Fresh off the Farm (Jac Dagger's Training-Zialan Society)

[Niner]

Vashni's collision with the beam sent Jac hurtling head over heels to slam into yet another concrete pillar. The plasma sword attack had been too slow on Vashni's part and Jac had long sailed past by the time it swept through the air.

He got up to his feet slightly shakily, "Who the frack put all the kriffing pillars around here?" He shouted out.

He started backing away from Vashni, one thing his pop had told him, "son, there are some fights you can't win, don't try to be a heroe....live to fight another day." Jac figured that now would be the best time to follow that advice.

 

[Gambler]

Stimulants rushed through Vashni's blood, enhancing his reflexes and strength. His natural healing abilities were increased and soon the pain of his landing ebbed away. That was one of the benefits of being raised into a rich family. It might drain a bit of his power cell, but that was why he charged up two every night when he went to sleep. Each battery alone had the capacity to run independently for three hundred hours. Even with the modifications of his armor the life expectancy of the batteries was crimped to one hundred and fifty. That was still almost a week without any need to recharge. Add another battery and he only needed to recharge twice a month at most. Thus, he was given an unfair advantage in combat. One that he had no problem exploiting when he had need to.

Another advantage of his was the Force.

A lopsided grin found its way onto Vashni's face as he watched Jac rebound from another of the pillars. He was standing only five feet or so from the edge of the floor that led to a drop down to the ground level. "I hope you had a nice climb," Vashni began, sarcasm dripping from his static filled voice. He lifted his hand and energy pulsed. A tangible wave shot toward Jac, rolling like a rock down a cliff. It disturbed the air as it raced to knock Jac off of the ledge and send him to his death. "Because you are going to have quite a long fall."

If Jac survived the fall in some creative manner, Vashni decided that he would give the man a couple of medpacks and start teaching him the Force. If not, well, he would personally scrape whatever was left of the man off of the ground.

 

[Niner]

Jac felt himself picked up off the ground and hurled out into an empty space.

"FRAK!" He yelled.

He tried to activate his grappling hook but the blow he had taken on the gauntlet had crimped the opening shut and it wouldn't eject. He faced the ground, surprisingly stoic for a man who was sure of his own death. As he neared the ground he gave a scream and imagined himself somehow surviving the fall. That was when a large ripple in the air spread from around Jac. Somehow, completley unconciouslly he had used the Force to slow his fall.

He still slammed into the ground pretty hard, though the Force cusion did wonders to protect him. Nonetheless it was still a slightly dramatic sight as he clawed his way out of the three foot deep crater in the ground. His armor steaming from the friction heat....

 

[Gambler]

"I'll be damned," Vashni muttered as he saw the crater his apprentice made as he hit the ground. He had been sure that the man was going to survive that mess. It looked like he had tried to activate his grappling hook, but something went wrong. With a shrug he used his ocular scope to examine the mess at a better angle. He saw a miniscule twitch and shook his head. Now that was persistence. Hitting the ground like that and still living. Well at least he had endurance. Vashni jumped from the ledge, using his boosters to slow his fall and absorb most of the impact. Once he reached the ground he went over to a wrack and picked up a couple dozen medpacks. Jac was going to need every last one of them from that fall. Taking the helmet from the man's head, Vashni inserted the syringe into his neck and let the kolto flow into his body. He repeated the process a couple of times until he thought that most of the man's wounds were healed. "Well, I thought you were going to use the grappling hook, but you survived. Didn't expect that. How the hell are you alive?"

 

[Niner]

Jac groaned and opened his eyes a bit, "With all due respect sir, I have no fracking clue." He tested his various appendages and was pleased that they all moved, if sore as blazes....

"So, what's next huh?" He managed to get out past cracked lips with a miniscule laugh that divulged into a coughing fit from what was probably a fractured rib or two.

 

[Gambler]

[ooc:short post, sorry...]

"You're going to stand up and then we're going to talk about the Force," Vashni said, slapping the syringe into Jac's neck again. Of course it would hurt like hell for a moment, but it would also dull the pain and accelerate the man's natural healing abilities. "So get to your feet and tell me what you think the Force is."

 

[Niner]

((no prob, I didn't give you much to work with. btw, last post of the night, sorry. But this thread...is epic win so far.))

Jac groaned again as the pain swept across his neck but along with it came a blessed numbness. He staggered slowly to his feet and turned to his instructor, "I'm assuming it's what just saved my ass." He twisted his neck from side to side until it popped, relieving more tension, "All I really know is the stuff they say in school about the Jedi using it. Beyond that, I don't have a clue."

 

[Gambler]

"The Jedi aren't the only ones that use the Force," came Vashni's reply. He motioned to the row of battered practice dummies. The wooden frames were covered in mildew and rotted through by termites. "You might have noticed that I pushed you off the edge right? Well, with the Force ya can do a hell of a lot more. Lightning is one of my favorite usages of it though. Run one enemy through with your blade and fry the rest with a nice bolt of lightning. I like my meat crispy," the almost jovial tone of Vashni's words contradicted his entire appearance and demeanor. He was human after all. He did have some emotions and, believe it or not, a sense of humor. Albeit, it was twisted and morbid at times, but he still found humor in things.

"You see the dummies, right? Well watch closely." A bolt of blue electricity surged from his gauntleted hand, engulfing the dummies in fields of cyan. They sizzled and cracked like wood in an inferno, one of them even busting into flames. In the span of a second it was over, the dummies cracked and destroyed just as efficiently, if not more so, than when he had demonstrated with his chaingun. "Try it out yourself. Find something to focus on, make it your only thought and let it engulf your mind. Once you've found that state of focus, channel your will into energy. Boil that energy down into a single bolt of lightning and decimate the remaining two dummies."

 

[Niner]

Jac popped his neck again and turned to face the two dummies. He closed his eyes and imagined the family farm, the sun setting over the fields, casting a golden hue across the land. He made it the only thing he was thinking. But when he tried to imagine a bolt of lightning all the happened was a few sparks crackled around his armored hand. Now whether those were from him or the damaged armor...well....

He sighed and tried again, this time the image of the farm was more vivid and he imagined a bolt of lightning striking down into the middle of the field. CRACK!

He opened his eyes and saw the remains of the two dummies, both smoking and blackened from the lightning that had flew from Jac's outstretched fingertips.

 

[Gambler]

The acrid smell of decayed wood placed into a bonfire filled the air. Vashni couldn't smell it due to the oxygen refresher in his magnetic locked helmet, but nevertheless he could remember what the scent was like. It was a sweet and bitter experience that hurt the eyes even as the thick smoke caused a fit of coughing as the microscopic pieces of ash settled into one's lungs. Not a pleasant experience from his memory. Of course, that could have been because he needed drugs to survive and the lightest gust of wind could knock him over. But that was a long time ago. Not just years, but decades. He almost missed the feel of the breeze on his skin and the scent of life filling his nostrils. Almost, but not quite. The nostalgia wasn't enough for him to abandon either layer of his formidable armor. Those shells empowered him and made him more than a warrior. More than an assassin. It made him feel invincible. Sure he had his shortcomings and weaknesses, but his strengths were enough that they outweighed them in his not-so-humble opinion.

Vashni snapped his thoughts back to the present.

The charred remains of the wooden dummies littered the floor. Broken and battered, the once hollow frames of sturdy oak had been obliterated instantly by the crushing bolt of lightning. Nothing survived the long awaited barrage. The wood that was left was charred beyond recognition and Vashni knew that if he put the slightest amount of pressure on the fragments, they would burst like a puss filled mound on an adolescent's face. The extent of the damage was quite high and the bolt had continued on, slamming right into the wall where it left an extensive scorch mark like someone had taken a plasma torch and dug into the wall for a while. It was not a pretty sight, but all things considered, it was quite a few steps forward for the recruit.

"Now you're gonna have to do it again and again."

Vashni said, pressing a button on the wall, a row of four defense droids moving out on a belt arm. They looked like backpacks at first until they activated, adjusting their slim frames and magnetically locking to their legs. Each one carried a standard edition slughtrower BCR-01 infantry rifle. It had a moderate firing rate, good reload time, but the accuracy was lacking. It redeemed for that slight fallback with a large magazine and a cheap market value. Only the best went for training the new recruits for the Sodality. Vashni once more grinned inwardly at his offbeat humor. "You have to learn how to use that lightning repeatedly during combat. The intensity of it doesn't matter. What does matter is whether or not you can hit the droids. Now, if you want to be creative, try to string together one or more droids at a time so that you don't have to worry about getting filled with lead while concentrating on trying to summon a single bolt of lightning. The goal of this exercise is to teach you how to use the Force in combat and to test the edges of your endurance. But most of all you are doing this because I'm bored. Yeah, that's right. You have these crappy tests because I'm supposed to be here and you're supposed to be here. Understood?" Vashni wondered if Jac would pick up on his biting sarcasm. Shrugging, he decided that he didn't care.

"Begin."

 

[Niner]

Jac glanced over at him and raised an eyebrow, "Glad I can please you." He then bolted to a spot behind a pillar, a spray of bullets slamming into the ground on his heels. Jac just managed to dive behind the pillar as the bullets caught up with him. One or two ricocheted off the heel of his heavy metal boots.

Jac sat behind the pillar and put one hand to his ribs, "Fierfek this hurts."

Closing his eyes he filled his mind with thoughts of his farm and when he opened them that was all that was in his head. He rolled out from the pillar and raising both hands sent twin bolts arcing towards two of the droids. One of the bolts slammed into a droid sending it flying back to slam into the wall, the other bolt missed its intended target and instead plowed through four pillars.

Jac decided to favor accuracy from now on, especially as his body was already screaming at him to stop before he hurt himself.....well, hurt himself MORE.

He sent another arcing bolt towards two of the droids that lined up. The bolt passed through both of them, making them explode and sending shrapnel flying.

Jac turned to look for the last droid and found it was right behind him, gun aimed at his torso. Without thinking Jac swung his fist around, lightning building up around it to bring it slamming into the droids torso. The lightning enhanced punch powered through the droids core, disabling it and sending it flying backwards to explode.

 

[Gambler]

Pieces of metal were scattered across the floor in randomized patterns, electricity still jumping from wire to wire from the aftermath of Jac's attacks. Though he had not completed his task without taking damage, he still preformed admirably given the fact that he had just learned how to control the Force and his power armor. "Up for another round?" Vashni asked stoically. Nothing really affected him enough to reply with any enthusiasm. "Try fighting me both mundanely and with the Force. Use whatever weapon you want from the desk over there. Every attack has to be delivered in two ways: first you need to use a mundane attack. Then, directly following that, you need to try to fry me with lightning," what Vashni didn't say was that he had coated the inside of his suit with a non-conductive sealant gel. He waited for Jac to make his move, power sword humming in the air like an archaic yet brutal lightsaber.

 

[Niner]

Jac walked over to the table and gripped another chain sword in his hand, sliding a pistol into it's holster on the armor and picking up one of the large combat knives that bordered on a short sword. He scanned the table again.

"To bad there's not one of those fracking energy swords..."

He sighed and started to turn towards Vashni slowly. As he was turning he envisioned his farm, in an effort to conjure up more lightning, even though it was starting to take a toll on his body. As the image fully solidified he whipped his right arm up, speed enhanced by the suit, and sent an arching bolt of cobalt blue lightning hurtling towards Vashni.

 

[Gambler]

Electricity cackled in the air, slamming into Vashni's super conductive chest plate. In normal circumstances the energy would have been immediately transferred through his suit and into his body, but Vashni was prepared. Before slipping on his exoskeleton he coated the outer layer of his piloting suit with a type of coolant gel that could absorb electricity. The gel wasn't perfect and would dry out after two or three bursts of energy, but it was enough for this training exercise. "Too bad for you," he mocked falsetto. Armored head shaking once in a slow, screeching nod, he continued, "You should have followed that up with a normal attack or even attacked mundanely first. Now I have the advantage," not that there was any question of that of course. But he was still a bit disappointed at the lack of challenge the man presented. "Step up your game, or do you need incentive? How 'bout this: if you don't block you die!" Cyan lightning sizzled into existence even as the boosters on his ankles activated, rocketing him towards his opponent. Energy sword out, he slashed across once, continuing his stream of lightning. It wasn't his strongest burst, but it might damage some of the power armor's systems if left alone too long.

 

[Niner]

Jac smiled slightly under his helmet. He dropped backwards, falling over the table. Pulling it back with him and blocking the lightning streams. He kicked out and his enhance kick sent the thing flying at Vashni.

Jac sent a bolt of cobalt blue lightning sizzling behind the table, hidden from sight by it rolled to his feet. Ready to strike with the chainsword that was in his hand, it's small motor revving.....

 

[Gambler]

The table, just a slab of flying stone and wood, collided with Vashni as he advanced. With his velocity and weight along with the material of his armor, the table splintered almost immediately, the ultrachrome plating on his chest absorbing most of the impact. Once more he felt the sting of energy as the electricity coursed through his suit only to be negated by the gel. Speaking of gel, the stuff coating his inner suit was beginning to dry. Maybe Jac wasn't so bad after all. "I can sill cheat!" He said, his momentum unbroken. He vaguely heard the revving of the chainsword as he threw his second hand forward, making a fist and pulling it back violently. The invisible energy known as the Force surged in the opposite manner of a Force Push. Instead he tried to grab Jac and pull him into his crashing suit for a full on tackle. Considering the weight of their armors and Vashni's current speed, there was no question as to who would take the blunt of the impact.

 

[Niner]

Jac felt himself being pulled off his feet and time slowed for him. He remembered what he had done to stop himself from being killed when he fell. He simply did the same thing, off to the side. The force from the Force Blast threw him to the left instead of being pulled directly into Vashni. His chainsword was still out on his right however, and now his instructor's forward momentum would carry him directly into it's spinning teeth.

 

[Gambler]

"Clever little trick," Vashni breathed through his respirator. "But not clever enough!" His power sword ripped clean through the chainsword. Good thing those were pretty easy to get otherwise the Sodality would be pissed at him for ruining so many in a matter of minutes. The momentum of his rush once more could not be stopped, so he didn't even bother trying. Allowing himself to rush forward some more, Vashni whipped out his heavy chaingun and rolled, crashing into the floor, creating a crater sized dent in the metal before he fired. Dozens of armor piercing shells ripped through the air, the constant ping-ping of the bullets leaving the chaingun sending echos through the factory. He spread out his shots for the arms and legs rather than the chest since he knew Jac had barely any armor left over where the dagger had pierced the durasteel. How about that. Vashni has a spark of kindness in him after all, even when he was firing off a hundred armor piercing bullets at the man's body.

 

[Niner]

The Force push had sent Jac sprawling behind a post, but even that wasn't enough to stop all the rounds coming at him. Quite a few pinged off his exposed leg armor before he pulled his legs in.

"Firefek that hurts." He looked down and saw the dents in the heavy armor from the rounds hitting them. Those sections of plates couldn't take much more.

He sighed and pulled out the pistol. Standing up he moved to the right side of the pillar and faked as if he was going to come around that side, then flipped and came out around the left side.

He squeezed the trigger of the pistol, sending multiple armor piercing rounds at Vashni and sending an arch of lightning at him with his left hand.

 

[Gambler]

Bullet after bullet shot through the air towards Vashni's body. Twisting from his position, he made it so that the bullets rebounded off of the bovine ultrachrome plating on his chest. The resounding ping barely registered in his sonic sensors before the arc of blue lightning soared towards him. This time, instead of absorbing the blow and possibly damaging himself as his gel dried up completely, Vashni deflected it with the subtlest of Force Pushes. He pushed a gentle wave of energy against the lightning, altering its trajectory by the barest fraction of an inch, sending it across his fingers harmlessly before crashing into a wall. The lightning splashed like water against he steel before dissipating, leaving behind extensive scorching on the wall. Not pausing in the slightest, Vashni returned fire just above Jac's body to keep him from ducking back to fire. Taking his left hand off of his chaingun, Vashni focused his mind to bringing down one of the many construction beams littered across the factory. Instead of just one, the beam brought with it a sizable portion of railing, soaring as one towards Jac. It was not the easiest of things to dodge and the railing combined with the beam could dent up the man's armor pretty heavily. Add to that the fact that his armor was already weakened in several points and the end result didn't look too favorably upon the young man.