Ask Are we Warriors?

Yvain

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Dantooine, an old world for the Jedi, for centuries he had been a place to study and look to understand The Force, but like much of the Old Order it had been lost by both time and destruction by the Sith Order. Know only ruins remained of the once beautiful enclave, the now departed Councillor Tionson had begun the set up of a new Jedi operation on the planet, but it kept wide of the old ruins.

Yvain wondered through the ancient site, brushing his finger tips along the old stone columns, looking up he could still see the heat cracked stone from the fires, blaster burns chipping away edges of the walls. It was a sad and sobering sight, though this happened long ago and the Order and himself had moved on. Behind him in the small clearing were a group of what were volunteers, people who had come to this place for one thing and one thing only. To make a stand against the coming tide of the Sith.

There was not many, maybe fifty at best, little more than a nuisance, a spider on the Bantha's back to the Sith War Machine. But spiders can have powerful bites, that was what he was here to show them. Yvain had fought in the Clone Wars, seen two dozen battlefields, lead soliders across minefields, through artillery fire, up walls and across castles. And it looked like he would do it all again, but this time not against a secret enemy but one fully in the open. But it was not a solely military matter that had brought him to the planet, there was also a Jedi one. The young Togruta Padawan Ruzaan Kai, was still early in his training but had shown promise, so he had been sent here with Yvain to receive some knowledge and training of his own, along with the recruits before them.

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Ruzaan Kai

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Five. Shili, Yavin IV, Coruscant, Tatooine, and now Dantooine. Ruzaan mentally updated the list of planets he'd visited in his life.

For not the first time since he had received the invitation, Ruzaan felt a twinge of doubt. For some, the crumbling stonework and moss-covered columns would be comforting, but to Ruzaan they were a reminder of the chaos and destruction of war- a war he was now being called to participate in. Still, he knew that combat was not one of his strong suits, and on Shilli a community was only as strong as its weakest link. Following that logic, he had reluctantly decided to accept Master Yvain's invitation and now found himself along with a few dozen other volunteers on the planet of Dantooine facing the venerable Jedi Knight.

Ruzaan centered himself and collected his memories about Master Yvain. Ruzaan had first encountered Yvain back at the orchard on Yavin IV and had been impressed by the latter's talent for botany. Ruzaan found it oddly comforting that Yvain enjoyed gardening, but was at a loss to explain why. The diminutive green Jedi was a Clone Wars veteran and had staunchly defended the people of the galaxy for decades, overcoming several ordeals- including Order 66 and enslavement to the Hutts- to stand before the assembly today. Most of the group bore the scars of previous conflicts, although some still had an air of innocence around them that implied a lack of combat experience. Ruzaan knew he was closer to the second group, with only a couple brief battles under his belt.

Ruzaan watched as a few more stragglers joined the group, now totaling around 50, before turning and inclining his head towards Yvain. Under different circumstances he would go for a more formal bow but, as Ruzaan realized with another twinge of doubt, he was taking on a different role than the one he was used to.

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Yvain

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The Padawan was smoozing among the troops, it could both be a benefit and a detriment to morale. People who loved their commanders would fight all the better for it, but when said commander fell or did something against the groups wishes they would quickly fall apart. The problem was that the Jedi led from the front and were in the thick of danger and their code often put them at philosophical odds to the common populace.

Unfortunately Ruzaan would need to learn to be apart from the group, he would be a leader by example and by being the first one in and last one out, just as he had so long ago. "Ruzaan, come over here." The little Jedi had positioned himself on a half destroyed pillar so that he was about equal height to the Padawan and much of the volunteer group. Once the Jedi had joined him he addressed the larger group. "Ruzaan here as a Jedi will be your Captain." He gave a purposeful pause, they needed to have their doubts as did the Ruzaan.

"But he is just a kid." "I have socks older than him." "I knew this was to good to be true." Were just some of the comments the Jedi Knight could make out. "Ruzaan is young, but he has already seen combat and he has the gift of The Force to support not only himself but you as well." A few grumbled about The Force and how it was all a myth. "The Force has not only saved my life but those of hundreds if not thousands of soldiers I have served with." I few knew of Yvain and his history within the Clone Wars and spoke up in his defence. "But I will let the Padawan show you." Yvain gestured the Padawan to show some power within The Force to help prove his worth.

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Ruzaan Kai

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Leadership. An unwelcome mantle in most Togruta tribes, since it meant transcending the community in order to make difficult decisions and, by extension, distancing oneself from the group. From the sounds of it, the soldiers gathered here today weren't too happy about it either, albeit for different reasons. A wave of discontent and confusion from the assembly washed over Ruzaan as he stepped forward to join Master Yvain at the front. The Jedi Knight raised his hand for calm, and Ruzaan inwardly marveled as the crowd fell silent almost immediately. The soldiers here clearly held great respect for Yvain, whose presence loomed large despite his small size.

"The Force has not only saved my life but those of hundreds if not thousands of soldiers I have served with" he said, drawing some murmurs of approval. "But I will let this Padawan show you"

Ruzaan nodded slowly, accepting the test. His mind raced as he went through his short inventory of Force abilities. Force Healing? Nobody was bleeding that he could see. Lightsaber Combat, Form III? Definitely a work in progress. Sound Mimicry? Not obvious enough. Telekinesis? Glancing around at the ruins, an idea started forming in his head.

"Get on with it!" "Th' Force ain't real"

Ruzaan blocked out the sounds of the crowd and focused on a piece of rubble on the ground; half of a stone archway that had fallen decades prior amongst the ruins that served as their meeting place today. With some difficulty, he slowly raised it up through the air with the Force until it was balanced atop its old column, forming a nearly perfect arch with its other half. However, Ruzaan knew that if he let go of the piece it would come crashing down... it was missing a pivotal piece.

"We need the keystone" he announced to the soldiers, feeling a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face. He couldn't keep this archway up forever. "You, you, and... you" Ruzaan selected a couple of his more vocal doubters along with an acquaintance he'd made just minutes prior to assist him in his demonstration. "Use the existing arch as your reference for what it looks like. It shouldn't be far from where I raised this arch from."

The three "volunteers" took to the task with varying degrees of enthusiasm, but Ruzaan was ok with that. In his opinion the first step to building mutual respect was to complete a task together, and this certainly qualified. Less than 30 seconds later, a triumphant shout heralded the discovery of the keystone. It was a trapezoidal stone piece about 6 inches wide along the longer side and 4 inches wide along the shorter side, weighing about ten pounds. The soldier who had found it stood expectantly just a few feet away from Ruzaan, seemingly unsure what to do next. For his part, Ruzaan didn't trust his fledgling Telekinesis abilities to handle two objects at once, especially when he was drained from holding the arch aloft. Instead, he cocked an eyebrow at the Jedi Knight and indicated the keystone as best he could. "Master Yvain, would you do the honors?"

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Yvain

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Yvain smiled as the young Jedi used The Force to lift the stone, Telekinesis was the most simple and also the most flashy of the basic techniques in the Padawan's arsenal and a simple one to show off the power of The Force. The Padawan then surprised him, he started issuing orders, he had expected him to be shy, if not introverted once given his demonstration of power but it seemed the task of holding the heavy stone had installed some self belief in the boy.

As the three men went running to find the missing keystone Yvain spoke to the rest of the group. "With this Ruzaan can help build bridges across obstacles, unblock passages among a million other things that both you and he can think of. I want you all to think of this as a tool, something that can benefit you all in a time of need."

By the time he had finished talking with the group about some of there questions on the use of The Force he spotted the Padawan in a little trouble. "Of course young one." Reaching out his little green hand he gripped hold of the keystone with The Force pulling it free from the soft ground around it. The large stone drifted over the heads of the three men helping out Ruzaan before plopping down into the space next to the Padawan's stone, a large grounding sound moved out across the little clearing as it slipped into place Yvain removing The Force from it allowing Ruzaan to do the same. "Well done Padawan." he said quietly.

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Ruzaan Kai

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Ruzaan breathed a sigh of relief as Yvain aided him in reconstructing the stone archway, releasing his mental grip on his half of the arch as the keystone slipped into place. He tried not to let his fatigue show as he walked back over to the assembly, making sure to thank those who had helped him find the keystone, as well as Master Yvain. In truth, he'd bitten off more than he could chew in an attempt to demonstrate his abilities, and he was grateful to the Jedi Knight for (literally) making sure it didn't all come crashing down on him. Still, it was difficult not to feel a flush of pride at Yvain's quiet praise; Ruzaan held Yvain in high regard.

'What next, Master?" Ruzaan asked quietly. Ruzaan's invitation hadn't had much information, but he was guessing that the warriors assembled here hadn't been invited just to watch a Padawan demonstrate the Force.

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Although he could see some tiredness in the Padawan's eyes he still had some spring to his step which was a good sight. Yvain smiled at the Padawan's question "Well as I said young one, you are to be the Captain of this unit. So you must train with this unit, learn about the people who reside in it, their names, their homes, the reasons they are here and what they are best at." He took a few steps away from the Padawan towards the closest volunteer.

"What is your name young one." The man wasn't young in the slightest, easily in his mid to late thirties but to Yvain he was still just a child. "Razton, Razton Wells, Master Jedi." "Well Razton, what did you do before you volunteered?" "I was an electrician, working in a factory on Liana." "You see young one, this mans apt for electrical items might make him a good tech lead in your unit. He lived on Liana so perhaps he has some knowledge of the TIE series which could be of some assistance to you all."

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Ruzaan Kai

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Ruzaan nodded in understanding as he observed Yvain interact with Ratzon Wells, stifling a smile as the Jedi Knight called Ratzon a 'young one'; this despite the man being more than twice as old as Ruzaan. Having a tech lead would be very helpful, Ruzaan agreed, and Ratzon's proud smile at Yvain's suggestion confirmed the man's talent and confidence in that area. Still smiling, Ruzaan shook Ratzon's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ratzon. I'm glad that you are here."

Ruzaan spent the next hour or so getting to know the assembled warriors, doing his best to remember names and talents. Yvain had cast a wide net in his search, and had been rewarded with a diverse response. Among those gathered here today was Helre Gimiss; a Nautolan woman who could hit the tail off of a womp rat at 1,000 meters with her E-11s sniper rifle; Breef Kemp, a male Gungan explosives expert fond of juggling thermal detonators when bored; Sestar Zonoss, an impressive Kel Dor who looked like he lived in the weight room, and an IG-series droid who insisted on being called "Sparks".

As he interacted with the warriors, Ruzaan tried to model Yvain's calm and quiet presence, in hopes that the respect that the troops obviously held for the Jedi Knight would somehow materialize for Ruzaan. However, it was increasingly clear that, despite his demonstration earlier, many of the warriors bristled at being led by one as young as he, Jedi or not.

During a brief lunch break, Ruzaan relayed his concerns to Yvain in private. "Master, what if I'm not good at this? Am I doing something wrong? Most of these people are seasoned fighters, and I don't think they trust me."

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Yvain

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Yvain kept to himself as the Padawan walked among the soldiers, if he got involved it would only make things more difficult for Ruzaan, the men needed to learn that their first point of call was the Padawan not the Knight. Otherwise they would never speak to Ruzaan only to Yvain. After a break for lunch Ruzaan approached the old Jedi.

"Trust is something that can only be earned young one, it takes time, patience and ability. You already have the second and third you must wait for the first." Putting another mouthful of Fried Toad into his mouth he let it sink in for the Padawan before continuing. "I would be more concerned if they trusted you completely right of the bat. That would tell me that they are over eager and not experienced enough to truly fight the Sith Empire." Wiping his fingers on his cloak he stood up stretching his back.

"How about after they have eaten you run them through an exercise, but make the numbers uneven and put yourself on the smaller side. Show them your use."

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Ruzaan Kai

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Ruzaan heard perhaps half of what Master Yvain said as his stomach revolted at the sight of the Jedi Knight's lunch. Another fried toad slid down Yvain's throat before the Togruta was able to focus on the green Jedi's words. A team exercise... Ruzaan nodded and excused himself from Yvain's presence, both to ponder and to get away from the vicinity of Yvain's lunch.

Fifteen minutes and a trip to the landing transport later, Ruzaan had what he needed. Seeing that the majority of the fighters were finished with their lunch, he stepped onto a half-destroyed pillar and addressed the group. A murmur of excitement ran through the assembly as Ruzaan announced the afternoon's activity: capture the flag. In his hands he held two survival beacons- one blue, one red- and explained the boundaries and rules; the objective was to capture the enemy's "flag" and return it to your own base, which were two large boulders on either end of the field. The beacons could not be hidden or deactivated, and weapons would be set to low power mode so as not to cause serious injury.

"Remember" he said, looking out over the soldiers, "this is a training exercise. Do not compromise our unit's integrity by injuring a comrade."

Ruzaan then set about divvying up the teams, making sure to place himself on the red team with fewer members, as Yvain had suggested. As he finished, a thought occurred to him. "Master Yvain, would you be willing to serve as the referee?"

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Yvain watched as he finished his lunch, many of those around him were surprised by the amount the diminutive Jedi could put away. The Padawan was efficient, splitting the group up into relatively even groups once you factored the benefits of The Force to the red team. Capture the flag was always fun, a simple exercise he had done at least a dozen times with his own Clone Troopers almost two Centuries before.

"It would be my pleasure young one." The Jedi Knight said lifting himself up from his little eating rock and moving towards the center of the defined field. A number of large pillars were erected here and with a burst of power through The Force he was able to leap up to the top, giving him a good view of the surrounding area. Shouting down to Ruzaan and Razton who was the captain for team Blue "You have ten minutes to get into position I will then start the match. Good luck."

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"Thank you, Master" Ruzaan bowed to Yvain.

Ten minutes, ok. Ruzaan looked over his troops. His troops. Ruzaan wasn't sure he liked the weight of that responsibility, but they were all looking to him and he was on the clock. "First, has anyone worked with Ratzon? How does he operate?"

A human towards the back spoke up. "Aye, I know Ratzon. He knows he has the numbers, so he'll try to end this one quickly."

Ruzaan nodded thoughtfully. "We'll have to get used to fighting superior numbers anyways. R1?"

The astromech droid trundled forward and projected a holographic map of the playing field. "We'll have to use cover as much as we can. This rock formation-" Ruzaan zoomed in on a pile of rocks about halfway up the right flank on his team's side of the field- "will give our defenders a good field of fire."

Breef raised his hand. "Meesa got plenty of smoke grenades. Yousa can use thermal vision to see through the smoke!"

"Great idea" Ruzaan said. "I'll put you in charge of defending that rock formation. Anyone with thermal vision, join Breef. Wait for my signal to reveal yourselves." About a dozen soldiers lined up over by the Gungan.

"Helre, you'll lead the overwatch from our base" Ruzaan said, turning to the Nautolan. There were 4 or 5 more crack shots that joined Helre. "Call out patterns and strays that you see, comm channel 212 tac 1."

Ruzaan turned to unassigned soldiers, including Sparks and Sestar. "The rest of you will come with me to the left flank." Ruzaan pointed to the scattering of smaller stones and rubble that lined the left side of the field.

"Query: What is our objective?" asked Sparks in a robotic monotone.

Ruzaan bared his fangs as he smiled. "We're going to be the bait."

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From his spot atop the pillar he watched as the Padawan seemingly took charge of his small unit. Though what was being said and what he was doing he had no idea. Turning to the other side he watched as Razton done the same splitting his group up into three main units with a small reserve guarding 'The Flag', he was preparing a three pronged attack, one unit heading up the North, another in the middle and the South group was led by Razton himself.

The Southern unit headed towards the small rock formation defended by the Gungan, the Northern unit was heading towards the Padawan. Even from this distance he could see the group were hungry for victory spotting the smaller unit ahead of them, they were perhaps to eager and the Jedi Knight was interested to see how the young Jedi would handle this...

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Ruzaan Kai

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Ruzaan took a deep breath to settle his nerves, noting the dispersion of Ratzon's forces. The slicer had split his forces into three prongs with a skeleton crew defending the flag, which would allow them to pivot and attack either Ruzaan's contingent or the rock formation defended by Breef.

A voice crackled over the comlink- Helre, the sniper. "We won't have clear lines of fire to support Breef due to those rocks, they'll have to hold their own."

Ruzaan responded. "Copy that. I'm going to try to draw that middle group towards the South, focus your long range fire on them."

Then, Master Yvain gave the signal for the exercise to begin. Immediately, blaster fire broke out as both sides exchanged fire. Ruzaan leaped forward onto a fallen pillar, igniting his double-bladed training lightsaber as he did so. With his unit making good use of cover behind him, Ruzaan found himself focused by the attackers.

No problem. His lightsaber a blur of blue, Ruzaan fell into his preferred fighting style of Form III. Known for its defensive approach, it was especially useful against blaster fire, and his double-bladed lightsaber offered even more coverage against the hail of incoming fire. On his own, this would've been incredibly challenging, but Ruzaan wasn't fighting alone. From behind him came answering fire from his troops as they took advantage of the distraction he provided to carefully aim their shots. As a result, the volume of incoming fire tapered off considerably as the attackers ducked behind cover or marked themselves "out".

Out of the corner of his eye, Ruzaan could see that Breef had deployed several smoke grenades in defense of the rocks in the north. With the smoke obscuring his vision, it was too early to tell which way that fight was going. Meanwhile, the center arm of Ratzon's forces slowly moved their way forward from cover to cover, hampered by the efforts of Helre's snipers.

"Sparks, are you ready?" Ruzaan called out, batting away a few more blaster bolts.

"Response: Affirmative!" answered the IG unit.

"Cover me!" Ruzaan ordered the soldiers behind him, prompting a withering volume of fire from his defending forces. With the enemy more or less suppressed, Ruzaan took advantage by jumping down and crouching down behind the pillar. He then stretched out a hand towards the droid. Channeling the Force, he lifted Sparks up into the air and deposited them atop a standing pillar- some 30 meters behind the attackers, in a flanking position. Although wearied by his efforts in the battle thus far, Ruzaan allowed himself a small smile. He'd studied enough famous lightsaber duels to know the importance of having the high ground.

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The battle began Razton confident in his numbers was the attacker it seemed charging up all three sides of the battlefield. He looked to try to overwhelm his opponents with sheer numbers and fire power it seemed, a sound strategy normally, but he was not factoring in the Jedi Padawan, although Ruzaan was not a fully fledged Jedi he still was a powerful factor in this small engagement.

The attack to the North against Ruzaan slowed as the Padawan's blade helped reduce the incoming fire upon his troops. Then the surprise was sprung, Yvain smiled as he watched the droid float over head to land behind the enemy lines, they were pinned. A good tactic though it was risky putting a single unit so far out with little cover and no reinforcement. The droids blaster did work biting into the Northern force but he was soon taken out by long shots from the few defending the flag. He had traded well but Yvain would have to bring it up that trades were not something you should ever truly think off in a real fight.

Towards the middle the group had been pinned down by the sniper cover, the cry from the North as the droid ripped into the group pulled there attention towards the Padawan's side. In the South even though his vision was partially blocked by the smoke he could tell by the blaster fire and the feel of The Force that Razton was soundly pushing back the Gungan forces. They would have the South by the time Ruzaan could get there. It was now a fight for the middle.

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Suddenly, the flanking fire from atop the pillar ceased. "Report: Insufficient cover, Sparks eliminated" the IG unit's voice crackled through the comm system, and Ruzaan cursed. He'd forgotten about long-range fire from Ratzon's base, and Sparks had been a sitting porg atop the pillar. Moments later, Helre reported that Breef's forces had been overrun at the rocks in the South. I can't be everywhere at once! Ruzaan thought, feelings of panic rising in him.

Emotion, yet peace. Ruzaan always ran through the Jedi code whenever he felt lost, and fortunately the first line was exactly what he needed in this moment; a reminder that his emotions, although valid, couldn't get in the way of his duty as a Jedi. Taking a deep breath, Ruzaan pulled out his comm. "Helre, switch your fire to the rocks in the South. If you see Ratzon, take him out!" Ruzaan looked back at his remaining troops, only half a dozen remained of the original 10. "The middle is where the battle will be won. Focus your fire there, I'll take care of what's left in the north" he said, putting on a confident smile that he didn't feel. "Once more into the breach, eh?"

Igniting his lightsaber, Ruzaan sprang from behind the pillar, pushing through his fatigue and charging forward towards the few remaining members of Ratzon's Northern flank. Ruzaan hoped that the Force was with him.

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The Padawan reacted quickly which was good, it was a desirable trait amongst burgeoning leaders and that was what Yvain was planning the boy to be. As his split forced began to push into the centre they met fierce resistance by the now imbedded blue team members, though they were advancing they were slow and loosing men.

The Northern unit was now finished the Padawan making quick work of the remaining few, though now out of cover he was coming under fire from the flag defenders.

To the south Razton had finished with the defenders and was now charging forward towards the red teams base. The numbers were becoming an issue as even though he was loosing soldiers he still outnumbered Helre and her slowly shrinking force.

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Breathing heavily, Ruzaan scored a hit on the last of Ratzon's Northern forces, then threw himself behind cover as long-range fire from Ratzon's base kicked at his heels. Spitting out a mouthful of dirt, he appraised the situation. Ratzon had cleared Breef's position in the north and was pushing towards his flag. His remaining troops in the South were engaged with Ratzon's center, and he was too far away to support Helre. Then, an idea clicked in his head.

Ruzaan grabbed his comm. "Helre! Throw the beacon out towards me!"

The disbelief was plain in Helre's voice. "Are you crazy? Never mind, don't answer that. You're over 200 meters away, we can't throw it that far."

"Just trust me!" Ruzaan said. "Higher is better, I just need to be able to see it." I hope that's good enough, he added silently.

A few seconds later, the red signal beacon soared up and into the air. Reaching out a hand, he concentrated on the beacon.

Whumph! The beacon hit the ground some 20 meters in front of his base, near some very surprised attackers.

Ruzaan cursed and tried again. The range was definitely a challenge, but stationary targets were easier than moving ones. With some difficulty, he lifted the beacon off of the ground and up into the air.

As he did so, Ruzaan's memory kicked back to a recent lesson he'd had in one of the many outdoor classrooms on Yavin IV. The class itself had been very interesting- Master Drow Venn had lectured on the recent events of Sullust and the lessons the Jedi had learned there- but Ruzaan had difficulty concentrating due to a jungle fly that would not leave him alone. Despite his repeated efforts to concentrate on the task at hand, the sensation of the bug flying around had distracted him.

With the fly's erratic movements firmly in his mind, Ruzaan navigated the beacon over above where Ratzon's forces were gathered in the North as they pushed forward towards his base, tantalizingly but safely out of reach. A slight smile creased Ruzaan's face as he began jerking the beacon around in midair, trying to draw as much focus as he could with the beacon. You want your flag? Here it is! he thought.

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Yvain frowned as the beacon was flown over the heads of the warriors upon the battlefield. Though the Padawan may win the game this way, he may have lost the lesson. But this would be something he would need to bring up with the Ruzaan once the match was over.

Razton seemed far from pleased as the beacon flew away from him, but he was already committed to the attack on the Red base defended by Helre, so he pushed on. His attack was reckless he to not paying attention to the real lessons to learn from such an exercise, for he reached the base but by that point he had lost all his men apart from himself and one other.

The middle was now a scrap, one for one they seemed to fall with no side getting a proper footing. The North continued to fire upon the pinned down Jedi with the beacon. The match was almost over, less than a third of all the combatants remained.

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558
Ruzaan frowned as Ratzon continued to push into the Red team's base. He'd hoped to draw focus away from his beleaguered snipers but Ratzon cleared out the last of Helre's team, taking grievous losses as he did so.

The battle now hinged in the center. A few of Ratzon's forces had tried flanking around to the North, and Ruzaan saw an opportunity to turn the tide. Pulling the beacon to himself, he attached it to his belt to that he had both hands free to use his lightsaber again. He had to keep his remaining troops in the fight; now he was both a figurative and literal beacon for them to look to.

"Watch your flank!" he said to Sestar, noting that Ratzon and his remaining soldier were now pushing from the direction of their base. "I'm going to take the pressure off of you."

Once more, Ruzaan burst out from behind cover and his lightsaber as he charged towards the remaining troops in the center. A few had tried sneaking around to the North again, but Ruzaan quickly drove them out and pushed onwards towards the center, unrelenting in his attack. Although he quite literally had a target on his back, Ruzaan felt unstoppable. He'd struggled mightily in lightsaber class, what-if scenarios constantly running through his mind, but today was different. For a few brief moments, Ruzaan felt like a leader instead of a learner; not above mistakes, but confident in his abilities. HIs role was clear, so his mind was clear as well.

@Braden Drake
 
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