Testing the Waters

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Orphen"]

Taeli rolled her shoulders as she finished her training exercise in the gym held within the Ossus Academy. It felt good to be practicing her actual fencing stuff again, and not just using a lightsaber. Still, sheathing the blade and dabbing at her face with a towel, she picked up her comlink.

It was time to see what exactly her new Padawan could do, see where his strengths and weakness lay. Get to know him better as well. Knowledge was important in such a relationship as Master and apprentice.

Flicking her comlink on, she said, "Orphen, can you meet me in the Ossus practice area? I think it's time we start seeing what exactly you can do. Don't bring any of your toys either, I want to know what you can do, not those."

Closing the link, she would meditate while she waited for the Padawan, letting her mind focus on events that had happened recently and events that were to come. Ziost had just recently finished and Connor had gone harrowing off without a care in the world to try and rescue his apprentice. She had wanted to facepalm, but the man just didn't think before grabbing a corvette and chasing after a frigate. Not a good plan, but that was neither here nor there.

 

[T. Greg]

Tristan was in the ossus academy undercover as a padawan he felt so strange within the Jedi cloths so strange holding in his dark side energy keeping his true identify under warps his black dreadlocks which usually sung free at his shoulder and upper back where now in a pony tail like all the jedi padawns with long hair he hated it but had a mission so he sucked it up and put it in the pony tail. a major thing that stood out was his red skin Tristan was a sith pureblood/human mix which meant being half pureblood came with the chance of having that kind of skin along with his red skin he attained strength and speed that surpassed normal humans males but the dreads he had where from his human side cause purebloods always had straight hair never curly and the kind of dreads Tristan had only could come from curly hair along with his dark brown eyes along with everything he did to blend in a course he had to change hi lightsaber crystal to a green from the original red he kept a staright face as he walk though the academy into the training section of the gym

 

[Orphen]

Orphen got the message, he didn't like the idea of coming without his machines, they were what he could do, it was a testament to himself to be able to wield the drones in combat, at least, he thought so... but it seemed like that was not what they would be testing today, it was back to what little conventional training Orphen had received, So, rather than lining his jacket with his drones, with the DCD on his wrist, the super charric on his arm and all of his other little baubles, he instead took only the two Nabooian pistols strapped within their holsters on their sides, his data-visor and his light-sabers. He felt naked without his technology, though, it was still enough to get him by, the numbers scrolling past his eyes as he walked through the halls of the temple of Ossus was what comforted him... though he was wondering what Kitty would be doing at this point in time, if she was still laying low after the Jedi shadows attacked her home, or if she had returned to her father in the sith... Orphen didn't like the idea of the latter, he wanted to free her from those shackles... but he definitely was not strong enough to do so...

However, what he had been doing was digging into records over the holonet, using his connections as Blood Knight, bouncing his encrypted signal from com station to com station in an attempt to gather information on the attack, it seemed that her home, that she had spoken of, having said the words 'sith assassins' was an old temple which had been inhabited prior by nomadic monks, though they had to be moved out. It was a trail, which led directly to the person who he was looking for, there were not many Sith Lords, and limiting them to the associations of a group like the Assassins, he hypothesized that out of them, there would be only 3 or so to pick between... Half the work was done, the rest was simply sifting through records of the Assassins and hoping that they slipped at some point.

Though, Orphens mind came back to the here and now.

Coming to the door of the gym, he stepped through, looking around and sighting Taeli instantly, this place smelt like sweat and humidity, not the most pleasant of places, but he was sure he would get used to it, he had been used to bars in the outer rim, which smelt like death-sticks and spice, so, this wasn't SO bad in the scheme of things. Approaching and cocking his head to a side as he rose his arms, waving before interlocking his fingers and stretching them high above his head, releasing them and once again allowing his arms to flop down to his sides.

" 'sup? What's the plan mistress Taeli?"

He spoke in the most informal manner a Jedi Padawan likely could.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Orphen"]

"Well, I thought it was time we got to know each other in both a more practical sense and a more ... oh what's a good word for it ... ah, comprehensive way," Taeli said, disregarding the informal greeting. She wasn't too particular about that right now, proper manners weren't really needed for what they were going to be doing.

"So, to that end, we're going to be testing your skills while we chat," she continued saying, setting up some rubber balls around the practice area as she spoke. "A good old-fashioned spar and chat, nothing better to keep one sharp and for a teacher to see what her student needs to learn more of. I know your Sense abilities need some work already from when we met so I already have that noted away."

Setting a dueling foil in front of him, she took several steps away and turned to face him again.

"No visor either," she said, pointing at the device covering his eyes. "I want this to be where we truly get to know each other and using technology beyond a blade won't let me know you as well."

 

[Orphen]

Orphen looked at [member="Taeli Raaf"] , comprehensive was never a good word when it rang in Orphens' ears... it seemed that the woman wanted to test the Jedi Padawans' skills with a light-saber, hand-to-hand, in exactly the style that Orphen hated performing... that and she wanted to strip every tactical advantage he had away from him... A situation which made Orphen feel uneasy to say the least. She hadn't told him to remove his blaster pistols though, so, Orphen Assumed the two of them were still fine, so, setting them to a low power non-lethal option, with the dial on the side, he picked up the dueling foil... Observing it, he could tell immediately that the balance was wrong, nothing like the weightless blade he was used to, and in addition to that, he had not been trained with this kind of weapon in the slightest. Orphen was used to arcing swipes with a saber as opposed to swift thrusts with a foil, something that a foil simply did not cater itself to.

Orphen would continue to feel uncomfortable if his master would meet him with direct eye contact, unwillingly shying away from it as a few negative emotions came to mind, as well as doubt and uneasiness. He didn't like this kind of training, he didn't see his role on the battlefield as a fighter, but as someone who was able to support others from the back-lines. Orphen attempted to center himself in the force, it was difficult, but he eventually got there, his discomfort distracting him but not overpowering his resolve... though, even his skill in Mechu Deru would be useless in this match, as the foils were by and large a single piece of material, welded rather than riveted to better stay composed... he had no talents here to speak of... this spar wasn't shaping up to be a fight, it was an embarrassment.

She wants to know me? Well... I guess a lesson in futility wouldn't hurt.

Orphen would wait for her to draw her blade, but move his to a sheathed position.

"I'd really rather not spar like this... you won't receive any form of challenge, and I can assure you I won't learn anything other than how to take pointy things to the chest while holding a conversation. Besides, I'm not much of a duelist... my body, my form, and my talents don't really align themselves for combat statistically. Strategically, you hold every advantage over me in this instance, Familiarity with the weapon, size, strength, age, experience, skill, length of arm, speed and more... we need not spar to come to a conclusions which is already abundantly clear. "

To draw your weapon is a failure, as you have failed to solve the matter diplomatically.

Orphen hoped that the double entendre' of his words was not lost on the former Sith Master, trying to point out his concerns with the practice but also hide them under the guise of a form of Dun Moch, attempting to avoid the conflict entirely, resting a hand on the side of his weapon as a non-threatening motion, rather than resting it on the hilt as if he were ready to draw the blade. But, Orphen was pooling some of his concentration on the force, taking in a deep breath through his nose, and out through his mouth, as finally, a plan began to form.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Orphen"]

"Wisely said," Taeli said, a corner of her mouth turning up in a small smile. She could see what he was trying to get at, and she could respect the use of clever words and double meanings. However...

"You're a supporter, someone who is better at home dealing with things from afar and helping your allies," Taeli said, starting to walk in a slow circle. "That is admirable and we will certainly focus on your abilities in that regard, Sense and Alter are very good areas for that, however you must not neglect learning about how to defend yourself. Suppose you encounter a Sith and you have no option but to face them in close-quarters? What do you do then? They won't accept any sort of offer to not fight, they will only accept your surrender or attempt to kill you."

As she walked, she slowly tapped the foil against her leg.

"I would know how that side thinks, quite well actually," Taeli continued saying. "Being a former Sith myself, one learns to understand their mindset. This is not about me having a challenge, it's about testing your limits. I need to see first hand what needs worked on, what needs to be focused on, what we might need to discover to better your abilities."

Her entire demeanor was calm, like a body of water that was completely still. Her eyes were completely on her Padawan.

"So while you may not want to do this sort of spar, it will only help you in the long run," she said, a soft smile on her face and the grip on her foil completely relaxed. "After all, it's not about the spar itself, it's about the chit chat more than anything."

And that would be when she lashed out with a powerful Force Grip, no warning at all, as she threw the rubber balls at Orphen. A test of his awareness of the field around him and his Sense abilities in general.

 

[Orphen]

Orphen was glad he had an impact, he was hopeful for a moment that he had managed to weasel out of the fight, but, it was the line that she used to be within the Sith Order that struck him most deeply... there was something intruiging about that... it meant yet again that not all those within the Sith Order were content with the darkness, giving only more truth to Kitty's words... However, when it came to how she began to respond, it was immediately evident that he was not about to get what he wanted, he hadn't had the chance to answer her many statements when she attacked him, his mind too focused on some of the key things she had said, distracting him, and attacking from all angles suddenly and without warning. Orphen could only begin to feel the pull of the force when it was called upon, ripping him from his deep through just in time to be pelted by the rubber balls.

"Ow!" Orphen said rubbing the points which had been struck, glaring in the direction of Taeli. Now, with hind-sight, he had known the direction of the balls, he knew the speed of her telekinesis now, to some degree, the rate of acceleration she was capable of and that she was able to lift multiple objects and have them move on their own individually at multiple angles. By their trajectory, he likely could have simply ducked or jumped and he would have been out of the ring of attacks which had enclosed in on him.

"And it's more than just supporting... I would hope to become a Jedi Artificer, not a warrior... As for defending myself, I have been learning Shien... I'm getting rather okay at it... I think... I was learning Ataru for a while as well. Let me use a saber for training, logically, at least that asset i will never be without, unlike this primitive metal stick. "

Orphen drew one of his unique lightsaber hilts, slipping his finger through the ring at the top which housed the multi pressure trigger that controlled the blade like a gearbox and spinning it around his finger how one would showcase a pistol.

"Though, to answer your question in multiple means: if i 'have' to fight a sith in close quarters, because there is no other option, I surrender. Because only me being an idiot or me being up against someone who vastly exceeds my own abilities allows them to put me in a scenario where drawn out close quarters is my only option. My other option is to use the force to defend myself in close quarters. My third option is to use my surroundings and my mind to win the fight through strategy. and the last, is to simply run."

Orphen was waiting for the hope he could use his saber, waiting for an affirmative or a negative response... whatever it was, he would agree to it. not that he had much of a choice in the matter.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Orphen"]

"You may use your saber," Taeli said, smiling as she tossed her own foil away and drew her hand-guarded lightsaber. If only he knew what it could really do. "Ataru is interesting as you can be a devastating whirlwind ... unless you opponent grabs you mid-jump with the Force. Then you're in trouble. I would imagine that Soresu might actually be a better style for you, a style that is completely defensive in nature but allows you time to think of a strategy or use one of your toys or abilities to gain an advantage."

Purple light erupted into life, but she dialed the power setting down to training mode.

"Now, tell me ... how did I hide my intent to use Force Grip to throw the balls at you?" she asked, bringing her saber up in a traditional Makashi salute. "Did your senses not warn you in time?"

 

[Orphen]

Orphen breathed a sigh of relief when she said he was able to use his light-saber, smiling he pulled down on the trigger... while the blade of his opponents seemed to be a beautiful royal purple amethystine colour transitioning to a rose quartz center, Orphen's was a brilliant and shining amber-gold. As he extended it to its first length, the blade was little more than a shoto in length, but, hidden from his master was the second and third tiers of the gearbox like trigger mechanism which extended the blade to standard light-saber length and then finally to a long bladed light-saber... he'd hide that from her for now, and hopefully use it to surprise his master later. Orphen felt like he had built a blade with a fluid length, able to extend and destend like water mechanically, without needing to use the force to focus... bringing the blade up to hang vertically between his eyes in a fencer's salute, he cut the blade down to sit diagonally at his side.

Though, her words rang aloud, and orphen moved to respond.

"In earnest, I use Shien as my defensive style, the speed, calculation and precision used to be able to accurately deflect a blaster bolt is statistically much greater than a style that focuses on sweeping defensive motions. You don't move your arms faster or more precise than a plasmic round... if i can block plasma, i can block you... As for Ataru, strategicallly my body is weak, and it's the only form which teaches you to inherently and passively enhance yourself with the force. Its practise of the art of movement also allows me to create gaps and run without the loss of momentum... Basically, Ataru is strategically the best form for running away."

Orphen laughed, a little nervously, knowing that a LOT of proud Ataru users would likely be rather angry with him for saying so.

"I've also been training my marksmanship, I mean, in the same way a Jedi trains in sword combat... not just shooting, but moving, ducking, weaving, noting form sequences and combat posture... I theorize that were a Jedi to put as much time and effort into marksmanship as they would into being a duelist, they would likely remain just as effective, if not more-so for objective based missions... but... as for the sensing thing..."

Orphen thought for a while, he had been talking rather quickly, the sheer sum of data running through his mind leading from one topic to another was staggering, enough to give most adults a migraine should they attempt to rapidly process the sheer volume.

"You distracted me... by talking, to hide it... i was focused on you... i think... but... i did feel like, a ripple, like a vibration in the air from the balls before they flew at me. But, i noticed it too late, and the balls were too fast."

Orphen was thinking hard, attempting to deduce the sensation he actually felt, but it was hard to describe, it was as much a mental feeling as it was a gut feeling, and he had no real grasp on his overall sensory abilities other than the ones he implimented when using the force to scan machinery. However, the bond Orphen shared with the mechanical was one of a lifetime of close understanding, and this feeling toward something made of rubber, and the surrounding air... was foreign to Orphen.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Orphen"]

"It's a Mandalorian technique," Taeli explained, still being completely calm. "They keep themselves calm, not thinking about the attack at all ... then they strike when you least expect it. No broadcasting of movements, no intake of Force energy before the action. Just sudden swift surprise action."

She chuckled at his description of his fighting forms though, knowing several users of Ataru that might take a little offense.

"So then, how do we work on your Sense abilities?" Taeli said, the purple blade in her hand in a non-threatening position. "You can't quantify the Force, Orphen, it's something that is beyond numbers and letters and equations. You have to trust in it and just feel it, something that can be tough I know. If you overthink it though, you invite similar situations like the balls ... except they won't be balls anymore. So, in that regard ..."

Another flick of her mind, and two balls came flying back at him, while another went for his blind spot.

 

[Orphen]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

Orphen listened to her words, to some extent he knew she was right, thinking about everything before it happened restricted his ability to react to things spontaneously, it was something the Jedi had never been good at, but, it was not an easy thing to change the way one's mind was hard-wired, especially because his mind had been made to think that way from outside influences. However, he had taken what she said on board, he was able to somewhat focus on his connection with the force in an attempt to spread out his senses... stretching out with his feelings, as he had felt things through the force before. Working against him however was the nature of her attack, like she said, she was not building up the force in and around the object before it happened, so, there was nothing for him to sense. But what he was able to sense was the number of balls around the room, and he already had the numbers on her attack.

With the calculations out of the way, he was able to call up the results of the information rather than need to calculate them a second time, making his reactions faster, like a computer learning new routines. One of the balls was aimed for the small of his back while another two cam from his sides in a three pointed attack. Orphen lined all three of the balls up in his head and moved his hand behind him, with a pull of the trigger down as far as it would go, his light-saber blade extended to its full length... with a single calculated sweep of his arm, the upper tip of the blade blocked the first ball as he bought his arm around himself. The middle of the blade catching the second and the third was caught by the blades length closest to the hilt.

But it was true... they could not quantify the force... yet.

Orphen didn't wish to enter open debate with his master on the topic of the force, her knowledge of it was greatly superior to his especially from experience, but, differences in philosophies were something that was common in the Jedi order, and by and large debating those did little but get people frustrated with one another.

"I'll admit, that kind of thought is... hard for me... especially hard. Once i know something, it becomes easier, but dealing with things the first time is always the hardest. "

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Orphen"]

"An interesting lightsaber design," Taeli said, watching the display of him cleaving through the balls. "It can be hard to understand the Force, I quite agree. Many Padawans, and acolytes for that matter, take some time to get adjusted to becoming part of something greater than they are. The mind can only comprehend so much before it needs time to process something as vast as the Force."

She didn't think revealing he had a way to adjust the length of his lightsaber blade right off the bat was a good idea though, it gave her information he could have kept concealed for a much longer time. Now, she would be suspicious of him differing the lengths constantly and would take all of that in account.

"Again," she said, the various chunks of the balls he had carved through flying at him, along with two new ones. Just to make his job even more difficult, Taeli moved in quickly and launched a few quick feints with her lightsaber.

 

[Orphen]

The compliment of [member="Taeli Raaf"] did not fall on deaf ears, though, he had wanted to avoid a deep discussion of the force, it seemed like that the topic of the force itself was still very much the main theme of the exercise, he could only assume that Taeli was attempting to deduce his opinions and with that where and how he had been trained when it came to the force itself. Orphen had not thought much about the force, but, really, to him it made more sense than many would have originally thought, the force seemed like a logical entity.

"I think the force is a little more simple than people are giving it credit for, like Tachyons or Graveo-Magnetic fields... the way of the unifying force teaches us that the force surrounds us, binds us and connects all living things, proposedly through Medichlorians which we are able to see, observe, and measure in a person. So, the force to me seems binary... Through training, but not like stretching a muscle, but, more learning to control and revitalize a primal instinct, we are able to control and utilize it, effect it with our presence within it, like a rock making a ripple in a lake.... ... ... "

Orphen heard her call for again, and with his light-saber he managed to block one of the balls, with each attempt at evasion he was getting better, but, just because he saw them coming, did not mean he was able to avoid them, He was not able to block all of them for a long shot, blocking three, being struck by another two, and ducking to evade the remainder, last second Taeli came in for a number of strikes with her light-saber. Orphen quickly re-composed himself and rose his own lightsaber with two hands, one holding the hilt of the blade, and the other, with his hand outspread behind it, angled in the direction of her saber, almost like a swordsman would support a sword. Orphen would step forward and reach out with the force for Taeli's lightsaber, and with a simple pulse through the force, the components of the small device would vibrate and rapidly dis-assemble.

Light-sabers were something ALL Jedi were intimately familiar with, every nook, cranny, and crevice were known from top to bottom, and with Orphen wanting to become an artificer for the Jedi, he had extensive research looking into almost every recorded variation of a light-saber he was able to get his hands on. Combined with the fact that light-saber's were assembled, and very seldom welded together as they occasionally needed repairing pulling them apart with the art of Mechu Deru was one of the easiest tasks of them all. Should it be successful, Orphen would step in with his blade pointing it toward his master as you would tell an opponent to stand down.