Lightsaber Training Begins
Laughing, the five younglings made their way back towards the training hall, discussing between themselves what the interesting lesson Darius had planned for them today.
"Maybe he's going to teach us how to blow stuff up with the force." Zuno grinned.
"I doubt it. More than likely it's going to be some history lesson on the Great Hyperspace War or the ancient Jedi order." Asha said.
"I sorta don't want to learn more about History. It's kind of dull and boring" Brandon said.
"Maybe but those that forget history are doomed to repeat it." Asha replied.
"Hey, look on the bright side." Spike smiled. "Maybe it will be another spar and this time I will beat everyone."
"Try it little dragon." Brandon grinned.
"Um… Spike has shown greated skill in the force and his physical strength is near you're own Brandon." Asha pointed out. "Anyways we are here so we will figure it out in a moment."
Nodding, the five made their way inside the large room, quickly moving across it to where Darius stood. Behind him was a table loaded with small spherical droids, as well as a series of odd looking helmets.
"Younglings. I trust you got enough sleep?" Darius asked, looking over the five.
"Yes master." They answered in unison.
"Good. Now can anyone of you tell me what this is?" Darius asked, picking up one of the strange droids.
"It's a marksman class-G combat remote." Asha said. "They are being brought in to replace the old mark-F, and has a more efficient targeting computer.
"Very good." Darius nodded, placing the droid down and picking up one of the helmets. "And this?"
"A blast helmet for artillery operators." Brandon said simply.
"Good. There is one for each of you, take one and put it on."
Doing so, each of them clipped the helmet to their head, grumbling softly under their breath as they discovered the helmets were quite heavy.
"Good." Darius said before reaching behind him and unclipping a small tube from his belt. "And you all know what this is?"
"A Lightsaber!" Spike shouted out, realising what training would be.
"Yes and no." Darius said. "This Lightsaber is not like mine and has been designed for training purposes only. The electromagnetic containment field has been intensified more than in a standard Lightsaber which makes it harder to do more than bruise or slightly burn the target."
Handing it over to Spike, Darius drew out four more lightsabers, handing them out before drawing his own.
"This is the formal weapon of the Jedi order. It is elegant and has poise, unlike the clumsiness or randomness of a blaster. It needs more than simple sight to use but it is more than a weapon, it is a symbol. Any thug can use a blaster, and any trained soldier can use a sword. But a Lightsaber, only a few can use these things without killing themselves."
Igniting his own Light saber, Darius showed off the bright blue blade, swinging it slowly in front of the others.
"Press the button on the hilt to ignite the blade." Darius instructed and instantly, five blue blades ignited before them.
"The blade is made of plasma and is capable of cutting through nearly any material, as well as deflecting blaster bolts. Normally, this would be impossible but with the force as your ally, you will learn to do it. Today I will teach you the fundamental points about the first form of Lightsaber combat, Shii-Cho. It is a simple form, one that every Jedi learns as an initiate."
"So is this thing like a sword?" Brandon asked, spinning the Light saber.
"It is similar." Darius nodded, smiling slightly. "Shii-Cho was developed after we transitioned as an order from swords to Lightsabers. I will teach you the fundaments of this technique but it will be up to your future masters to decide which form you will train further in. Now, these droids are going to activate, one for each of you. The bolts they will be firing will be set to light only for this exercise. Intercept the bolts with the blade of the Lightsaber and direct them away from you. Do not think about it but use your instincts and the force to guide you."
Quickly grabbing a droid, he pressed a button on its underside and instantly the droid awoke. Springing out of Darius hand and floating over towards Spike. Repeating the process, the other droids awoke and hovered over to their own initiates.
The droid beeped once before a red light sprung out of one of the holes, speeding towards Spike. The dragon barely had time to raise his Lightsaber, managing to deflect it from its original path but not enough to make it miss him, the beam impacting on his arm.
A moment later, the droid fired again, catching Spike unaware and impacting on his back at an odd angle. Growling, Spike prepared himself for another shot and when the droid fired this time he was ready. Bringing his Lightsaber up, Spike managed to force the shot away from himself, sending it across the room where it eventually dissepeared.
"Good Spike." Darius said, walking slowly around the initiates. "Now, again."
"Why are we wearing these helmets anyway?" Spike asked, bringing his Lightsaber across and deflecting another bolt before a second hit his leg.
"All in good time Spike but for now just concentrate on the task at hand." Darius said, before walking off.
Nodding, Spike moved the lightsaber to the side before it fired two shots almost instantaniously. Spike managed to catch the first one, but the second one caught him off guard. It was going to be a long lesson.
Two hours later
Spike and the others had learned to deflect the blaster bolts, managing to stop them from touching them sixty five times out of a hundred. Brandon was undoubtedly the best of them, quickly figuring out how to angle the Light saber in just the right way so as to deflect the shot back at the remote.
"Now that you have learned the basics, the power of the blasts will be increased. These blasts will no longer be simple light but will be set to stun. Much like the training light sabers the bolts will be painful but not lethal."
"You still never said what the helmets are for master." Spike pointed out.
"Ah, yes. Thank you for pointing that out Spike." Darius smiled. "In order to be sure that you are only reliant on the force and not on your eyes the helmets will be lowered to be down below you're eyes.
"What?" Briana asked in confusion. "But…"
"The force will guide you but you must trust it." Darius said smoothly. "Place yourselves fully into the force and you will be led."
Nodding, Briana pulled down the heavy metal visor, covering the majority of her face. Following her example, the others pulled down their own visors, plunging their vision into darkness.
"Reach out with the force." Darius ordered. "Feel where the shots will come from and…"
"AH!" Asha yelled out, being hit by a bolt.
"Focus." Darius ordered.
Taking notes Spike reached out with his mind, Spike felt the force aiding him, feeling where the blaster bolts was aiming at, Spike quickly brought his Lightsaber up, feeling the impact bounce off the plasma blade.
"Very good Spike." Darius said. "Asha, good form but poor execution. Be more precise in the future." He ordered, looking over at her, who was rubbing her arm from where she struck the bolt but nearly missing it with her own Light saber.
"Spike, focus." Darius said.
"I am master, the droid isn't doing anything." Spike replied.
"A shot just hit your back." Darius pointed out slowly.
"No it didn't, I didn't feel a thing." Spike said, before moving his Lightsaber to intercept another bolt.
"How interesting." Darius whispered before looking at the others. "Asha, well done but keep the blade in the upright position when you are not blocking or parrying it will make it easier for you to reach the different positions around your body."
Sensing more shots were about to be launched at him, he quickly brought his Light saber upright. Holding it tightly Spike felt one shot hit it and quickly moved it around to intercept the next shot, feeling five more shots strike the blade.
"Spike." Darius said, pulling Spikes visor up and looking at the him. "How did you do that?"
"Do what master?" Spike asked.
"Deflect that amount of shots?" Darius asked. "Not many initiate can do that. It is not unheard of but it is very rare."
"I just moved the Lightsaber logically to catch them in order, master." Spike informed him.
"Tell me, which do you find easier one shot or many?" Darius asked.
"I have more difficulty sensing multiple shots than just one, but It can be quite difficult." Spike replied.
"I see." Darius said. "Most initiates have trouble timing the shot. Even some knight's struggle with timing it but this being you're first time and nearly mastering something that would take months to perfect."
"I have an eye for detail." Spike said with a smile.
"I see." Darius said, before pushing the visor down again. "I'm increasing the shot frequency and speed, not that it should trouble you that much."
"Why?" Spike asked, bringing his Lightsaber up.
"To see what you can do." Darius said, before walking away again.
One Week Later
It had been a week since Spike had begun training with the Light saber and he and the others had increased quickly in skill, being able to block a majority of shots even with the helmets down. One thing Spike had learned in the week was just how tough his scales are, especially those on his back.
Today though, Darius had said he had something different planned for them. As they entered the training room they instantly realised what was different about today's training. Instead of five remotes hovering around Darius, five humanoid droids surrounded him instead, each one holding a long baton that Spike recognised as a Jedi practice blade.
"Gather around." Darius ordered, quickly giving them the training light sabers. "Today, you will learn duelling practices. Who knows the main spots to attack on the body?"
"Master." Briana said, raising her hand. "the head, the right arm and side, the left arm and side, the back, the right leg, the left leg."
"Very good." Darius nodded. "Now, these five droids have been loaded with a high level knowledge of the Shii-Cho. Today, we will test your skill against them. Succeed and I will increase their level of skill, perhaps even to another form."
"When do we fight each other?" Spike asked.
"That will be your final test. After that I will allow you to go to Illum to complete your final test there."
Nodding, Spike moved towards one of the droids, noting that each one was scaled slightly differently from the others. Asha had a much smaller droid than Spike and Zuno, while Briana and Brandon had near identical droids. This was probably testing to see just how they could fair up against bigger and smaller creatures.
"Greetings Spike." The droid said, "I am a Jedi training droid. Prepare your weapon."
Nodding, Spike ignited the blade of his weapon, bringing it into a steady guard position. Instantly, the droid moved forward, raising its weapon high before bringing it down in a slash, aiming to strike him on the top of his head. Brining his Lightsaber up, Spike blade caught the droids own blade. The droid however was quite quick and darted forward with a stab, hitting Spike's stomach.
"Dead." It said before Spike began again.
Bringing his weapon down, Spike aimed to cut off the droids arm but the droid blocked the strike, before swinging its own practice blade and stopping an inch away from his waist.
"Dead." It repeated.
Rushing forward, Spike attempted to overpower the droid, forcing it to block three strikes before it blocked his forth strike and swung its practice blade down on Spike's wrist. Spike let go of his Lightsaber, as the droid moved closer, holding its blade against Spike's neck.
"Dead again." It said before releasing him.
"Oh great, a droid with a sense of humour." Spike said sarcastically.
"You must learn from you're mistakes." The droid said while picking up the deactivated hilt of Spikes Lightsaber and passing it to the dragon. "Master Darius has informed me that I am to teach you in the ways of Shii-Cho until you can face stronger opponents. Now..." It said, raising its weapon at Spike, "again."
That was a fun chapter to make and I hope others enjoyed it. trying to specify how they move the blades are going can be quite tricky. Anyways Only a few more chapters before we finish the first arc and we start to get to see more action.