First Reply Trials and Tràkata (Jedi Temple)

[Jasper Kai'el]

Trials and Tràkata
Coruscant, Jedi Temple​

"Run it again."

The sound of locked blades sizzling and sparking against one another faintly echoed through the halls of the Jedi Temple, reverberating out from one of the many sparring halls. The hall in question was almost completely empty, with only Jasper and a single training droid inhabiting the space. The padawan had his training blade locked with the droid's, pushing against the mechanical sparing partner. Then, with little warning, Jasper turned off his blade, diving to the side. The droid's training saber hit his shoulder, rocking the padawan's balance ever so slightly, but he managed to move around and kick the back of the droid's legs to knock it over. He had taken down his opponent, but not without making contact with it's saber. As far as Jasper was concerned, he would be dead in a real duel.

Jasper had been running this same training program for the past few hours. It was day when he started. Now, as the sun began to set, the evening began to take hold of the planetary city beyond the balcony of the training hall. The twilight hour would be short lived, as the night would not be long behind it. Soon, the padawan would have to return to his ship. Jasper didn't want to. He needed to figure this out today, or he had at least convinced himself that he needed to do so. The duelist helped get the droid up to it's feet before briefly stepping away to contemplate the last few sessions. What was it that he had been missing? No matter how close he got to successfully pulling off the maneuver, something always seemed to trip him up in the end. Jasper would duck out of the way and move in to complete the move only to be hit by his opponent's weapon or stumble at the finish line. Back when he had first attempted Tràkata at the padawan sparring session, the same thing had happened in his duel against Silas Westgard . He was certainly inexperienced then, but even now Jasper couldn't help but feel that there was still something that he was failing to grasp. It was frustrating to get so close to what he wanted to achieve only to miss the mark.

The padawan continued to rack his brain for solutions, hoping that somewhere in his head there was a way to finally pull it off. He didn't think for long. Jasper knew all to well that, in the end of the day, repetition was what would help him learn. Time spent thinking was time he had to practice that he was wasting, and there wasn't much time left in the day. He stepped back to the droid, raising his lightsaber in a Makashi opening.

"Run it again."

 

[Gabriel Pryce]

Jasper Kai'el

"Don't worry, you'll get it eventually," Gabe said, yawning. He had been at this for hours. Gabe was out of his bacta suit, finally, but he still hadn't been okayed by the ever-doting Master Healer Amani Serys for full combat training. He watched though, and he could run shadow drills, but this? He just didn't understand it.

"What are you trying to do anyways?" he asked, hopping down from the statue base he'd been sitting on.

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Gabriel Pryce ​

"Don't worry, you'll get it eventually,"

Jasper glanced back, taking note of Gabriel Pryce, who was perched atop one of the statues in the sparring hall. How long had he been there? A while, perhaps. The duelist had been too fixated on his own training to pay attention to his other surroundings.

"Thanks," he replied.

When the question came up about what he was doing, Jasper couldn't help but think about how ridiculous he looked without any context. The thought was rather amusing, all things considered.

"Tràkata," Jasper explained, maintaining his form. "It's a more advanced combat maneuver..." Jasper let the drill begin, locking blades with the training droid. "When you come to a saber lock like this, there's a technique you can do to weaponize the momentum of your opponent. When the time is right..." As his sentence trailed off, Jasper turned off his blade, sliding out of the way of his opponent. Again, the saber of the training droid grazed his mechanical shoulder, knocking the padawan ever so slightly off balance. Jasper force pushed the droid to the ground, letting out a sigh. "You turn off your blade. If done right, you knock your opponent off balance and gain the upper hand. It's incredibly risky though. In a real duel, that weapon would've gone right through me."

Jasper extinguished his training saber and went to pick the training droid up off the ground.

"I see they finally let you out of that suit," Jasper noted as he reset the droid. "How'd that go, by the way. The recovery and all."

 

[Gabriel Pryce]

Jasper Kai'el

​

"When you come to a saber lock like this, there's a technique you can do to weaponize the momentum of your opponent. When the time is right..." As his sentence trailed off, Jasper turned off his blade, sliding out of the way of his opponent. Again, the saber of the training droid grazed his mechanical shoulder, knocking the padawan ever so slightly off balance. Jasper force pushed the droid to the ground, letting out a sigh. "You turn off your blade. If done right, you knock your opponent off balance and gain the upper hand. It's incredibly risky though. In a real duel, that weapon would've gone right through me."

"Huhhhhh," Gabe slid from his spot and folded his arms in thought. "That's actually pretty cool. I'd never thought about that." He nodded enthusiastically now that he understood what Jasper had been trying, and failing, to do for hours on end. Gabe rolled his shoulders one after another and gave his neck a crack.

"Yeah, its nice getting out of that suit. Bacta sucks," He made a gaging face. "It gets everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. It was in places I didn't even know I had! And don't get me started on sleeping." Gabe was a stomach sleeper and with all the tubes and channels, he'd been forced to sleep staring at the ceiling for weeks.

"I'll be headed out on a mission soon though. Volunteered to drop some supplies off in the Scar Worlds. Should be fun." Well, about as fun as it can be watching a bunch of droids and stuffy Alderaanians unload and distribute relief goods and watching hyperspace stars for days on end could be.

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Gabriel Pryce ​

"Yeah, its nice getting out of that suit. Bacta sucks," He made a gaging face. "It gets everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. It was in places I didn't even know I had! And don't get me started on sleeping."

"Tell me about it," Jasper nodded in agreement. "Had to wear one when I got in a pretty nasty wreck," he paused, briefly removing his mechanical arm so Gabe could get an idea of how bad the wreck was. "The worst part was first getting out of it. I swear I was so dry I aged ten years."

It was an amusing thought admittedly, Jasper shriveling up like dried fruit. It had certainly felt like he had, even if it was more in his head than anything else. In retrospect, it certainly was comedic. Not comedic enough to wear a suit like that ever again, mind you. He'd much rather take the more traditional bath route next time around.

"Supply run to the Scar Worlds?" he echoed, scratching at the bridge of his nose. "Sounds thrilling. It's definitely a good mission to get back in the swing of things. They need all they help they can get out there, and I'm sure they still want you on low-risk assignments till you're gotten back to business as usual."

 

[Gabriel Pryce]

Jasper Kai'el

"Business as usual, heh." Right. Well if he had it his way he wouldn't be doing any business as usual for a while. He would hate to be a third wheel to Osarla and Sion after all. Gabe shook his head.

"Try it with me," Gabe said suddenly. He pulled out his lightsaber and turned his power setting dial before activating it. The blue blade came to life with a muffled, distorted snap-hiss and the youth gave the blade a few good swings getting used to the sensation of the training mode saber. He needed to clear his mind anyways. As long as he didn't overdo it he would be fine.

"I could use the exercise."