Private Kyber Spelunking.

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Earlier, aboard The Atrisian Pathfinder, currently in orbit over Naboo

Wearing: Nathan's Robes

Armed with: Nathan's Training Lightsaber


It was the first time Nathan had ever actively trained with his wife, Vera Mina

Vera had great potential, and the knowledge that had come with fusing with Arianna Belasko , but little experience at actually utilizing it herself. Her surface Identity was largely used for civilian or diplomatic matters. Her awakening Force Powers, knowledge bubbled up from her absorbed personas, had not been utilized much by her personally.

Nathan wanted to fix that.

Vera waited in a sleek red reflective armor weave catsuit. Their baby was in a booth next to the chamber guarded by their daughter, Sera Mina , who was cradling the sleeping baby gently.

Vera was armed with a training saber herself. Her pregnancy had precluded the development of her abilities in lightsaber combat in her default form. From what Nathan knew, Vera's body was loaded with genetic and cybernetic upgrades. Being part of the basis of the entire Nuetralizer Machine Race, Vera claimed she learned extremely quickly in this form...

"Good morning, Husband..." Vera said pleasantly, brandishing the white blade of her training saber.

"Did you...sleep well?" Vera asked slyly, a coy smirk crawling up her face.

"Heh..." Nathan chuckled, his own blue blade activating.

"I can't go easy on you in this place, Vera."

Vera's smirk grew into a grin.

"Why, Nathan, I'd be disappointed if you did."

"What style do you have familiarity with in your current guise from absorbing Belasko?" Nathan asked.

"Shii-Cho..." Vera answered. "It meshes with my Katana programs..."

"Makes sense. Stick with the basics for now. Remember: YOU are the host. Every other Persona in you is ultimately weaker than you as you currently are." Nathan reminded. "You decide how powerful you become..."

"As it has always been..." Vera replied.

The pair rushed each other. Vera's take on Shii-Cho was raw and almost feral. Unsubtle. Nathan was on the defensive immediately, caught off guard by her savage approach.

He slipped into Soresu for a moment, parrying brutal chops.

"This style heats the mind of the practitioner, it tempts them to kill. But ideally, it's used for disarmament. To end a fight without taking a life."

"Strange... completely opposite to how my clan approaches Swordfighting..." Vera replied as their blades locked.

"There are many things that we will have to cover in order to properly make sure you are protected." Nathan replied as he forced her back and struck at her ruthlessly with Makashi. This time it was Vera on the back foot, and only her genetic and cyber enhancements allowed her to keep up with the strikes, but eventually, with an elegant, twisting thrust, he disarmed her.

"Makashi, right?" Vera asked analytically, a holdover from her days when she had been an extremely advanced bio organic HRD.

"Yes. Created specifically for lightsaber fighting, unlike the form you were just using. People who stick with Shii-Cho, however, can eventually overcome this weakness, with enough training." Nathan answered, tossing her back her training saber.

She caught it with telekinesis. Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"Most Force Spawn cannot use telekinesis..." he noted.

"Most..." Vera said proudly, floating it back to her hand.

"It's good you have been practicing..." Nathan encouraged. "Keep doing so."

"Thank you, Husband..." Vera replied, reactivating her blade and savagely attacking him once more, though this time, her offense was far better thought out and Nathan had to go into Soresu early to fend her off, realizing Vera had advanced her skill as though she had been practicing for months in the span of a few minutes, and when she attacked him with elements of his own Makashi, it began to dawn on him just how terrifyingly advanced her learning systems truly were.

It took him a few more minutes before he managed to disarm her. Vera was grinning.

"I'm starting to like lightsaber fighting!" she exclaimed. "Again?"

Nathan chuckled, notably winded. No point in holding back now. She needed to be at her best as the Matriarch, no matter her guise.

"Sure, Honey..." he said, tossing her her blade...

When she attacked him again, he realized she was already starting to figure out how his Soresu worked...

Present...

Wearing: Dooku-Pattern Armor (Red and Gold)

Armed with: Nathan's Saberstaff


Naboo surface, plains...

The Silverlark Shuttle , docked on the family star galleon had descended to Naboo with Nathan on a personal mission today.

House Bloodscrawl operatives had reported discovery of a cave full of kyber crystals, undisturbed, unspoiled. It had been found in some cave systems at the base of some larger hills closer to Theed, recently opened up from minor seismic disturbances in the area.

Nathan, of course, was naturally eager to explore it, hoping to find some crystals he and, more importantly, his wife, might try to bond with in the future. Vera would have gone with him but her paranoia regarding the safety of the baby ran as deep as his own did. Ideally, at least one parent was around the baby at all times.

Nathan had paid the docking fee, and soon was journeying outside Theed into the wild. He felt the life around him and for once did not ignore it, though he maintained a stoic silence otherwise, walk metronome like in its precision.

Nathan was not of a mind to go looking for trouble. He had had far too much of that lately. He sensed he was on the threshold of... something...

In a rare move, he had actually brought his saberstaff with him into the open. He normally chose only his lowest tier weapons. Not today. No one knew him really in the High Republic. He had successfully protected that royal official and had gotten the hell out of dodge before anyone had managed to lay real eyes on him. That was how he preferred it. He didn't need his name out there even if he was doing his job. The ones you don't hear about tend to live longer in this profession. A lesson from his first life.

Little did he know he was about to run into someone else from that night in the palace as he approached the entrance to the cave...



Kyric

 

[Kyric]

One of many reasons Kyric refused any attempted promotion to the role of Jedi Knight had much to do with kyber crystals. Having never constructed his own saber, let alone seek out kyber to bond with, the kiffar felt he simply wasn't ready to take that step. Skill and training aside, there were certain traditions within the Jedi Order's vaunted history even he couldn't ignore.

And the construction of a personal weapon was at the top of that list.

It's what drove Kyric to pull his old speeder bike out of storage for the first time since he managed to put the thing back together. He mounted up in the early morning while the mist still hung heavy over the streets of Theed and set out over the sprawling hills of the Naboo countryside without a destination in mind. His thoughts drifted as they always did, but beneath the rushing wind and warm sun, he found it easier to direct them back to his task at hand.

Hours on the bike eventual saw Kyric crest a tall hill in time to catch a brief glimpse of the Silverlark Shuttle drop below a nearby tree line.

"That's prolly not a coincidence," he mumbled, the sound of his own voice buried beneath the whipping winds. Yanking back on the throttle, he shot up and over the next hill, kicked the bike's anti-gravity function into gear, and landed atop the dense forest no differently than solid ground. The bike bounced up and down like a jet-ski, much to Kyric's delight.

By the time he crested over the final tree and dropped back to the hills below, the ship ramp had descended. The kiffar made no attempt to hide his approach, choosing instead to extend his intentions out in the hopes any force sensitives aboard or nearby could feel Kyric's desire for peace, and if given the chance: communication.

Though the young Jedi knew much of Naboo's recent history from his weeks spent cooped up around the palace, he had no personal connection to the planet. Not one member of his impressively short lineage ever stepped foot on the mid-rim world.

Whatever bonds Kyric forged on this planet were his and his alone; unbound by the legacy of his father, or his father before him.

The thought broad a broad grin to the kiffar's face.

Kyric guided the speeder bike to a slow stop about fifty paces from the ramp of the Silverlark. He hopped off the bike and leaned against it, his thumbs tucked into the utility belt hanging from his hip. A holster on his right thigh housed a simple blaster pistol. Above that was a sheathed vibroknife. More interesting than either weapon, his katana, Resolute, hung from his left hip. The worn cloak and frayed bandages around his arms gave off the impression perhaps of a dangerous drifter, but his presence within the force was akin more to a puppy than that of a killer.

"Hello?!" Kyric called. "Anyone home or did y'all enter these here caves?"

---

Tags: Nathan Bloodscrawl

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

His presence had been sensed by Nathan during his walk to the cave systems. As he had not gotten too far from the ship he had landed in the wilderness, he decided to delay his trip in order to investigate.

He patiently walked back to the shuttle, even now being very careful about when and where he displayed his ability in the Force.

It took him about three minutes to walk back. Unlike the Force presence of Kyric , Nathan's presence was experienced, and practiced. It was the sort of presence he had never displayed in the Alliance, or even the Trade League.

His hands were clasped behind his back as he walked back up to the shuttle, expression calm, hiding his surprise at once more seeing the young man from the palace. His face had been obscured that night, his presence hidden in the Force. It wasn't now.

Nathan calmly examined him.

"I had just left to attend to a personal matter at a cave not far from here..." Nathan answered calmly. "May I ask what brought you out here? Are you in need of assistance? My name is Bloodscrawl. Nathan Bloodscrawl."

(Clip of Bond Theme plays for a few seconds OOC)

"Jedi Knight." Nathan elaborated.