[CLASS] Potency of connection

[Symbiot Spider]

Bakura, 9:00am Local Time

It was silent in the corridors of the Bakura enclave (Link), again his class was going to be an early one; some of them may actually use that in their class. Because of the pull on the users emotions, force potency had a tenancy to sway users into the dark side of the force, but Dartel was comfortable that he could explain it to the young padawans who would arrive; even if he himself still didn't use it that way, but that was for other reasons than his inability to.

He walked into the room he had been using for his training classes previously and walked straight towards the centre. As promised, the droids he required were there to greet him and reaching out into the force Dartel activated them all. All three of the droids whirred to life and took on an awareness that only a droid could. Their arms reached up and assumed fighting positions. They straffed until Dartel was surrounded in their triangle.

“Authorize: Lethal level force and a single trigger.”

Dartel smirked to himself at his command. The droids eyes all flicked to a glowing red and hunched their shoulders, taking on a more threatening stance. One lunged at Dartel quickly as the others reacted in tow. Dartel sidestepped the fierce claw that slashed passed his throat; taking the arm in his own and rolling the droids around its own momentum and into the second, causing them to sprawl along the ground. Only having a second to react, Dartel leapt cleanly into the air and rolled over an invisible axis, the third droid kicking through the space he no longer occupied, but instead, when his arm was angled properly through the spin, snapped out against the chest and pummelled the droids chasis with a force push. The droid crumpled to the ground, unlike the others, who were now back to their feet, this droids eyes were no longer lit.

Again the droids surrounded Dartel and he himself sunk into his Phantom Fist stance, unafraid of the droids. The droid now at his front slashed furiously in a desperate attempt to spill the contents of Dartel's throat. Without moving his feet, Dartel wove through the slashes and blocked the oncoming strikes, not making an attempt to strike back just yet. After several of the strikes were deflected, evaded or lightly countered, the droid from behind struck out at his legs; at this moment Dartel again took to the air using his perfectly balanced Phantom-Ataru style to evade the sweep. While in mid-ar, and still using his unique fighting style, Dartel kicked out against the droid attempting the sweep and lunged a clenched fist through the barrage of slashes to the first droid. They were not powerful strikes, they weren't meant to be, but rather they pushed them just far back enough that Dartel could finish his flip, land and extend both arms in a fierce Force Repulse and send both droids hurling for the walls while a whistle of wind kicked through the entire training hangar.

Dartel glanced at all three droids scattered around the room to check that each of them were not still showing glowing red eyes. Reaching through the force, Dartel quickly gathered his thoughts and balanced his emotional state once more; he had noticed it flare slightly at the end, but being caught in the moment it was hard for him to remember to be weary of it. He took a deep breath and huffed slightly while trying to get it back. He walked slowly to the lobby area of the training hall and only then realized that his class had arrived. He walked over to them and bowed slightly before smiling a slightly exhausted smile.

“Nice to see you class. Today we will learn the true potency of our connection to the force. First, the theory of our lesson. What is the most important thing about this technique a user must be aware of?”

 

[Just Falcon]

Awande hung back in the threshold when Dartel did his little spar-sesh with the droids. Couldn't tell if he was just blowing off steam or making it blatantly clear to the others that 'hey; I know what I'm talking about.' The cynic in her leaned towards door number two. It also had some serious reservations about the droids themselves, whoever maintained these rust buckets was either out of their league or just plain incompetent. For an Order so persnickity about nature and balance and blah blah blah they sure neglected their droids. Joints were out on the second one. Third needed a firmware update. And the first, well, whoever put that one together needed to know the difference between an arm and a leg. Because there definitely was one.

Whole production put her in the mood to learn though. That was something of a feat in and of itself.

“Nice to see you class. Today we will learn the true potency of our connection to the force. First, the theory of our lesson. What is the most important thing about this technique a user must be aware of?”

"Don't break your fist?"

 

[Ral]

Today, Kai had risen a bit earlier to include Khelsea in his early morning training routine. Since his master Lutomi had offered the young woman apprenticeship once Kai had been promoted to a Knight he thought it would be best to at least get her used to how Lutomi operated. So in addition to his morning routine, Kai had woken Khelsea up, having to almost pull her out of bed, so she would come do some early morning training with him. Going through the moves, he also added in a few partner drills that he wouldn't have been able to normally do on his own. After going through his morning drills and sets, he found it was time to head to class. Luckily, they hadn't done anything too exhausting, mostly just enough to wake their bodies up and sharpen their minds for what would probably be another interesting, useful, and informative class.

Walking into the training room with Khelsea on his hip, Kai found that Awande had already beaten them there. The Pantoran was a girl he had the pleasure of going crystal hunting with as well as doing a mission with on Christophsis. Watching the Knight as he continued with his own session, Kai kept his awe restrained. While Dartel was quite good, the novelty of seeing so many Jedi who were specialists at something he wasn't good at began to get old. Besides, if Dartel wasn't good at what he was trying to teach, Kai wouldn't have been there.

Chuckling at the Pantoran's snide response, Kai opened his mouth. "To trust in the Force and be sure to resist the lure of the Dark Side?"

 

[Veloster Turbo]

Khelsea had no problem with waking up early and working out or exercising, but she was slightly miffed by Kai's overzealous attempt at waking her up. Her alarm was set to wake her up less than ten minutes after Kai had dragged her out of bed, and he hadn't discussed his morning plan with her beforehand. This made seeing Kai's facing looking down on her when he first woke her up to quite a big shock, and even though the dormitories were shared by many different Jedi, most of the Order's members were respectful and quiet when they woke up; careful not to disturb the slumber of the others living in the same room as themselves. In the end, she had to follow Kai and accompany him in his morning routines. Khelsea knew that her friend's intentions were good, but it definitely was not the morning she had planned for herself before arriving to Jedi Knight Dartel Vega's class.

Finally arriving with Kai, Khelsea was somewhat surprised to see Awande in the training room. One of her first lessons was a cram session with Jedi Knight Rane Vastra, who had taught her and Awande many different skills over a day of intense training. She had not been able to keep in contact with the Pantoran, but was glad to see her nonetheless. She was a fun character to be around, and from that day Khelsea felt that the Pantoran's perky but crass personality was humorous. True to Khelsea's expectations, Awande gave a snarky answer to start things off. While she was expecting comments like these from Awande, Khelsea couldn't help but allow a smile to form on her face. Classes and training were supposed to be serious, but a bit of fun and livelihood can occasionally help suppliment the learning experience.

Hiding her smile successfully before speaking, Khelsea answered with what she knew from asking around. It wasn't much knowledge, but it was better than her improvising and being completely wrong on the subject. Maybe it was still wrong, but at least the answer came from someone more knowledgeable in the Force than herself. "Improve our ability to defend ourselves, but at the cost of temporarily losing connection with the Force?"

 

[Symbiot Spider]

Dartel glanced at each of his students as they replied; it lingered a bit on Awande with her typically clever response. He shook his head with a slight smirk as he wondered just how far she would end up in the Order with an attitude as relaxed as hers. He would keep an eye on her in order to make sure she came around and gained some discipline.

He listened to the other students and wondered if any of them listened to the question that he had asked. Neither of them answered about the technique, it sounded like they were answering about the force itself and not the lesson. With a warm smile he sat in front of them on a small bench. He supported himself with his elbows on his knees as his smile turned more into a smirk.

“I hope you all hear me clearly now. This will not be an easy class. This could be dangerous if you are not completely focused. That means on the force and what I am telling you.”

It was a sudden twist in the Knight’s usually warm and happy presence; there was suddenly a slight coldness in the steel hangar that was their classroom. He tilted his head to look Awande in the eyes; his presence steely.

“There will be a time where your inability to control yourself will put your life in danger.”

He shifted to hold his attention against Kai next.

“Even blind trust can lead you to the Dark Side. You need to trust in yourself as well as your senses if you are to become something more.”

Lastly, his head cocked funny until it stared just as emotionless as the others, but at Khelsea this time.

“Knowing a fault is knowledge in and of itself. Being honest with yourself, others and the force will keep you safe.”

He rested back on the bench and adopted a more relaxed posture, but the atmosphere still kept its bitterness. It would be needed if these students were to be pushed in this class like he intended on doing.

“Force Potency is a force form that allows a user to generate something through the force with as much potential energy as possible. You will learn this, but the first thing you should know is that this is a very dangerous skill if used wrong as it drains you incredibly. Even the most practiced of this form could only sustain it long enough to use a few techniques before feeling faint. Some have even used it to such a powerful level that they blackout because they use too much of their own force power as well. These are the risks and if you are still interested in this class, we will begin, but if not, this is where you should take your leave.”

 

[Just Falcon]

Awande fought back an eye roll. Pretty hard for her to do, and some part of her would've liked a reward for her self-control. See? Totally had some of that.

Everything Dartel just said seemed like common sense. Don't overextend yourself. Don't half-ass your training. Be smart. 'Course he couldn't just come out and say all those things, nooooo. That's not how these Jedi worked. They were all about the doom and gloom and oh-so-mighty responsibility of it all. Really hope she'd never get that way but, who knows. Maybe ten years down the line she'd be pontificating on top of waterfalls about mystic authority and the dangers of levitating rocks.

Yeah. Doubt it.

Awande kept those particular thoughts in check for now though. She might be opinionated. Might think Dartel was being a bit too serious. But she wasn't dumb enough to point out any of that. Not until after learning to punch through steel and leap over tall buildings in a single bound, at least.

"Control. Check." She tapped her temple. "So when do we start?"

 

[Ral]

Kai listened as Dartel spoke. Some of what he had to say was interesting to say the least. He wasn't sure if he completely agreed with what the Knight had to say, but then again, everyone was entitled to their own opinions on the Force and how it interacted with and influenced people. At the very least Kai would meditate and think upon what the Zabrak had said, surely there was some merit to what he said that Kai could apply in his own studies of the Force. Interestingly enough, Kai could feel something coming from Awande, but it passed soon enough so he ignored it as probably a mental quip. Nodding when Dartel finished Kai opened his mouth, but Awande managed to speak before him. The Pantoran's usual short, but surprisingly enthusiastic statement caused Kai to smirk a little.

Stealing a glance at Khelsea he nodded to his friend before turning back to the knight and nodding at him. "Every trial passed strengthens us and our character. I am ready to begin."

 

[Veloster Turbo]

As the Zabrak Knight spoke, Khelsea could hear the seriousness of his words. She listened as he addressed each and every one of his students individually, giving thought to each piece of advice he gave. He spoke in a philosophical way rather than a straightforward manner, which left much up to interpretation. Khelsea wasn't entirely sure she'd agree with everything that he said, but at the same time there was no way of knowing what exactly Dartel was thinking. As for the class requiring her absolute focus, Khelsea was already prepared to learn.

Khelsea wasn't sure what the glance from Kai was supposed to mean. Did he think she was going to walk out or something? She wasn't going to back out now. Having a variety of skills at her disposal when she was in a tight situation would be much more beneficial than not having the right response in future situations. Besides, she had already known the risks when she signed up for Dartel's class.

"I'm still interested despite the risks, and I'm eager to learn."

 

[Symbiot Spider]

He listened to the vague answers before looking over each in turn. With a slight sigh to himself he motioned for the students to follow him into the training room. With a wave of his hand the droids were up-righted once more and placed equally apart and in a single line, clearly meant to be stood in front of each student.

“When I give the command, the droids will activate. Your first task is to disable them using Force Push, or similar techniques only. They will be set to deactivate after three solid hits to crippling or lethal zones. This it a technique for sheer strength, but do not allow it to corrupt you.”

Dartel stepped behind the droids and looked once more to each of his padawans, wondering if his suspicions were correct or not. He took a cleansing breath while pouring forwards a little encouragement and warmth through the force for luck.

“They will not be set for lethal, but they will not be set for regular training standards either. Be ready for anything.

Authorize: Advanced, but non-lethal combat with a triple trigger; single targets that are standing in front of you.”

Immediately the droids kicked into action once their eyes ignited red. The one paired with Kai seemed to be the most aggressive of the three and striking out first; its body adopting a thuggishly basic stance before throwing a perfect jab-cross combination finished with a spinning roundhouse kick. Awande’s was next, lashing out in several sweeps before contorting its body into a handstand and performing an upside-down roundhouse. Finally, Khelsea’s seemed to feint a step backwards before spinning and striking out with the back of its fist and springing into a flawless jump kick.

Dartel looked on and attempted to search through the force to keep his focus on the students and any sign that one may need his help. He didn’t tell them that the droids were capable of injuring them. Droids were funny that way; non-lethal was still very dangerous to a droid like these ones. He was hoping the sudden realization of potential harm would snap the students into the class.

 

[Just Falcon]

The droid lunged. It ducked low and swept out with it's legs, aiming straight for Awande's kneecaps. She hopped back; it swung again. Her second dodge sent it's head to the side in a quizzical, confused little look. The droid cartwheeled back and landed on it's hands; legs spun and struck at her temples.

Awande faded back and grinned. No point in holding back on droids, after all.

She slunk out of the range and took the deepest breath possible at the moment. Admittedly, it wasn't much. Enough to touch the Force-y part of her brain and let the ensuing ripple spin out of her mind and into the real world, though. A concentrated cluster of kinetic energy shattered against the droids legs, sending one spinning off to the side and the other into the ground for support. She wasn't nearly strong enough to blast it off entirely, but at least it was out of commission for her match.

Those go down first. Number One on the 'crippling' zones, after all. As for lethal, well, without knowing where the droid's central processing core was located there wasn't much of a point in going for that.

But oh joy. It knew how to compensate. One leg down the droid reoriented; hands spinning down to became feet and it's sprained leg clicking into place as abnormally long, claw-tipped arms. The droid hopped forward on newfangled legs and swung, this time with the backhand of its still recovering former left foot. Not so out of commission, apparently. Awande ducked and tapped into the Force again, focusing her albeit limited power on where it's forearm met the elbow. There was a snap and a shower of sparks; the droid's forearm spun back on its joint and hung there, limp and useless. Take a minute or two for it to repair itself, at least. Awande focused all that was left of the Force within her and let it flow down her legs and past the soles of her feet. She leaped and spun mid-air; her drop-kick landed on the droid's chest and sent it flying back in an electric gurgle. The eyes went from red to dull, A-OK green. It's sprained limbs and twisted joints were already setting back in place with a profoundly unsettling, metal-on-metal grate that made Awande plug up her ears.

She pulled back her finger and ran it down her cheek. Blood pooled and dripped; droids always did have trouble with the whole grievous harm/lethality distinction, after all.

"Fun."

 

[Ral]

Following the Zabrak back to the training room, Kai looked at the training droids and wondered what the exercise would be faced with; what challenge they had to overcome to demonstrate the point Dartel was trying to get across to them. Kai guess that it would have to be something rather intense if they were to use something like Force Potency to its fullest. With this in mind, Kai mentally braced himself for what he could only guess was about to come. Listening to the knight explain that each of them would be facing a training droid. And while the droid wasn't set to lethal, Kai knew well enough there were plenty of debilitating conditions below dead that fell into that category; not exactly a comforting thought. With that, Dartel activated the droids, and Kai stepped away from his fellow Padawans not wanting to get to close to their droids or have his droid get to close to them on accident.

Almost immediately, Kai's droid attacked. It was aggressive, something that took the Padawan completely off guard. He hadn't expected his training droid to move in so quickly and attack. However, with Kai having training in hand-to-hand combat, Kai was able to read the droids attack. With the precision that only a droid could manage, it attempted to strike him with a typical boxing combo. These were avoided easily enough with the appropriate use of Force-enhanced reflexes. However, it was the roundhouse that almost caught him, almost. Watching the leg move towards him, Kai saw his opportunity as the kick left the droid completely open to his telekinetic strike. Gathering up energy into his hand, Kai released a blast of Force Power straight into the chest of the droid. It was rather doubtful the strike would actually cause any damage, but that's not what he intended; he just needed a little bit of space.

With the droid flying back a little, Kai reached out with his left hand and prevented the droid from falling to the ground. With a cool and collected demeanor, Kai caught the droid with his telekinesis before tossing it into the nearby wall. Hitting the wall, the metal droid bounced off with a clang before quickly clambering to its feet in the way a dancing droid could. In the back of his mind the Padawan knew that in order to truly learn the advantages of Force Potency, Kai would need to call on his full strength in the Force to do enough damage to the droid. Taking a half of a second to inhale as he reached out into the Force all around him, Kai drew up a powerful blast of energy and slammed it into the droid just as it began to charge him again. The wave of Force energy struck the droid dead-center throwing it back into the wall. No, you need more... Kai thought in the back of his mind. Knowing to beware of drawing to much lest he succumb to his own anger and frustration, or become too tired to continue, Kai trusted in his own ability in the Force.

With the droid nearly pinned against the wall, Kai reached deep into his connection and drew on nearly everything he could while still remaining as calm and cool as possible; not wanting to lose his collectedness. When he could feel the power flowing through him, Kai sent the blast of Force energy at the droid, but instead of a wave, he focused this into a compact ball of Force aimed directly at the center of the droid's chest. Immediately, the droid was slammed back into the wall, a dent forming in its armor where the blast had hit it. Good, now just do that twice more! Taking a deep breath, Kai could feel the affects already starting to wear on him, but he believed he could do it. Reaching deep into the Force again Kai sent a second blast into the exact same place causing the dent to form even deeper. But now, Kai was actually starting to feel exhausted, doubt entered his mind if he could do it again, but he shoved it to the side. Kai would not let doubt dictate what he could and couldn't do.

This reminded him of a time when he was running and he only had one more mile to go before he got home, he was tired from the distance, and his body ached from all the climbing he had done; he wanted nothing more than to stop and catch his breath because he felt like he couldn't push himself any farther. But, he had made up his mind to made it the whole way, and with that knowledge, Kai found that he could do it; each step brought him closer to his goal. Now was just like then. Though he was exhausted Kai knew he could do it if he only pushed himself with the ragged determination he always had. Taking a moment to breath Kai drew in with the Force while he inhaled and sent a powerful blast of energy out just as he exhaled. His timing was impeccable as the droid had managed to recover and was only a few meters away from him as it charged when his final blast of energy slammed into its chest sending it flying up into the air.

With that Kai fell to a knee and looked around to see how everyone else was doing.

 

[Veloster Turbo]

Khelsea's droid wasn't quite as aggressive as the other two droids - or so she thought. Before Khelsea was prepared, the droid struck out and spun into an aggressive kick. Only through her reflexes enhanced by the Force was the girl able to avoid taking a blow or two to her body. The training droid continued and attacked with a quick one-two jab, throwing quick punches that put her on retreat temporarily. She hoped backwards deftly, avoiding the continued barrage of punches. Khelsea momentarily managed to get into a position where she was about to focus on something other than avoiding being hit, and used the chance to send a violent Force push into the center of the droid where a human's vital organs would be located, and her attack sent it flying backwards. In the fashion of a nimble human, the droid performed a backflip and got back to its feet.

"That's one", Khelsea counted to herself. The droid certainly meant business, and it was surprising how aggressive it had come on her. It approached her again, and leapt forward. Just as Khelsea took off and Force jumped over the droid to land behind to strike a second blow, the droid stopped its attack and spun to face the girl before she had landed. It was all she could do to Force Push the droid's kick, and her defensive attack struck the droid in the torso. The result was the droid's kick didn't do a quarter as much damage as it would have, since Khelsea's push sent it sliding back a couple of inches. Instead on connecting solidly with the airborne girl, the droid's attack felt like nothing more than a shove. "That was close, I don't think I should try that again..." Khelsea's attempt at fooling the droid hadn't been successful.

Before she could react, the droid had begun its assault again. Another flurry of fists was followed by a combination of kicks and punches, and after a couple seconds Khelsea found her back to the wall. Barely dodging the droid's punch, Khelsea spun on her left leg and kicked up into the midsection of the droid. It's armor was solid, and her attack didn't do much other than push the droid back a few inches. Khelsea used Force Speed to attack with the same kicking motion again, and as she moved forward to perform a sweeping kick toward the droid's knee joint, the droid leaped over her in the same fashion she had done just moments ago. Reacting just as fast as the droid, Khelsea shoved the droid as hard as she could through the Force, slamming it head first into the wall. She used a Force imbued kick into the droid's torso, and just in case one of her attacks didn't count, she pummeled it's torso with a few kicks and used the Force to slam it into the ground for good measure. As the droid deactivated itself, Khelsea rubbed her stomach where the droid had hit her. It felt tender, and it was probably already bruising. Most of all, Khelsea was glad she didn't eat a heavy breakfast, or she would've thrown up.

 

[Symbiot Spider]

Dartel couldn’t help but smile as he watched the combat burst around him and the room. It was nice to see padawans training with intensity and focus. He watched as each slowly scored their first point, then the second and eventually their last. It was a slow pace to get the last one, but that was expected. With all the droids now collapsed in heaps in separate sections of the room and the students slowly making their way back to him, he began to clap.

“Very well done padawan, you should be pleased with your combat skills, they are paying off.”

He motioned to Khelsea as he noticed her hand idly rubbing her stomach.

“I hope that you learned to be a little more careful in your decisions. Just like in our Ataru class, the choices are important and yield obvious repercussions sometimes.

Droids, reset and recover.”

Before he was even finished addressing the droids, one was up and the other sparked slowly to signify the repairs taking place in the limb Awande snapped. It was an impressive strike, but knew that the droids would account for their techniques in the future.

“Alright, so without thinking about recovery, we will be going again. You need to practice in near exhaustion before this become reliable. We will also take off one hit so you will need to have more power behind your strikes as well.

Authorize: Shielding up one stage and yielding to a double trigger.”

He watched as the droids again struck out, switching opponents this time. Dartel knew that they would adopt their targets to whatever the weaknesses were. What he didn’t tell the students was that the droids were connected and evolving. They learned the techniques that were used against them and shared the information with their partners. Essentially, the students were fighting the same droid, but split into three shells. Knowing the weaknesses of the students now, the droids would switch targets in an attempt to make that obvious. Clearly striking for the weaknesses in form, or attacks; they would also be very defensive about the targeted sections struck before.

As the students and droids danced around the room again, Dartel poured forth some of his force presence to reassure his students against the difficult droids; it would only get harder after this after all.

“Think about your positioning. Use your surroundings. Anything you have learned in any other combat class will help you in this training, you simply need to allow yourself to sink into it and believe. Once you believe you can strike out with confidence. Trust in the force and in yourselves.”

 

[Ral]

Inhaling deeply Kai would exhale disappointingly when he learned they would not have any rest between exercises. The Padawan had already spent much of his energy and focus trying to defeat the droid the first time, but it seemed that there would be more to this part of the exercise. While the boy appreciated the knight's praise and listened to what he had to say about the next section of the training, Kai had to wonder what exactly was in store for them after this next section. Shaking his head he reminded himself to focus on the here and now. Inhaling again, Kai did his best to use the Force to sustain and rejuvenate him. The next part of the training would be difficult, no doubt the droids would adapt to their previous tactics meaning the Padawans would have to adapt and overcome themselves.

Taking his position a little ways away from Khelsea, Kai prepared himself. When the droids started, Kai was prepared. Looking around he noticed that there was a spot on his left he could use to lure the droid into. Rolling to his side, Kai hopped out of it and made a quick dash for the corner he intended to use. For this part he would hold off on using as much Force power as possible until he was ready to engage. The droid for its part wasted no time in pursuing him, although Kai could notice that this time the droid seemed to be faster on its feet. No doubt ready to dodge to the side and try and throw him off if he tried to use the Force. No, this time Kai would have to draw the droid in close before attacking it.

As the droid neared, Kai crouched low and prepared himself for his next move as he drew the Force into his legs. Jumping high over the droid Kai cleared its weapon's reach, landing on the opposite side, Kai attacked gathering the Force into his right hand as he digs deep into his connection and calls on the Force with his left. The result soon became evident as Kai pulled the droid into his Force-augmented punch striking the droid where a vertebrates spine would be denting the metal paneling. Pain shot through his hand for a split second before it subsided, even the Force couldn't diminish the sensation of smacking something hard with your fist. Without a moment's hesitation the droid swung around and clobbered Kai in the side of his right shoulder sending him tumbling to the floor. The Jedi managed to call on the Force to correct his roll, but that didn't change what had happened.

Popping up out of his roll, Kai did a pair of flips backwards to get some range on the droid. Glancing to the side he could see Khelsea fighting with her droid when he had an idea, inhaling deeply Kai sent a burst of telepathy to her. Just enough so that she would understand what he was trying to get her to do. Puffing out his cheeks Kai exhaled as he called on the Force once more. Even though the Padawan was drained of energy, he was tapping into the very connection of the Force with every living thing. He could feel its energy fill him up and surround him. Manipulating it with his hands he began to spin his arms in circles in front of him like he was stirring a large pot of soup. What happened next was the droid became tangled in a twirling vortex of Force power. The idea here was to trap the droid in something it could dodge at the last second. Once the droid's metal feet were lifted a foot or two off the floor, Kai looked to Khelsea and tossed his droid into hers.

 

[Veloster Turbo]

Khelsea stopped rubbing her stomach as Dartel adressed her. Dartel was right, and she needed to be mroe careful. Especially since they wouldn't have recovery time and Dartel was going to work them into exhaustion.

The droid started it's attack, and even though it was faster than last time Khelsea was able to keep up. Dodging one way and feigning another to draw out an extra attack, Khelsea managed to get within striking range and even as the droid struck towards where she was, Khelsea had already dropped into lower position, using her hands to propel her body upwards and kicking out to strike the droid in the groin area. She connected, and unlike human males which would have been bent over in pain, the droid immediately went on the offensive again.

This time the droid had learned, and had chained its attack so ducking wouldn't help. Instead, Khelsea used the Force to flip through the air out of the droid's reach, and pushed hard with the Force to shove the droid away before she landed. She spun into a spinning kick, which the droid anticipated and blocked with its own leg. However, Khelsea used her momentum and yanked the droid's leg with her hand, causing it to fall over.

As the fight continued, the droid got 'smarter' and slowly figured out Khelsea's moves. Just as she narrowly avoided two punches and a knee, Kai talked to her telepathically. Khelsea began adjusting her position so the droid circle around and be near Kai's droid, and as Kai tossed his droid Khelsea shoved the droid she was fighting with as hard she could. The two droids collided in midair with a loud crash.

 

[Just Falcon]

It didn't take long for Awande to realize the droids were smarter this go-around. Hive-mind, maybe, or at least some sort of networked connection. Probably not protocol or astromech smart, but they had at least hobbled past those dumb vacuum-bots who repeatedly slam into walls.

Awande leapt back as her opponent doubled up its assault; balancing on one arm and lashing out with its three other appendages. Hard to tell which were legs and which were arms anymore. This thing changed it up with every other step. It was even catching on to her feints. Instead of dumbly attempting to block a blow that wasnt coming, the droid just stood still. Mocking her. It popped Awande in the nose with a quick rabbit punch afterwards, adding injury to the insult.

Several of the more fun Huttese curse words ran through Awande's head as she pinched her nose and blew. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Khelsea and Kai having similar difficulties, although they seemed to be getting around it with teamwork. Not really Awande's style. The way Kai was maneuvering around and trying to purposefully position the droid though, that gave her an idea. There had to be something in this dumb room that could help her, after all. And Dartel did say use your surroundings . . .

Dancing out of her increasingly frustrated opponent's reach, she took a quick peek around the room and earned a smack to the foot in response. She hopped onto the other leg; barely managing to corkscrew out of the droids grasping hand. Found what she was looking for, though. Well. Maybe. There was a toolbox against the far wall, filled with the usual sorts of things you'd need to maintain a droid. Tools themselves, some spare wiring, a part or two here and there, and if she was really, really lucky . . .

The commotion of to the side when Kai and Khelsea pulled off their attack was all Awande needed. In the space between seconds, when her opponent's focus slid off to its brothers, Awande made her move. She reached inward, gathering up enough strength to yank the toolbox through the air and into her grasp. She envisioned a graceful, silent flight; the toolbox sliding on invisible rails into her outstretched palm.

That . . . wasn't what happened. The toolbox flew towards her, sure, but it was more of a stuttering dead-bird jerk than any sort of graceful voyage. It flipped upside down almost immediately; the top spilling open and dumping it's contents onto the floor before it could even reach her grasp. The droid's attention zeroed in entirely on Awande, forgetting its brothers, and she barely had time to bring up the empty box before it's fist came crashing down on her. Metal boomed on metal and Awande dropped her ersatz shield, rolling out of the way towards the long line of tools and wire and junk littering the ground.

Her eye caught what it needed, though. A small, circular device, no wider than her palm, that anyone with a brain could tell was a restraining bolt. She grabbed it right as her opponent bore down on her once more. It wouldn't be enough to shut the thing down, of course. Especially without the Caller or with it being networked into the other droids. But it would definitely piss the thing off.

Awande readied another dropkick; none too surprised when her opponent easily faded off to the right. She'd been expecting that. With Force-bolstered reflexes she swung with it, weaving between one arm, taking the brunt of another punch, and finally connecting with the things chest. She slapped the restraining bolt onto its torso, and a reassuring cackle of sparks was followed up by a magnetic click.

By the time she got to her feet, it was already fighting through the restraints. Awande took a deep breath, ignoring the deadline and the fist slowly inching towards her throat. She pictured sheaths of invisible energy wrapped around her fist; sinking through skin, past muscle, and into bone itself. A funny little tingle seeped up her arm, as if the blood in her hand was starting to bubble and simmer. That seemed as good a cue as any.

The droid's emancipation from its bonds coincided with her punch. One blow, wrapped up in all the strength she could spare. It connected with a crack like thunder; the vibrations shooting up her forearm and nearly tearing it back and out of its socket. Worth it, though. The droid flew back a good half dozen feet, landing in a heap alongside the brothers Kai and Awande had already taken care of.

Awande felt just as worn out as the droids, though. She sunk to her knees, breath coming in ragged little jerks. The bruises where she'd been hit throbbed and she tried to ignore them, focusing instead on blinking the spots from her eyes.

Really looking forward to a nap, after all this was over.

 

[Symbiot Spider]

“Great job, you padawans are sharper than you think. Using teamwork and surroundings like that is a part of combat and a useful tool for lessening the burden on yourselves when utilizing Force Potency, but now it is time for your test.”

Dartel spoke in a very calm if not happy voice. He clapped a little before crossing his arms and announcing the test, a devilish smirk passing his lips. He could see the exhaustion in his students and knew that this would be the best time to push them into more drills, but they had earned a break. The problem with giving them a resting period would mean that they would erase some of the exhaustion that would help them learn to fully tap into this force form, so to compensate, Dartel knew it was time for class test.

“This is not a serious test, but a dangerous one. If you haven’t figured it out yet or not, these droids are linked together and have been studying your techniques and sharing them with each other. You have done a great deal to improve your awareness and not be taken in by them knowing your moves, but that will change now. You will be attacked by two droids with a single trigger each and no friends to help or objects to manipulate. Just you, the droids and the force.”

He stood in front of his students and allowed the entire weight of the situation dawn on them. He stood with his arms crossed and gave them some time to think about either what this meant for them or their strategy for the test. It changed the dynamics that they have learned, but it was still similar to what they had been doing, just with one more droid.

“I will allow you to meditate and recover as much as you need before taking this test, but if you wait too long, you have two hours for all three of you to take the test, you will all fail. We learn together, we pass together, we fail together.”

He stood unmoving, but watched for their reactions, it would tell him where they stood in terms of recovery times and their confidence in their abilities. It was important that they pushed their bodies, but now they pushed their personalities. Would they be able to do it? Would one of them rush their recovery because of their fear and be unable to deactivate the droids? Dartel knew what he was doing and how to push them to get certain responses, but he still wasn’t totally sure about these padawans.

“Your two hours begins now.

Droid Three: Deactivate.”

The droid that Awande had slammed a restraining bolt into walked over to the wall and shut itself off, the head dropping and eyes flickering off. The other two droids regained their footing and stood in the center of the room, fine aside from some slight denting.

“Meditate on everything you have learned here today. Commit the feelings to muscle memory and focus on recovering your strength. You will need it.”

 

[Ral]

Dangerous, but not serious... an odd combination. Kai thought to himself as the knight continued to speak and inform them of what the next stage of the training would be. Apparently, they would be facing a bit of a test against two droids each, and they would have two full hours to finish this test and pass. Kai was borderline exhausted, his Force reserves felt rather depleted, but he knew that was the point of these exercises. So, Kai took a deep breath, sucking in the cool air of the Outpost and preparing himself for the test. It took him a few minutes to gather himself up again and catch his breath. Turning to his fellow Padawans Kai smiled, "Looks like I'll go first and just get it over with if you two don't mind."

Stepping forward into the "ring" as Kai would call it, the young Jedi prepared himself for the coming fight; one that he was sure would be more than difficult and strenuous. Inhaling, the Padawan began to gather the Force up around him, digging in deep despite his already wearied and exhausted state. The two droids immediately snapped to and began circling him, one on each side so after a few seconds of movement the dark-haired Jedi would be flanked on either side by these practice droids. Clever... splitting up to try and prevent me from getting them both with one burst... He thought to himself as he watched the droid's cautious and calculated movements.

Then the droids stepped in and attacked him. Their movements were timed perfectly as they both moved in complete unison. They were close enough that even if he managed to throw one of them back with a powerful telekinetic burst the other would be on top of him punishing him. With that in mind, Kai dashed forward into a roll. His shoulder hit the hard floor as he spun end over end coming up in a low crouch, the power of the Force seething around him. Tapping into that energy field that connected everything to everyone, Kai pulled on as much as he could hold on to. Once it was built up Kai threw his hands up into the air and expelled the Force energy in a broad arc towards the two attacking droids. They both saw the attack coming and leaped over Kai's attack coming down towards him. Swearing to himself, Kai did his best to avoid the combinations of kicks and punches the droids attempted to throw at him. The Jedi was able to block a few strikes using the enhances speed and strength that the Force provided him and avoid the rest with a series of well-timed feints and dodges. Sensing the wall only a few meters behind him, Kai gathered up the Force and propelled himself backwards into the air so that he would land with his feet on the wall. Just as he did so he pushed off again, hoping to avoid the attacking droids all together.

Landing on the other side of the droids Kai was surprised to see that they were almost on top of him. The training droids were tenacious, he'd give them that much. With them being so aggressive he'd only have a few moments to gather up the Force before they would be once again on top of him. Throwing himself backwards into a roll, Kai came out of it backpedaling away from the droids. Reaching out through the Force Kai had a two part plan that would hopefully shut the droids down for good.

Tapping once again into his connection with the Force to manipulate the air currents around both droids the Padawan fought off exhaustion as he tried to swirl the air up and catch them, but they reacted by activating the magnetic clamps on their feet. Damn, that will make throwing them a little harder. He thought until he realized it would also slow them down as the magnetized feet would stick to the floor and delay the droids' reaction as the processors would have to now deactivate the magsoles before trying to dodge. Dropping his arms Kai focused his Force energy from a swirling vortex to a massive push from either side directed at a point in between the two droids. To so this Kai had to gather up and expend almost all of the Force reserve he had left. His mind and body was becoming so exhausted from drawing up so much power it made hard to focus and correctly apply the Force. But with a grimace and a set jaw, Kai threw the Force into the two droids causing them to careen together, slamming in a loud crash of clashing and twisting metal. With a scowl on his face Kai expended the last little bit of his remaining energy to send the droids into the far wall. They impacted it with an unpleasant thud and if their lights weren't changed before they were now. Now that his test was complete, Kai collapsed to a knee as he tried to meditate not pass out.

 

[Just Falcon]

When Dartel asked for volunteers, Awande held back. Not so much for the meditations, she still wasn't too good at that. Food, that's what she needed now. 'Course there was none around, so Awande settled for watching the first match and catching, hopefully, half her breath. Maybe she could've pick up a thing or two watching them, but that didn't happen. Total exhaustion, the sort that follows a four hundred klick run? That's what Awande had to deal with now. Pinching her forearm every other minute was all she could do keep her eyelids from drooping. The clangs and bangs from Kai's bout in the ring actually helped a lot. Adrenaline crept in as he closed up his trial, and by the time Awande took his place she was as wake and ready as she could ever be. The droids settled back in place, reorienting and stretching in perfect unison. Awande started her breathing exercises. Four seven eight, four seven eight . . . she counted down, again and again. This whole mind clearing thing had never really been her strong suit, all honesty. She needed action, movement, a distraction, something to tear her mind out of its worries and into the Force. Droids were probably willing to help her out with that, their perfect reorientation hadn't been a joke. Awande could tell that from the first blow; a perfectly timed double lash at her face and legs. The niggle of the Force made her jump to the left just in time; borrowing one of the droid's earlier moves and landing on one hand. She pushed a surge of power through her forearm and into the floor, springing up and over one droid and into another. Again, the Force pushed her where she needed to be, redirecting the blow from her chin down to her shoulder. The pain felt numb and far away.

A minute into her dodge-fueled dance, Awande could tell these droids had a much different playbook than before. They weren't a team coordinating between themselves, these were two sides of the same coin. And that coin was really insistent on beating the crap out of Awande. Her first thought was to hit them both at the same time, one simultaneous surge of the Force directed at the sensors underneath their trigger lights. It failed almost immediately. Maybe the droids had learned, or maybe whoever programmed them saw that move coming a mile away. Awande's clumsy execution probably didn't help much, either. Her telekinetic projectile dimmed more and more as it shot away. The droids lowered their shoulders and powered on, and some part of Awande's brain recognized that as her move from earlier. Stupid things. Couldn't even make their own techniques.

Awande switched to needling blows and quick strikes; wrapping her limbs in the Force and trying to slip past the droids defenses. If she were only against one, it probably would've worked. But two of them, moving in unison? Not a chance. By the time she got an inch from the glowing trigger light on one, its partner would be at her back, prepared to strike her neck. Every attempt drained her more and more, a problem the droids didn't share. Failure was the only option if she kept at this.

Her vague recollections of Kai's total exhaustion had been in her head from the start. Exhausted, fading, and about to give, Awande resigned herself to the same tactics. She hopped as far away from the droids as she could and called up her breathing exercises from before. Four seven eight, four seven eight . . . Awande slipped into the Force, and waves of reassurance drained the exhaustion from her muscles. Reserves of strength came up in their wake, a bit like ten billion cups of caf. Probably not much, in the grand scheme of things, but it was more than enough for now. Exhaustion hung at the edge and her time was just about up, but Awande knew she could get the job done.

Grim determination brought on the calm, and Awande planted her feet lightly on the ground. Never been good at the TK, so she wasn't about to copy Kai. Instead, she let the Force flow into her arms and legs. Much more than before, as much as she could handle. The droids charged as one; the first flanking and the second distracting. She might have dodged earlier and wasted her energy, but the Force was here now. These were feints. Ignore them. She kept her mind on her fists, right until the droid at her back made its move. Awande knew where it came without looking and moved on instinct lashing back with her elbow. Bolstered by the Force she struck like a searing knife, delivering a massive blow to the sensors. Before it's light could fade she was on its partner, blasting every bit of power she had left down and through her fist. The blow hung in the air for a moment before exploding out with concussive force, throwing the droid across the room. Its sensor went out before it could even hit the wall, and Awande had just enough strength left to walk over and collapse on a crate outside the ring.