Where better to meet a Padawan?

[Krass Wyms]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Krass could sense her master but she was allowing herself to not get distracted. She was uncertain about the length or the power cells of the remote and a million small things that could be a factor in what she was doing. She could feel the force around herself pushing outwards with her mind to feeling the remote when it fired another shot and she moved reflecting the shot back into it finally as it came clattering to the floor and Krass moved back a little. She was curious though how she did. Liking the feedback so they would be able to do a lot more in the construction. She held the lightsaber looking at it while it was prepared to protect and be used for all of the things. Krass was adjusting the lightsaber itself with a small look on her face. "I hope that was good master, deflecting with this lense isn't the easiest thing to do but slicing into beskar and phrik will be a lot easier. A smaller area of focus for the energy and it will allow less energy to be lost from the power cell. The circuits themselves wont overheat from dealing with materials like cortosis either which is a benefit."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel smiled. What could have been a simple lesson in using her new saber had become an opportunity for Krass to better understand its technical limitations. But that was Krass – she was a Jedi and she was a technological wizard.

“It was good, and you coped very well with a remote. Time to see how your saber fares against another blade.”

Sorel set the energy level of her lightsaber for training and then activated it with a snap-hiss. The golden blade was visibly wider than Krass’.

Sorel bowed slightly and then performed a few attacks – pre-determined combinations of moves that would not be too difficult for Krass to defend against – but she would for the first time feel the effect of a blade on her own saber.

[member="Krass Wyms"]

 

[Krass Wyms]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Looking at her master as she thought about it for a moment and Krass gave a nod of her head to this. She was ready to see how it fared against another non training droid lightsaber. That could move around and well just do more stuff. The droid had programs and could adapt but they were also stiff when she moved activating the blade again with the snap-hiss sound of it. The low energy humming but the blade shifted between its storm and smoke grey colors as it was waiting htere. her body going into a jedi ready stance as the blade was a lot thinner then her masters. The two crystals she had in it with the other components were important for this before Krass looked up at the woman and prepared to move in. She was going at her master more as a feint instead of an attack to see how she would react as the force whispered to her letting her feet move almost independent of her body.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel smiled as Krass adopted a ready stance. She did not plan to hold back but nor would she push too hard or too fast. And before Sorel made a move, Krass appeared to initiate an attack.

Sorel’s saber was in place and ready to react to whatever the Force and her training told her to do. As a rule, Sorel rarely made defensive parries consciously. Instead she relied on the Force to guide her and allow her mind to focus on her opponent, looking for any tells or over-used combinations or moves.

So she did not overreact to the feint and was impressed with Krass’ movement. Too often Padawans fought from a stationary position, which made it easier to defeat them. Presenting an ever moving target made it harder to be sure of an attack and so was always a good tactic.

And before Krass could consider her next move, Sorel attempted a simple combination – a vertical and diagonal slash from her own right shoulder and, presuming she was parried out and away, a horizontal slash from her one left to right.

[member="Krass Wyms"]

 

[Krass Wyms]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Krass moved and dug her heel in when her master slashed. The strike something to wait for and she was adopting it. A small mindset that her people used some fo the times. One use your sie... she was smaller then pretty much everyone.... her master might be short compared to ssome but to Krass she was still taller which said it. So be short, use the muscle they had like slabs of meat and muscle able to lift and heft up rocks, materials and other things heavier then themselves. Her blade came up to meet her masters blade and parry it up and off to the side. Her speed going away while she almost stomped her foot to hold the area as she saw and felt the blade coming. She ducked down letting her saber go up as a slash came over her head and connected to the blade. Smacking it to the side as Krass looked up and used her muscles. Leaping up like she was going to flip with Ateru but brought her saber back around and up to try and hook coming off of her masters blade. Her feet rising up in the boots to go for her legs and distract her from a possible headbutt under the chin. Use the entire body was a thing of her people after all and a thick heavy rock smashing you could hurt.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was in the zone – she always was when she sparred. Of all of her abilities, this was the one she felt most natural in performing. It was as if she was born to wield a saber. Not that she fought often – in fact she avoided it at all costs. But when it was necessary, she knew how to duel.

And when it came to friendly sparring, she actually enjoyed it. She loved to duel with her Padawans, pushing them to their limit and developing them at the same time.

Krass was not necessarily a natural yet, but she clearly knew how to work her assets. She was shorter than average and although that impacted on her reach, it had its advantages too.

Sorel enjoyed the fact that Krass was using so many feints. As a rule, Sorel used the Force to guide her defences and so was less prone to being deceived – but she was in no way immune. She performed the two attacks as planned and noted that Krass preferred to avoid the blade as opposed to deflect it – which was information to use later.

Then she was aware that her Padawan was going to sweep her legs from under her. Following Krass’ lead, Sorel leaped upwards – and was lucky as she only just avoided a head-butt that would have landed squarely on her chin had she chosen a different route to avoid the sweep.

“You use your body as a weapon,” Sorel said as she returned her saber to a defensive position. “That is to be commended and will be a surprise against many foes.”

With that, Sorel performed a repeat of the previous attack, two moves performed in precisely the same manner.

[member="Krass Wyms"]

 

[Krass Wyms]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Looking at her master as she came down and Sorel seemed to be able to move just as well as she could. Her sie not an issue when Krass touched back down and moved back to make a little distance so they weren't all up in each other business.... not a fun place to be and try to have a conversation. "Yes master, my species have more strength then most and our fighters generally charge with really spiky armor and weapons. No one expects it and we can use that closeness to throw punches and anything that would be dangerous to them." She was looking at her master and adjusted the saber for just a moment as the blade went duel phase to let it switch its length to triple the length so she could ontrol it and move around her master showing off all of what it had to use. Slashing at her master with a piercing stab then going back quickly like she was poking at her master to prod and try to get her.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was able to hold a conversation and spar – but only just. There was an intensity to Krass’ fighting style that was not typical of a Jedi – and that, the Jedi Master knew, would give her an edge when fighting unsuspecting opponents.

“Your style is useful. Too many Jedi think a duel is only about a saber, or mostly saber with a little Force thrown in. Using your surroundings and your whole body is to be commended. In close quarters, your options are limited and by getting close you negate an opponent’s greater reach.”

Sorel smiled at Krass’ tenacity – she displayed a style that was not typical but it was very effective. She did as all Padawans were instructed, but few seemed to heed the advice – she played to her strengths. So for a short while, Sorel defended herself as she could not tell which direction the next attack would come from.

[member="Krass Wyms"]

 

[Krass Wyms]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Krass was letting the force as she could feel it connect to her and guide her movements. it was like the holocrons had taught about. Allowing it to move and let your body move before you were thinking about it. Even if you could not feel it you could have instincts on how to avoid danger. The danger sense and her blade moved when she planted her feet on the ground going at her master from th distance so that she would be able to move around her instead of risking parts of it. Letting the force guide her hand movements on the hilts of her saber itself. She gripped it tightly so that they would all be able to fight and keep sparring here as she looked for the small flaw, something she could use to break her own masters defense itself. Her skills with making things meant everything had one eventually and the jedi had been able to in the past find the shatterpoint within armor, weapons and people to break it all down.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was no master of the third Form, but she knew enough to defend herself for a prolonged period against most saber-wielders. It was all about being in the eye of the storm. It was about letting the Force guide you and keeping your blade moving such that you generated sufficient kinetic energy to effortlessly parry attacks. It required significant levels of practice and a complete faith in the Force. It was the lack of the latter that tended to let Jedi down.

If Sorel had an advantage when it came to sparring, it was her versatility. She practised with the saber more than any Force technique and was comfortable with all Forms bar the seventh. And she could fight left-handed, right handed, with two sabers and a saberstaff. It was taught to Padawans that unfamiliarity was one of the key reasons that Jedi lost fights. Up against a new Form or weapon and that lack of knowledge sewed a seed of doubt. And doubt was always the forerunner to failure.

Sure Sorel had tells and flaws. But she cycled through Forms and techniques regularly, so she rarely presented a constant threat – taking away the traditional Jedi advantage of wearing your opponent down and looking for a chink in the armour.

So once she sensed that Krass was getting comfortable, Sorel raised her left hand and her other saber hilt slapped into it. A moment later there were two golden blades to face instead of the one she’d previously been using.

[member="Krass Wyms"]

 

[Krass Wyms]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Sorel was watching her master and just like when she was working at a forge she stuck around, had herself prepared to work on it. She was concentrating and she was letting her body and mind work with the force when the sound of her master changing from one blade to two and Krass moved forward quickly. Letting the saber go as it was quickly changing from the duel phase to a normal length and she held the blade as she used the speed and her own force energies to launch into the air and coming down with her saber spinning in front of herself, using it to try and work so that she could attempt a blade lock with her boots and weight adding to it. She can be like a small ball falling to mess with her as she rotated into a falling leaf to increase the power.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was not particularly tall – or heavy. So she was used to fighting adversaries bigger and stronger than herself. So she was more than adept at avoiding situations where her frame and speed were not an advantage. Tight spaces were always a no-no for her. It negated her pace and manoeuvrability.

And she invariably deflected and never blocked. She had more than one broken bone on her forearm to show for failing to adhere to that principle all of the time.

So when Krass attacked, Sorel could see all her worst nightmares rolled into one. A ball of them and the ball’s name was Krass.

But she was in a large training room, so as Krass advanced and charged at her, Sorel retreated. Using the Force, she boosted her natural pace and almost literally danced backwards, keeping just a small step ahead of her Padawan.

[member="Krass Wyms"]

 

[Krass Wyms]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

She could see that her master was backing up with a small look of determination on her face. Staying where they moved, landing and being ready when she saw her master going backwards and landed rolling forward with her saber deactivating for a moment when she rolled forward and came back up activating it into a stabbing motion with force behind it. Her eyes locking and staying on her masters face so she could follow her and work to try and anticipate her actions. instead of just trying to overpower her while she was looking to more often then not improve her speed to catch and duel her master who was skilled at moving and dodging. She had to admit that she was being impressed with this and learning a lot about movement.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel’s ability was not just because she was trained in the likes of the Echani martial art. It was mostly because she relied on the Force.

For a Master and a Padawan to fight, it was wrong to say that there could only be one outcome. History was littered with Jedi that died to less experienced foes – and ones with less connection to the Force. But Sorel would never commit the cardinal sin – to underestimate her Padawan.

Her pace and both lateral and central movement kept her just about out of Krass’ way, but taking only a defensive stance was tiring. For sure it would tire Krass but it was also a wearing process for Sorel.

But this was about Krass learning, not Sorel showing how good she was with a saber, so she kept up the constant defence and wished she’d chosen Soresu. But she hadn’t and soon her arms were growing tired and she wondered how long before Krass broke through her defences.

[member="Krass Wyms"]

 

[Krass Wyms]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Krass was looking at her master and watching her, for any signs that she was slipping or going to make a move and opening. She was used to many things, stamina in the face of swinging a hammer and working under pressure. She knew how to breathe and she knew how to fight with her family and a number of other species when she stomped the ground to pivot forward for a slash to try and bat at her masters blade and then she pressed... less to use it to lock blade and more to do what her master had been doing. using it to guide the blades and try to create an opening while she saw the second blade preparing herself to go for the flowing water strike and move along the blade.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

As far as a lesson was concerned, Sorel considered it a success. Krass’ blade was ideally suited to cutting but she was more than capable of using it to deflect blasters and it held its own against Sorel’s own blades.

Perhaps Sorel was a little competitive and didn’t want to lose? Maybe she was unsure how long Krass could keep up the onslaught and didn’t want her to run out of steam?

Whatever the reason, Sorel grinned widely and changed tactics. Now she defended only when necessary and decided to see how Krass could cope with having to defend against a torrential series of strikes.

Once she’d dealt with the latest moves – which were getting closer and closer to breaching her defences – she did a quick back-flip to put distance between them and then an even quicker forward flip with a twist to move to a position behind her Padawan. Once there, she used both sabers to attack. If Krass managed a counter, Sorel would use one blade to deflect it and immediately begin the attack once more with her other hand.

[member="Krass Wyms"]

 

[Krass Wyms]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Krass was following her master with her eyes and prepared to defend against her. Keeping the interest going as her eyes tracked her master seeing her backflip. Get more distance when she moved and prepared to surge forward more like a battering ram to go after those defenses that her master was doing and then she was gone. Sorel had disappeared almost for a moment before the padawan felt her master behind her and couldn't think fothe time to dodge or move quickly. She was stretching out her senses before dropping down quickly and kicking her small legs out to smash into the knees of her master more then try to meet her sabers as her stomach impacted the ground and she was uncertain about the attack getting her master in the legs or if she would realize it was coming.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel enjoyed sparring. She always saw it as a win-win scenario. Both sides learned from such encounters. Even a Master and Youngling bout was informative for the Master. Often the less experienced fighter would try things that were unusual. Or a flaw they showed was also good learning for the Master who would ensure they did not fall into the habit themselves.

An average opponent – in fact the vast majority of opponents – would look to defend in Krass’ position. It was the logical choice and the safest option.

Which is why Sorel did not consider the prospect that Krass would immediately attack her. And why she received a kick to the knee that in one sense she predicted but her conscious brain ignored.

Sorel bowed her approval at the attack and smiled, flexing her knee.

“I call this bout a win to you Krass. Your tenacity is to be applauded. And your saber measured up well too. It is of excellent construction.”

[member="Krass Wyms"]

 

[Krass Wyms]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Krass was looking at her master when she was on the ground and rolled over onto her back looking up. Holding the saber ready and prepared to defend but she was uncertain about what her master might be able to do. She looked up at her master when Sorel spoke and gave a nod of her head seeing it. She had a grin on her face so that she would be able to move. "Thank you master though I am uncertain if I won. For the most part at best I think I survived." In a real fight she likely would have been dead but there was also a chance she would have kneecapped the opponent most like and been able to protect herself. Though in a regular fight she would have had equipment ready to use while she stood there prepared for everything to be able to happen. Krass stood up and her saber was there going back to her hip with a grin on her face when she grabbed a bottle. "Oh you survived."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel laughed. "We both survived, but I pretty much expected that to be the outcome."

"The trouble with sparring is that it is artificial. A real fight, with a real opponent, is entirely different. And given we don't espouse violence as a solution for any situation, it is difficult to recommend getting into fights just to practise, but - by the same token - it is important to hone your skills. So you'll need to find your own way. Practise? Yes. Spar? Yes. And find a way of getting real-life experience too."

[member="Krass Wyms"]