Something..."Fun"

[Zion Krayt]

[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

The Protector of Tython found himself upon the planet of Ossus, he had only arrived recently, now letting the temple upon Ossus be his temporary home while the war with the Dark Side was waged, rather than Tython. But after what had happened upon Telos IV with the New Order, Zaren Bouqi needed his skills to be honed.

So when he had suddenly found himself in the training chambers on Ossus, he didn't argue, or even wonder as to how he got there, he only piled his robes on a bench off to the side, and began his maneuvers.

Maneuvers that he would use upon anyone.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

[member="Zaren Bouqi"]

There was a low grunt from the back of the room, followed by the scraping sound of leather on metal as a curiously garbed figure pushed itself upward. A battered old duster was settled upon broad shoulders, draping itself down a body that was more torso than leg. Metal body armor in need of repair covered the major areas of his body; shoulders, upper arm, forearm, thighs, chest - the list went on.

What was clear about the armor, however, was that despite the appearance of riot gear, it was fashioned in the style of beskar'gam. All the major places were covered, but it was more about mobility than protection.

Perhaps more curious was an old slugthrower pistol settled in a thigh holster on his right leg, but mirroring it on the other side was an easily identifiable lightsaber hilt.

"You're frowning. You shouldn't frown while you train." He offers in a totally helpful manner.

 

[Zion Krayt]

He had been so caught up within his own thoughts that the thought of someone else entering the training room hadn't crossed his mind. He wasn't scared, Zaren Bouqi was scared of a few things in the world, and he doubted any of those things followed him from his time to this one.

Although when he spun on his heel and the purple beam from his lightsaber disappeared and was replaced onto his belt with a quick practiced motion, he was caught off guard by the armour that looked quite Mandalorian. But when his eyes were set upon the lightsaber he suddenly became unsure of how he was supposed to proceed.

"Thank you, Master...?" He said, and let the rest of his words trail off in what he hoped was an obvious question. He liked to leave things to the imagination sometimes. He felt as if this being was more than meets the eye, as it is with most people, it was rare that you came across someone that was as shallow as you thought.

Eventually, he said, "to my friends I was known as Bishop."

[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"How do you know I'm a Master?" The armored man asks with a voice distorted by his helmets speakers. "Preacher." He adds by way of greeting. "I think we're missing a Reverend and a Priest, though." He adds in a dry manner, a hint of a smile on his voice.

Pausing, he took several long steps around the perimeter of the room, eyeing the training bots and dummies. His hands clasped themselves in the small of his back as he moved, and it quickly became apparent that if the Master didn't want to be noticed, he wouldn't be.

His footsteps were as quiet as a two hundred and forty pound man in armor could make them. "You may continue, you know?" He continues slowly.

 

[Zion Krayt]

Zaren blinked.

Easy answer. "An Apprentice wouldn't have interrupted me, I'm certain, or at least most wouldn't. And if you are indeed a Knight, I was under the impression that you referred to them as Master, and their surname after. Or Knight, and then surname. I was brought up by saying Master, it seems more respectful that way."

After his encounter upon the planet of Telos IV, as soon as he was able, he had made sure that he always travelled with armour upon his back. So that's why he wore the Phrik armour, and he felt safer because of it, though he was certain the Mandalorian's armour had seen much more use than his.

"Amusing." He replied to Preacher's religious joke with a chuckle. "I didn't choose the name." He explained, just to make sure Preacher understood.

"And, I believe you just confirmed that you were a Master with that previous response." I hope. How much of an idiot he would look if he was wrong just now.

"An actual opponent would be nice."

[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"I'm surprised you know anything of religious names." He adds, stopping momentarily with a pause to look down at the floor in thought. Most didn't know anything of religion, it's practices abolished millenia ago. The Jedi were the only major religious order for many years, and they didn't have priests or the like.

They were all simply servants of the Force.

Perhaps this Jedi was a student of the past as well.

"If you wish an actual opponent, then allow me. It has been some time since I dueled another Force User."

The man reached for his saber and fiddled with it, setting the power down. This would make it more a training saber than a real one and make it safe to use in a fight.

 

[Zion Krayt]

When he spoke of the religious titles again he only grunted. It'd be best that he didn't drop the whole 'going back in time' thing so soon in their first meeting. However, he was glad to know that the Beskar'gam wearing Jedi would be willing to duel him.

He nodded and unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and set the power levels down in nearly the same moment that [member="Sarge Potteiger"] did so. It was a useful setting upon a lightsaber. When he was younger he never understood why Jedi Masters of his generation paraded around with training lightsabers, but when he had aged, he had come to understood the danger had been dialled back.

No one wanted to have a Jacen Solo and Tenel Ka incident, right?

"The last time I had fought a Force User was when the Sith took control of the planet Telos IV. Too many Sith for one Jedi." He explained as the index of his thumb and middle finger brushed upon the ignition of the silver and black casing of the hilt and watched as the purple beam was extended outwards towards the ground. He wasn't going to engage his new found duelling partner so soon, he hadn't even ignited his own weapon yet.

"Why are you named Preacher?"

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Watching the purple blade leap from the cylinder in the mans hand, Preacher merely gave a faint nod of his head as he thumbed the activation of his own blade. The krayt dragon pearl he'd finangled into being his saber crystal created a brilliant silver, and it was one he was proud of.

Wonderful what a headshot could do to a beast - even one as large as a dragon. Granted, anti-vehicle rifles were required, but that was a story for another day.

"That's a particularly boring story. Involves a family gathering. It stick, though, for one reason or another. Bishop is a fairly common name, so I can either assume it's not a nickname, or it is.

Let's assume it is.

Where'd that come from? You like old board games?"

 

[Zion Krayt]

His purple beam spun around in the space around his body. It was a less a show of his skill, and more testing out his blade, even though he was utilizing it a few minutes before, it couldn't hurt to just do it anyway. Besides, he was used to doing that when the beam came to life. Holding onto the lightsaber with a tighter grip, he advanced.

"My friend at the time used it in the context of me being...A sort of vanguard or the coming before the storm, or something like that. I was quite impulsive at the time." He pointed the lightsaber at the Mandalorian, and started to close quicker, and once he was within range he plunged forwards with the basic Shii-Cho jab to his midsection.

[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

The Master stood still, one hand still in the small of his back, clenched into a fist. His other hand held his blade up in a ready position, although as Bishop advanced he clasped his hilt with both hands, knowing he would need to use his strength to his advantage.

He recognized the first form - or whatever it amounted to - in the man's swing, and he made a practiced side step, pivoting his torso to be parallel to the blade as he swept his saber down to knock away his opponents. In the same instant, he shifted his weight forward onto his right leg and threw an elbow up towards Bishop's face, hoping to catch him along the jaw.

In terms of saber combat, Preacher was known to practice a combination Soresu/Djem So style. He was a counter duelist, willing to wait for his opponent to attack until the moment was right for a counter. As a teacher, however, he didn't buy into the form.

For him, he viewed saber combat as a fluid entity, the bladework in which was defined by the situation at hand. Should you need to defend, you would. Just as with the Force, all forms lay within the same whole. It was just a matter of picking the right time to apply each; no fancy names required.

"I have been seen in the same light in my time. I find, however, that considering me something like a force of nature to be more apt - not in that I am destructive, or unstoppable, but in that I simply am what I am. I will do what I do, and I change for no one but myself. Yet, despite this, I am merely a piece of the machine that drives life forward, just as every storm breathes new life into the ground upon which it dumps its rains. You will always know what to expect from me, and yet I will still find ways to surprise you."

 

[Zion Krayt]

The jab was only something to test his opponent's abilities. He had never truly confirmed himself as a Jedi Knight or a Jedi Master, for all he knew, his opponent was a Sith Lord that had mastered the Quey'Tek technique and was only playing with him before he ended his existence, but if that was the case, he'd make it exciting.

As his lightsaber was knocked away, he leaned backwards and was bringing his lightsaber around his back and made his attempt at stabbing it into the Mandalorian's side as the Mandalorian's elbow collided with his head. It wasn't a solid hit however, more of a glancing strike that fell off to the side of his head, though it still hurt.

It hurt as much as getting a beskar clad elbow hitting the side of your head. And in response to that, his helmet slid off of his back, came around his neck, and slid over his head and concealed his face as the helmet sealed the suit completely. Now he was ready to fight.

[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Preacher shifted with the blow, torso swinging towards Bishop as he followed through on the hit. That meant the saber hit near the bottom of his chestplate rather than his unprotected flank - it meant he didn't truly need to move far to keep this going.

If there was one thing most people didn't realize about Preacher, it was that he was more a brawler than a duelist. As his right foot was out ahead to give him the reach to swing the elbow, he slid it forward between Bishops legs and swept it around behind his opponents right.

With their legs hopefully locked together at the knee, he could pivot on the heel and knock him off balance in the same time that a hand dropped from his saber hilt to grab one of Bishop's forearms to throw off how he was holding his saber - potentially arresting a fall as the blade was swung down towards the neck.

It mattered very little that the Knight could feasibly move his blade down an inch or two and press it to the bodysuit and likely shock and burn him. But this is how Preacher fought; always willing to take a step back for every two forward.

 

[Zion Krayt]

Zaren Bouqi was more duelist than brawler, so when it came to a fight such as this, [member="Sarge Potteiger"] surely had the upper hand. But as a Padawan, he remembered a certain Jedi teaching him how to brawl upon Tython, the man was a Kiffar that went by the name of Azrukhal, and he remembered being in a situation that was exactly like this one.

Although, Zaren had only received that lesson as a Padawan, years ago in his life, the future if you wanted to use technicalities. That's why Preacher was capable of following through with the attack, but it all stopped when Sarge's right foot started to hook around Zaren's right leg. At that point, he tucked his body forwards and simultaneously dropped like a log to his left side and rolled away.

His right foot lagged behind him however, since it had to break the near-locking of their legs, and he was still falling to the ground either way, so the escape could have definitely been better, but once he had rolled a meter away from his opponent he leapt up towards his feet.

In his mind, he was trying to decide which form would be best suited to break the Master. Zaren considered himself a Master of Form VII, but he didn't want to sweat himself out in the beginning of the duel.

It took less than a moment for his thoughts to be gathered and he launched himself forwards as a black armoured blur towards the Mandalorian form, and let the Force empower his movements and speed him up. His senses were heightened as he moved, his hearing, his seeing, his touch, everything. And he felt as if the world around him and the Beskar clad being slowed down as he moved towards him and delivered a diagonal strike upon vertical length of his opponent's body.

[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

((Not really good with brawling obviously, haha. Only done it like twice before I think.))

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

There was a smile on the face of Preacher beneath his helmet as the man moved away, his body resetting itself without conscious thought or effort back into a ready position. The entire fight had been moving in near slow motion for him, his Vong enhanced senses had made sure that he moved just a shade faster than most.

Fighting people often made them look ponderous to his eyes as adrenaline kickstarted the Shaping. He'd not always been Force Sensitive, and while he couldn't remember much of his past, anyone who'd fought alongside him on Dac had seen the curious parasitic bone blades that had erupted from his forearm.

But now, now he was going to have to actually react at his normal speeds - which were still fairly impressive, considering he'd spent the majority of his life as a soldier. Likely as soon as the man sped up, so too did Preacher - but he did so without the assistance of the Force.

With the man's momentum sure to carry him forward, Preacher bent downward, blade dropping to scrape along the ground as he practically crouched beneath the diagonal swing and then used his treetrunk legs to catapult himself forward. Lowering his shoulder like a boom, Beskar would hopefully meet Phrik and unstoppable force would meet immovable object.

That blade would be slicing along the back of his duster and armor, however, again coming dangerously close to the 'first blood' that most duels went towards.

 

[Zion Krayt]

The crouching form was quite unexpected, so when the train that was Preacher charged forwards into him, he had no choice but to be carried through the air with his lightsaber above both of their heads. Squeezing the lightsaber for a moment, his left gauntlet ejected one phrik knife from his gauntlet and flew behind the both of them.

However, when he had been hit, he had tucked his legs as close to his chest as he could and leaned backwards so that he could try and lead into a backflip - despite being hit, and then once his legs were as high as they were going to get, he snapped them outwards into the lower body of [member="Sarge Potteiger"], though it would have been an awkward attack as they were landing upon the floor at the same moment.

Zaren's lightsaber beam disappeared into it's hilt.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Sarge found himself connecting with the Knight in the same moment his opponents legs were contracting. Carried towards the ground by his momentum, he found his legs being kicked out from under him as the man tried knocking him off the old fashioned way. Unfortunate, between all their armor this just succeeded in having Sarge stumble and fall flat on his face in front of the Knight.

He still, however, had the presence of mind to catch himself with a palm, grip on his saber loosening. What a sight they were, he muses inwardly.

Grunting, he hefted the saber and made to thwap his opponent on the forehead like a teacher scolding a student, because it was all he could manage from here.

(Mon-Fri are pretty iffy for my ability to make IC posts, so sorry for the delay.)

 

[Zion Krayt]

When he had landed, it had been on his back, so when he was rising into a crouch, a lightsaber was moving towards his forehead. Through instinct, he tucked backwards and rolled, and felt the contact of the lightsaber upon his back, little more than a grazing strike along the centre of his back.

His lightsabre beam ignited once more when he had found himself in a low crouch - this time unhindered, and he lunged forwards towards [member="Sarge Potteiger"]'s lightsaber arm, meaning to drag his blade across the length of his arm if he could. It seemed they were both in awkward positions, and their armour only helping them look more fool than warrior.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Pushing himself up with one hand, he rolled off to the side to entirely avoid the lunge - you only had a few ways to go from a crouch, and given his position... there was only one attack the man was likely to try.

Stopping on his side, he sent a small Force Push out to knock the man's feet out from under him before righting himself and bringing the saber up into a guard in anticipation of a counter attack.

He wasn't very good at being an aggressor, so he wasn't going to attack first.

 

[Zion Krayt]

He made a sound which could safely be assumed to be something along the lines of approval, and he let the force push hit his legs, and he leaned to the side with it so that he could roll along with the push and then stand back up to his feet. He hadn't expected a quick force push such as that, rather an attack with a lightsaber, but it seemed Preacher was full of surprises.

It seemed what he had said earlier was true.

He stepped forwards quickly, letting the Force push him forwards, and he made as if to lunge at [member="Sarge Potteiger"], and then he feinted to the right side, only to perform an almost perfect falling leaf upon the Jedi Master.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

With his weapon up and ready to counter, Sarge watched the man intently as he prepared himself for another attack. With Bishop lunging forward, Sarge moved his saber to counter as usual - up until the man feinted and leapt into the air.

And just like that, he was stalking Sochi Ru through the jungle. She'd done something similar. The lapse left his saber ajar, so he did the next best thing. Letting his left hand go of the saber hilt, he lifted and put the palm upward - the beskar coated hand would take the worst of the blow and hopefully surprise Bishop.

Between his Force augmented strength and Vong enhanced body, there'd be no broken bone. He'd definitely have to go easy on that left hand for a week or two though. But with that downward slash hopefully halted, he brought the saber up in an diagonal arc to catch the falling figure where the armor left his waist exposed.

It wasn't as powerful as a two handed strike, but he was definitely on the back foot for the moment and needed to force an advantage.