Way of the Space Creature

[Haytham Kaze]

The Jedi Padawan Haytham Kaze looked through the viewport of the training room at Ossus. He had requested a training session with one of the council members. This one he had met multiple times in the past, but they hadn't actually made an impression upon each other. Despite this one being the Grandmaster, or what appeared to be the most 'popular' and probably the Grandmaster, the young man still regarded her as another Jedi.

He remembered from interactions with his Master [member="Kiskla Grayson"], and had taken note that she had never taken kindly to being named Grandmaster. And in their brief time together, on those few missions that they had gone on, she had avoided from introducing herself as Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, and rather just as a Jedi Master of it. Of course you could argue that it was because it was an important title, and if everyone knew that you were the bearer of the title, you could 'happen' to encounter those who meant you harm.

But, he could see it. It was clear, and in this interaction with [member="Corvus Raaf"], Haytham would make sure to simply treat her like every other Jedi that he encountered.

Now, all he had to do was wait for her to arrive. He came a little early as he usually did to get some training on the form down himself, to practice what he knew, but he wanted a more advanced session on Form III: Soresu. He remembered from lessons past from [member="Kian Karr"] on Djem So, that Soresu was an important form in applying Djem So, so finally he decided to follow up on that and take lessons.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus arrived with a large cardboard box in her arms. It contained a few of the items she’d need for the next lesson. The training sabers were standard in these rooms but the stun blaster, training remotes and blindfold were her own requirements.

As she entered the room she saw the Padawan was already there. She put the box down and bowed – she’d been a Jedi for over twenty years now and it was habit she’d no doubt never break. “Haytham? We’ve never properly met. Hopefully you know me…Corvus. And I understand you’d like to learn more about the third Form.”

“Whilst I get myself set up, please tell me what you already know. That way I won’t have to bore you with lots of lots of talking about things you already know.” She smiled and as she did she removed her robe and, folding it neatly, placed it on a nearby table.

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

 

[Haytham Kaze]

When [member="Corvus Raaf"] arrived, Haytham turned around and bowed to her.

He had taken the habit, a long time ago, to bow to every single Jedi that he met. In every single interaction, and to utilize it as a greeting or a form of farewell. It just seemed like something Jedi would do, and he wanted to be the best Jedi that he could despite his origins.

"A pleasure to finally meet you one on one, Master Raaf." He spoke after he had completed his bow and righted himself.

He paused for a moment, recollecting his thoughts from the previous moments and plunged headfirst into what he knew of the third form. "I know it's multiple names, and that it's employed in a defensive way. As a practitioner of Djem So, I have an understanding of how to use it, but that's from a passive aggressive point of view."

"I know that Jedi Master Obi-Wan was the most renowned Soresu practitioner from the Archives, and there were more, but his is the first that comes to mind."

Haytham did know the other practitioner's names that were located within the Archives, but he didn't want to prolong the lesson. He was still a Padawan and had much to learn, and she was the Grandmaster of the Order and they both definitely had other things to do -- no matter how much they claimed teaching and learning was important.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was pleased Haytham bowed. She held nothing against those that chose not to but enjoyed the practice and the tradition it represented.

She reflected on his words. They’d met on more than one occasion but the nature of lessons and missions meant they’d never truly spoken. “Long overdue,” she replied, “So we should make up for lost time.”

“And your knowledge is correct. The third Form owes its heritage to an era when blasters were the most likely thing a Jedi would have to face – but it is often overlooked as a sparring option for that reason – and I would suggest unfairly. It’s all about tight bladework, subtlety, conserving energy and waiting for an opening. It requires patience and in my opinion a greater reliance on the Force than other Forms. You see, when used correctly, A user could and should enter Center of Being. This further allows the defense to become unconscious. But to reach this state takes a great deal of practice and trust. Trust in the Force – to allow your conscious mind to let the Force dictate your movement when your life depends on it.”

Aware she was talking too much, Corvus quickly finished her sermon. “And above all, it is the Form that exemplifies what it means to be a Jedi. But enough talk.” She indicated the rack of training sabers and at the same time withdrew a droid remote from the box. “Capable of a random pattern of blasts and independent movement. Focus on blocking the blasts. And remember, minimise energy, remain in the centre of the storm, let it rage outside of you.”

And with this she let the remote go, it would activate the moment Haytham ignited the training saber.

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

 

[Haytham Kaze]

Haytham did as he was told.

From her description of Soresu, he understood how Djem So was an extension of it. How you had to wait for an opening, how the Force was used more than any other, or at least to a great degree. In lightsabre combat, it was a great deal of lightsabre training, but to able to use a lightsabre and to move fast enough to block one and counter-attack in a duel, you needed to move at inhuman speeds.

Speeds that the average person couldn't even reach, and that was with barely using the Force.

With Soresu, you had to anticipate what attack your opponent would do, and see it... All in the same moment. Something that Haytham had barely taken into account while employing Djem So in practice duels with other Padawans.

"I had never thought about it in such a way, Master Raaf." He nodded his head thoughtfully.

Then she indicated the rack and he moved over to it. He glanced over the rack for a moment, and then clasped one of the training lightsabres and turned around to move back to where he had been standing before.

The blade ignited with a simple brush of his fingers over the ignition key, and the lightsabre rose up into a defensive stance over his chest just as the first bolt came racing down towards him. He expected it, and here, he focused on the Force, doing his best to let it control his actions.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus nodded. “Center or Being, a state where you can allow the Force to guide you without conscious thought - that takes a lot of practice. To master it? 10,000 hours, give or take. So you’ll be forgiven if you’re not perfect immediately. Instead allow the Force to guide you but you may have to make some conscious decisions along the way.”

She clicked a remote control on her hand. “The droid will start to fire a short sequence of blasts now.”

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

 

[Haytham Kaze]

Haytham nodded.

But he still tried to use the Force to the best of his knowledge as a way of anticipating the blasts from the remote.

Ten thousand hours was a lot of time. Haytham couldn't even guess to how many hours that was, but he was guessing numbering in over one hundred days, and since most beings required sustenance and rest, and participated in other daily activities, it'd take a much loner time than one hundred days, but more akin to a full Galactic Standard Year. Even if you were to go without any needed resources, it didn't seem quite possible to achieve.

This ability, sounded like something that could never be achieved unless you practiced from the day you became a Jedi.

At that point, Haytham had already decided that it'd be best to continue on his current path.

When the blasts emerged, the ligthsabre leapt up to meet them.

He blocked the first two with a single angling of the beam, and as he bent his wrist around with the finesse that he had adapted from the second form, and blocked a third shot. However he hadn't anticipated the fourth bolt, and when he finally saw it with his own eyes, he knew it was too late and he had just accepted the blast to the chest before preparing himself for the next sequence.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus nodded and given Haytham’s progress chose not to intervene. She could sense he was relying heavily on the Force and that was never a bad thing. Too often Padawans refused to trust the Force and instead attempted to do everything consciously. Invariably they did well initially but were overtaken in time by the more patient and trusting Jedi.

For time was always a key. Masters that added Ability after Ability merely reduced the effectiveness of those they already had. There were only so many standard hours in a day. Corvus had been practicing Soresu for a dozen years to get to her current level – she’d been using a saber for over twenty.

But this was about Haytham, not herself. She could see he was familiar with Makashi – his saber work had a flow and a style reminiscent of the second Form and his wrist flexibility was another clue.

Three bolts were deflected simply but the fourth crept through his defense. Yet Corvus smiled, he was progressing and that was the important thing. But for now, she would let him engage another sequence, to see if he could continue that development.

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

 

[Haytham Kaze]

The stinging in his chest made his chest very... Noticeable, but he had grown accustomed to it with his training in Form V with Kian Karr so long ago, and not to mention his own training simulations that he ran with other Padawans and Masters, or even by himself.

He soon subdued the pain. Not through the use of the Force, but he figured that it played some part, but through sheer willpower, and the drive for pushing onward without letting anything stop him. He had decided that it was time to surpass his slow gait through the Jedi Order...

When he blinked, the first bolt came. His leading foot rotated to provide a smaller target and he angled his wrists upwards, giving the blade a diagonal angle. It knocked the bolt off to the side somewhere, then the second and third came. He knew he didn't want to expend too much energy, and so he bent his wrist so the blade was moving downwards, and he got the second bolt, and the third bolt; one closer to the edge of the blade, the other closer to the hilt.

And then the final one, he just ducked off to the side by dropping into a crouch and leaning to the side.

The next bolts came, and it was rinse repeat... Albeit, this time with a lot more movement and more bolt contact...

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus continued to nod her approval. His progress was slow but sure and that always boded well. Too swift and a Padawan became complacent, arrogant even and that never led anywhere good.

But progress had to be measured, so she added a second remote to the equation. If he could handle this, she could then raise the stakes and start to spar with him herself.

"Don't think this complicates anything. If you do, it'll beat you before you start. Trust in the Force. No more and no less."

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

 

[Haytham Kaze]

At first Haytham didn't notice as to what [member="Corvus Raaf"] was talking about, but then he saw the second remote and he nodded. He was well versed in defending himself against a single target, but if it were two against one, he wasn't sure as to how he would fare.

Should I rely on the Force more? Inwardly, the young Padawan shook his head. Probably not.

He resumed his ready position, and exhaled just as he raised the blade to block the bolt from colliding with his chest. The blade swept upwards in an awkward angle as the second one fired, and the first one fired it's second.

It was a mistake the moment he broke his almost perfect defense. It was a more aggressive move, the bolt was deflected, but left his right flank open, and he received a sting for it. He groaned angry at himself that he had made the mistake.

And continued.

He resumed his original guard, he wasn't going to expend energy doing silly things like that. If it had been a real engagement, he probably would've been incapacitated at that point.

Two bolts came slicing through the air towards him, he raised the lightsabre, parried one, and with Force enhanced movements and Makashi's grace, parried the other back to the remote.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus continued to watch. Haytham needed little feedback, he was doing it all for himself. If a mistake was made, he corrected it.

"Good, good. And, as ever, now we up the game."

Corvus produced the blindfold now. "The same drill, and if the Force is guiding you, you won't need you eyes, will you?"

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

 

[Haytham Kaze]

I feel like I kind of will need my eyes.

Haytham's eyebrows creased ever so slightly. When he was younger, and the Jedi Instructors taught them how to utilize force sight, it wasn't something that he enjoyed. He understood that it was an invaluable tool in combat, and in every day life as a protector of the Galaxy. That, it was a gift even greater than eyesight.

That the same could be said about force sense, but it still left him uneasy. He had no actual reason as to why, simply because it did. It was one of those things that weren't explainable.

But he trucked through anyway.

It's not like it'd be the first time he used it.

He took the blindfold delicately from her hand, and proceeded to wrap it around his head. He hefted the training lightsabre once more. Spun it a bit, and then resumed his stance.

"Are there more steps to this?"

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus smiled - and then realised he couldn't see as he had a blindfold on.

"Don't think of this as Force Sight. You're not looking to see the remote through the blindfold, merely allow the Force to guide to you block the blaster bolts. Keep it simple and believe you can succeed and if you trust in the Force you'll be fine. Any doubt...any at all, and you'll fail."

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

 

[Haytham Kaze]

"...Yeah," was his only response. He rolled his shoulders back, and then finally resumed his ready stance. He was certain that he was going to be feeling a lot more bolts than he had the first few rounds.

He only had a brief amount of time to exhale before he heard the bolts, and was struck by one, and blocked the other one simply due to flinching and redirecting it to the floor at his feet. There was an eye opening moment through the temporary pain, and he felt as if was slipping into something akin to Force speed, when time slowed down ever so slightly, and you moved faster than the average eye could see.

He felt as if his senses were amplified, something told him to angle his lightsabre up, and he did. He heard the sound of a bolt on the beam. Then Haytham brought the blade downwards to cover his chest. He knew it was the Force doing this for him, or him using the Force in some way he couldn't explain to strengthen him, and then he was struck in the leg, and when the slow response came with the lightsabre descending to his lower body, he was struck in the chest twice.

He felt as if he were betray. But somewhere, in the back of his mind he felt that by acknowledging that he was controlling the Force and actually taking the time to think about it and be mesmerized by it, he ruined his own concentration. But it was something that he'd have to ask [member="Corvus Raaf"], once he recovered.

He breathed heavily, and his hand clenched around the lightsabre.

"Again."

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus nodded and smiled. "Excellent progress. Trust in the Force. I was once told as a young Padawan that people let you down. Governments let you down. Even you'll let you down but the Force will never let you down. Ask it and trust in it and it will respond. Try to wrestle it to do your will or have even the smallest amount of doubt and you will fail. Now...again."

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

 

[Haytham Kaze]

Haytham's eyebrows dipped (as much as they could with the blindfold on), furrowing in confusion. He didn't understand as to what she was trying to say. Everything in the end failed you, except the Force? Isn't that an extremely simplistic view of the world, something a primitive planet would think about some non-existent gods?

He was certain, that Dark Siders were quite successful with the Force, and they 'forced' the Force into submission. But, maybe it wasn't best to question the Master.

The thoughts of confusion were pushed towards the back of his mind, and Haytham took a moment to focus himself, trying to remember as to where the last bolts had come from. He couldn't see of course, so his visual memory wouldn't be able to be used...

He moved into his ready stance, and as soon as he did blocked the first two shots with a flick of his wrist. Quick movements, before he returned to his first guard stance, he made the smallest target possible to where he thought the opponents were, and as he did he was struck in the abdomen and his teeth clenched. Arm dropping down, the training lightsabre swept the second and third bolts back to where they came from.

All Haytham knew, was that he heard one remote fall, and the other began to fire more sporadically, as if to compensate.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

He was making progress but appeared to be either fighting himself or her teaching. Everyone found their own path eventually, she could only give pointers as to the route.

"Remember, this is the Light-side of the Force we are dealing with. Sith see the Force as a tool to be used, to bend to their will. That is how they operate. We are Jedi. Serenity and peace are or watchwords, not power and strength."

"You are doing well and if you eliminated doubt you would do even better. I'd advise you to continue."

[member="Haytham Kaze"]

 

[Haytham Kaze]

Haytham bit his tongue and nodded his head.

Training with those who were experienced in their form was always harder. They always expected more from you. And if you succeeded, then at least in Haytham's mind, you had a bit more respect in the eyes of the one that had taught you.

Now he nodded.

The remote that he had fell in the previous 'round' rose back up after being reactivated and they resumed their rotations through the room around him.

He exhaled again, and he brought the lightsabre upwards and blocked the first bolt that came. With the smallest of pivots to his stance, the next bolt went past his shoulder, but he had still brought up the lightsabre to where it would've hit. There was nothing that had told Haytham to move, it was simply him moving for a better position to defend against the drones.

Both shot at the same time, his lightsabre came upwards and reflected both bolts to opposite sides of the room. He felt a bolt hit his off-hand shoulder, then one at the base of his torso. The next two shots were deflected back towards where they came from. And when they had fallen to the floor, Haytham turned off the training lightsabre, and looked around, trying to remember where [member="Corvus Raaf"] was.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus spoke softly. "Excellent progress and with practice and sparring with different opponents you'll fare even better. What you've experienced with the blindfold is the beginning of Center of Being. If you can reach a point where you trust the Force implicitly, it will enable you to defend yourself without conscious thought. But it takes a lot of practice and belief. You can remove the blindfold now."

"Now," she took a training saber from her belt. "Something more practical. A real opponent is invariably more random in their attacks."

She took up of the opening stance of the fourth Form and smiled. "Let's see how you fare." She opened with a short combination. A vertical blow aimed at his head, then a slash to his right knee followed by a stab to hit chest. All the while she kept moving. "Practice combinations," she said as she sparred. "Harder to defend against than single blows."

[member="Haytham Kaze"]