Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Across the Universe: Swashbuckling Sabers [Asemir]

@[member="Qae Shena"] This is what I have stored in my emails.

Qae

Sky Dancer II, En Route to Saleucami

There had been problems lately. Stacks of them. More problems than Qae knew how to handle, given the difficult and dangerous nature of the task at hand; he had never once counted on helping anyone ever establish a major hyperlane across the Galaxy. Not once in his wildest dreams had Qae Shena, ex-Jedi from Glee Anselm, ever considered himself part of making real history. Unfortunately, making history had the side-effect of drawing attention, and usually from the most unsavoury of sources. It was just part of the job at hand, really. They were bound to run into hiccups at every turn.

Now that the Warden of the Sky Jorus Merrill had let him in on all the details of his crazy plan, Qae could properly help out. He was going to work up towards the higher end of the spectrum, where they had not touched yet. Fortunately, their target was something a little softer, somewhere that most didn't have interest or desire to be. Saleucami, between Sith and Hutt space, where the watchful eyes of both would eventually be - but without the current necessity of war as one side threatened to encroach upon the other to raise hostilities. For what was literally just a civilian refueling station, it was perfect.

Qae's plan was simple: purchase an oldschool XQ2 platform, where he could set up a fuel platform for the Vagrants' use. It would then be a connecting node where Jorus could come along and do his thing in order to keep an eye on the spacelanes and set up a proper waypoint for his hyperlane. It was brilliant, right? Right. Except the part where Qae was literally expecting trouble to come knocking at the door and muscle in on whatever profit Qae was expecting to get out of this. Enter the high-powered help - @Asemir Lor'kora.

Qae had brought him not only because he legitimately thought he'd need a second sword arm, but also because he knew this guy was essentially a master of the craft of lightsaber combat. Really, Qae had nowhere else to turn to learn the one thing he'd been craving since forever - Ataru - and very seriously needed to get onto that. It was the one Form he couldn't learn without help and he wanted it to be the most complete one he used. Besides the philosophical foundation he had, he had no technical knowledge of the Form and thus he needed some help.

"...so that's more or less it," Qae said to Asemir in the cavernous lower hangar of the ship, where two maintenance pods, a landspeeder and two speeder bikes took up one side, the rest only given to a workbench and a training droid. "I could really use your help on this. Name your price, even, if you have one. I'll pay it. Interested?"

Asemir

[INSERT POST HERE

Qae

Qae flashed Asemir a sheepish grin. "You and half the Galaxy," Qae admitted. "Most of the people who study Ataru are Sith who wouldn't know the real meaning of the Form if it bricked them in the face. It's not a common Form any more. Most Jedi follow Soresu, Makashi or Shii-cho - people stick to the basics for a reason. Valid ones, truthfully."

Qae put both of his hands behind his head, studying th songblade-wielder. They both loved their art, that much was clear. Things like Echani martial arts certainly had their place; there was a certain amount you could learn from fighting someone. That wasn't Qae's thing so much as it was the fact that their choice of study and how much they adhered to its tenets told him more. He absorbed a Form, breathed it, lived it. Ataru was his choice for that very reason. Most decided 'Hey I can unleash beatdowns!' and ignored the real reason behind a Form.

"Surrendering to the fight. Relentless pursuit of a goal, aggressive in nature. Ataru crosses lines. It's also art in motion; kinetic lightsaber combat at its finest. You learn your body. You become more in tune with the Force with Ataru than you do in almost every other Form, but it's not just about that. There's so much more to it than that. I wish more people were as insane about it as I was. I mean, I have spent the past two years studying Shii-cho at the Jedi Temple, then all this time practising with my Master and the Captain." The Nautolan grinned. That should answer his question. "I really appreciate you taking the time out to help. So. Where do we start?"

Asemir

Asemir considered his reply. “The easiest way to begin is for you to duel me, so I can assess your current knowledge and skill. It is the easiest way, but I’m not convinced it is the best way. However, you are skilled in the lightsaber, you are proficient in other forms, so it may be best for you to just show me what you know.”

He took a few steps back to add some distance between the two, and unsheathed his blade. Asemir twirled his weapon once, a habit he might have considered bad. “Whenever you’re ready. Strike at me.”

Qae

Then a duel it was. There was no hesitation on the Nautolan's part, no questioning what to do. There was only the blade, and it would be the very thing that became him. He drew his lightsaber, activating it in a brilliant display of emerald as it snapped to life.

A moment's adjusting followed as he advanced to standard range - one step away from striking distance. Duels started certainly far away, but many masters of the art knew their range, and the approximate range of an opponent just by glance. Asemir was one such master. There was no movement on Qae's part for the first few moments as he adjusted himself, his humming lightsaber the only noise he could register beyond the beat of his heart. Facing down Asemir in standard Shii-cho opening stance, Qae contemplated his options as his saber hilt held at solar plexus height, pointed directly at his foe's face.

And then, as chaos enveloped order, Qae moved. The Force was with him, his body enhanced by its loving embrace, using its inherent speed to keep up with someone he knew would be ten steps above his level of skill. His opening move was little more than three attacks on a straight line, one after the other - first a shortened vertical slash downwards from just above Asemir's head to his waist, then across to Asemir's right side, then back to his left, all in rapid succession. Every slash came with Qae extending his front foot forward more to maintain balance and provide momentum, then bringing his back foot up to maintain the length of his stance. All Qae had to do was keep Asemir on the back foot - continually pressing forward, driving him back. It was clear that he had great grasp over the basics of Shii-cho; it was his only known and practised Form. So many years at it had given him plenty of chance to excel at it.

Asemir

[INSERT POST HERE

Qae

It wasn't every day Qae duelled a sword-wielding opponent. Invariably everyone he'd dueled ever since leaving the Jedi Order had picked up a lightsaber. In only one case otherwise, it was two lightsabers. He was used to the hum, the clash of infinitesimal weight blades, the resonance and harmony of induction loops clashing. This was a different feeling. There wasn't any feedback on this blade like there was a lightsaber. It was almost as if that extra sense, that extra hum, just wasn't present.

He'd have to make up for that.

Needless to say, Asemir was on a crazy level of his own - possibly the best opponent he'd fought ever. Ashin and Spencer were good, but Asemir was another level entirely above that. The speed at which he moved, that leap an almost blinding flash? It was intense. Only five solid years of ballet saved Qae, his greatest shame now becoming his most useful asset, pivoting on the ball of his foot with a slight kick of his other to provide the momentum of the spin, sword raised back to Shii-cho guard only barely in the nick of time.

From there, the blades clashed again, solid on energy, heat on edge. A sideways roll of the blade pushed the first strike away slightly and the second was a pushing block with his saber held horizontally, turning slightly to his left to get his right arm forward into the block and stop his wrists from coming off.

Chaos was the nature of Shii-cho. Unpredictable moves built off a very solid foundation of basic strikes, in order to lull the foe into a sense of security. One such move was a strike to the forehead with the pommel of the lightsaber hilt, which in the block was pointed directly at Asemir's body as it was. With his saber still in two hands, Qae drove the saber forward and back like a hammering piston, stepping back only to add a wide, two-handed sweep of the blade towards Asemir's right shoulder to remove the sword arm.

Asemir

The strike to the face from the pommel of Qae’s lightsaber came quick and sudden, but not with the degree of surprise that Qae might have hoped for. Asemir was hardly following the fight visually, trusting more on his grasp of the Force and his decades of experience to give him an edge over his opponent. As such, he was already twisting away from the pommel, which struck a glancing blow to his forehead and gashed a nasty cut in the blue-gray flesh. Blood flowed freely down his face as Asemir used the momentum of his twist to bring his songblade down in a windmill parry that caught Qae’s lightsaber at its forte.

Sparks geysured into the air as Xedael metallurgy met energy blade. The hum of the lightsaber fought against the natural thrum of the songblade. Asemir allowed the pressure to build for a second before relaxing his stance, allowing his blade to fall. Qae recovered easily, not giving him any opportunity to exploit. The Forgotten danced back, putting some precious meters between his opponent.

Asemir held his blade one-handed, its tip pointed at the Nautolian. He shook his head, letting droplets of his blood spray in all directions, before giving Qae a respectful smile. “That strike to my forehead. Excellent. I’ve found that many swordsman are unwilling to employ all parts of their weapons, including the hilt. Many aren’t willing to get in close and strike out.” He paused, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead. A quick chant from a healing technique slowed the flow of blood. “You’re good, Qae. Not many are able to hold their own against me. Shii-cho gives you a strong foundation, but I feel that adding Ataru to the mix will be wonderful. Ataru, when used properly and aggressively, gives you incredible initiative. The speed and positioning allow you to dictate the pace of the fight, and that is essential against stronger, or multiple, opponents.”

The Forgotten twirled his blade in a salute towards his opponent, before sheathing his sword. “I can teach you the basics of Ataru. Part of Ataru is physical. The whole jumping around, positioning, acrobatics. The other part is learning when to use such a maneuver and reading the battlefield. Excessive movement and jumping will tire you out and open you up to counterattacks. Correct usage will take your opponents by surprise, giving you the chance to end the fight quickly and decisively. Strategic use of those techniques separate novice Ataru users from masters.

“Learning the more advanced techniques, well, that comes mostly from experience and application. We can start with the basics, if that’s fine with you.”

Qae

The fight was over, as quickly as it had begun, but it ended well. Qae's blade lowered as Asemir gave him praise enough to make the Nautolan smile, the knowledge that he'd caught a master of swordplay off-guard in the best possible way a reassuring thing. Shii-cho was all about unpredictability even through basic techniques, and he felt like he'd lived up to that notion well. The lightsaber wasn't just a way of cutting at things, it was a philosophy of life. Not many of its students appreciated that fact.

Asemir spoke of concepts and ideas, things central to a Form known for its explosive ballistic movements and a dynamic, aggressive, relentless style. Things to watch out for, things to note, things to make sure always happened. Ataru was a Form that Qae already connected with, on some level. He loved it, but had never had access to a teacher who could fix the things he needed on the level he could reach. This was a wonderful opportunity that the Master-at-Arms simply could not pass up.

"Basics are fine. Everyone has to start somewhere," Qae said with a nod of agreement. After all, he could have learned what the basics looked like from a couple of pictures and had some idea, but no. You couldn't learn a fighting style, innate body motions, from a book. You needed eyes on it, someone who could tell you that the tip of your blade was drooping slightly too far back outside your vision, or that your stance needed to be lower, or wider. A teacher, a real teacher, was infinitely more important than being able to read some words off a page. Sure, he'd be able to take on basic techniques and whatnot, but it was hard to find a teacher that could equip for self-learning and really mould a student into somethng great.

Wordlessly, Qae gave Asemir a nod of assent, the sign that he was ready to begin learning something great.
 

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