Fishboy & Forcegirl

[Qhorin Solas]

Cronos, enraptured by the brief duel, never had a chance to carry out his diabolical scheme. The two engaged one another a few times, attacking and defending in almost rhythmic exchanges. Zak employed Makashi footwork to evade an attack, and his defense was adequate, but he never took advantage of the inherent weakness of the saberstaff. Morgana managed, after a couple clashes, to score a hit by incorporating Ataru movements into the fight. A sound strategy, but not quite in line with the spirit of the duel. For that matter, neither was Zak's use of Makashi. Still, Cronos had seen enough, and he couldn't truly fault them; he wasn't a purist either.

"Good job, both of you." He waved a hand and the three training remotes floated over to revolve around Zak. "You were smart to use Ataru, Morgana. Djem So suffers from a lack of mobility, and mobility is integral in the use of a saberstaff. The more you move, the more momentum you build, and the more momentum you build, the more powerful your attacks will be."

He turned his attention to Zak. "You, on the other hand..." He started to pace, lit lightsaber still held at his side. "You're quick, and you have talent, but Djem So, more than anything, is about power. Without using the Force to enhance your strength, you'll never be able to make full use of the style. Of course, learning the moves now, while you're young, won't hurt, per say...

"Now, Morgana, prepare yourself. You as well, Zak. Use the Force to follow my moves, step for step, swing for swing. Every time you step out of place, the training remotes will... correct you." He settled into a stance, blade held overhead, saber angled down and back. It was a fairly standard opening Djem So stance.

"Morgana, when you are ready... attack."


[member="Zak Dymo"] [member="Morgana Forceborn"]

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

Upon [member="Cronos Aegir"] entering into the grounds Morgana stood down, hearing him out. As he spoke Morgana had noted the remotes activating, not sure what would come next from that. Given how Master Cronos was now within the training area she wondered if he intended something against both them and the remotes. Apparently not when he'd said how they would keep both her and [member="Zak Dymo"] "in place" during the fight against him. Though apparently Morgana had done a good job of mixing Atura in with the Djem So movements during her sparing, something she didn't even realize until he said it. But now was the time to move on to the next part of the test.​

​

Seeing how limiting the fight would be Morgana decided to downgrade herself if it meant keeping balanced. Since it was a setting of the saberstaff she turned one end off, making it more or a regular lightsaber now. True the hilt was longer than usual but it meant more hand-space for her to grab and maneuver her hands with. She took a stance with the blade extended out in front of her before advancing and starting with an overhead strike towards Master Cronos.​

 

[Zak Dymo]

Correct me?

The small Nautolan looked up at the droids skeptically. He hoped none of his teachers got any ideas about this. Having droids hovering around him in class might actually force him to pay attention in school.

Igniting the lightsaber again, the boy mirrored Master Aegir's posture as he held the lightsaber overhead. "Ow!" the child exclaimed, as a droid on his left picked at him with a static bolt to the thigh. Looking down at his feet, then back at Master Aegir, the boy spread his legs apart slightly farther.

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] | [member="Cronos Aegir"]​

 

[Qhorin Solas]

Cronos saw Zak take a bolt to the thigh and adjust his stance accordingly. "Remember, Zak: use the Force." He reached out with a tendril of power to touch the young Nautolan's mind. Sync your movements to mine. I will guide you. The connection thinned, and full thoughts streamlined into impressions; how he would move, when he would move, the exact timing of each attack...

It would be up to Zak to follow the impressions.

Morgana came at him with an overhead attack, blade arcing up and down to cleave him in twain. He responded with the Falling Avalanche, stepping forward to meet her as he snapped his arms downward, blade angled to crash into hers and knock it to the ground.

Soresu was by and large a completely defensive form; in Cronos' mind, Djem So was its exact opposite, and purely offensive. There were no blocks - merely attacks directed at the blade of the opponent. Therein lie the aggression inherent to the form.

He continued the natural progression of his pseudo attack; if he had indeed succeeded in smacking Morgana's blade towards the ground, her entire front would be open. He snapped his blade back up in a rising crescent that was directed at her arms. There was minimal foot movement, save to drive forward; his power was generated instead by pivoting his hips, in much the same way a punch's power came from the hips.

[member="Zak Dymo"] [member="Morgana Forceborn"]

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

Master [member="Cronos Aegir"] had responded with a pretty heavy defensive move; one that seemed more aggressive in nature to Morgana when she realized. Her blade came down against his before he tried to force it to the ground. It was a once chance shot but Morgana had dropped to one knee in order to put her strength in behind her as she held the blade up. It did leave her at a more awkward position, however, as she was now pushing up and needing to bend back to not be hit. As she struggled with the blades locked she tried to push up and, hopefully, push Cronos off of her and give more distance between the two.​

​

[member="Zak Dymo"]​

 

[Qhorin Solas]

Morgana went to a knee and pushed back against Cronos' blade. She seemed to be almost subconsciously using the Force to enhance her strength. Hn, he thought. Forceborn indeed.

He let himself be pushed away by suddenly easing the pressure he was exerting on her weapon. He was hoping that this would cause her to overextend and lose her balance. He shuffled backward when their sabers disengaged, but darted back in just as quickly. He swiped at her blade to bat it to the side, challenging the integrity of her defense, and then whipped his arms back around to strike at her chest

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] [member="Zak Dymo"]

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

The push had taken a bit out of her, which was clear from out she was breathing. But Morgana still held on, intending to give it her all during this little spar. She tried to regain her foot work before seeing [member="Cronos Aegir"] advance towards her. She had seen it before he did it but he was intending to smack her blade hard to the side, given the way his arms were moving and the angel. She had to think of something. In fact she had to move with it. When Cronos had smacked her blade she instead spun with the heavy push that came from it. Her whole body turned before coming back around, just in time to block the in-coming strike to her chest. She looked and was amazed that she'd pulled it off, a little too caught up to act on it at first.​

​

[member="Zak Dymo"]​

 

[Qhorin Solas]

Morgana managed to spin around fast enough to stop Cronos' second attack, catching his blade on her own. Surprise, he surmised, made her hesitate to attack in turn.

He took advantage of her pause and deactivated his blade for the span of a breath, oriented the hilt so that the emitter was lined with her chest, and in a blink, flicked the saber back on. It was a classic trakata move; unorthodox, perhaps, but effective, and able to be implemented into any of the traditional forms. He meant it as a lesson in awareness. Namely, to remain so. Hesitation had no place in Djem So.

He spared Zak a glance, to see how the young Nautolan was faring. The exercise was two fold -- to familiarize him with more Djem So velocities, and to familiarize him with using the Force to feel movements before and as they happened, which would only serve to increase his burgeoning prowess with a blade.

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] [member="Zak Dymo"]

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

Her hesitation had been her downfall. By the time she realized this it had been too late. [member="Cronos Aegir"] had managed to make his move and wound up striking her directly in the chest. The blade had come and she'd felt like a blunt pipe with electric lining; a hard hit mixed with a shocking after effect. She fell back after giving a loud yell of pain. She hit the ground, her saber going off, before looking at where she'd been struck. A good thing the saber wasn't on a more serious setting or else it would have meant the end of her. It was sore and she groaned as she tried to stand from it.​

​

[member="Zak Dymo"]​

 

[Zak Dymo]

The boy followed the motions and movements of the blonde knight, his yellow lightsaber blade humming through the air as the child closed his eyes and tried to follow the pattern and impression he could visualize in his mind.

The deactivation of the lightsaber confused him, prompting to boy to suddenly stop as his eyes snapped back open to look over at what the Jedi was doing.

"Ow!"

A static bolt caught him in the back of the head, stinging one of his head tendrils as he no longer followed the pattern of Master Aegir's movements. A flash of annoyance burned through the child, before the lightsaber reached out to smack the floating droid like a baseball bat. Scowling up at the remaining two droids, as though daring them to try something, the boy waited until the match was complete before he asked, "Why... why did you turn your lightsaber off?"

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] | [member="Cronos Aegir"]​

 

[Qhorin Solas]

Cronos held out a hand to help Morgana to her feet, an encouraging smile spread across his face. "Your defense has improved since our last spar. Let that be a lesson to you -- never hesitate."

He turned his attention to Zak, kneeling down so that he was roughly at eye level. With a wave of his hand, the training remotes' protocols deactivated. "That, my young friend, was a technique called trakata. By deactivating your saber at the right time, you can throw your opponent off balance or get through their defense. Most Jedi disdain the move, for its inherent deception. I, however, am not most Jedi."

His and Morgana's duel hadn't lasted as long as he'd anticipated. He'd hardly gone through any of the Djem So sequences and velocities. Still, by his estimation, Zak had applied himself well.

"Before you and I have our duel," he told Zak, "I'll walk the both of you through a few more techniques." He stepped back and brandished his blade. "I think, for now, a couple dozen steps should suffice." He chose the same, standard, hyper aggressive opening stance. "Follow along," he said. And then, he started the velocity.

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] [member="Zak Dymo"]

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

At least [member="Cronos Aegir"] was honest where Morgana had improved and where she needed to build her skills more. Mentioning her not hesitating she stood, still rubbing her chest, while saying "Yeah. I'll keep that in mind next time." After that, when [member="Zak Dymo"] , she heard the master explain how the tarkata move was useful in throwing off your opponents. She even commented "Well is sure does work pretty good." After that, when he talked about going through more techniques, Morgana nodded before readying herself to follow along with the knight in the hopes of making up for what she might have lost for having lost too soon.​

 

[Zak Dymo]

The child tilted his head to one side as he listened to the explanation.

Trakata?

He made a mental note to look that up later.

At least the droids had been deactivated. With a sigh of relief for the fact that he wasn't going to get shot at any more, the boy activated his lightsaber and dropped himself into the opening stance of Form V. Watching and waiting, the boy seemed to almost bounced up and down as he prepared to follow the motions of the knight.

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] | [member="Cronos Aegir"]​

 

[Qhorin Solas]

And so the sequence went:

Forward step, overhead cut, lateral cut. Forward step, lateral cut, overhand cut. Side step, lateral cut, lateral cut. Forward step, thrust, left slash right slash. At the end of the sequence, he started it over, focusing on improving their form until their positioning was as close to perfect as possible. Then came the focus on speed. Making the movements fluid and seamless. After the twelfth repetition, the training remotes flared to life, firing in patterns that followed along with the sequence, gradually pushing them ever faster.



[member="Zak Dymo"] [member="Morgana Forceborn"]

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

At the second time he began Morgana followed [member="Cronos Aegir"] as he demonstrated the movements. Forward step... Overhead cut... Lateral cut... Overhead cut... Side Step... On and on she followed. Her moves were a little more stiff at first but with each new time they tried the more fluent she became. She smiled a bit as she began to move more flexible with the repetition of the movements. As the remotes came back on Morgana tensed at first but, knowing Master Cronos, she figured this was just part of it. Without hesitation, this time, she followed the motions as the remotes would react.​

​

[member="Zak Dymo"]​

 

[Zak Dymo]

Forward step, overhead cut, lateral cut.

Forward step, overhea... nope, lateral cut, then overhand cut. The boy's movements were less fluid, as he halted and started over again several times as he learned the repetition and pattern that Master Aegir was demonstrating. Through repetition and practice, the boy began to get a feel for the subtle hints and cues in the Force that helped nuance the blond Jedi's movements. By the time that the droids were activated again, the boy was able to follow the movements with better precision.

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] | [member="Cronos Aegir"]​

 

[Qhorin Solas]

By the fortieth repetition, Cronos was confident they had the sequence down. He showed them a few more, just variations of the first, and finally, when the time was right, called an end to the lesson. A few hours had passed now, and he was sure fatigue was starting to set in. That too, was part of their training. To push them past their limits. If their fatigue was too great, they would have to call on the Force for stamina and revitalization.

Now it was Zak's turn to duel.

"Good job, both of you. Color me impressed. Now, Zak, it's your turn to face me. Let's see what you've learned... Morgana, follow along, and be mindful of the training remotes.

When you are ready, my young friend, begin." He settled into a slightly less offensive stance, lightsaber brandished as one might hold a bat.

[member="Zak Dymo"] [member="Morgana Forceborn"]

 

[Morgana Forceborn]

With the exercises over Morgana nodded before taking a step back and away to given both [member="Cronos Aegir"] and [member="Zak Dymo"] room for their spar. She stood and watched while taking the time to regain her strength. She knew after this it would be a tougher spar against Chronos even with Zak's help. She would follow her master's words though, taking everything into account as she watched.​

 

[Zak Dymo]

The Nautolan's skin was slick with perspiration from the workout.

And... now Master Aegir wanted a duel?

Seriously? It was time to practice the awesome power of a Force Nap, and this human wanted a velocity? This was happening? Really? Really?

Apparently, really. The boy's eyes betrayed a sense of exhaustion, disbelief, and finally frustration as he bowed before the blond knight. Hanging his head, the child closed his eyes and let himself go. Being that Zak's body lacked the muscle building hormones, the fatigue he felt was not so much in the limbs as it was a general drop in his energy level. Tapping into the connection with the flow of the Force around him, the child drew in a breath and tried to recharge some of that initiative that he'd lost. As he opened his eyes, he breathed out and felt some of the fatigue lifted from his shoulders.

Straightening back up, looked across at his opponent and noted the change in stance. Drawing in a second breath, the child ignited the amber lightsaber again. Bringing the blade close to his face, the youngling saluted the knight with the distinctive Makashi flourish, executing the move with a snap of his wrist.

Then he breathed out... and launched himself at the Jedi. His first strike was an overhead cut.

He expected that Chronos would swing his 'bat' in a downward, diagonal cut, in which case the boy's plan was to twist his body and pull his blade downward to meet the blade... then continue forward with the momentum and spin out from the block into a lateral cut aimed at the knight's exposed side.

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] | [member="Cronos Aegir"]​

 

[Qhorin Solas]

After gathering his energies, Zak came at Cronos with an overhead slash. His form was perfect, the Knight observed, as he responded with a lateral sweep of his blade, hips twisting, to knock the youngling's attack off course.

Zak proved deft in his footwork and maneuvering, and spun about with the force of Cronos' defensive attack to swing his weapon back around with a lateral slash of his own. Cronos twisted his wrists and brought his lightsaber around and down in a falling crescent, to smack Zak's saber to the ground.

If Morgana wasn't following along with Cronos' moves, the training remotes would zap her something fierce.

He stepped back, raising his lightsaber above his head, and moved into the sequence he had just shown them. Step, overhand slash, sweep from left to right, step, sweep from right to left, overhand slash. Zak had proven himself to be quick-footed in his brief duel with Morgana, so Cronos focused on speed instead of strength, to see how the young Nautolan would fair.

[member="Morgana Forceborn"] [member="Zak Dymo"]