evaded it. She was truly battering him up and his defence meant nothing to her.

Yet, the Sith Knight was not simply a brute contrary to the common belief that ‘the larger they were, the dumber.’ She had taught him well all the key factors, according to her, in combat generally. He had applied them in this training session but in every battle the end goal was the same – kill the enemy.

The Valkyr jumped backwards to keep his distance and Darth Talon immediately followed right into his trap. Telekinetically unclipping the hidden lightsaber hilt on the inner side of his belt, the hilt came right infront of his midsection and the button was activated through the Force. Darth Talon was at point blank range and her surprise was painted on her face as the red blade pierced through her body.

No blood.

She simply disappeared and Einarr’s hilt dropped on the ground. The sound of steps behind him made him turn swiftly and prepare for an attack only to see the foxy smile of Darth Talon in the shadows.

“Good.”