Applying the Basics- Duel

[RC 212]

[member="Venris Helion"]

Vassara had been practising her Form I extensively over the past few months. While training droids and remotes offered useful opponents, nothing really measured up to live action. For this she had invited Venris to duel with her, in the cargo hold of the Gypsy Caravan.

As she waited she sat cross legged, deep in meditation. Her mind was cool and calm today. A welcome change from the recent turbulent storm. She had removed her coat, and set her weapons aside.

All except her Lightsaber, which she had set to stun....

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]

"You know we need to stop meeting in private like this," The voice came from a darkened corner of the cargo hold, beyond some stacks of crates which Venris stepped out from behind. He lacked his signature hooded coat and arsenal of weapons, save for the lightsaber hanging from his belt. "Silas might start to suspect that there's something going on between us."

He was joking, and his tone conveyed that. Venris walked over and stopped several feet from Vassara. "Well, if you're looking to duel then I have to say from what I've seen you're quite ready for that step. Most train for years before they have a live duel, but this isn't the Order and neither of us have the patience for that."

Venris unclipped his lightsaber and took a few steps back. "Just come at me whenever you're ready, I'll stick to Form III and see how you are on the offence, then see where we go from there." With that, he activated his lightsaber and assumed the opening stance of Soresu, holding his free hand out towards Vassara with the lightsaber held back over his shoulder, the tip pointing towards Vassara while his dominant foot slid back.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Venris Helion"]

Vassara chuckled at the statement. She raised her eyebrow and rose to her full height, immediately assuming her stance. She had both feet close, about shoulder length. The saber lit with a buzz, coming up diagonally across her frame in her natural guard state.

From behind the sapphire blade her steely blue eyes pierced Venris. She read his stance, it was largely defensive, waiting for her to strike.

"Silas is a friend, not a lover buddy. Gotta be exceptional for that title."

Then she struck. One foot slid forwards as she moved and she closed in. The blade of her saber moved vertically and she moved it left, whirling it in a cyclical motion attempting to strike venris on his right shoulder...

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]

Venris immediately repositioned himself, grasping the handle of his ligthsaber with both hands and angling the blade down. He positioned the blade so that it easily parried away Vassara's first strike. The single movement had been a tight and efficient counter if not basic, but Venris was still only testing her offensive capabilities with Form I.

"Noted," He replied with a grin before pushing her blade back. "Keep at it, I want to see just how much you've learned."

 

[RC 212]

[member="Venris Helion"]

This time she went a little more in depth. As he parried she swung her bade away, tempering the velocity and then swung back inwards. She gripped the hilt with both hands paused the force to propel her strike, much like hitting a homerun. Now parallel the saber streaked in, leaving tracers in it's wake coming up on the left side.

Her footing shifted now, one foot sliding forwards and to the left, in an attempt to lock in behind Venris foot. One good offensive capability, deny your enemy movement. Footwork was a valuable asset in any bladework....

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]

Venris repositioned his blade to block the strike again, creating a shower of sparks as the two sapphire blades collided and locked together between the two. He felt her foot lock in behind his and began to press forward against her, keeping their blades locked between them both.

"Clever improvisation, however for keeping me pinned..." He then put all of his weight onto his free leg and swept the leg Vassara had caught to the side, aiming to unbalance her. "You've sacrificed your own footing against a heavier opponent."

 

[RC 212]

[member="Venris Helion"]

She felt her leg tug out from beneath her and toppled a bit losing balance. But this brought rise to the second part of her plan. As she had hoped, Venris locked blades with her, which gave some advantage.

As his foot slid moving hers, she brought the foot up, driving with force into her knee. The strike freed her foot from his manuever and brought the full weight of her leg muscles to bear, trying to hit him square in the thigh.

At the same time Vassara retracted her blade, and with a tiny micro flourish slipped in behind Venris guard, siding her sapphire blade down his saber towards his hand. With two attacks coming in he would be hard pressed to react. Anticipating a counter strike that would obviously come she braced her self, drawing from the force. Her body became light a lithe, ready to manuever.

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]

Venris' leg was hit, but his movement away from Vassara's leg had softened the blow as he pivoted counter clockwise on his other leg. When Vassara's blade began to slid down towards his hand Venris decided to mimic her....unorthodox tactics.

Using the Force to increase his speed, Venris shut off his own lightsaber and quickly dashed back, clearing a good five feet of space between them both.

"Not very conventional, but then again the best laid strategies are the ones they never expect." Venris said before changing his stance, grasping his saber in a balanced guard position.

He had just changed from Form III and Form IV: Ataru.

Charging in, Venris used the Force to enhance his speed and strength before starting off with an attempted strike at Vassara's left side in the midst of leaping past her, around her forward facing guard.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Venris Helion"]

The nice part about Form I was the adaptability. Some called it a novice form, not worth anything. But when combined with other things it became an arsenal in itself. Venris had upped the ante charging in and she locked up.

Her stance came back to her neutral feet spread apart. She whirled the saber into vertical position and adjusted slightly left, meeting his blade with a vertical power strike.

But the velocity was tempered, and as the blade connected she pushed with a savage force and brought her own saber back in, just shy of her left shoulder. His little stunt left him open, and she took the advantage, again wheeling the saber in a vertical cycle.

The sounds of the whir invigorated her. She felt a flash of adrenaline course through her veins and she growled slightly...

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]

Venris' leap had carried him far enough away that Vassara's blade fell short, and he immediately shot in a different direction after getting one foot on the ground. Ataru involved more acrobatic maneuvers in a wide enough space, which the cargo hold provided nicely and allowed Venris to begin striking at Vassara from several directions in the span of a moment while moving to dodge her counter attacks. He would briefly switch back to Soresu to parry some of her strikes, maintaining a vigilant guard and then switching back to Ataru again to press an attack against her.

While Ataru required more use of energy, Soresu allowed him to defend against Vassara and force her to expend more energy while he was able to recover a bit. He was aiming to draw this duel out and see how much he could force Vassara to work for a successful blow.