The honor and art of combat (Vaulkhar)

[Kenrath]

Vengeance sat in the very same training room he had first met the young Acolyte in. Only this time it was not full of Acolytes all training together as a group. This time it would just be him and the young Acolyte.

Vengeance meditated to center himself. With so many things going on all around him it some times felt like the Galaxy was in utter and total chaos. He spent more time on a ship moving from this place to that place. In was all very tiring and very frustrating.

Besides [member="Vaulkhar"] despite his wandering ways was the more serious of his two Acolytes and it was well passed time he focused on his training.

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar sat comfortably within his room in the Academy. Since being picked up by [member="Vengeance"] as his apprentice, he had done much training. Not all of it was with the Sith Knight, but the young man found himself enjoying training under Vengeance more so than the others who had trained him. He found Vengeance to share a similar mindset to himself, or so he thought. Never did his Master erupt into an emotional rage and lose his sanity. He was calm, he was cool, and he was collected. That was something Vaulkhar found rare and far in between within the Sith. It was something he knew was necessary to further his own training.

At the sound of a knock upon his door, the young man stood and strode over to the door.

"Can I help you?" The Acolyte perked a brow at the intrusion, a little surprised to see one of the messenger droids arriving at his door.

The droid beeped and buzzed momentarily before speaking. "Knight Vengeance summons you to the room where you two first met." And with that, the droid turned and rolled off, not awaiting a reply from the young Sith. Rarely did Vengeance ever summon Vaulkhar. Most of the time, his master was chasing the foolish young man across the galaxy as he went on one adventure after another. And after the way the last training session turned out, with his fellow apprentice questioning their master, he was surprised he wanted to continue training Vaulkhar at all.

With a shrug the young man took his robe from the wall and wrapped it around his gray tunic. He then lifted his lightsaber from the desk aside his bed and clipped it to his belt. With a nod to himself and a quick mental checklist, he decided he was ready.

Vaulkhar strode from his room and through the halls of the Academy, searching for the room he first met his Master in. It did not take long for him to find it, as it was only a short time ago he was first here, needlessly beating an acolyte into submission. Pressing a few keys beside the door, it slid open quickly, heralding the arrival of Vaulkhar. He strode into the room ready to speak, but upon seeing Vengeance meditating, he decided it would be best to remain silent. He stepped up towards his master and stopped a few paces away before dropping into a sitting position.

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance smiled when [member="Vaulkhar"] dropped into a sitting position in front of him. He remained quiet for a moment his eyes closed.

"Do you know what makes Makashi so effective?" "That was the form you expressed interest in learning was it not?"

He opened his eyes slowly but did not move from his sitting position.

"Simply put it requires nothing but the skill of the practitioner to be effective." "No channeling through the force, no rage, no emotion." "It can be done with a calm heart and a steeled mind." "It is tactical and efficient."

He stood with a chuckle.

"Any questions before we begin?"

 

[Vaulkhar]

At his first question Vaulkhar simply shook his head, as he had no idea beyond what little he managed to read within the archives. And then at his second question, he nodded. Vaulkhar sought to learn Makashi for the simple reason of conserving energy. The likes of Juyo and Ataru were exhausting for the young man and until he managed to build up more stamina and force mastery, Makashi would be his best bet. And in the case of an open battle, conserving energy was a great ally to have. Vaulkhar's blind gaze met that of [member="Vengeance"] as he opened his own. The young man showed his master utmost respect, looking him in the eye as he spoke.

Hearing his next statement Vaulkhar could not help but grin. This is what the young man was waiting for. An art of combat he could control without a burst of emotion. The path of the dark side was one of passion... but passion was exhausting. Following his master's example, Vaulkhar stood as well and shook his head.

"I am ready to begin when you are, Master Vengeance."

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance shook his head but smiled.

"Just Vengeance no need for that Master nonsense."

He walked over and stood beside [member="Vaulkhar"] a few feet between them for safety drawing his saber.

"Makashi is a dueling form." "As such it is the only form I know of with a Gentlemen quality to it."

He brought his saber up flicking his wrist his fingers turned towards his own face before flicking it back bringing the blade down the tip a few inches from his leg the tip[ barely an inch off the ground.

"It is simply called a Makashi salute." "It is not necessarily uncommon for two opponents to do it before engaging in battle."

He slid his foot forward some raising the blade up. He took it and thrust it forward as if to impale an invisible opponent in the chest.

"It can be effectively used with just one hand." "What you do with the other hand is up to you." "However I would keep it in close so it does not become a vulnerable point to be exploited."

Vengeance flicked his wrist the blade rotating in a counter clockwise arc turning into a left to right slash.

"If you want to test your opponents reflect and skill early in a battle you can do short or simple strikes." "One or two at a time." "If you do this though it may be a good idea to verbally engage your opponent at the same time." "Whether it is a taunt or just a simple question is up to you."

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar lowered his hand down to his belt and grasped his lightsaber. He removed it from it's place at his side and activated it. A yellow-colored plasma saber burst out, completely different from the white one he had used before. Watching the movements of [member="Vengeance"], he mirrored the Makashi salute perfectly, though slower than the Knight was capable of doing so. Throughout the speech Vaulkhar made attempts to follow the movements of his master and mirror them to the best of his ability. As with the salute, they were much slower and clumsy in comparison, but it was only the beginning.

"Does the taunt or conversation aid in anyway? Is it used to distract the opponent?"

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance smiled deactivating his saber and moving around in front of his apprentice.

"Ok well let me pose this situation to you." "A true story by the way."

He paused.

"You are conquering a planet in the name of the Dark Lord." "Your specific objective is to take a squad of troopers and assault a building housing resistance fighters."

"On the way there just in sight of your objective you feel a presence in the force." "You know it is not a fellow Sith." "You scan around you and see two Jedi coming up behind you from a group of buildings."

He paused.

"You have your orders but you know the Jedi are there to stop you from achieving your objective and you are out numbered." "What do you do?"


Vengeance stopped there with his story waiting on [member="Vaulkhar"] to answer.

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar considered the words momentarily, unsure of what he'd do. Orders from the One Sith are final and disobeying them is a rather terrible decision to make. But taking on two Jedi at the same time is equally as bad.

"Disobeying the One Sith is not a good idea. I will be honest with you, but if those are my orders I will do my best to obey them. When it comes to facing down two Jedi by myself it just doesn't seem feasible unless I could determine their skill level. If they are both near my own level of ability, I'd call for aid. But if it was me alone, I'd simply depart and relay the information to those who are leading the attack. But if in any way, shape, or form I think I can best them, I would take the chance to defeat them on my own."

[member="Vengeance"]

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance smiled.

"Very true but keep in mind the squad of troopers." "While most do not consider them worth the time of day." "You do have them at your disposal."

He paused.

"Ok so two objectives and two groups." "You send the troopers to secure the primary objective while you focus on the two Jedi." "As you begin to close on the jedi you see one is male and one is female." "At the same time you see the male kiss the female before charging you." "The female Jedi hangs back assuming a defensive posture."

Vengeance nods.

"You don't know the skill or ability of either one." "You only know one is charging and the other is focused on defense." "So how do you proceed?"

[member="Vaulkhar"]

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar considered the situation for a few minutes, clearly thinking rather hard about how he'd go about handling this situation. His mind constantly replayed every detail for him and concentration was etched into every inch of his face. After the minutes ticked by, Vaulkhar looked back up to his master and nodded, more to himself than to [member="Vengeance"], his master.

"Every detail in this scenario is important; I've come to realize that. If the two of them kiss, they are clearly together. They show passion for one another, and passion is the greatest weapon for the dark side. I believe it would be best to take on the approaching Jedi."

Vaulkhar pauses to consider his next words carefully.

"Makashi is a form of combat that I believe is utilized to equal the playing field and conserve energy. I'd use Makashi, assuming I'm skilled enough in said art, to take her on. Killing her or seriously harming her would be my best bet for victory, purely because it would infuriate the other Jedi, the male. In defeating her, I'd likely bring rage to his heart at watching one he loved defeated and/or killed. I could use that against him, take his energy and turn it upon him to best him in combat."

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance nodded at [member="Vaulkhar"] with a smile.

"You are thinking in the right direction but counting on too many unknowns." "But still a good train of thought."

He paused.

"It is not only a true story but my story." "So I shall tell you what I did." "Bare in mind however there are no right or wrong answers." "As long as it works that is all that matters."

He smiled igniting his saber. He would mimic the movements as he told the story.

"I had sent the trooper to secure the objective." "I was wearing an earpiece in my ear that allowed me to hear their progress." "The male Jedi charged and the female stayed where she was in a defensive motion."

"I charged towards the man." "However at the last minute a force leaped over him bring my saber to bare down on the women." "I guessed as you did that the kiss signaled a relationship between the two."

He paused.

"She blocked and countered even though her movements were shaky and unsure." "I side stepped her strike just in time to avoid an impale by the male." "He had closed the distance but in his rage gave away his attack calling me a coward."

Vengeance chuckled.

"I disengaged taking myself away from being pinned between to potential attackers."

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar nodded at the words spoken by [member="Vengeance"], glad he had at least some of it right.

"Keeping your back away from two foes is the best way to go. Though I must ask, did you defeat them or flee?"

The young man began to once more practice the Makashi movements he witnessed Vengeance perform earlier. They were still slow going, even as he repeated the a multitude of times, but he was beginning to get them down right. The form was there, but the speed was not.

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance chuckled.

"Such impatience in the young these days." "The story is not over yet." "You must wait until the end."

He paused with a smile.

"What I did was seek to turn her against him." "You so far he had acted recklessly." "The initial attack of trying to impale me in it's failure almost hit her." "So I simple jab at her about he supposedly her boyfriend seemed to not care about her safety."

"She hesitated and he attacked." "An attack that was dodged." "She pleaded for peace and he attacked."

Vengeance smiled.

"It created an opportunity to turn the two against each other." "She wanted a peaceful resolution and he only wanted to kill." "Further prodding on his recklessly produced the greatest point to exploit." "She never intended to engage or try and stop me." "She was headed for a refugee shelter further to the west." "He had pulled her and forced her off course and into my path."

He chuckled.

"By pointed that and other inconsistency in the two jedi's purpose and intent I effectively rendered one ineffective and pushed the other past the point of thinking clearly."

He shook his head.

"My intent was actually to attempt to coerce her into attacking him by pointing out he was the greater threat." "Turn it into a two on one in my favor instead of theirs." "In that regard I was unsuccessful." "By that time the soldiers had secured the build. we had secured the planet, and rather than risk getting trapped on a now Sith world they fled while they still had a chance to get off the planet."

[member="Vaulkhar"]

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar listens to the rest of the story with obvious interest, even going so far as to stop his physical training to listen to [member="Vengeance"] speak. Towards the end of the story, Vaulkhar nodded at his master, revealing respect for the actions taken by Vengeance. Utilizing their own emotion against one another, Vengeance managed to do exactly what Vaulkhar had hoped to do, but in a much cleaner and more intelligent manner. It was in that moment he had realized how lucky he was to have Vengeance as a master; and he intended to utilize that fact to the fullest.

"That's very impressive. You managed to do exactly what I wanted to do, in using their passion against one another, but instead did it in a way that did no require you to kill the other first. You managed to break the two lovers without every laying a finger on them. Very impressive indeed."

Once more Vaulkhar raises his saber and begins going through the motions once more.

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance chuckled.

"I don't even know if they were actually lovers." "It was an assumption based on a single kiss." "To be honest it was a foolish gesture that could have ended badly." "It is merely an example to illustrate that not all weapons are physical."

He smiled.

"Do you know the one thing all Jedi seem to fear more than anything else?"

[member="Vaulkhar"]

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar shook his head at the question, admitting his knowledge on the subject.

The young man tended to consider what it is the Sith and Jedi could fear in general. When it came down to it, he had theorized the Jedi feared the utilization of emotion and passion, simply because their greatest fear was becoming like the Sith, their sworn enemy. And on the other side of the spectrum, he assumed the Sith feared being powerless, being controlled and dominated as they did so many others in the galaxy. It was rather ironic in the long run, but they were simple theories that came up during his travels.

"What is it they fear above all else, [member="Vengeance"]?"

 

[Kenrath]

"Becoming us."

Vengeance smiled.

"Jedi fear falling to the dark side." "To the point they will intentionally cause themselves harm to prevent it."

He paused.

"I fought a Jedi on Ord Mirit who had be dead to rights." "She had me blinded to the point I couldn't see where she was or what she was doing." "Rather than capitalize on the momentum shift she fled." "Do you know why?"

Vengeance circled [member="Vaulkhar"] as he spoke.

"During the course of our battle I largely had the upper hand and taunted her at every turn." "She was full of pride that one." "As a result she couldn't handle being on the defensive." "With each successful attack I made and each attack she failed she danced closer to losing control."

He stopped turning back to Vaulkhar.

"Rather than risk becoming me she fled."

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar released a sigh at the description of the scenario. It turned out he was right in his assumption of their fears, but to the young man it was foolish. Likely as foolish as the Jedi felt towards the Sith's utilization of passion and emotion as their weaponry.

"I suppose it all just comes down to semantics. We utilize emotion and as such, fear becoming weak. Jedi do not utilize emotion, and fear becoming Sith. Though I cannot see the reasoning behind their actions, they likely cannot see the reasoning behind our own."

[member="Vengeance"]

 

[Kenrath]

Vengeance smiled nodding to [member="Vaulkhar"] with a chuckle.

"Most don't care enough to even consider the reasoning behind anything." "Though it may be an oversimplification."

He shook his head moving back in front of Vaulkhar igniting his saber and popping a quick salute.

"However you didn't come here to discuss theory and philosophies." "I have distracted you enough." "Shall we begin?" "I will attack and you will defend." "Then you attack and I will defend."

Vengeance paused giving his apprentice a chance to ready himself before he thrust out with his saber seeking to impale Vaulkhar before he rotated his wrist slashing diagonally left to right and then another rotation of his wrist produced a right to left diagonal slash. He would go easy on his apprentice but not to easy.

 

[Vaulkhar]

Vaulkhar would nod in response to [member="Vengeance"], raising his saber into a defensive position, held directly before him. He has faced quite a few in battle, masters and acolyte's alike, but there are very few within the One Sith as well known for their skill as Vengeance. He was prepared for a skilled opponent, but even as his master began, he was still genuinely surprised at the fluidity of the motions and attacks. Whereas Vyrassu was quick and Ferus was powerful, Vengeance fell right in the middle. There was speed behind each motion, but the power was nothing to laugh at either, and this hand Vaulkhar on his heels almost instantly.

He stepped back and send his saber forward in a sweeping block. With a turn of his wrist his blade then turned left and parried the coming attack and then reversed his grip upon his lightsaber, twirling it about and sending it arching to the side within both hands. It warded off the third blow, though only barely. Vaulkhar stepped in at the moment and sent a horizontal swipe at Vengeance from his target's left, level with the man's chest, before rotating his wrists and aiming a downward cut from the right shoulder to the left side of his waist.