Parts Requisition

[Cassanova]

Juno seemed a little shocked at the question - she had a very well formed opinion on the matter, "Nothing you can learn is pointless."

She stood up, and stretched a little, "If it is pointless to learn something, then it has no purpose. If i were to tell you that the gravitational pull on a certain world was two point six three times higher than it is on Tython, is that pointless? Even if the world has a toxic atmosphere and doesn't support life? Doesn't hold any mineral value on its surface?"

A pointed finger at Chervil made it clear, "Or does it tell you that it is highly dense, which suggests a system of high gravitational pull, implying that the entire solar system is too close to a large sun to have any life on it's planets or moons? Does knowing that piece of information make it pointless? Or does it save you six months of searching the system for signs of life?"

"No piece of information is ever pointless. It may be solely recreational. Even if you learn that you have no particular interest in that topic, you learned something," she pointed out towards the waterfall. "That waterfall pushes over eight hundred gallons of water per second. Pointless? While we are in here watching it, it may not prove useful, but if we were on the river, it'd be nice to know at what rate it moves."

Juno sighed, she knew she was rambling - but if there was ever going to be a point to drive home it was this one. Nothing is pointless. Every experience you have, every fact you know, every single action you've taken has a purpose. Juno accepted this truth, and knew it in all its meanings. This is why she was capable of combining so many things to create her form of combat. To not understand that this truth at least existed, was to ignore the fabric of understanding and experience. Applying the knowledge or not, was the true test of pointlessness or not.

 

[Le Seigneur d'Avocats]

Chervil stared at the accusatory finger that was pointed in his direction with disinterest before waving it away with his hand as though it were a fly buzzing around his face.

"That's just semantics. If you want to say that my 'pointless things' are just things that aren't useful, then fine, but you still haven't answered the question. If you hold that all information is useful, then how do you decide which information to pursue? There must be a ranking that you have on how valuable information is, and so all the stuff at the bottom of the list, where in almost all possible situations, the information just isn't any use, and even if it is, the difference it makes pretty much doesn't exist; that's what I'm talking about. Even if you think that's still worth knowing, surely you'd concede that you can't know everything. We aren't equipped to think about so many things that have virtually no impact on anything. It gets in the way of the things that matter."

Chervil sighed.

"Way to take a simple question and make it complicated. Back to the point, you're telling me you never learned something that had no impact on anything whatsoever and you really wished you spent your time doing something more exciting- or in your case, learning more minutiae?"

 

[Cassanova]

Juno frowned. While Chervil had a point, he completely missed hers. "The mating habits of the silver scaled spinefish. An aquatic reptile native to a moon in the Yavin system."

Chuckling, she waved her hand, wafting the argument away, "I'm sorry, Chervil. Information is the basis for which all action can be drawn. Whether an abundance or a lack of - the information you've got decides how you handle things."

"Come. Let's see what skill you have with that saber," Juno motioned for Chevil to follow her. Graceful and silent steps had her at the door before Chervil would have even noticed her moving. Once he got up, Juno would lead him to one of the training rooms that was generally featureless - a large, high roofed room devoid of any furniture or artwork.

 

[Le Seigneur d'Avocats]

"But wait! They may go extinct and you may be called upon to prevent such a tragedy from befalling the galaxy!" Chervil sniggered as he followed her out of the room. As they ascended to the training room Chervil continued, speaking in a weary voice, "but yeah, I understand that knowledge is perhaps the most important thing to have in a tricky situation and the only way to get at it is to learn at every opportunity you can..."

His thoughts on the 'argument' passed rather quickly into oblivion, however, as their steps echoed in the empty, immense, training room; such was Chervil's excitement at taking the first steps down the road of mastering his use of a lightsaber. He knew not what drove him to covet such an ability. Perhaps it was the thought, insidiously snaking through the back of his head, that he was weak and insufficient, and that this was the most straightforward way of remedying that. Perhaps it was the thought, that despite what his intentions may be, he would never have the chance to follow through on him if he lacked the ability to do so. Perhaps it was the thought that brightly flashing beams of plasma, wielded like swords, were just plain awesome. Though in the end, it probably didn't matter.

As Juno stood opposite him, several feet away, and Chervil lifted his newly-acquired saber hilt, he willed his hand to stop its lustful trembling. He noticed he had silenced the sound of his breathing, for whatever reason, as his thumb approached the ignition switch, and so sighed, expelling all the pent up anticipation and air, before turning it on. If there had been any doubt remaining in his mind as to whether or not his decision to leave his life behind and follow the path of Jedi, where ever it may take him, was the correct one, it was instantly obliterated as the slender beam of green luminosity extended from his palms, softly humming, completely in tune with the chorus of self-actualization that Chervil's very being was singing.

"Uhh... now what?"

 

[Cassanova]

"Two things, Chervil. One. Tap the back of your hand with the saber. I want you to understand and hold a healthy respect of the power that even a training saber can hold. Once you've done that, I want you to attempt to strike me however you feel necessary - the details will come with your training," she nodded, pulling her own saber from her belt.

Juno, who had ignited her saber on dozens of occasions barely paused to thumb over the switch. Each time she did, however, Juno understood that she was using a last resort - in a battle situation anyway. In training, Juno took comfort knowing that this was helping others to protect themselves and others. Each time Juno ignited her saber, she reminded herself why she was a Jedi Guardian, and why she trained so hard.

Her thumb gently pressed on the small brushed steel button, emitting a gentle Beep before the much louder snap-hiss erupted in a stream of blue light. Juno brought the saber to both her hands, holding it parallel with her body, and perpendicular to the floor, "When you are ready, Jedi Lyelle..."

 

[Le Seigneur d'Avocats]

Chervil did as Juno instructed, slowly tilting the blade of the saber towards his left hand. It connected, and Chervil took a sharp intake of breath at the pain. He blew at the reddish-welt, and shook it around, as if it would somehow remove the pain that lingered, like drops of water after washing one's hands.

He then held the blade up with both hands, simultaneously attempting to forger the pain and trying to remember the basics of the form he would supposedly be learning, Shii-Cho. He positioned his right foot backwards, but kept it springy and ready to move forward, and moved the lightsaber down to the side of the his waist, the blade pointing upward just above Juno's head. What he was doing felt wrong and he immediately re-positioned himself, stepping forward with his right foot and moving his blade forward and downward.

He looked up at Juno and frowned. This felt strange still. But this was not a time for those feelings, or really any feelings at all.

Without a word he took a measured quick step forward, moving the blade up behind his head and then bringing it crashing down at Juno's center. His thinking was such that, though she may possess all the technique in the academy, sometimes you can have trouble dealing with such a large amount of strength.

 

[Cassanova]

It was true, Chervil did have the frame and the power that Juno simply could not match. This, however, was a problem that she had faced all her life as a keen student of combat. So when Chervil's green blade came down upon Juno, she simply twisted her body, careful to keep her lightsaber between her body and Chervil's blade. Juno dismissively pushed outwards, glancing Chervil's saber away. As this was his first time sparring, Juno saw fit to call out what he should do as she manoeuvred.

Juno lined up for an attack that wouldn't carry the strength that Chervil's did, it would carry momentum, as Juno had to transfer her weight forwards to properly deliver the attack. She brought her saber down in the same manoeuvre that Chervil had attacked her with, "Parry left then counter!"

 

[Le Seigneur d'Avocats]

Evasion, an effective, if predictable, solution to Juno's problem. As she sidestepped, she continued moving, arcing her blade up behind her as Chervil had just done previously. He immediately moved the handle up towards his head, propelled both by instinct and advice, taking a step backwards as he did so. As her blade glanced off his, he released his one hand from the handle swung it above his head, moving to diagonally to swipe at her midsection. He assumed a basic horizontal parry and anticipated moving his saber up diagonally to quickly block either the horizontal or vertical counter she could launch back in his direction.

 

[Cassanova]

Juno went with the attack, her parry swinging herself on her toes all the way around. Even as she did, she lowered herself down and extended her left foot out behind her, sliding it backwards on the semi-smooth flooring. Her speed through the turn was blistering, her control unwavering, and her balance; perfect.

It wouldn't have been until one of the last moments that Chervil would have even noticed Juno's lightsaber following her low, fast flourish. Juno had used her movement to flair out her robe in the hopes of distracting Chervil from the saber that was coming around. By the time the manoeuvre was completed, Juno's saber was bearing down upon the younger Jedi's left knee.

 

[Le Seigneur d'Avocats]

The angle with which Juno pressed her attack was indeed unexpected, but luckily Chervil needed only to pivot the handle of his blade downward to intercept her own. Strangely, this meant that Chervil had now assumed something that resembled a one-handed reversed grip, except his hand was flipped right-side up. How he ended up with such a strange handle on his blade, he did not know. Faulty handling, most likely. It immediately felt wrong, so instead of pressing his attack, he leapt backwards, swinging an awkward arc above his head to re-position his blade so that it was perpendicular to his right flank as opposed to his left one. Upon immediately landing, however, Chervil took a slight step forward and lunged towards his opponent from a distance, attempting to use his superior height and reach.

 

[Cassanova]

Chervil lunged forward, Juno however did not move. The saber collided with her armour in a dull display of sparks. Smiling, Juno merely disengaged her lightsaber, clipping it to her belt. Taking a few steps away, she motioned for Chervil to do the same.

"You did very well, Chervil. Especially recovering from that awkward handhold," her voice was nothing but sincere. Truth was instinctively getting out of an awkward handhold is more impressive than not getting into it in the first place. "What're your thoughts?"

 

[Le Seigneur d'Avocats]

"Augh!" Chervil shouted, jumping away from the sparks, obviously not expecting his attack to connect. He quickly remembered that the sabers were in training mode, however, and turned off his saber and returned it to his side.

"That was, interesting. I definitely want to avoid that happening again. If you had put more force behind your last attack, I might not have been able to keep control and you might have pushed my own blade into me. I guess that's what I get for bypassing Form I entirely and trying to use some sorry excuse for Makashi, though, isn't it? All the same, the weightlessness of this thing will take some getting used to. I also see what everyone's talking about keeping your connection to the force up... I mean, I don't think I'd have been able to properly execute a force technique back there if I'd had needed to."

He wondered to exactly what extent Juno had been using her abilities.

 

[Cassanova]

Juno looked to him, "With time, using your saber will become not only instinctual, but natural."

Waiting a moment, contemplating a great number of things in her mind Juno continued, "It is also to remember that there are things in this galaxy which prevent the use of the force. In time, you will learn to rely on nothing but yourself, and use the Force to compliment your skills, rather than define them."

Moving towards the exit of the room, she looked to Chervil, "Lets go for a walk to the Archives. What do you say?"

 

[Le Seigneur d'Avocats]

It made sense that one day, Chervil would be familiar with his lightsaber as he was with breathing. He ardently wished for that day to approach sooner than later, and would really and rather have gone through another spar, except this time he would actually focus less on trying to impress Juno and more on practicing his form. But apparently she wanted to go to the archives. It was a rather abrupt change of pace, but then a Jedi's life was supposed to be filled with 'balance' and all that nonsense.

He did not quite understand her comments on making the Force merely a complement to his life, as per his previous instruction, his life was nothing more than Force. He was troubled by this difference of viewpoint, but any such feelings were vastly overshadowed by the residual feelings of exhilaration and slight pride from the previous bout.

"Fine with me," he shrugged. "You actually got something you want to research, or is this just another test of some sort?"

 

[Cassanova]

Juno's response was mostly non-verbal as a cheeky smile spread across her face. She turned her head to Chervil. "Something to do, I suppose."

"Unless of course, you'd like round two?" she asked, as she pulled her robe back to reveal the gleaming chrome of her lightsaber. "At the end of the day, until I am assigned to another mission, or request one, my purpose is to benefit the Order and its members. If this means educating you on such matters, I have no qualms with it."

Juno's hand loitered elegantly upon her belt, barely a hair's breadth from her saber - forever close, but infinitely distant. If Chervil wanted to have another crack at Juno, she was in no position to deny him the attempt. "When you're ready, Mister Lyelle."

 

[Le Seigneur d'Avocats]

Chervil frowned. He wondered momentarily if she had read his mind somehow, and blushed slightly for what else she might have uncovered in the past. After all, he reminded himself, he knew only of her prowess with a saber, and very little of her abilities of the force. He turned his body to face her new position, now somewhat farther away than their initial duel, and ignited his saber wordlessly. He paused a moment before proceeding forward.

"I don't have to singe my hand each time, do I?"

 

[Cassanova]

Juno laughed as she disconnected her lightsaber from her belt, pausing to answer his question, "Not unless you want to, Chervil. But just remember the sensation you experience whenever you reach for it, knowing that the same harm will befall anyone who is at the blade's end of your lightsaber."

Her right hand hung, loosely gripping the chrome lightsaber as Juno turned to put her left shoulder facing Chervil. She would wait for his attack again this time, except she had planned to use an entirely different fighting style. In fact, no style at all. Her own, unique blend of techniques, manoeuvres, sequences, and creativity. He would now see why Juno had achieved all she had.

 

[Le Seigneur d'Avocats]

Chervil looked at the lightsaber for a short while, before slowly moving it once again to the top of his hand. Prepared for it this time, he merely winced at the pain. He nodded at Juno and prepared to once again cross blades, swinging it around a few times in the air to get a feel for it, before assuming the proper shii-cho stance, his right foot back and both hands with a firm grip on the blade.

He paused a moment, wondering how best to engage her. She was still some ways away, so he couldn't merely move up and strike her, as before. He calmed his breathing and attempted to focus, wondering if he was able to actually accomplish the feat he was about to attempt. Still, better to practice it now, in a training environment, than in the field. Regardless of the specifics, it wouldn't do to hesitate either way. And so, for a few brief moments, he was flying through the air with the aid of the force, quickly closing the distance between them. As he somersaulted once, he positioned his blade down in the direction of the Jedi Knight that was, for the time being, his adversary. She would doubtless block the acrobatic strike however, and so he readied for a quick horizontal strike at either zone 5 or 6 before she could counter.

 

[Cassanova]

Juno's saber was held at a slightly offset angle to Chervil's blade. Hardly a block, and barely a parry, but it would re-direct Chervil's blade away by the smallest margin, allowing him to land his strike dangerously close to her. Juno kicked her leg out spinning it from her front to her back in a wide arc attempting to sweep Chervil off his feet, and at the same time slammed her arm forward, hoping to knock him down.

Once he was dispatched, Juno raised her saber and drew it through a sharp arc, dragging it along the floor towards Chervil's neck.

 

[Le Seigneur d'Avocats]

Chervil thought for a fleeting moment that his blade had indeed connected, but this was not the case. Juno managed to sweep her feet across the floor, knocking Chervil to his feet, but interestingly, she also flailed about with her free arm. An arm that Chervil eagerly yanked tightly as he felt himself falling to the floor, pulling her along with him to collapse upon the ground in a heap. His own saber dropped and discarded, Chervil's reaction was to firmly grasp her hand with the saber that she had been, for whatever reason, dragging against the ground in a collection of sparks before falling to the ground upon him.