"One point per kill shot, first to three wins." Ben said as they stepped onto a large square of thin blue padding that served for a hand to hand/melee weapons training area.
"Sounds fair." She agreed, rotating her shoulders to relax the tension there and took a few practice swings with her faux sword.
They circled each other, both lightly padded and holding long padded metal rods. "If we read each other's minds we'll be here all day." He scolded when she tried to sneak a peek.
She used the distraction to attack.
"Don't shout when you're attacking." He instructed after parrying her widely arcing swings. "It sends a warning to your opponent."
On her next attack she feinted high then whacked him in the side of the knee with the padded rod.
"Better!" He said encouragingly. "Not a point, but still a good hit."
He spun away from, blocked and parried three more blows with an almost graceful efficiency. "Not bad, watch your footing though, that last swing could have been a point."
"Fight back!" She growled and aimed a blow at his unprotected head.
He ducked her blow and caught her lightly across the middle with his rod. "One, zip." He called and caught her rod with his as she went for a backhand swing.
He caught her off hand in his and yanked her so hard she spun around slamming her back into his front. "Two, zip." He murmurred, nuzzling her just below the ear, his padded rod lightly resting across the other side of her neck.
She wriggled out of his grasp and threw the padded rod at him, calling a practice staff into her hand from a nearby rack.
"Two, one!" She called triumphantly a moment later as the tip of one padded end caught him squarely in the ribs, her thrust landing directly over his heart.
"Pretty good." He grinned and batted the staff away from him. "But you didn't have a staff last time."
"Well, I do now." She twirled the practice weapon, switching it from hand to hand. "If this were a real fight, it's what I'd be using."
"Fair enough." He said and blocked a blow aimed at his middle.
She launched another flurry of attacks that went on for over a minute before she danced away, laughing, "Two all."
They circled again as off duty storm troopers, in their breathable black workout wear, began to gather around to watch.
They both attacked at the same time, the flurry of spinning rods and agile, sometimes nearly acrobatic, ducks and dodges went on for over three minutes before he managed to tie her up. He took a few steps back, panting from the exertion. "You're good with that thing," He circled towards his left, flourishing his mock blade. "I'll give you that."
"Thank you." She smiled and switched the spinning staff from one hand to the other.
He caught the staff in a Force pull and jerked it out of her hand, sending it spinning off into the crowd of onlookers as his thrust stopped a hairsbreadth from her throat. He tapped the underside of her chin and grinned, "I win."
"That was a dirty trick." She batted the rod away from her throat with her hand.
"There's no such thing as a dirty trick, only what keeps you alive or gets you killed." He countered.
She thought about that for a beat then pulled a face and agreed with a shrug and a nod. "Go again?"
"Some other time." He tossed his rod in the general direction of the weapons rack, using the Force to settle it into it's place.
"I thought we were having a fun day?" She asked, slipping her hand into his.
"We are." He said, "but this isn't as much fun as flying."
"Flying? We're traveling at lightspeed, we can't go flying." She was slightly confused.
"Rebels," He rolled his eyes. "That's what sims are for."
"Oh!" She chirped. A moment later it occured to her. "I don't know how to fly a TIE fighter."
"We have a couple X-wing simcaps." He shrugged.
"I don't know how to fly an X-wing either." She frowned.
"What do you know how to fly?" He asked, mildly surprised.
"The Falcon." She admitted.
"We don't run sims on cargo ships." He chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll show you the basics. If you can fly the Falcon, you can figure out an X-wing easily enough."
"Do you have a simcap for your plane?" She was curious.
"My 'plane'?" He gave her an annoyed look. "It's anything but plain."
"Well, do you?" She asked insistantly, coming to a halt outside the twin doors that lead to the men's and women's lockerrooms.
"How else could I practice?" He asked in a somewhat patronizing tone.
"Teach me to fly yours?" She batted her eyes at him flirtatiously.
"Get changed. We'll see how you do in a less advanced model first." He said and ducked his head to steal a quick kiss before slipping into the door on the right.
She was smiling as she walked through the door on the left.
Ten minutes later she stepped out of the surprizingly small ladies lockerroom freshly showered and changed to find him waiting for her just outside the door.
"I remembered, I have a simcap you can use with controls that are almost identical to mine." He grinned. "We can grab some lunch while they unpack it from storage and set it up for you."
"You just don't want me in yours, huh?" She teased, finding his possessiveness over his TIE rather charming.
"Well, if you're in mine, I'm stuck in one of those slugs that these guys fly." He said, hitching a thumb towards a group of guys working out across the room.
"Slugs? I thought you said they were quick and nimble?" She frowned.
"Compared to rebel tech, they are." He explained. "But, compared to the advanced models we'll be in, they're slugs."
"So, does this advanced model simcap have a matching fighter on board?"
"No, that TIE was destroyed before I was born, but it's still faster than the typical fighter we use now. It's what I based the design mods of my Silencer from. Plus, it was built for a Jedi, so it should work well for you."
"I see." She actually didn't. "What Jedi was it built for?"
He eyed her for a second before answering. "My grandfather."
