Private Way of the Sarlacc

[Valery Noble]

Tatooine

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Aris Noble

Valery smiled warmly at his answer, "The fun thing about this question, is that there are a lot of different answers to it. Yours, in all of my years of being an instructor, I've never heard before. But I really like it." She chuckled, and finally set the ship down on the sandy surface. The Sarlacc Pit was close, but not within reach at all.

Just to be safe.

"I was once taught that Shii-Cho's more wild and raw sweeping strikes were similar to the sweeping motions of its tentacles. But they didn't link it to the angles or zones," Valery said with a proud smile. "Other official documents mention that Jedi named the Form after it because they admired the beast's patience."

"We're going to observe it for ourselves, and I'll teach you more of what makes Shii-Cho truly what it is."

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris beamed. Or at least as much as his usually stoic expression could. Praise like this, even if it wasn't truly much, really made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and it showed by the small smile. Once they landed he put on his sunglasses and followed her out, glancing over the sands.

"Okay. How will we watch them?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Tatooine

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Aris Noble

"Uh uh, one moment." Before he could step outside, Valery walked over with a bottle of sunscreen in het hand. She grinned a protective Mother's grin, sprayed some in her own hand, and then started applying it to his exposed skin. From his neck, to his ears, to his nose and cheeks.

Perhaps it was embarrassing or annoying, but there was no way Valery would have one of her babies get sunburn.

"There, now we can go." She lowered the ramp of the Bastion, stepped outside and let out a soft breath. The heat of the twin suns was intense, but they would push through it for today's lesson. "The Sarlacc is just on the other side of these dunes." She glanced at him and smirked.

"Go on, let's go see, hm?"

 

[Aris Noble]

Oh no.

Aris froze as she applied the sunscreen and did his best not to make a face. He understood why she was doing it. The sun was intense here, and he'd likely burn without the additional protection. But he could apply it himself. And she decided to anyway. He let out a sigh once it was done though, glancing off towards the sands.

He was going to focus on the Sarlacc, and not his embarrassment.

"Yes, let's go."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Tatooine

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Aris Noble

Oh, he loved it.

Valery had a little grin on her face as they walked their way up the sandy hill, and only glanced over her shoulder to make sure he was keeping up with her. Though... it was surprisingly easy to him — he wasn't that little boy she saw wrapped up in blankets anymore. He stood a lot taller, he had gotten stronger and especially his mindset and focus were beyond most his age. It sure made her a proud mother.

Finally, after reaching the hill, the two would be able to look down at the Sarlacc pit. This wasn't the famous one where Luke Skywalker had helped save his friends — this one was much older, and hidden within the desert.

"How old do you think it is?" Valery asked with a soft smile, as they stood atop the hill and looked down at the beast.

 

[Aris Noble]

"I'm going to guess older than the time you came from, since you brought us here."

That was the logical explanation. Her time as a Battlemaster was during the Old Republic, which meant she came here before with others to help them learn more of Shii-Cho and what it meant at it's core. He stayed on the cliffside, tilting his head as he looked down at the pit. It was massive. And intimidating, if he was being honest.

No matter the wars that waged or the hands that changed, it remained here, unmoving in the sands.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Tatooine

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Aris Noble

"That's a clever way of saying it's older than me," Valery said with a chuckle, "But that's right. The Sarlacc can get tens of thousands of years old, so this one was around long before I was born, and even lives to this day. Just here in one place, waiting for its moment to strike," Valery said while she looked down at it for a quiet moment. Memories of her own time training here resurfaced, but also memories of her training others at this very spot.

Now, she stood here with her son. She had always had that want to be a mother, and now that dream had come true, and she was even able to share these parts of her life with her kids.

"Alright, why don't we get started with some practical stuff? Before the sun tires us out too much." She smiled and drew the hilt of her lightsaber into her hand. "I'd like to cover the official opening stance of the Form, and shift into Shii-Cho's Live Combat Form. Cover some aspects that you don't really see much of when we just look at the basics."

 

[Aris Noble]

Tens of thousands of years. It was such a long time that Aris couldn't even fathom it. It was definitely a patient creature. More than even he could be. But, practical lessons were something that did interest him. He smiled and nodded before he reached down to take off his lightsaber and ignite the blue blade.

"Alright. I'm ready."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Tatooine

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Aris Noble

Valery watched him reach for his lightsaber and started shifting into a stance for him to mirror. Her feet were about a shoulder-width apart, her hilt held in front of her at around hip-level, with the blade pointing up at a 45-degree angle. It was very simplistic, but that simplicity was often a strength for Shii-Cho.

"A fun fact, this Form was developed when Jedi transitioned from the old metal blades we once used to protosabers — the lightsabers that had a large battery pack with a chord between it and the hilt," she explained, "It's why the Form wasn't really designed with lightsaber combat in mind, because it didn't yet exist at the time."

"Instead, it offered Jedi a tool to learn how to use their weapons safely. Does that make sense?" To warm up, Valery approached and decided for simple Ideal Form at first — a sweep vertically down towards the top of his head. Of course, with restraint, were he somehow to not be able to block.

 

[Aris Noble]

"From the traditional Force-Imbued blades, where Kyber was inlaid in the hilt of a metal sword forged by it's wielder through intense channeling and focus."

Oh yes, he absolutely had read up on them. He was eager to learn everything he could of the Lightsaber, and once he learned of the original Force Imbued blades he was a little obsessed. There might have been a couple cases of him holding a traditional blade and pretending to be an age old Je'daii.

Aris followed her lead, lifting his own blade in response to protect the zone in the ideal way. Perpendicular, direct.

"A lot of the strikes are specific to disarming. Namely against blasters, right?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Tatooine

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Aris Noble

"Those are the ones," Valery said with a chuckle, knowing exactly how much he loved his Force-imbued blades. He had, after all, dressed up like a Je'ddaii warrior and played pretend plenty of times. Now, he was a bit older, but she knew that excitement was still there in him.

Aris then caught her blade exactly the way he should — perpendicular and Valery nodded. "You don't really see it in the Ideal Form because we just have basic angles on every zone. In Live Combat Form, we make the angles more diagonal, and we put a focus on disarming." Pretty much what he said, but she wanted to include something about the strikes and blocks no longer having to be perpendicular to each other.

"Shii-Cho can be quite unpredictable that way, but still simplistic and raw in nature. The wide sweeps make it good for crowd control, and also decent at deflecting blaster bolts. Though even blasters were very different back then, so it just turned out to be pretty good for it. If we're dealing with very intense blaster fire, there are better Forms though." This time, Valery switched it up and aimed a wide sweep, diagonally for his left side.

 

[Aris Noble]

The strikes didn't have to be perfectly perpendicular. He understood the blocks didn't have to be, but how to carry himself, how to step into each strike and where to swing his hands, they'd always been very rigid with how the Ideal was taught. Unpredictable, yet simple and raw. He nodded once before bringing his blade around to catch hers again. At an angle, as she suggested.

"That makes sense. Though, surely it adapted some with the times right? To keep it relevant despite the other forms?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Tatooine

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Aris Noble

"Very good," Valery said as he blocked her attack at an angle, "When blades meet at a right angle, you often get into locks, or lose your momentum entirely. So if you attack, you typically want to avoid it so you can follow up with a second strike. As a defender, if you block at an angle, you can deflect their blade away and perhaps counter-attack," Valery explained while she continued trying some more of the same attacks.

Valery then dipped her head, "I'd say so. Protosabers still had a chord, which inherently limits the way you can move the blade. With modern lightsabers, we have more freedom. That said, the basis of the Form is the same — raw, wild, simple, with wider sweeps and an emphasis on disarming if you can."

"Do you know which Form counters this one very well?"

 

[Aris Noble]

"Makashi."

He continued to stay on the defensive, blocking her strikes at different angles. An experiment to see which was best to let her blade glance off his own and create the opening she'd mentioned. From his reading though, Makashi was the form made in response to the growing battle between lightsaber users. Specifically made to counter Shii-Cho.

"How do you easily break a lock?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Tatooine

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Aris Noble

Valery nodded, "That's right. Makashi is very calculated, and its tighter movements and focus on precision easily break through Shii-Cho's wilder, and wider sweeping strikes. But Makashi struggles against blaster fire where Shii-Cho is quite decent in response," Valery said, hoping to make one thing clear to him.

"To me, the Forms are a lot more than fighting preference. Each one was designed to handle something specific, and by mastering all of them, you can approach each situation optimally." Knowing him, Aris would probably like this approach, rather than focus on one Form and use it whether it's ideal or not.

Then, Valery decided to focus on his question, "There are multiple ways to do it. If you have the physical advantage, you can break it by pushing through. You can also shove back the opponent, or disengage yourself. Even better if you can throw them off-balance while they push their weight into the lock."

"Something like Trakata would be very good for that."

 

[Aris Noble]

Different tools in the belt. Aris nodded slowly as he listened to her, continued to keep up with her strikes before trying his own to swing back after a deflection. He wouldn't be able to surprise his opponents with the Force like others could, but if he could swap stances to fit the fight, he could win that easier.

"What's Trakata?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Tatooine

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Aris Noble

Valery smirked at the question, and decided to show him, rather than tell. Aris threw a strike at her, and despite it being at an angle, Valery caught it with a perpendicular block, and forced them into a lock. She lured out his strength and matched it with her own to let the tension rise between them.

Then, she disengaged her blade and stepped aside. She wasn't sure if he'd catch himself or not, but she hoped her little demonstration would give him an idea about what it was. Naturally, she followed her trickery up with a sweep towards her hopefully stumbling son.

"Trakata is a technique where we disengage our weapon during combat to gain advantages. Here, I used it to turn momentum against you. But another common application is striking, and turning your blade off right before it would meet an opponent's blade. You pass their guard, and then land your attack."

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris blinked in surprise as he stumbled forward. He clearly hadn't expected a lightsaber to be shut off midcombat, but he at least caught his footing and swiped wide so he could at least not have Valery follow up on another strike against him. Not that she did. He blinked as she spoked before repositioning and nodding.

"That seems dangerous."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Tatooine

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Aris Noble

"It can be dangerous," Valery said after he had regained his balance. "Combat is all about assessing risk and taking chances when you believe you can gain an advantage from it. Trakata is just a higher risk, but the reward can be very high too. Use it sparingly, so no opponent can predict it, but most of all, be aware of it." As much as using it in Shii-Cho could help make the Form more unpredictable, Valery wanted to stress the last part.

"Some fighters rely on tricks like this, and if you're not ready for it, they will catch you off-guard." Valery smiled and stood up straight again.

"Now, let's spar some more, and let's try to put emphasis on disarming. It's very rewarding if it works, but I'd also like you to see just how difficult it is, and understand why we can't always do it."

 

[Aris Noble]

Making sure to know when to use these skills was important. More than he had initially assumed. If an opponent knew the tricks you were going to pull, they'd be able to predict them. Which meant he could start predicting people too. If he experienced more. He lifted his saber back into the typical stance as he nodded once.

Then paused.

"We won't break each other's lightsabers, right? I don't want to break our lightsabers."

Valery Noble