Author's Note: This will be a Jumpchain story using the Milestone Rewards Supplement Redux. All of the Jumps and supplements I use will be found on my google drive.
This chapter is about the MC participating in the Initiate Trials to become a Padawan.
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"Speech"
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[Digital Text]
{Digital Voice}
Divine/Super Being Modification
Chapter Eight: The Initiate Trial Tournament Phase One
Star Wars Movie Compilation Part 4
Jedi Temple, Coruscant: 7941 CRC / 36 BBY
I let out a breath as I rose to my feet from where I had been seated seiza style letting the force flow through me as I waited for my turn to battle in the Initiate Tournament. Allowing the Force to flow through me kept me calm emotionally while physically energized for my upcoming bouts. I held no fear of how these battles would go as I am easily able to match any Padawan of the Jedi Order with a lightsaber in hand. The format for the tournament is fairly simple with three matches going simultaneously each under different eyes, where three points win you the match. A point is earned by getting a clean hit upon your opponent something my defensive style will accel at especially if I lean more on my Form II skills. Form II Makashi is designed for one-on-one duels between lightsaber wielding opponents making it ideal for the first part of the tournament. Once the contenders' numbers are down to sixteen we will be put into a free for all battle royal with remotes taking pot shots at the participants.
It was not too long before I was called into the ring to battle under the eyes of the current master of Makashi as I entered the third ring with Master Dooku supervising the combat. Once inside the training circle I bowed to the aged Jedi Master before facing my opponent and igniting my lightsaber as I gave them a salute with my ignited blade. I kept myself loose as I looked at my opponent who took the standard Shi-Cho opening stance. I guided their first attack away scoring a point with a light touch to my opponent's arm using minimal movement.
That light touch caused quite the reaction as my opponent let out a scream even though I barely grazed them. I continued to let the force guide my movements and empowering my body to keep up my opponent easily. With the Force powering and guiding my attacks I did not let the loud high pitched scream distract me. I stepped back rather than continue my assault as per the rules of the tournament. Even as I returned to my starting position I kept my eyes fixed on my opponent with my guard raised. The second time we started off went very similar to the first exchange my opponent was a bit more cautious than he had been during our first bout. He did not over commit to our first bout preventing me from getting a second easy hit on him. It took me about a minute before I forced a new opening and struck like lightning causing a second annoying scream from my opponent ending the exchange.
I stepped back as Dooku came forward to assess the damage I had delt to my opponent. I heard another scream from behind me even as I continued to let myself fall into the force to feel everything around me. My opponent had not taken the two quicks hits well as we started the third set of our match while the other two groups currently were just finishing their first set. He was very aggressive and let his style slip a bit as he went on an all-out attack in an unrefined show of the Djem So variant of Form V. Letting the force guide me I settled into my defensive variation of Makashi easily parrying the overly aggressive attacks. I knew I would win this set and match as my opponent was slowing down and not pulling on the Force as we had been trained to do. After a few more parries my opponent tried to take me out by forcing me into a committed defense that he could batter away at but due to allowing the force to flow through my body I was able to sidestep the attack. My movement caused my opponent to stumble as his blade met no resistance and I was able to get behind him and strike out at his neck stunning him and forcing him to regain his senses while grating on my nerves with his annoying scream.
"Set and match go to Initiate Lushan with a three to nil win." Master Dooku announced as he walked forward to reassess if my opponent was injured or not. I bowed to the undisputed master of Form II before I left the sparring ring to await my next match. With my calm yet determined demeanor showing I was certain that I was making a good impression on the overseeing Jedi Masters. All I wanted was to focus on this competition now since I was set on earning my status as a Padawan now so that I could affect the problems on Naboo in a few years and maybe reach my knighthood then or at least before the start of the Clone Wars.
I settled down in a kneeling position at the edge of the arena as I waited for my next match allowing the Force to flow through me. While the Force was flowing through me I was aware of the Initiates that were currently fighting along with the Masters observing them. This allowed me to recover my strength while learning about my opponents even though the Force was my crutch and would guide my movements. I was not too worried about the other Initiates having a deeper connection to the force than me due to my Knight level connection along with my dedication to meditation. The matches were fairly even as all the current combatants were only truly proficient in Form I Shi Cho.
It was an hour before I was called to participate in the second round with Master Anoon Bondara as my proctor. I quickly made my way to the ring and bowed to the current Jedi Battlemaster before facing and saluting my opponent as I took my ready stance. With my blade at my side and my muscles loose I let the Force guide my actions as rolled my wrist to keep it free while my eyes stayed on my second opponent of the day. My connection to the force allowed me to stop my opponent's strong strikes that clearly came from the Djem So variant of Form V. Leaning into my defensive style especially the Form II philosophy I parried the attacks away from my person. With my opponent being a Wookie I knew that I would not be able to overpower them with pure strength even with the Force empowering me. I continued to move sideways and parry the Wookie Initiate's powerful strokes until I saw an opening. My lightsaber flicked out diverting the Wookie's azure blade away from my body before slicing the Wookie's wrist causing him to drop his blade earing me tow points for that one strike. I did not understand how the iconic Wilhelm scream came from my furry opponent, but it did causing Master Bondara to step up and take a look at the wound while giving me the evil eye as if I were too aggressive in my attack. Knowing I only needed one more point I settled back into the opening of Soresu with my blade up over my shoulder pointed at my opponent as he growled at me and stood in his Djem So.
As the second bout began I kept myself centered and parried my opponent's power strikes with minimal movement. My confident defense was enough to hold off the aggressive attacks of the Wookie and preserve my own energy. This second bout was fast paced as we both were relying on the Force to increase our speed but my opponent's style, while perfect for his build was energy intensive and would quickly wear him out. After five minutes the Wookie's attacks were finally slowing down enough for me to get through his defense, but I was stopped by the Wookie shifting his blade at the last moment forcing me to back off or take a hit myself. I had forgotten my own drawback that was adding a second level of defense to my opponent which was taking the form of a second wind. I stumbled as I was forced to block the Wookie's next attack directly instead of parrying like I had been the whole match.
My Wookie opponent did not give me a chance to recover and started to batter at my defense with powerful strokes while I was forced to commit to blocking. The situation was less than ideal as there was almost nothing I could do to fix my current predicament but allowing the Force to fill me up and empower my body while guiding my movements let me sidestep at the perfect instant before the next attack from the Wookie could crush my last defenses. This one step allowed me to strike the Wookie's side ending the bout with another scream.
With that hit I received my third point ending the second round in my favor flawlessly once again. Once Battlemaster Anoon Bondara had finished checking over my opponent for any injuries he stepped to the center of the ring and made the announcement of the outcome. "Point and match to Initiate Lushan. He has caused no excess harm and is allowed to continue in the tournament." With that confirmation I bowed to my opponent before turning and bowing to the Battlemaster before I retreated to the edge of the room to sit meditating as I awaited my next match. I needed to center myself as even though I did not take a single hit from that last bout I was unsettled by the second wind that my opponent had due to a drawback that I took before entering into this world. I knew that I took the drawback but because I did not consciously think about it I allowed it to slip my mind and ended up nearly being struck by a powerful Wookie for my carelessness. That last bout my have ended in my favor but I was certain that the observing Jedi Masters would judge me poorly for what looked like desperation and overly aggressive attacks due to my dangerous nature from my drawback.
Thinking on my drawbacks I am confused as I have an extra thousand points but do not know where they came from which is worrying me as it means I took a big drawback and cannot remember it at all. Part of me is glad for giving up my warehouse until the near start of the Clone Wars as I would be tempted to use my hand cannon, and the screams would drive me up the walls from Wilhelm scream. It is bad enough when using my lightsaber against opponents. Although it gave me points I and is forcing me to go through puberty once again something I am not super thrilled with the From Birth drawback is coming in pretty handy for this first part of the Star Wars Movie Saga.
My meditation on the affects of the choices I had made before starting this Jump after I centered myself in the Force was once again interrupted by my name being called for my third match. This time the proctor for my match was Battlemaster Anoon Bondara's Padawan Darsha Assant with Jedi Knight Cin Drallig not too far away. If I were a betting man I think the fourth match will have all three of the official proctors observing closely and with how much time I had meditating it would be directly after this match of bouts. After bowing to Padawan Assant I turned to face my opponent and had to hold in a grown of frustration as I was facing Sammis Li and her basterdized Jar'Kai version of Ataru. If I managed to come out of this match unscathed it would be a blessing from the Force.
Author's Endnote: Please remember to leave your opinion on if Mini-Jumps should count as their own Jump for the purpose of Milestones and if you like how I wrote the Jump for the purpose of earning a Milestone Tokens. I will be posting the character sheet after each Jump or Mini-Jump is setup from now on.