Beginnings on Roon

[Raziel]

Raziel walked through the halls of the Obsidian Order’s home on Roon. Under each arm he held a large wooden case. Eventually he came to the training halls. Acolytes duelled across the floor space, around the edges Initiates were put through brutal physical training. He found the latest Initiate of the Order, [member="Krytu"], waiting for him.

“There will be three aspects to your initial training. Each to aid you in developing focus. Focus you will need to control the Force. There first two are easier to relate to the abilities you will need to develop,” he said throwing down the two boxes. “There spheres and the steels.”

“These are known as Schrowdinger’s Spheres.” Raziel stated as he opened the first wooden box. He lifted a pair of small metal spheres from the box. Identical in appearance, about ten centimetres wide and with a matt silver surface. “There are five spheres in the box. They are special because each sphere has a core made of a different material; wood, gel, metal, gas and a vacuum. They are wonderful constructions, built to be outwardly identical in appearance, weight and feel. Without specialist scanning equipment the only way to find out what is inside is to open them. However the Force has no such limitations. I expect you to study these frequently. Close your eyes and reach out with your other senses, just being able to sense the sphere itself is your first step.”

“The lightsaber is the weapon of the Jedi.” Raziel continued, nudging the second wooden box with his foot. “And you will not be touching one just yet!” Raziel added. He kicked open one of the cases to reveal more books and blunted fencing foils.

Raziel leant down and gently lifted one of the rapiers out of the fur lined case. “You will read chapters two through five of the small book as well as six through seventeen of the other.” This was always disappointing to new Initiates. The texts were ancient and dusty, no holocrons here. A very old piece of work on duelling from one of the outer rim worlds, and a traditional correlation guide to fencing. Raziel picked up one of the books and flicked to the appropriate pages. There were sequences of sketches of positions, with arrows indicating motions between them.

“It is known as a Kata,” Raziel explained. “I expect you to practise these routines every afternoon and read the theory chapters every evening. Raziel tested the weight of the blade in his hand and moved through a few motions of a Kata he was familiar with. “Lightsaber combat is built on fundamental positions and good footwork – often overlooked. These books re chosen because they give a good grounding that translates well to the basic lightsaber forms.”

“A lightsaber is difficult to handle, you will take the time to learn the basics and learn them well. I do not want you burning your hands off before I can teach you anything useful. You must feel the weight of the blade, get used to its balance. A lightsaber is not so predictable. Your body will soon learn to move between the fundamental positions on its own, you won’t have time to think too hard in the heat of battle.”

“And the third aspect,” Raziel said, waving towards an Obsidian Knight to one side. The man had a scarred face, a lopsided grin and was roughly the size of a house. “Before you conduct any other training, our friend here will put you through some physical training to focus the mind. Whatever you've been through before, this will be harder. Your mind will be cleansed of extraneous thoughts so that you can truly focus on the Force.”

 

[Krytu]

All this information went in and was filed away very quickly. Now recalling that information would be a different business. But that was an issue for later. For now, he needed to keep track of what was going on now. Feel it. Know it. Beat it. I can do that. "Master, this all sounds very orderly and efficient. But my only question is: when do we begin?" This time the smile he cracked was meant to be vicious looking. Reading was nothing. He had not much better to do anyways. And he never rejected physical work, though his species was never particularly strong, he always gave physical work his all. And as for using the Force for feeling something...well. That would come when Raziel decided to show him exactly what to be done. But for now, it was time to start - wherever the Master may please it.​

 

[Raziel]

"The giant pile of muscle over there with the wicked grin...he's going to start your physical training now. I'll be back in a couple of hours when you're ready to focus"

 

[Krytu]

Now it was just the Kokku and a giant, muscular beast of a thing. "Let us begin." It spoke in a booming voice. Over the next few hours, Krytu ran more kilometers than he pleased, his long legs pumping to propel himself faster and sweat - something not seen often in his species - poured off of his body in waves. His extra breathing tube had been set into socket a long while ago. After running was done, there were all sorts of muscle building activities that Krytu enjoyed even less than the running. He felt his arms and legs ready to burst at any second. He didn't have a chance to think of anything except the task at hand. In his head he remained motivated. Since his first meeting with Raziel, he had seen many things the Force could do. There was nothing that would stand in his way of getting what he wanted. And at that time. He wanted power. Finally it all ended. Hours of work. slumped against a wall, he brought a water flask up to the side of his mouth and poured the cool liquid in. It trickled down his throat and soothed the dry itchy feeling that had developed.​

 

[Raziel]

Raziel walked slowly into the hall, and picked up one of the wooden boxes. The training hall was expansive and high. A great balcony ran across one wall half way up, that way the trainees could be observed at practise easily. The rough stone floor was scarred with a thousand lightsaber strikes, there were even several on the tiled walls.

Raziel paused to allow a group of initiates of the obsidian order bow to him, before carrying in the Krytu. He nealt down before him and sat down the box.

"One day you'll have to keep yourself in shape, and you'll miss the days when a drillmaster chased you around these halls!" Raziel said. His demeanour was entirely different to earlier, relaxed and friendly,with none of the intensity.

"It can take days for a student to connect to something outside himself with the Force," he warned. "Everything is connected and you need to reach out and try to perceive something else. Once you've been able to find the spheres in the Force, you can start to investigate what's inside. Working out what an object is made of is even harder. Clear your mind and focus."

 

[Krytu]

Rising from his position with muscles protesting in agony, Krytu Looked at the box to his master. "The day I see myself fit is the day you sprout wings equipped with hyperdrive." His tone was low and dry. Exhaustion had set in.​

​

Splashing water in his face, he woke himself up. Without hearing any response, his blue eyes fixed upon the orbs. The mechanics within his vision immediately attempted to calculate density and all the other fancy things Krytu had never really understood. But they had no luck in figuring out the depths of the spheres. Picking them up he set them on a floor in a wide arc.​

​

With a look at his master, he found the aura that usually surrounded him and linked himself to the Force in that way. Having found a connection, he turned his gaze back to the spheres laying on the ground. He connected the extra breathing tube to the port on his lower chest and stabilized his breathing. With a small flash, his eyes shut down and their processed stopped.​

​

Then he reached out and tried to feel. This had little results at first. He felt Raziel and a few of the other individuals in the room that had especially strong presences. He groped around in his head, searching for the spheres. But he simply couldn't. Blast it! My mind- my mind. Maybe I shouldn't be using my mind. My mind is made up of me and not of the Force. My mind is simply the place where the Force is perceived. Calmly he took a breath, and refocused himself. He used that faint connection he felt on Raziel and attempted to extend it upon himself. All of a sudden he started feeling things. But it was as if everything was blurry and has no details. The things that he could feel just felt blunt.​

​

After a few minutes of poking around, he finally found a few of the cubes. For some reason they didn't all pick up within his senses. No matter. It was a start.​

​

Suddenly he realized how out of breath he was. His eyes turned back on and he staggered a bit. He must have been focused on his task for a while because the room was somewhat emptier than before. Leaning down, the Kokku set his hands on his knees and propped himself up while be breathed.​

 

[Raziel]

"Calm," Raziel said, using the trigger word as he reached out towards his apprentice with the Force. He attempted to bolster the apprentice's reserves and focus his mind. "It will be difficult at first, and draining. Try not to lose yourself in the external, always keep yourself grounded in the here and now," he said. Raziel knew the words would have little meaning to the Kokku at first, but it was worth reinforcing the basics even as understanding was being built around them.

"It might be worth holding one of them as you try to sense it. Inanimate objects are always more difficult to appreciate through the Force than the living. Hold it in you hand, touch it, look at it, try to focus on your understanding of what the sphere is, and then expand that understanding with the Force," Raziel suggested. He idly picked up one of the spheres, throwing and spinning it in his hand like a sportsman in any number of bat and ball sports preparing to throw. He held it with the Force in midair, slowly rotating. He already held the object with is influence in the Force, it was a simple matter to reach inside. Empty, hollow. That one contained the sealed vacuum. He placed it back with the others.

 

[Krytu]

Taking a deep breath, Krytu rose off the ground again. Calm. His mind washed over with a serene feeling and he re-focused his mind and his feeling in the Force. A grunt signified that he received the information that Raziel had spoke. Walking forward, he picked up the sphere that his master had just set down.

A deep breath and he began to focus inside again. The Force became active once again as he closed his eyes and took in the surroundings in his head again. Letting it all flow again. He reached through his hand, attempting to channel the Force through his arm. A weird tingling sensation began as he started this process. After a few minutes of pushing and trying he finally felt the sphere not just with the weight in his hand, but with the Force.

Pushing hard he attempted to explore what it felt like within the Force. He memorized what it felt like.

Over the next while, Krytu would repeat this process for each cube. He knew how each one felt but couldn't give any one a distinguished name. They just had different feels. That was a good first step.

"I can feel them, master. But I can't quite tell what each one is."

 

[Raziel]

"Excellent, that's good progress," Raziel replied, satisfied. "Next we move into the steel. How much experience do you have with sword work? It's hardly a common or useful talent, but some of the posh kids we pick up seen to have been born with a silver spoon in the mouth and a steel foil in the hand."

 

[Krytu]

"I fortunately have some understanding of how to wield a sword. But not to any standards you would have, master." Setting the spheres back in the box they came from he turned back to Raziel. "So let us say that I know nothing and go from there," he chuckled. Stretching his arms out, he prepared himself for the coming training.​

 

[Raziel]

"Well this, this might start a little tedious. Remember what I said before the training. Muscle memory by repeating the basic positions of the forms."

Raziel pulled out the text book and turned to the pages with the appropriate sketches. He took the fencing blade and moved into the first position shown.

"Always pay attention to the secondary diagrams that show foot positioning, it's vital. There are twenty four basic positions in this first kata, and three katas I want you to learn. They are well matched to the basic saber forms we'll move onto," he said. He moved through the next several positions, moving between standard guarding stances, blocks and a strike or two. Relatively simple, but it was harder than it seemed to get the fundamentals in place, without trainees wanting to swing a sword like a lunatic.

He spun the foil around in his hand, offering it to Krytu. Of course, taking positions and reading them off a page at the same time was tricky. He had a holo projector that could create a mirror image for guidance, but he wanted to see what his students memory was like, or if he would suggest something more effective.

 

[Krytu]

Krytu took the foil in his hand and gave it a slight weight test with just a simple twirl. "This out to be interesting. The only thing I have much experience in that is beneficial would be throwing blades. I hardly miss. But. Let us see how well I can learn this." Kokku looked into the yes of his master, waiting. "Where do we begin?" he grinned.​

 

[Raziel]

"Well...the first sketch in the book of course," Raziel said pointing to the page. It showed a more typical fencing starting pose, a little too close to Makashi, but the second Kata was much closer to Shii-Cho.

 

[Krytu]

Krytu stared at the page with his eyes. The mechanics in him worked on the stance from top to bottom, memorizing every aspect. Then, carefully, he translated the drawing into his own body. The stance was wide and balanced, ready for combat. "How does this look?" He asked tentatively after finishing.​

 

[Raziel]

Raziel stepped behind @Krytu. He unceremoniously kicked his right foot a few inches outwards. Then he carefully grasped his forearm and slightly changed its position.

"Good, good. Move through the rest," Raziel instructed. He would do the same as the Kokku went through the basic positions, making minor corrections to his posture.

 

[Krytu]

Krytu moved through the positions in the book with the help of Raziel. One after the other. The time passed and they covered many different positions. At the end of what they were going over, he nodded, "So that's it then?" He felt pretty confident about all the things they had gone over. The sun had well gone away at this point and the tall alien with all the stamina he thought he had, was ready to collapse.​

 

[Raziel]

"That's it for today Krytu," Raziel said with a curt nod. "I will check on you periodically through the week, but you will have to drive yourself forwards. There is freedom here to advance yourself, but please don't dissapointed me. At the end of the week I'll show you how what you're learning translates into real swordplay and will see how far you have come with the spheres. If you have made sufficient progress, it will be time to introduce you to a real lightsaber."

[member="Krytu"]