Training Season

[Mother Askani]

Everyone who knew Sochi, knew she was all about progress. Training was something she did for what others considered fun, it seemed odd, but that's just how she was. She had made it public once more that she was looking for sparring partners. She received notification that an padawan had taken interest.

They would gather on Tython for a sparring match. There was a grove near the temple, that Sochi occupied while she awaited his arrival, she had sent him the coordinates before hand, and it wasn't too far off from the temple located there. Since her promotion a while ago, Sochi wasn't as conservative anymore, atleast when it came to close that is. Usually one would find her in her layers of robes, with her traditional Togruti sash upon her long skirt. That wasn't the case anymore.

Now Sochi adorns a cream backless top with a deep V-front (that shows her both bare back and shoulders) and brown straps around her midriff that seem to accentuate her chest and bellybutton. She has a light brown loincloth and homemade bikini bottom. She also sports a bit of gray cloth wrapped around her feet (that shows both her bare toes and heels) and most of it around both leg calves (that shows her right knee) and left forearm (with a couple silver spikes on it). Brown straps she's tied around her lekku and montrals that are now long enough that they almost reach the ground behind her.

She sits in meditation, awaiting the arrival of her newest associate. @[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Sochi Ru"] didn't have to wait long. In fact, she didn't have to wait long at all. Sarge was a career soldier, and while he may be new to Jedi, his infiltration skills were still second to none. Sitting nearby, head dipped, he found his mind wandering to the idea that he'd never worked with Togruta who weren't part of the Republic.

An odd thing to realize, but it was fundamentally true.

Clad in maroon colored beskar'gam, a torn red cloak wrapped around his shoulders and head, he looked less a Jedi and more a wandering enigma. Especially because of the porcelain-looking mask set upon his face. Across its right cheek was a crack, held together by beskar clamps that made it look almost like someone had gashed his jaw and they'd haphazardly sewn it shut.

Putting his hands on his thighs, he pushes himself to a standing position and rolls his shoulders to ease the tension, eyes settling on the sparsely dressed woman in front of him. Frankly, he didn't know if she knew he was here or not, but he did know that if she was trying to speak with him mentally... he wasn't getting it.

Mostly because he'd been told his mind was completely shut off. Telepathy was not something he could do.

 

[Mother Askani]

She slowly stood up when she finally felt his presence, she would have to admit he arrived quicker than most. She hadn't even much time to get into her meditation; but all was alright. When she finally stood up she faced the front for a brief moment, before actually turning around to great the man. All she would know was that he was the Padawan of Master Diana Moridena, the women she'd worked with some time ago on Charros IV.

"Greetings, I'm Sochi Ru. You are Master Diana Moridena's Padawan, yes? I must ask your name." She said softly as she took a couple of steps forwards, there still being distance between them, she motioned with her hands as she spoke.

She made note of the mans armor, maroon in color, she had seen it before on her travels. She knew that Tracyn wore it as well. She knew nothing else on the subject. A mask he wore as well, she wondered why he hid his face, but she hadn't a problem with that either.


@[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"My name is unimportant, @[member="Sochi Ru"]." Bowing faintly at the waist, the armored figure straightened itself out, raising to his height of just over six feet. "But if you must call me anything, call me Preacher." It was as good a name as any. Even Diana did not know his name. Highly unusual for a Jedi, but then again nothing about him was typical.

Especially not for a monastic order of religious galactic peacekeepers.

"You desired a sparring partner, and so I am here, training saber on my hip and my fists ready." He didn't have his own actual saber, but he knew for practice that a regular saber wasn't in order. You needed one that would shock and burn, but not maim.

 

[Mother Askani]

Her eyes would grow wide from the answer he gave her. He wa shrouded in mystery it seemed, she wasn't going to pester him though. She nodded when he clarified why he was here, This would prove knowledgeable for them both. Sochi kept welcoming smile, and motioned towards the rest of the area they had for their upcoming match. She purposely chose Tython, and this area, rather than any sparring room within the temple. There was just certain skill sets she wanted to experiment with.


"I'm ready, are you? We have this entire area for our match." She said softly before turning and taking acouple of steps towards the center of the opening.

When she found her staring position she bowed to show her respect. Then she gripped her lightsaber hilt, holding it near her her side. She looked upon her new opponent for a time. Then she ignited her lightssaber, that shone a cerulean color. It casts a shroud of blue over lower waist and upper thigh. She didn't assume a stance just yet. She was beginning to utilize a Force Form; specifically Potency. This would enhance any ability she used with the force.

Once she felt ready, she imbued her weapon with the force, and plunged it into the ground in front of her, sending tremors through the soil in an large radius towards Preacher. This marked her first attack, after this she shut down her sustained Force Form, because using this particular one too much for too long would drain her.

@[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Reaching down slowly to his hip, he pulled out the training saber and depressed the button. Erupting from the hilt came the azure blade of light not dissimilar to her own, which cast a blue hue upon the ground beneath it. Letting it hang, he sighed and watched her, waiting. He adopted no stances, seemed to draw on no Force.

He always let others initiate a fight.

Still, when she plunged her blade into the ground, he instinctively adopted a wide stance with a bit of a crouch. This allowed him to better take the tremors without losing too much balance - it shook him, and more than once he nearly fell over, but through deft footwork he managed to remain upright.... along with a little help from the Force.

There wasn't much damage in an ability like that, and he was surprised that she didn't try to follow up with an immediate attack.

But with the tremors subsiding, he slid into a wide stance, saber held in a reverse grip, one arm stretched out just enough to try and block whatever she tried next.

Clearly she was going to play to her strengths; the Force, perhaps. Or maybe saber work. He'd have to find a way around that.

No movements were made by him, except he slowly began to move his legs, strafing in a lazy circle around her with eyes that never left her form. He was intent on not letting her surprise him. To say he was a cautious fighter was an understatement.

@[member="Sochi Ru"]

 

[Mother Askani]

She noticed that he regained his balance from his footing. Atleast she knew he wasn't going to easily be throw off his feet. She slowly raised her head, and titled it slightly as she watched him. She still didn't assume a form just yet instead trying to see what he was going to do. She noticed his lightsaber now being held in a reverse grip, was he a Shien practitioner? Hmm

She squinted her eyes, and continued to hold her saber near her side, while he began to slowly move in a circle around her.

She made haste deciding not to let it lag on, she sped up her movements, by running in his direction. As she closed in she leaped from her current position. As she went higher into the ground she performed and front flip, and when she came down she had her lightsaber in front if her vertically, both of her hands on the hilt.

She was going to perform an aerial assault. After bringing her blade down, she would flip over him, landing in a crouched position, and swinging her blade around to strike at his lower legs. She was now using Form IV: Ataru.

@[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Sochi Ru"]

(I'm assuming the downward slash was an attack, if not, you can feel free to simply disregard that part of my post)

With a tensing of muscles and then explosive release, she began charging him. This was something that would end one of two ways - she was going to throw a Push at him, or she was going to jump. Likely, with the build up of speed, it was the latter. Thankfully, his arm was already up, so that as she came down he simply placed a beskar forearm guard between her saber and himself, halting that particular attack quickly.

And then she jumped over him. Spinning, saber still in a reverse grip, he threw a Force Push behind him mid-turn to keep her from doing the same to him; last time a Force User had jumped over him, they'd thrown a Push at his back. Sadly, that was apparently not her aim.

His Push wasn't particularly strong, as he was still new to the Force and it's use, but he hoped it to be enough to knock her vaguely off balance so he could backpedal, even as used his saber to block her swing. This, like every sword fight he'd ever been in, would come down to one moment when a guard slipped.

Taking several steps back to get clear, he simply watched her again, not actually attacking. She was in a decent position to block any of his attacks, and he knew his ability to use the Force was weak. He was biding his time, now.

 

[Mother Askani]

Her aerial attack was blocked, her attacked aimed at his legs, from behind him came to a halt, as his force push threw her slightly off balance. His reflexes were good, but she regained her footing and stood up to see him back pedaling to out some distance between the two of them. She decided to pursue him once more. Dashing with the use of the force she closed in the gap with decent speed. Holding her blade in a reverse grip she brought it upwards in an diagonal slash, batting her blade against his. She began to perform a sequence of attacks, one flowing right into the other. Once she brought her blade up she flipped her hilt in her hand and brought it back down batting hers against his once more. After that she spinning around and brought her cerulean blade around, quickly in another diagonal sweep that went from his upper body and down. The last one being more powerful and precise than the others. She imbued her weapon with the force with her last attack. She ended her series of attacks with that last move. Seeing how he would handle this.

@[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Sochi Ru"]

When she charged, he switched the grip on his blade so that it was no longer reversed, allowing him to use it to block and parry; his specialty. He was still more used to using a quarterstaff, but so long as he didn't hit himself with his own blade he should be alright. But when she flipped her blade, he saw his chance to take advantage. He simply kicked a leg out to try and hit her in her shin and knock her off balance.

Were, however, that not to work he'd find that again she left herself open again as she spun - the same thing that Avicus had tried on him. Again, he kicked out a foot to destabilize her, his heavy beskar boot imbued with the weight of his body. But he didn't follow up with his blade, rather, he again backpedaled but if she were quick she could probably catch him with a swift reaction.

But she was trying to do too much, think too far ahead. "Stop playing to my strengths." He says, voice quiet but firm. "You're doing too much at once." Yes, he was offering her advice, but one would never stop learning.

 

[Mother Askani]

As she charged in a began her strike she noticed at the last minute that his kick was coming for her. She moved back, which caused her attack to become sloppy, and miss. Her second would also be thwarted by another kick that was obviously meant to knock her off balance, if she was gonna maneuver herself around that her attack wouldn't land, she chose to maneuver herself away from his kick causing her move to follow the results of the first, then she remembered, he was indeed a seasoned warrior, regardless of his Jedi training, he was still a more than capable fighter. Though she was trying to provoke him into attack her. Sliding back from pushing herself backwards to dodge his kick, she used the force to aid her agility. She jumped in the air performing a front flip in mid air, and came over him with an aerial attack, she wouldn't follow up with anymore, instead opting to land behind him. She rose from her crouched position, and smiled. She ran at a slow pace into the surrounding forest. He would need to follow her, into the next area.

@[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"That's an even worse idea...", he mumbles as a reactionary slash cut through air as she headed to the forest. "You don't want to do that..." But she was probably gone by then. Sighing, he deactivated his saber as she retreated into the woodlands and dug into a large pouch perched upon his right hip.

Inside was likely one of the last things anyone would expect to find; something. Why is that, you ask? Well, it was technically a cloak. A cloak embedded with photoreactive fibers that, when the wearer moved slowly or not at all, effectively melded them into their surroundings.

While it was technically an Omega Protectorate design, it had only ever been produced for him, and with him gone their production had ceased. They were prohibitively expensive. Pulling his red cloak off and leaving it in the clearing, he wrapped the cloak around himself and pulled it up into a hood around his head in the same way most Jedi wore their robes.

And with that, he began to blend into his surroundings. Crouching slightly to minimize his profile, he wrapped the cape around himself to disguise himself and headed into the woods after her.

He'd grown up fighting in woods, and being in them was all but second nature.

This was going to be a lot more fun.

@[member="Sochi Ru"]

 

[Mother Askani]

While she ran at a pretty good speed through the forest, she came to a stop. She figured with his military training he had strategies for fighting within the forest as well, but she really wanted to train, and work with a specific skill. That's why she chose this particular area to hold this match. She began to go back to her Togrutan roots, connecting herself to the land around her. She turned around, and looked behind her. She was surprised he hadn't shown up yet. She squinted her eyes, he must have had something up his sleeve that he put into action rather quickly.

Sochi took to the trees above, jumping from one tree trunk to another to propel herself to the top. She landed in a crouched position way above the ground. She was surveying the area. The forest became silent it seemed. She began to move jumping from tree to tree trying to hunt down her prey. She had to keep in mind that he wasn't her ordinary opponent. He had and used skills she would normally face in any random sith; atleast from her experience already.

@[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Sochi Ru"]

Moving with a slowness born of calm confidence, the cloaked man leaned down to take a look at the ground, head dipping as he looked for identifying marks of passage. Sure enough, faint depressions in the ground combined with disturbances of vegetation gave him the direction she'd been going.

Right himself, he continued forward, watching the trail until it disappeared. Looking around, he found himself merely surrounded by trees. There were no empty roots she could hide in, and it was doubtful she would have known how to mask her tracks. So far as he knew, no Jedi had been trained in survival skills yet.

He could be wrong, however. One could never be certain.

Still... the silence of the woods was unnatural. She had to be nearby. Most woods accepted him as part of nature, and so often things weren't silent with him around. But it was quiet now. Too quiet.

Staring into the canopy, he found himself concentrating on his Vong-augmented hearing. A faint rustle of leaves, perhaps caused by wind or the shaking of a branch, confirmed to him that she was likely above him. He wouldn't follow.

No, he'd wait to see where she was before making a move. Pulling his cloak tighter around him, he took careful steps back and towards a tree, letting himself still so as to better meld in with his surroundings, even while he lifted his eyes to keep an eye on the thick canopy above and the myriad of branches which were webbed from tree to tree.

 

[Mother Askani]

She still searched, looking down at the forest floor in multiple directions. She began to think while simultaneously squinting her eyes to narrow her focus. Hmm there's no way he would just vanish like this. She stood straight up with an subtle smile. She had to admit, this was a clever trick. He was either employing some form of force concealment, or he was masking his appearance with some type of technology. An excellent feat, one he never came to face in combat. Knowing now that she wouldn't get to see him by normal means she began to focus herself,

Sochi began to employ the force form Force Channel. This would boost her connection to the force, allowing her to strengthen her senses. She began to use the force sight ability. She would find him by locking in on his alignment in the force. She would separate him from the surround environment, sensing him due to his characteristics. Her eyes deceived her, and she couldn't rely on them in this instant.

As she began looking around once more, she saw meters away that he was posted up near a tree, an area that she had come from already. She began concentrating once more, causing the vines, and roots of the flora surrounding them to slowly creep, and make their way in his direction. He would surely be able to see them coming for him once they got close enough. She knew this move wouldn't apprehend him so easily.

@[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Sochi Ru"]

She was there, among the branches. His head lifted, spotting the out of place red of her skin with relative ease. It took a bit longer than planned, and he mentally chided himself for not noticing her earlier, but the branches got thick. Sometimes you just couldn't see things too well the first time you panned your gaze.

Sometimes it was the second.

But she seemed to be looking at him... for a bit too long.

He narrowed his eyes, wondering if she was seeing something on the ground that gave him away. Dipping his head, he sent his gaze to the ground and found what she was focusing on... the ground itself.

Taking a few steps forward, he lifted his hand and sent a weak Force Push up and in her direction; enough to rattle the stability of where she was and little else.

With that, he began fading back into the woods, hoping to disappear from whatever sight she was using to find him so that he could lay a trap.