A Not So General Education {Ask}

[vamp]

Having been so quiet for so long, Matt had just been absorbing information, but he had to participate eventually. As Khivas asked who'd received proper blaster training, the Padawan reluctantly raised his hand. Proper? No. Training? Yes. If you considered shooting random things training.

Matt followed along and stopped at the range and picked up a blaster that looked similar to those he'd used before. He held it in his hand, testing its weight and basically how it felt, and satisfied with it all, prepared for Khivas to instruct them further.

 

[CaliforniaWinter]

Sylvaria had been silent for the past couple of minutes, which to be honest was perfectly normal for her rather serious disposition. It wasn't that she did not want to participate, more of the fact that she was giving everyone else a chance to answer Knight Khivas' questions. So far there were only two other students who decided to engage in Khivas' activities, and Sylvaria quickly realized the class wouldn't learn anything useful if only Var and the other Jedi participated. As far as drinking went, the young woman had never experienced the effects of alcohol, especially in concentrated forms such as the many liquors and ales that could be found in bars, cantinas, and other fine dining establishments in the Galaxy. She had taken a sip or two of some then unknown beverage, but not enough to feel any noticeable difference. As far as she was concerned, that wasn't worth sharing with the others.

It was then Khivas began inquiring about blasters and the like, weapons that Sylvaria could use to deadly efficiency. While she did not have much skill using blaster rifles or pistols, if you handed her a sniper that was in decent shape and told her to pick a target and not miss, she would have no problem with that. Kade apparently preferred his saber. Not surprising. Many Jedi would use their lightsabers over a blaster any day, not just because of how useful it was, but because many Jedi had an emotional bond to their more "civilized" weapons.

"Each one of you may grab a blaster and take up a position here on the firing ranges. When you're ready, we'll begin." Sylvaria was satisfied at this announcement, a wry grin etching it's way across her face as she stood up to to approach the myriad of blasters on display. They were all in top condition, each one slightly different from the one before it. Unfortunately they were all common blasters, something she wasn't accustomed to. She watched as Kade reached for one of the smaller weapons, his massive feline hands dwarfing the blaster considerably. Sylvaria flashed a smile of amusement before quickly regaining her composure.
"..Mind if I use.. one of my own?" She watched as Khivas voiced his approval, Kade's question giving her an idea of her own.

"In that case, I'll be back in a moment. I have a weapon of my own I wish to use." She turned around swiftly, and quickly exited the training room, not wanting to miss anything of course. Each step took her closer and closer towards her room, located on a more secluded deck of the ship. Within a few minutes she had reached the room, the dark, humid room decorated with many potted plants and small caged animals. There were even artificial vines snaking their way up one wall, giving any guest into her room the sensation that they had just entered some exotic jungle on a far away planet. There were hardly any trees or plants on her species home world of Cathar, and so she loved the idea of her own personal home being the exact opposite of that. Now where did I put it....?

After a few moments of absence, she had finally returned. As she walked through the door, one could see a bow in her hand, it's mangled, brown exterior giving off the illusion that it was well past it's prime. But the victims of Sylvaria's deadly accuracy knew otherwise. "Sorry I took so long. This old thing kind if camouflages with everything else in my room." She released a small chuckle and made her way over to the firing range. Wanting to make sure everything was in top shape, she aimed the bow at a target, her eyebrows frowned in concentration. She inhaled quickly and sharply, pulling back on the string, which glowed a bright pink as she did so, and suddenly let loose. A sliver of pink plasma shot forward, it's journey incredibly short as it reached it's destination in mere seconds. The bolt had landed square in the chest of the target, leaving a small blaster mark behind. "Works like a charm." She turned to face Khivas and the rest with a toothy grin. "Who's next?"

 

[Khivas]

When Sylvaria left and returned with a bow, Khivas almost burst into laughter at the sight of it. Not because it was a technically antiquated weapon, but rather it bought back old memories of a certain female he had gotten rather "close" with in his late teens, and who also tried to stab him in the spine the following year. The sight of the weapon made him remember the incident and how it went down, and most importantly, Khivas remembered the face of the man who laughed at the bow only to end up with a plasma bolt in between his eyes.

Despite the age of the weapon and how blaster firearms largely replaced them for the vast majority of combat roles, that energy bow still could play a very important part in stealth and recon missions, silently dispatching foes with it's deadly precision.

"Man that brings back memories." Khivas said to Sylvaria, his tone nostalgic, "And while a weapon of that type fills a stealth file brilliantly, far better than most weapons in that field, the point of carrying a blaster is to not stick out."

As much as Khivas wanted to let Syl continue the lesson with that bow of hers, he unfortunately had to cut it short and tell her to keep it to blasters only, citing that "Kade can use his particular blaster because it's built to suit him, but more importantly it's still a blaster. If you were to carry that thing around, it'll stick out like a bantha on Manaan, hence it's not exactly well suited for this class, but if I were you, I'd keep it handy just in case."

Moving on with the lesson, Khivas stood by the control console for the target range and set the targets to spring up, waiting to be knocked back down. "Alright guys," He exclaimed, "Time to show me what you got. Remember, these weapons are hot, so keep 'em pointed down range. And with that said, begin!"

 

[vamp]

Matt observed the scene from where he stood, blaster held loosely in his hand. As the woman came back holding a bow, he looked on, not too dazzled. Whatever floats your boat, he thought, passing the blaster to his other hand, then wiping the sweat on his shirt. Matt wasn't nervous, but his hands tended to heat up at times.

"...And with that said, begin!" Matt spun the gun on his index finger, then stopped it with his other fingers and poised himself. The padawan took a deep breath in and held it, to increase accuracy. His first shot hit just off the center of the target, in toward the top left corner of it. His second was a little lower, and closer to the center, and his third hit the bulls eye.

He stopped and looked around, body still poised, to see whether everyone else had stopped.

 

[Krajin]

Kade would draw a fairly large, intimidating pistol and turns off the safety. "Alright, Blasters are old. This, is a Plasma variation of a DE-10." He'd grin and turned to point the chrome weapon down the range. He held it with both hands and aimed before squeezing off a few shots. Bright blue bolts of super-heated gas and energy flew down the range and struck the target. They were grouped relatively close together. Nothing close to a a bullseye but close to that region. He'd flick the cylinder out and eject the spent gas cartridge and grab another, loading it in and and aiming down range once more. With a single hand this time he stood side on to it and fired off another few loud shots with quick succession. "Hnnh. Energy is always different than to what I am used to. Projectile based kinetic weapons." He'd say, setting the DE-10 down and drawing the M88 pistol. "Like one of these. Good for being quiet, silent if you strap a suppressor to them and they can drop someone like me at close range pretty quick."

 

[Khivas]

"Blasters themselves are essentially solidified plasma traveling downwards at immense speeds. Your plasma rifle here is technically the exact same tech, just more potent, but that's also why you get less shots, but we're not here to discuss the semantics and technologies of firearms, we're here to actually use them and get some practice in." Replied Khivas, noting what Kade had said about energy weapons and how they operate so differently than physical, kinetic firearms, the effects drastic in their relations to a target.

"That being said, damn fine job everybody. Seems you all have some skill with a firearm, some more so than others, but that's ok. Your goal is to fool people, not actually be the best shot in the galaxy, let alone a planet. Just point and pull usually works for that. Now then, with that part out the way, place your weapons down and follow me please." The Knight said, ushering the class to following him to the other end of the training hall, stopping in front of the bottle of brown alcohol. "Oh of course, before we go on, everybody take a shot of this, and make sure it's a big one, I want you to feel the burn from this. Kade, for you my good man I have this lovely Ryncol, you just have to try it." Khivas said, passing a small glass, well small for a Kushanari, of a a weird cloudy yet bright, green liquid to him. "It'll kick your ass good, I promise." He said with a wink before downing his shot.

Once the padawans had taken their alcohol and made their faces of either disgust or exhilaration, Khivas moved over the the other end of the training hall where a sort of makeshift obstacle course was set up, with small metal crates located all around the outside of it. "Walls to climb, gaps to leap, distances to close; As Jedi you will find yourself having to move a hell of a lot, even if you're more Sage oriented. To that end I developed this lovely little course here to help with that. Of course I'm going to actually teach you how to use the skills known as Force Leap and Force Speed, and then together in tandem. Some of you already know, some may not, and some may need work with it. Either way, consider this part of the lesson is to either teach it or refine it, so if you will all please calm, and center yourslef..." The Knight-Teacher said, breathing in deep and releasing his tensions, letting the Force flow into him, rather than through him.

"Let the Force pool into you, fill your mortal coil with it's strength. Many believe Speed and Leap is using the Force to simply strengthen the body through crude means, but it's a little more complicated than that. You have to let your body meld with the Force, being both empowered by it's energy and moved by it. With that in tow, you can not only perform these skills, but perform them with greater affinity. Watch." Khivas said as he launched himself in the blink of an eye, going just slow enough for the padawans present to keep up with his movements as he ran the obstacle course in breakneck speed. Once finished, he calmly leaped from one spot back to where he once was, and address his class, saying "Alright, before the course is used, I want you all to show me you can simply move fast and leap far. Line up side by side, and one at a time, run from where you are to the other side of the room, then leap back to the starting line. And do not feel discouraged if you don't get it the first time; this is far harder than it looks and what I just showed you."