Open Yavin IV Little bit of everything

[Xiann]

(Open to any Jedi. Primarily a training thread.)
Xiann finished connecting the power cables to the last of the practice dummies she had dragged out of her little garage-shed and it began to release buzzing and whirring sounds as it powered up. She quickly hopped back several paces as the motors did their startup up checks. On more than one occasion she hadn’t been fast enough and had been clobbered by the thing. It was only a training dummy, but it packed a punch.

The engineer looked around the open area in which she spent most of her time in the past months. She had used scraps and spare parts she could scrounge to build a variety of training dummies, point defense drones and even a pair of extremely crappy speeders. While none of these would match up to anything produced by a corporation, they did their job and could take a beating. Well enough for her to train anyway. The engineering process helped keep her mind from plummeting into true despair in the recent months too.

The Twi’lek looked across the forest at the clear sky and light breeze sweep across the nearby forest. “Perhaps some piloting after lunch. It’s not often the weather is this good for it. But first…” She walked over to one of the workbenches in her shed that had one of the spherical Point Defense Drones on it. The drone had a large slice through its outer plating, she had caught it with her lightsaber during her last session and she needed to replace the parts and repair it if she could.

Rock music began to sound when she hit the button to power up the stereo, loud enough to be heard clearly throughout the clearing, but the dense trees and foliage absorbed the sound pretty quickly after that. Few people ever came here, Xiann had been glad of this for the longest time, but now she was starting to feel the pull of being social again. Perhaps she should introduce those padawans she met to this place?

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

Clove paced nervously back and forth in front of the clearing's entrance. She had asked about Xiann's whereabouts, and some students had given her vague responses about seeing her head towards the woods. That explained why she hadn't seen the Twi'lek until the potluck, but it didn't help her search much. And so with nothing else left to do, she began to wander around the forest near the temple until she was rewarded for her efforts with some music in the distance and an off the beaten track leading to the clearing's entrance.

It felt stupid to be so worried: she desperately needed help with training, especially now that Darth Crix had accepted her as his Padawan learner. She wouldn't disappoint him. And, based on Xiann's story from the party, she knew a thing or two about fighting. So it only made sense to track her down and ask for her help. But showing up in a workout outfit? Isn't that going too far? Maybe not, since she was on her way to a 'training area.' She pressed the heels of her Jedi boots into the dirt while looking down at her pink overalls with embroidery and white meditation top.

Just say hai and ask for help. You'll be fine. Xi was very kind last time we spoke!

With one last deep breath, she took a step forward, revealing the entire clearing. It was impressive, to say the least. The clearing was not only beautiful with deep warm green colors and sunlight shining brightly, but it was also loaded with training equipment such as dummies, drones, and speeders. The dummies didn't appear to be as clean or as advanced as the ones used in the temple, but they seemed to be just as sturdy and reliable. Xi was standing in a nearby shed, enveloped by shadows. She couldn't tell what she was tinkering with, but she figured it had to be a drone.

"Hey Xi!" Clove called out, in an attempt to be louder than the music that drummed out of the shed, while approaching her. "Am I interrupting anything?"

---

Tag @Xian ​

 

[Xiann]

Xiann rummaged around in the insides of the drone, all the circuits seemed to be intact. The damage was mostly just the armour and shell, with only a few wires burned through. It was an easy fix that took only a couple of minutes before she was sealing the shell back up. She was about to activate the drone when she heard a voice from behind her in the clearing.

The Twi’lek picked up the machine and spun around to see who it was. It was the pretty Selphi she had met at the Potluck before. Xiann put on her best smile, stepped out of the shed and a few paces towards Clove, “Hello there.” She pressed the switch to activate the drone and it began hovering next to her, “I was just finishing up with-” There was a sparking sound and the drone powered down, dropping from the air next to her with a thud. “Ahem, I was just about to start fixing this thing.” She gave it a swift kick and it rolled back into the shed under a workbench, “But that can wait. What can I do for you, Clove? I have water, tea and a few snacks. Other than that plenty of equipment that can withstand padawans if you want to train a bit away from the crowded areas.”

Xiann eyed the clothes Clove was wearing, they were definitely not designed for physical training. “Though judging by your outfit, I’m guessing you’re just out enjoying a stroll in the woods?”

@LilyNion

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

Clove giggled softly as the drone landed with a thud and some sparkling noises, before tilting her head to the left. "I'm convinced you'll be able to repair it."

"Oh! I forgot to bring water, that would be nice. Thank you very much." She came to a halt and returned her gaze to her own outfit. A stroll? Surely, that was a misunderstanding. These were her most comfortable pants and top, so they had to be perfect for training, right? She shook her head, dismissing the thought, and continued. "No, erhm. I came here to ask for your help with training. Because... I'm not very good at fighting. Actually, it's quite bad. But, based on what I've heard from your stories, you're good and know what you're doing! Of course you do, just look at all those cool drones! Also, this clearing is simply gorgeous; I absolutely love it." What had once been a ramble became quieter, until her voice trailed off and her gaze danced across the clearing. It was truly lovely. It seemed like it would be so much fun to practice here, or hang out with Xi, or perhaps learn something about drones... Have a fun picnic with all the friends...

Her thoughts had begun to wander once more, and she had fallen silent for a few seconds. Then she suddenly blinked and returned her attention to the blue Twi'lek. "So! Would you like to help me? Of course, I'm willing to pay you for the training or teach you something in return! And only if it isn't too much of a bother!" Her lips curled up into her usual warm and gentle smile.

---

Tag @Xian ​

 

[Xiann]

The Twi’lek smiled as Clove spoke, genuinely happy someone liked what she had built. Creating things was what she enjoyed and praise for her effort was always welcome. She gestured for the Selphi to follow her into the shed and opened a refrigeration unit. Inside were multiple bottles of water and a plethora of confectionery of all kinds. From cookies, to chocolate, to ice cream. She had it all, “Help yourself. But treats come after training. Think of it as an incentive to do well. Also if you eat right before training, you can get cramps and that’s not so good. And lesson 1. Be mindful of who you offer payments to. Pretty thing like you, comes out into the middle of the woods and starts offering payments, a Girl may get the wrong idea.” She let out a giggle and blew a kiss with a wink.

Xiann would wait until Clove satiated her thirst before continuing, “So, what is it you want to learn. I don’t know huge amounts, just enough to defend myself and maybe someone else. I’m not great at lightsabers and The Force yet, but I’m pretty handy with blasters and a wrench. I have a few random weapons lying around if you want to try you hand at something less Force based.” She opened one of the larger containers, inside it was filled with one handed weapons with all the sharp and pointy bits wrapped, “Always handy to know how to fight with several weapons.”

The Twi’lek paused as she thought for a moment, “There is unarmed combat too. Being able to rely on your own body when everything goes sideways. But I’m pretty sure that the temple will teach that too, and our styles will differ very much so. They will teach the idea of it, particular stances and strikes that while effective, won’t always be possible to do. I learned to fight on the streets…” She gestured to Clove, “...the stories you mentioned, so my style is more…” She waved her hands around as if trying to summon the word she was looking for with sorcery, “...dirty, I guess would be the term. In a 1v1 sparring session, you won’t always come out victorious, but when you’re out fighting for your life, you will stand a better chance.”

Xiann beamed a smile at her new trainee, “But first I think maybe you should change into something that is less likely to be ruined by rolling around in the dirt.” She wandered over to a container next to what looked like a rudimentary shower, and riffled through it for a few moments, “Here these should fit you. You’re a bit shorter than me but we’re built similarly. Don’t worry, they’re clean.” She smiled as she placed the clothes on a clean workbench and headed outside, passing the two speeders, “Oh and these speeders work too, so we can do some basic piloting lessons too if you need them.”

The Twi’lek waited just outside the shed with her back turned, the offer of clothes wasn’t a demand, but if they were doing combat training something trim and durable would be easier to learn in. Whether or not Clove chose to change was up to her though, Xiann just waited outside for her to come out.

@LilyNion

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

The shed looked somewhat cozy, owing to the fact that it was clearly lived in. Plus, with a refrigerator full of chocolate, cookies, and ice cream, anything becomes homely! Cookies. She looked longingly at a cookie covered in white chocolate and topped with some sort of nut. "That'll be a great motivator!" clove thought as she took a bottle of water from the unit..

Pretty girl? Giving the wrong idea? Wait. Oh, no! Did she resemble one of those creepy con artists who dress in leather coats? Dear Force. "I'm sorry. I'll keep that in mind!" That was all Clove could manage to say to lesson one, because her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment and her fingers were fiddling with the bottle's lid. She managed to open the bottle of water, which had suddenly become very interesting, and began to drink from it.

The cold water helped to ease her concerns, if only by distracting her, and once she was finished, Xi thankfully continued.

"Hmmm. I think that in the long run, it'd be useful to know some blaster stuff, defending stuff and... Maybe some arm strength training?" She lowered her eyes towards the container, which looked incredibly dangerous. "I'm... not brave enough for those just yet." She admitted with a sheepish smile while closing the bottle of water and shifting her weight to her right leg. "Unarmed combat is always welcome as well. But that's a lot to ask of you, so... I'm already happy with whatever you decide to teach!"

Another remark on her clothing. Was it genuinely unfit for fighting? Her free hand idly traced around one of the straps of her overalls as she considered changing her outfit. Despite how much she adored her overalls, the blue Twi'lek had far more experience than she did. It might be a good idea to change. "Okay! There's no need for flying lessons by the way, because I've already taken care of that!" She called after Xi, who had walked away to give her some privacy.

With a slight huff, she took off the pink overalls, folded them next to Xi's pile of clothing on the workbench, and grabbed the black tight pants. It took her a few minutes and a lot of jumping and kicking of her legs to actually put on the snug pants, but she eventually managed. She then eyed the light brown crop-top, followed by her own white crop-top, which was a proper yoga top. She decided to keep her own Jedi boots and top after some thought, figuring they'd be fine.

"Okay! I'm ready Xi—" She blinked. That's the second time she had called her Xi. "Can I call you Xi?"

She approached her in the lovely clearing and warmed up her muscles by stretching her arms as high as she could over her head. "Where do we begin, teacher?"

---

Tag @Xian ​

 

[Xiann]

Xiann patiently waited as she heard Clove getting changed behind her, the temptation to peek was great but she barely knew her and was unsure how she’d take it. She knew Drast and Lani would laugh and make jokes, but they were cut from similar cloth to herself, her new friend was still an unknown. When she heard the Selphi walking up to her and talk about the training she was thinking about Xiann nodded along and thought about the best way to teach them.

The Twi’lek smiled as she saw Clove in her clothes. Two may be built similarly but there were at least some differences it seemed. “When I get a chance I’ll make some adjustments so that they will be more comfortable next time.” A wicked grin crossed her lips, “Though, perfect for lesson 2. For people with....” She pondered the next phrase carefully as to not be too forward or crass, “...Physiques like ours, dressing in such a way can give you more tactical advantages than you first realise.”

The grin dropped back to a regular smile as she stepped over to a tall cabinet and after a few taps on her wrist PDA it clicked and slid open to reveal several blaster pistols and rifles. “Now as a Jedi you probably want to favour mobility over shear firepower soooo. This one.” She picked up a Quicksilver Pistol, “It’s a light pistol so it’s enough to stun a humanoid and down or ,if you turn it up, deal a fair amount of damage. Pretty good for a starter. I’m more of a Westar Girl, but this will do in a pinch.” She then gestured to the wall hooks next to the cabinet, “So you prefer a thigh holster like me? Or belt to go with your lightsaber? Come grab whichever and see what fits.”

As Xiann waited for Clove to pick and equip whichever, she went outside and with a few more wrist button presses one of the spherical droids whirred to life and hovered about 5 metres away from her. She took the proper stance so she aim properly and fired off a few test rounds. They hit the droid with a satisfying hiss, though the droid seemed undamaged by them. “Ok, sights are sound, powers on low and we’re good to go whenever you are Cutie. And yes, Xi is fine.” She beamed a smile at Clove and held the blaster out, “Let’s see what your instincts say, take a few shots. Don’t worry if you miss, the only thing in that direction is trees.”

@LilyNion

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

What about her physiques? Clove returned her gaze to her own clothing and the sliver of flesh visible through it. Tactical advantages? She was perplexed by it and decided she'd have to ask Crix.

The Twi'lek walked over to the fancy-looking cabinet and revealed several guns. Clove took a curious step closer, rising on the tips of her toes to get a better look at the higher ones. Her eyes lingered for a split second on a rifle with a scope before returning to the light pistol in Xi's hands. A great first starter gun! "Then let's give that a go! I'm glad it's just a stun one." She smiled timidly and followed her gesture to the wall hooks. "I already have a waist belt, but it's stuffed with pouches; I think I only have enough room for a lightsaber and that's it. Leg straps would be the best option for a blaster."

She approached the thigh holster and slid it over her right leg. She made sure it was properly secured around her thigh so it didn't fall down in the middle of her training session.

She heard Xi shoot several times while putting on the thigh holster, and based on the sounds, she hit the drones. Clove's ears twitched excitedly, and she hopped back towards her new friend as she landed the final two shots. "You have good aim!" she exclaimed, her voice bubbly. The word "cutie" caught her off guard, and her cheeks flushed a deep pink within seconds. She quickly grabbed the blaster and rotated it in her hands until it was secure.

As she gazed at the Quicksilver pistol in her hands, her heart began to rush in her chest, because she realized she had never held anything other than a scalpel or a training lightsaber. This was a genuine weapon capable of inflicting harm. Xi's reassurance that the only things in danger were the trees managed to calm her down before her mind began to wander, and she took a few deep breaths to slow her heartbeat.

What was Xi's stance again? Right. Knees spread, feet firmly planted on the ground, spine straight, elbows straight. She held the pistol in front of her, doing her best to imitate the stance as closely as possible. She looked to Xi for approval, and when she got it, she took another breath, though this time it was shallower and more focused. She got ready and fired!

The shot missed the droid completely, and instead found another victim; the tree on the right of it.

Fortunately, the recoil was light enough that she didn't fall over, but it was bad enough that she had to reposition herself to get back into the stance. Shooting was strange, and the sound was close enough to her head that her ears had flattened. Still, can't quit now! She shifted her aim slightly to the left and fired again. The shot was still too far to the right, but it was getting better. And it became much easier to recover from the recoil now that she knew what to expect.

After another slight adjustment to her aim, she finally landed a shot on the very right side of the droid's casing. Sure, it wasn't the middle like she'd aimed for, and it was more of a graze than a shot, but in her opinion, it was still a successful shot! She smiled like a child on Life days eve as she looked at Xi with bright and excited eyes. "I did it!"

She then lowered her pistol down to the ground while still focusing on Xi, ready to hear what she had done wrong and how to improve.

---

Tag @Xian ​

 

[Xiann]

Xiann smiled at Clove’s comment, “Thanks. I have many years of practice.” She watched as her new student did her best to copy the shooting stance and looked at the droid as she took her first few shots. Tree. Tree. Droid. Clove practically jumped with glee after hitting the thing, “So you did. Good job, it usually takes a few more shots to get used to it. Now let’s see what you did.” She beamed at the Selphie as she tapped on her wrist pad and the droid floated over towards them.

The Twi’lek positioned the droid so the impact sight was in the light so they could see it properly. “It was a glancing shot.” She gestured to the scorch mark on the sphere, “With that power of that pistol, it won’t do much against combat droids or heavily armoured people but if you hit on flesh or wiring… Well, you’re a doctor, I’m sure you can guess at the injuries.” She turned and looked around the shed before finding her jacket and bringing it over and tapping where the duraplast inserts were, “Even this armour will be enough to negate the worst of the damage, but not totally.”

Xiann ran her fingers over the scorched area on the droids casing before humming slightly as she thought about it, “If you would have hit me in my jacket, for example, I’d have a few burns and a bit of pain, but nothing that wouldn’t heal easily and it definitely would take me out of the fight.” She placed the jacket on the table nearby and sent the droid back out to roughly the same position.

As she turned back to Clove she began the next lesson, “Here at the temple you will probably be taught how to fight till the last, you succeed in your mission or die trying. I will teach you how to fight to survive. That said, Lesson Three, Use minimum necessary force to take your opponent out of the fight. Sometimes that would be just to kill them with a headshot, if you can make it.” The Twi’lek pulled one of her own pistols, took a second to aim and shot at the training dummy twice the distance as the floating sphere. The blaster made a much deeper noise when it fired, before it hit squarely on the dummy’s head. It whirred to life as its limbs began to flail around in an attempt to fend off the attacker. “But sometimes you hit them elsewhere to take them out of the fight.”

She quickly raised her pistol again and shot but this time off to the side nowhere near the dummy. A loud fizzing and sparking noise hissed through the clearing before the dummy stopped moving and powered down, “Usually it’s limbs, but the environment works too.” She gestured to the power cable she just shot through and her smile twitched slightly as her brain caught up to what she had just done, “Guess CQC training will have to wait for another day…”

Xiann shook her head slightly as she holstered her pistol again, “Now that I have just made more work for myself, why don’t you try a few more shots you should have fourteen left before you need to reload. Let’s see how many you can land.” She took her place behind Clove and jumped up to sit on the table to watch her shoot. While her focus was mostly on the shooting, it was slightly drawn to the Selphi herself, she really did look good in those pants.

@LilyNion

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

Clove leaned over the sphere droid, inspecting the scorch mark on its surface. "Yeh. I can take a good guess." She grimaced, recalling a few blaster shots she'd seen up close. Xiann's explanation of the armor was incredibly fascinating and useful; she hadn't realized how useful even a lined coat could be.

"Huh. I hadn't considered that before. Is there a reason why the standard Jedi outfit lacks any type of armor if even the slightest bit is already so effective?" She motioned to the coat that the Twi'lek had just placed on top of the table.

The lesson went on, and she had to fight back the second grimace. The thought of having to shoot an enemy's head made her sick. A necessary evil, but still sickening. Then inspiration struck her as the lesson's main point finally hit home. "That is true. There are numerous parts of the body that can be very effectively damaged! A good example is the achilles' heel. With just one slice, the entire leg is rendered useless! If you hit the flexor tendons in the right place, the enemy will no longer be able to hold their weapon."

Perhaps that wasn't such a bad idea after all. However, not with a blaster. Still, the seed was planted and wouldn't go away for a long time.

"Amazing shot." She smiled; it was genuinely impressive how Xiann hit the power cable so precisely while looking casual about it.

The half-Saphi repositioned herself in front of the sphere droid, raising her arms into the air and taking a deep breath. "Right. Fourteen shots. I can do that. "

It's a miracle she didn't shoot a bird out of the air with her first two shots, because they were not anywhere near the droid. Then, just like the first time, she was able to properly readjust herself and her aim, allowing her shot to make contact with the top of the droid's sphere. The next shot missed again.

But then something happened, whether it was luck or something clicking in her head, but the bolt slammed right into the middle of the droid.

Whatever it was, it didn't last very long. While she managed to hit the target two more times in total, the other shots spectacularly missed the droid and she was convinced she had shot something living in the forest this time around. She wanted to fire more shots, but the clicking sound of the blaster reminded her that she had run out of ammunition and needed to reload.

Clove did a quick count in her head; four hit the target, ten missed.

With a sheepish smile, she lowered her gun and returned her gaze back towards the blue-skinned Twi'lek. "Well. I at least managed to hit something!"

---

Spoiler: OOC:

Rolled for the 14 shots! I gave myself a pass at anything higher than 14. rolls in order are; 4, 6, 18, 10, 20, 9, 7, 10, 13, 15, 4, 8, 19, 14

Tag @Xian ​

 

[Xiann]

Xiann chuckled as Clove talked about the various weak points most humanoids share but waited for her to finish her shooting before talking, “Ching! That is exactly what I mean. Though I’m more a fan of blunt force.” She pointed at the Omniwrench on the workbench where she was working when Clove turned up. “Armour is good at stopping bolts and knives, but you will always feel the impact of a good bludgeoning. I don’t know specifically about Jedi armour, but my guess would be the armour plating would weigh them down. Jedi tend to bounce around a lot in fights, makes them harder to hit. Plus Lightsabers can deflect the bolts too.” She paused as an idea drifted through her head, “I wonder how a lightsaber would hold up against slug throwers. Definitely wouldn’t help against fire…” She snapped herself back to the moment.

The Twi’lek hopped off the table and smiled at the Selphi, “Five out of seventeen, that’s pretty good for a first timer.” She smiled as she noticed the way Clove was holding the gun down, “Also, good blaster safety, just remember to keep your pointer off the trigger too. Only put your finger on the trigger if you want to shoot. Now, reloading.” She tapped a button on her PDA and the cabinet next to the one full of blaster clicked and swung open revealing a variety of power packs all wired in and charged.

“Use the lock on the back there to release the battery pack and then swap it out with the same one from in there. Make sure you hear the click to know that it’s secure to charge, and give it a bit of a love tap in the blaster to make sure the lock engages. Once that’s done you can shoot again, or try another if you want. It does help to be verse in multiple incase you need to use a different blaster than your preferred.” Xiann gestured to the two cabinets, she had shown her student the very basics and it was time for the practicing.

She walked over to one side of the shed and flicked a switch and the green light over it turned red. Best not leave the power on to an exposed power line. Looking at the pile of spherical droids she had an idea. With a few button presses on her PDA the entire pile whirred to life and began to hover at various heights and ranges, “There, now you can pick a target too.”

@LilyNion

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

Clove quickly removed her finger from the trigger. "Oh! That seems like a good thing to remember." She replied cheerfully before raising her gaze to the cabinet containing power packs.

"Right. Okay." She nodded twice while listening, then returned her attention to the blaster in her hand. That didn't seem too difficult. The half-Sephi rotated the blaster a few times before she noticed the lock on the back. She pressed the lock gently and caught the battery pack as it came loose. Clove approached the cabinet, empty pack in hand, and took a look around. It had to be the same as the one she had previously held in her blaster. She quickly found an identical-looking pack and gently removed it from the cabinet. With a few taps she inserted the fully charged battery pack into the blaster until she heard a satisfying click.

Her gaze shifted away from the blaster and met Xi's, her lips curled into a happy and proud smile.

"I'm going to give this one another shot. But once we've run out of ammunition again, I'd like to try something with a scope!"

The sounds of the droids coming to life and hovering above the ground almost mystical. She simply stared at them in silence for a split second, her eyes glittering with wonder.

Then she jerked back to life, stepped back to her original location, and slid into the stance that had served her well thus far. Clove gave Xi one more look and smile before locking her gaze on the droids ahead of her. Her fingers curled around the trigger as she lifted the blaster into the air. She decided to start with the ones closest to her.

It became easier for her to hit the droid spheres now that she was getting a little more comfortable with shooting. She took her time between shots to readjust her aim, allowing her to land six of the ten shots she fired at the droids closest to her.

Then came the next row of droids, which she judged to be in the middle of the field. Because of her previous hits' confidence and slightly longer range, she was able to hit the first sphere droid square in the middle. Clove tried again, and after two more shots, she hit the middle of the sphere droid once more. Then her luck ran out, and she missed every other shot. One of the shots missed its target so tragically it landed on a relatively thin branch instead. The bolt burned through the branch, causing the wood to huff and creak before gravity won the battle and snapped the branch off the tree. With a loud ruffling of leaves, the branch fell to the forest floor.

"... Whoops."

Clove, now humbled by her string of misses, decided to try her luck with the back row. That turned out to be a colossal flop. Only a single shot managed to scrape the right side of a sphere droid. The other nine shots were all legendary misses. She tried to shoot again, but nothing but a protesting sound escaped the blaster; the battery pack was empty.

"Well, then." She pursed her lips briefly before lowering her gun, her finger sliding off the trigger. She then turned to face Xi, bouncing on her heels. "That was awesome, Xi!"

---

Tag @Xian ​

 

[Xiann]

Xiann watched as Clove followed instructions and reloaded the blaster properly, before retaking her stance and taking shots at each row of droids in turn. She leaned against the wall and smiled as she saw Clove’s smile never faltered the entire time she was shooting, she was enjoying this and she wasn’t even trying to hide it.

The Twi’lek smiled too as the Selphi fired down range and though she hit less than half her shots, it was still an impressive number. Especially the glancing blow on the far droid. When the shooting stopped and her student was practically dancing with excitement, Xiann gave her a round of applause, “Very impressive. It took me a few extra tries to be able to hit something at that range when I started. Now swap out you power pack and holster it. You said you want something with a scope and a bit of range, let’s see what we have.”

Xiann tapped her PDA as she walked over to the other side of the shed. The spherical droids all maneuvered further away from the opening and fanned out just in front of the treeline. When she reached the gun cabinet she glanced over the few rifles she had managed to collect. She prefered blasters and only picked these up to practice with ‘just in case’. All except one that is. Her hand came to rest on the back of a BM-548 and her smile completely vanished as she remembered it’s old owner. It took her a moment to compose herself and she grabbed an E-11 instead. Functional and fairly reliable.

Her smile would be back on her lips when she turned to face Clove, “Here we are, E-11. Reliable, large capacity and quite accurate in the right hands. Even at range.” She offered the rifle to the Selphi, “It also has a bigger kick than that Quicksilver, so be prepared for it. This one can punch straight through most of the armour I wear. My gloves could stop it, but my reactions are unlikely fast enough to deflect blaster bolts with my wrists.” She chuckled slightly.

After Clove had taken the blaster, she walked back to the centre of the shed and took a similar stance, but this time raising her arms to show the rifle should be tucked into her shoulder, “You should lean forward slightly when you fire to help absorb the recoil and make sure the stock as securely pressed against your shoulder, if there is even the slightest gap you’re going to hurt yourself. It also helps steady it for aiming. Take it slow with your shots until you get used to the kick, or your accuracy will suffer.” Xiann then dropped down to one knee but her upper body didn’t move, “This will steady you more for those longer shots, but it also lowers your mobility, so beware of that.”

A thought wandered into her head at that mention, “Speaking of… This is not a close ranged weapon, If you find yourself using this in battle and your enemy gets close, drop it and pull your saber or pistol. Or both if you think you’re skilled enough. Don’t worry about dropping equipment if it’s going to slow you down. Lightsabers and pistols usually won’t be an issue but rifles, explosives, backpacks, anything big, bulky or heavy gets ditched. We don’t have much in the way of armour, we’re not exactly mandalorians or have Drast’s armour, so we can’t afford to be shot even once. Once your enemy is defeated you can always go back and pick up whatever you dropped and if not, it can be replaced. Your life cannot.” She stood up again and gestured for Clove to try her hand at the rifle, “Now, let’s see what you can do with a medium weapon, hmm?” She beamed a smile at the youngster, genuinely curious as to how quickly she would be able to adjust to the new power of this weapon.

@LilyNion

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

The round of applause made Clove feel conflicted. On one hand, Xi was proud of her and gave her applause! On the other hand, it's a round of applause. Has anyone ever figured out what to do when somebody applauds you?

Thankfully the beautiful Twi'lek continued the lesson.

"Okay, okay." She nodded along to the instructions, swapped out the power pack as quickly as she could before holstering the blaster on the holster on her thigh. The half-Sephi stared at the filled holster for a moment, before grinning. It felt badass.

Clove's eyes were right back on the teacher as Xi continued. She grabbed the E-1 in her hands and spun it around a few times, admiring how it looked. After Xi showed her how to hold the rifle correctly. Tuck the stock against the shoulder, make sure there's no room, lean forward, and go slowly. Oh, and kneel on one knee.

That all sounded easy enough.

"That makes sense. It feels a bit silly to just drop a weapon but you are right, getting shot just because you want to hold a rifle in your arms isn't a very good payoff. Plus I assume it isn't too hard to get your hands on a new rifle or blaster." She let out a chuckle before walking toward the sphere droids. "Time to give it a try!"

The half-Sephi knelt on one knee, tucked the stock against her shoulder, and leaned against it. She clenched her hands around the rifle and lowered her gaze to peer through the scope. She took her time lining up the shot, just as Xi had recommended. And after feeling confident with her aim, she curled her finger around the trigger and fired.

The recoil was far worse than Clove had expected, and the stock wasn't tucked securely enough against her shoulder. Ontop of that, she simply didn't have the strength in her arms to keep the rifle in place. As a result, the rifle smashed against her shoulder and the scope collided with her eye. Clove stumbled backwards until she crashed on the ground, rifle aimed up in the sky.

Clove remembered Xi's earlier remark about good gun safety, so while still lying on her back, she took her finger off the trigger and lowered the rifle until it was flat and safe on the ground.

"... Ouch."

---

Tag @Xian ​

 

[Xiann]

Xiann watched Clove take her stance, going straight for the kneel. A good choice for a first shot, it should have helped her with handling the kick. Should have, but she didn’t tuck properly and the Twi’lek noticed a moment too late. As she took a step forward to correct the Selphi the rifle fired knocking it’s wielder back on to the ground.

Xiann let out a little yelp of surprise and quickly sidestepped as the blaster fell pointed in her direction. A few more quick steps and she was on the opposite side and kneeled down next to Clove. First she checked her knee, a fall like that could have twisted it or worse. It looked fine and Clove wasn’t exactly writhing in pain, so it was nothing serious even if it was injured. She followed up by applying a small amount of pressure to see if it was even sore, though looking from the angle of her leg it simply twisted out of the way when she fell backwards. For someone with so little in the way of physical training she appeared to be incredibly flexible.

The Twi’lek looked up to the rest of Clove, even though she couldn’t see the shoulder she knew it must be hurting and she had some redness around her eye, the scope must have hit her. “Hold on a second.” Xiann got up and went to the freezer and after a couple of seconds rummaging in it came out with a cold gel pack, she wrapped in in a thin towel and laid it on Clove’s shoulder, “Just let that sit for a minute, I’ll get you a cloth for your eye too.” She grabbed another small towel and ran it under the cold water, folded and pressed out the excess and returned to place it over Clove’s eye, “There. Just take it easy for a few minutes, those are going to be sore for a while. Sorry this is all I have for this kind of injury down here, I don’t usually get these injuries any more and you’re the first guest in a while, but I can offer to kiss them better if that will help.”

She would wait until Clove seemed to recover from the shock of the impact before asking, “So, what do you think went wrong?” While the question itself was serious, she was still smiling to show she wasn’t annoyed at the failure. She wanted to know if Clove could understand her own mistakes.

@LilyNion

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

After the blue Twi'lek checked for any heavy injury, like a broken knee, Clove slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her shoulder was hurting like a ship rammed against it at full speed, and her eye throbbing, but thankfully that seemed to be the only injury she got.

"Sorry about that." The half-Sephi finally replied shyly after staying in silence for a hand full of seconds. Xiann had been an absolute dear and was running around with wet towels and a cold gel pack. The moment the towel hit her eyes she let out a soft sigh of relief. "Thank you for the wet towel. That feels much better. Don't worry, this is far more than enough. Plus I can't blame you for my own injuries."

The kiss offer caught her more off guard than the recoil of the rifle. Speechless the only thing she managed was to giggle before focusing her eyes on the rifle that was laying on the ground next to them. It was a very fascinating rifle. Very pretty and oh oh, look at those colors! And the shape of it! Very neatly put together! Yups!

After finding a lot of new details on the sniper like a really awesome screw on the back of the stock and that the scope had a ring around the lens, Xi broke the silence by asking her if she knew what she did wrong.

What was it she did wrong again? Oh, right.

"Well. For starters, I didn't pay close enough attention to the lesson, obviously." Clove said with a warm smile before continuing more seriously. "The stock slammed into my shoulder, and judging by my eye, the scope swung backward as well. This means that there was too much space between my shoulder and the stock, allowing the rifle to move. I should've pressed it tighter against my shoulder."

---

Tag @Xian ​

 

[Xiann]

Xiann carefully inspected Clo as she got up to see if there was any damage from fall itself, but she seemed well enough. She’d have a few bruises but she’ll heal. The Twi’lek stood and went over to the freezer and pulled out a couple of small tubs of ice cream, grabbed some spoons from the drawer and headed back to Clove.

She handed over a tub and spoon and nodded, “It’s not so much you didn’t listen but you didn’t absorb. Which isn’t entirely your fault, this is a bit of a crash course after all and now you’ve had your crash.” She grinned, “But otherwise yes, your main problem was the gap between stock and shoulder. You’ll still feel the recoil even then, but it will reduced if you brace properly.”

The Twi’lek let out a little moan of joy as she had her first spoonful of ice cream. She let the enjoyment linger for a moment before moving on, “Since I would recommend resting your shoulder, at least for a short while, why don’t we talk more about situational awareness, tactics and so on. The more theory side of combat.”

Xiann paused and looked around as she thought, “Here’s a basic one. What is the most dangerous thing in our little glade?” She grinned as she took another mouthful of ice cream and wondered what answer someone as innocent as Clove would come up with.

@LilyNion

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

Clove's eyes widened for a split second at the sight of ice cream, and it took all of her strength not to snatch the tube from Xiann's grasp. "Thank you!"

She opened the tube while listening to the teacher's explanation, dug her spoon into the delicious-looking ice cream, and eagerly took a bite.

Xi's reaction was not exaggerated. That ice cream was divine. Like an angel peeing on your tongue, as her father would say.

"Mhmm— all right." Before continuing, she quickly licked her lips clean. "I'll brace myself better the next time. I'm guessing this is one of those mistakes you make once and never make again?" Before taking another spoonful of ice cream, the half-Sephi laughed softly.

There was something strikingly relaxing about sitting in an open field with the sun on their faces and eating god-like ice cream. So the idea of a more casual discussion about the theoretical side of combat sounded appealing. "Yeh, sure!"

What was the most dangerous thing in the small glade? Well in all honesty, Clove wasn't sure what 'glade' meant but she assumed it meant the open clearing. The half-Sephi looked around the area, the spoon between her lips, thinking about the dangers. The obvious answer was the weapons and equipment available, but she doubted it was that simple. So she had to dig deeper.

"Well, the trees could be a danger because it'd be relatively easy for somebody to sneak up on us. Hmm. I'm not sure... You?"

---

Tag @Xian ​

 

[Xiann]

Xiann smiled as she listened to Clove’s responses, they were far more thought out than she expected. She was surprised that the innocent lass before her didn’t just say the weapons, or the droids. “I wouldn’t say the trees themselves are a danger, but you are right that they can be very good at hiding things that are dangerous. As for me…” She let out a small giggle, “... Sure I can be dangerous, and under normal circumstances, or if you were someone else, I would agree with you.”

The twi’lek paused and furrowed her brow as she tried to think of a way to explain what she thought the biggest danger was, “Right now though, I would say that you are the biggest danger here. Both to me and yourself.” She pointed her ice cream laden spoon at Clove injured shoulder, “You are relatively untrained, and that makes you unpredictable. And while your opponents may not be able to correctly guess your next move, you’re inexperience and lack of training make you just as much a danger to allies as you are to enemies. Such as when you fell, if you accidentally fired it again the bolt could have gone anywhere, into anything or anyone.”

Xiann took a few moments to enjoy her ice cream and let the lesson set in a little before circling back to herself being a danger, “I’m impressed you had the thought to class me as a danger even though I’m not a threat right now. But I'm curious.” She leaned forward as she rounded her shoulders slightly to cause the neck of her top to open, revealing a little extra than before. Her face quickly morphed to the sultry expression her other friends had become used to and her voice changed to match as she continued, “What exactly is it about me that you find dangerous?”

@LilyNion

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

With the spoon stuck between her lips again, Clove nodded along with Xi's explanation about the biggest danger; herself. Because that made a lot of sense. Especially after the example of the gun that had fallen dangerously; sure she corrected it afterward, but there was still a moment where the gun was a genuine danger because of her inexperience.

"Huh. Hadn't even considered that, but that's fair. I'm obviously a danger to myself but by being a danger to myself, I also become a danger to others. That makes sense" She scrunched her nose for a moment and pulled the spoon out of her mouth, so she was no longer mumbling. "Like... Okay, I know another example to your point! Imagine if this wasn't a rifle but a bigger weapon, or something like a grenade or something. Sure I'd be dead, but so would you. Now imagine that happening on a field with more than one ally?! That'd be a massive disaster."

The half-Sephi took another spoon full of icecream and stared at the Twi'lek as she leaned forwards, revealing more skin at the top of the shirt. Twi'lek's really had gorgeous skin and Xi was no exception to that rule. She wondered what type of pigmentation would've caused such a vibrant blue color. And that wonder led into a whole different thought, or imagination even; that of dresses and other outfits on Xi. Something like a vibrant red-pinkish dress or a beautiful soft yellow skirt would look so pretty.

Oh right, Xi was asking something.

"Uhmmm. Well, you have a lot of knowledge and you know how to fight dirty. You are clearly skilled with more weapons than just a lightsaber. You are smooth with your words. I think you'd kick the average Sith's butt with a lot of ease. And mine for certain. Plus, another key point as to why are dangerous is because this is your area. You know everything here. Where your weapons are, where to hide, where to look. This is your place."

---

Tag @Xian ​