Chapter 1: Martial Training

Samal Dicar stood in the Naboo Echani Academy. The planet he'd been raised on was a peaceful one, but even peaceful folk had to defend themselves when the time came. With war brewing in the galaxy, the Sith could very well turn their attention here. The room he was in now was the shooting range. Even though Echani preferred martial arts and up close fighting as it demonstrated the purest form of expression of who had the superior skill they knew it was foolish to not be prepared to deal with ranged weaponry. As such they included blasters in their training routines. Echani were a combat oriented people, viewing it as the highest form of expression. To them battle was an art. Samal had even heard that even their poetry revolved around battle gear. There had been some debate to allow a somewhat warlike culture to establish an operation on Naboo or so Samal had heard, still the Naboo weren't afraid to fight in order to defend themselves when needed.

Samal lifted his weapon, the training blaster pistol kept at the Academy. It wasn't his own, merely the one he would use whenever he was at the Academy practicing. He had his own blaster at home along with a collection of other weapons, many of which he'd brought from the arms store here in the Academy and trained with. He aimed, focusing with all his might, then shot. Bolts of energy shot at the wide holographic targets that resembled Sith troopers in bright silver armor. Samal's blast hit the target's chest and went through it, causing it to vanish with a hum. The bolts continued on for only a few more feet before hitting the energy shield covering the end of the room and preventing the wall from getting scorched.

Samal shot at the other three targets in the shooting room, firing at the thinner ones as well as the big ones. The smaller ones were only the size of a person's head, but Samal hit all of them with quick shots that had been honed for the last five years since he'd turned twelve and begun training as a cadet in the Naboo Army. He'd trained in blasters, unarmed combat, and even the use of blades which were his personal favorite, he agreed with the Echani that physical combat was a true show of expression, it demonstrated who had superior skill, strength or speed. Use of a blaster felt somewhat cowardly, and signaled that you didn't have the courage to face someone up close. He was one of the tallest of the recruits here, only rivaled by Yusano, an Echani male who was also his best friend, as well as the son of the instructor at the academy, Battlemaster Brano. Both of them stood behind him as he took his shots. Yusano was a muscular and tall young man of nineteen, only a little over a year older than Samal himself. He'd been named after Yusanis, a legendary Echani warrior who had lived two thousand years ago. Yusanis had fought in the Mandalorian Wars, and the Jedi Civil War, in which he had been slain by his former comrade, the Jedi turned Sith Lord turned Jedi again Revan. Brano had been given a name resembling Yusanis's last daughter Brianna, who had become a Jedi herself under the tutelage of the Jedi Exile, another legendary hero who had . The father and instructor of the Echani Academy was a large mountain of a man that weighed nearly two hundred and fifty pounds, most of which was raw muscle. His white Echani hair was long and a mustache covered his face.

"Nice shots Samal!" Yusano said.

"Very good," said Brano he watched their progress. "You are very gifted in in the use of ranged weapons. But don't forget, true skill is always shown up close in melee combat, not from afar when it depends on how many bolts you shoot."

The other students took their shots, most of which weren't quite as accurate as Samal, glancing off the side of the hologram at times. But they would hopefully be capable of defending themselves if that time came. According to reports, the Sith had recently conquered Bothawui, which wasn't far from Naboo. Very soon they could very well have to fight for their planet. The republic had sent a fleet to defend them, though Samal wasn't sure how effective it would be.

They moved out of the blasting room and into the training room where they would face each other in physical combat sparring sessions. Samal, Yusano and the other five students all lined up on the training ring which had cushioned flooring. They all began by performing a warm up. Sixty push ups, Seventy Jumping Jacks, and Mountain Climbers, as well as stretching, and finishing with running laps around the room. That process took close to fifteen minutes, they then got into the sparring matches which Samal always looked forward too. He enjoyed the thrill of battle and testing his skills against his fellow trainees.

The first sparring matches would consist of hand to hand. A traditional practice among Echani would have both combatants wearing only their undergarments, as the Echani felt modesty had no place in combat. But they did not force their ways on other beings and left this old tradition option. The uniforms that were worn by the students of the Echani Academy weighed nothing so as to not hinder movement. They were pure white in coloration, no pockets either as carrying items would be a hindrance.

"Partner up!" Brano ordered.

"Yes sir!" the students said respectively.

Samal took a space on the mat and soon found himself face to face with his younger sister Elana. Nearly five years younger at thirteen, she looked absolutely nothing like him, as both of them had been adopted by Don and Lisa Dicar. She had slightly darker skin, brown eyes, long shoulder length hair. She had a lean quick looking build compared to her brothers naturally strong one. Samal didn't work out too often outside training, but he'd been gifted with a strong and tall body for much of his life.

"Bow!" Brano continued.

Samal and Elana bowed to each other.

"Sparring shields on!"

All the trainees touched the button of a band on their wrist, which surrounded their bodies with a purple shield that would soften the blows of melee attacks.

"Guards up! Go!"

Samal put his fists up and a second later his sister came in with a flurry of punches. Elana wasn't as strong as her brother, but she could be quicker. Samal played on the defensive, blocking his sister's punches before stepping back and delivering a kick with his longer legs. His thighs were highly developed from years of riding Kinetic Speeder Bikes that moved on pedals similar to the ancient bicycles. As such, kicks were his most powerful attacks unarmed. Elana guarded against him then continued her assault. Samal blocked many of them, focusing on defense, he had some speed as well but his sister was stronger in that regard. After blocking her flurry he struck with another kick. Occasionally he would throw a punch or two in as well.

Samal threw a front kick out low, Elana brought her guard down to block it, but her brother's foot stopped short. It was a feint. Samal struck her forehead with a palm strike. He didn't strike hard enough to hurt his sister thanks to her sparring shield. Still, Elana was staggered back a couple steps by the force of her brothers blow.

"Stop! Switch partners!"

Samal sparred with almost all the other students in the training room. Most of them were not his equal, as they had started later than him. He'd been doing this for eight years now since the age of ten. This part of the martial arts training was by far his favorite. His last opponent was Yusano. The two of them traded strong blows,

When hand to hand sparring was done, they moved onto practicing their own melee weapons. Samal chose the two swords that he'd started practicing since he'd turned eighteen nearly a year ago. The Echani foil and the traditional vibrosword. The foil was one handed and made to resemble the ancient art of fencing, while the vibrosword was heavier and normally required two hands to wield, though Samal was just strong enough to use it one handed if so he wished. He used them separately for the most part, practicing the strikes with each one. Nearby, his sister and Yusano both practiced with their preferred melee weapons of the simple vibroblades.

Soon the time came for training to end. Brano had them line up."

"Good work today all of you. Now, as I'm sure many of you are aware, the Sith recently conquered Bothawui, which is close to you of the Naboo," Brano said. "The Sith could very well strike us here soon. I want all of you to be prepared to defend yourself. If you do not have a weapon you should get one before you go. Do all of you have blasters?"

Samal and Yusano both had their own weapons at home. Though Elana was still only thirteen. By law only people at the age of eighteen were allowed to own a blaster or weapon other than a stun baton.

"I don't Master Brano. I'm not allowed to have one," she said.

"In the event that your life is in danger you are allowed to use a stunning blaster," Brano said as he walked over to the blaster display and took one of them. "I will rent this one out to you. In the event the Sith are driven further away I will ask for it back."

He handed her the stunning blaster which had no kill setting. The students all bowed to their teacher and then made their way out.

"See you tomorrow Samal!" Yusano called.

"Spar with some swords tomorrow?" Samal asked his fellow warrior as he and his sister walked to the door.

"Absolutely!" the Echani boy asked.

Samal and Elana exited the Echani Academy and walked over to where Samal had parked his speeder bike. Samal took the driver seat while his sister got behind him. He started it up and they speed off onto the streets of Naboo toward their home.

Well here is the first chapter. Yusano will be a main character alongside me, at least that's what I plan. Elana is named like my own sister Elena. I did my best to describe our sparring sessions back when we were kids ten years ago (or a young man for me). I've practiced martial arts since I was ten and how I described it here is exactly how I did it back in the day 10 years ago. Please review as you can and I hope you liked this first chapter. The first one was on the short side I know as it was only the prologue and a good amount was simply a list of characters, which I may update soon.