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Krath Training: Lesson 2 - ACO Trevor Rastyn and KP George
George sat calmly in his chair, waiting for his apprentice to enter. He had heard nothing but good things about Rastyn from Jorddyn and he was curious to see how the apprentice would fair in training. He was sure that Rastyn would prove an interesting pupil, to say the least. Jorddyn had mentioned that she had reccommended George as Rastyn's master because they seemed to share similar personalities. Though she hadn't elaborated on what she meant by that, George had merely taken it in his stride. He did, however, have a test for the young apprentice, one he hadn't shared with his Quastor. As Jorddyn and Rastyn finally entered the room, George stood, bowed a quick greeting to them both. Jorddyn and Rastyn both bowed back, and Jorddyn exited the room, giving Rastyn a chance to acquaint himself with his new master.
"Greetings to you, Krath Priest" began the apprentice formally, with the slightest nod of his head. George smiled, returned the nod.
"Greetings, Novice" he replied, "And welcome to the beggining of your training in the ways of the Force. Tell me, before we begin, what is it you wish to gain from your studies here?" Rastyn's answer was quick, and without hesitation.
"I wish to discover the Force and become a Dark Jedi" he said, Shadow Acadamy training clearly tinting his response. George smiled again, and considered that it was time for his apprentice to truly begin learning. He knew from Jorddyn that Rastyn was someone who was very much a man of action - a definate help in a battle. Therefore, George had resolved that his first test of his apprentice would be one that required no physical action whatsoever - but rather mental clarity and understanding of one's purpose.
"And just what is it you mean when you say you wish to be a Dark Jedi?" asked George.
"I... I'm not sure I understand the question" responded a confused Rastyn. George grinned.
"Not many people would" he said, "Because I didn't make it particularly clear. My question to you is, what is it you consider a Dark Jedi to be? How are they different from a Light Jedi?"
"Dark Jedi use their anger and the ancient Sith teachings, and reject the feeble platitudes of the Jedi Code" answered Rastyn, his earlier confusion gone. George studied his apprentice's face, the response was almost at textbook answer - clearly, Rastyn had been paying attention at the Shadow Acadamy. Had George been an instructor there, the answer would have been exactly what he was looking for. Had George been a Master in any other clan, the answer still would have been what he was looking for. As an Arcona Krath, however, it needed some thought.
"Perhaps" said George, "But are all the Jedi Order's teachings to be automatically rejected?" George waited for his apprentice's answer. The standard Shadow Acadamy one would be simple, a flatout yes. Rastyn paused, considered the question.
"No" he answered, finally. George let no emotion show in his voice or face.
"No?" he asked.
"No" repeated Rastyn, "Rejecting all of the Jedi Order's teachings out of hand would mean that we could be depriving ourselves of a valuable resource." The young novice weighed his words carefully, and awaited his master's response. George showed his appreciation at the answer - although it had not been the correct Shadow Acadamy response, it had been exactly the one that he had been hoping for.
"Very Good" he answered, "The Jedi Order disagrees with us on many things, and refuse to use our teachings. This does not mean that we should reject all of their teachings out of hand. Instead, we should focuss and refine our abilities through whatever means possible. Now, onto my next question. Should anger be the only emotion we keep in our arsenal?"
"No" answered Rastyn - again, the answer was not the Shadow Acadamy preferred choice, but clearly George's apprentice had begun to sense that he might not have a traditional master.
"Very good" replied George, "Anger is a usefull tool - it can be focussed, and you should never throw it away. But to the same respect, you must always weigh each situation in it's benefits and measure your response accordingly. While a Light Jedi may reject all emotions, we must embrace our emotions, and use them to our advantage - should their be no advantage in using an emotion, then that emotion should be extinguished. Anger can be a usefull emotion - blind rage will often win battles where logic and planning could not hope to succeed. However, by the same respect, there will be times when logic and planning are all that is left to you - in such instances, a blind rage will only serve to get you killed, which will not help you or the Clan - you must learn not to embrace your anger, nor to reject it fully, but rather to turn it into another tool in your arsenal of weapons - one which may be brought out when appropriate, and then sheathed when done. When you have mastered this ability, nothing and noone will be able to stand in your way. When nothing and noone can stand in your way, your training will have truly been completed." Rastyn considered this, and nodded his understanding. George sensed through the force that his apprentice truly did understand, and smiled. "Now" he continued, "You are a man of action, It is time to test that action, and what you have learned today." Standing, he motioned for Rast to follow him out of the room.
Eventually, the pair reached another room, empty apart from a House Qel-Droma emblam across the floor and a weapons rack to one side. Removing his ceromonial robes, George motioned for Rastyn to do the same. Soon they were both dressed in their simple grey working robes. George walked o over to the weapons rack and drew from it a wooden sword. He tossed it through the air to Rastyn, who caught it skillfully. Rastyn inspected his sword as George drew another for himself. It was a blunt wooden weapon, clearly designed not to kill but merely to train someone in the use of a bladed weapon. Although it could not cut, it was clear that a hit with the sword would certianly hurt. George explained the following excercise.
"This is a simple enough test of your skill with a weapon" he began. "The goal and intent is not to hurt each other - though whenever you feel ready, I'll be happy to spar you" he added, a smile appearing on his face. Getting back onto topic, he continued, "Rather, for these exercises, we will be trying to predict each other's actions. I want us to be able to get to the stage where we can know at all times what the other is thinking. That will help us in combat." Rastyn nodded understanding at this - when he had been with the Infiltrator Wing, the most important thing he had constantly had drilled into him, and then later, had constantly drilled into the men under his command, was 'know your wingman'.
"That's understandable" he said, "Though I don't expect I'll be seeing combat for a while." At this, George gave a smirk.
"Oh you'd be surprised" he said, "Jordddyn has challenged you and me to a duel against her and Acolyte Locke. Of course" he added innocently, "She's rather expecting that I won't be giving you any combat training, so let's not tell her about these sessions." Rastyn laughed at this, and the lesson began.
"So" said George as he lunged towards Rastyn in a high overhead blow, "Tell me a bit about yourself" Rastyn blocked the blow with ease, then lashed out for a counter attack towards George's left, which the Krath Priest jumped back to avoid.
"You want to discuss this now?" he asked, frustration showing as he missed his intended target. He suddenly ducked as George thrust his sword out with one hand, it's wooden tip passing through the space previously occupied by Rastyn's head.
"Of course" said George, the exertion of the battle putting hardly any strain into his voice, "The difference between a Krath and a member of the other Order's isn't that we don't fight. It's that we think while we fight. At no stage should you..." He paused to block a series of sudden attacks by Rastyn, "...lose your ability to reason" he continued, "From now on, all our discussions will proceed while sparring, so we can build your body, mind, reflexes and ability in the Force all at the same time."
Rastyn nodded, grinned, and the duel continued, the two fighters gracefully moving across the room, each trying for an advantage, while Rastyn began to tell his life story...
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Trevor's Royal Guard training instantly took over and memories of Yichannor washed through his mind. As Trevor jumped, ducked and lunged to avoid George's attacks, while carefully planning and executing his own counters, Trevor could not help but focus on the pounding headache in the back of his head. Trevor was not as comfortable with the single bladed weapon, as he was with his viro-staff while a member of the Imerial Royal Guard, but he was able to defend himself adequately.
"You're not focusing, Trevor..." George said, as he made a graceful attack, swinging his wooden sword, and takeing a leap away from Trevor. "Release your inhibitions and act as you would in the heat of battle."
"I can't con...." Trevor started, and noticed the gap between him and George. "I can't think straight. This damn headache..." Trevor trailed off.
"Headache?" George said, still unable to work past the defences of Trevor's mind.
"Yeah, I keep hearing things. Voices, sounds... The odd sight." Trevor said and looked at George. "Wait..." Trevor said, as the throbbing stopped. "That was you..." Trevor quietly exclaimed.
"I had no idea..." George started. "I was only trying to find out more about you. How you think, what to expcet from my Apprentice..." George stated, and without letting him finish, Trevor attacked once again.
"Stay the hell outta my head!!" Trevor shouted, a swing from his wooden sword with each word spoken. George easily defended himself, but noticed that Trevor's attack was much more intense and powerful.
"Excellent!" George said. "You're learing to use your anger to your advantage!"
"Enough!" Trevor shouted and threw his weapon across the hall. The sound of the hardwood hitting the floor echoed through the great room. "This is bull!"
"Defend yourself!" George excalimed as he rushed towards Trevor. Again, Trevor's training as a Royal Guard took over his body and even though he was unarmed, Trevor was able to dodge and block the attacks made by his new master. "Now, as I asked before... 'Tell me about yourself'." Trevor crossed his arms above his head as the wooden sword came crashing down towards him. "What made you join the Empire?"
"My father.." Trevor said, as he folded his arms and took hold of the wooden blade so quickly, George did not even realize he had lost his grip until Trevor was swinging it around his back like it was his viro-blade. Trevor tirwled the wooden staff and braced it in his right hand, and broght it to a stop, tucked underneath his right shoulder. "He was a team member of the Viper project."
"The Viper project?" George asked and looked at Trevor. "Also, if that were a lightsaber, you would be without arms."
"If this were a lightsaber, I wouldn't have gotten infront of it." Trevor quicly replied, and George nodded. "The Viper project was the failed kid brother of the Dark Trooper project. My old man was a bio-engineer and was only able to produce three working Viper Troopers. As a result, he was sent to bridge duty on the ISD Judge."
"The Judge is in the Outter Rim Patrol group."
"Yeah... It was thirty years ago too." Trevor replied and handed the wooden weapon back to George. "Dad hadn't seen any real action, and he still hasn't."
"That's unfortunate." George said as he quickly unleashed a surpsrise attack on Trevor. Without hesitation, Trevor lunged to one side to draw Georges attack, and then leapt away in the opposite direction. Trevor, wihtout breaking his stride, ran past one of the many racks and picked up a bow-staff, nearly equal in length to his viro-staff. Trevor suddenly felt a rush of confidence and with a back flip, turned to face George. "Wait..." George paused. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" Trevor asked, without letting his guard down.
"That flip."
"Why?"
"That was too fluid and precise for any mear mortal to perform. Have you always had that agility?"
"Yeah, ever since I was a kid...." Trevor said, and slowly took a step towards George.
'Unbelieveable!' George exclaimed to himself. 'Trevor is far more powerful than even Kerri thought....'
"You're not trying to get into my head again, are you?" Trevor asked, still slowly approaching George.
"No, I've given up on that." George said as he lunged towards Trevor. Trevor too, dashed towards George, and the two continued thier duel.
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