“Parry, parry, strike. Keep practicing the sequence until it becomes second nature to you.” Turel paced up and down the sparring chamber examining a row of paired off initiates as they executed the drill he had just taught them. He was still very new to the Shadow Academy staff as his crisp professor robes cut in the teal of the Guardian order reflected. The signature Shadow Academy robes, adorned with chains, large order-colored crystals and a black, flowing, cloak were a bit gaudy for Turel’s normal taste. However, he quickly found the wearing of the robes signifying his Professor status while working inside the academy itself was a necessary evil. Academy support staff would fulfill his requests without much hesitation and the robes tended to intimidate Dark Side initiates who would otherwise harass a Jedi. The presence of Odan-Urr Jedi on Lyspair was not without controversy and there were never more than a handful on staff at a time, even during Solari’s tenure as Headmaster. Turel knew combat, and that was what he was hired to research and teach. He left the niceties of Force philosophy to the classrooms of others.
This particular class was small, only twelve initiates, all of the Dark Side path. Despite being a full Professor, Turel only personally taught the very basic lightsaber courses when he was on Lyspair. The more advanced courses were taught by Obelisk blade masters, which the Guardian would often sit in on to improve his own technique. Turel thoroughly enjoyed teaching, even if his Dark Side students could one day face him on the battlefield.
“Watch your stance initiate! If you extend too far during the strike your opponent can knock you off balance and seize the initiative.” The young male Twi’lek initiate Turel had stopped to correct wore the deep blue of the Obelisk order. The budding Obelisk felt a small amount of embarrassment at being corrected in saber form by a Jedi, but quickly fixed the deficiency. Turel resumed walking the line, inspecting the six pairs of initiates going through the drill with their training sabers. He stopped in his tracks for a moment as he felt a familiar presence at the entrance to the sparring chamber.
“I don’t believe it. A Jedi teaching lightsaber combat at the Shadow Academy. I had to see it with my own eyes. Disgraceful.”
Turel didn’t even have to turn around, he immediately recognized the pompous, condescending tone of the Taldyran Knight, Aiden Dru. “A Jedi, yes, but also an accomplished warrior who if I remember correctly defeated you on Nar Shaddaa.” Turel smiled as he didn’t need to see Dru’s face to know that he had struck a nerve.
As Dru stepped into the sparring chamber, the initiates stopped going through their drills to watch the unfolding confrontation between the two Knights. “You ran and hid like a scared Bantha pup and got some bounty hunters to do your dirty work for you.”
“It worked didn’t it.” Turel turned to address his students, “First rule of combat, victory is all that matters. History is written by the winners.”
Dru actually chuckled a bit, “That’s not a very Jedi thing of you to say. What would your masters back in the land of rainbows and happy feelings think?”
The Jedi Knight ignored Dru and continued to address the initiates, “Second rule of combat, never underestimate your opponent. A wise warrior knows that a Knight, regardless of the order, is a formidable opponent worthy of respect. A lesson that my friend Dru here seems to have forgotten.”
“I’m not your friend!”
Turel rolled his eyes, “Fine. My sworn enemy Aiden Dru. Happy? You’re more than welcome to stay for the rest of the class if you sit quietly in the corner and stop interrupting. You might actually learn something.”
Dru stepped into the center of the sparring chamber and pulled his lightsaber from his belt with a cocky smile, “How about you face me here and now and I’ll show these initiates how weak the Jedi actually are. You have no where to run this time.”
The initiates simultaneously uttered an, “Oooooooo,” before launching into a chorus of “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Dru fed off the energy of the impromptu audience for a moment before Turel raised his hand for them to be silent.
“Very well, a demonstration it is. We’ll make this a teaching moment for the class.” Turel moved to the opposite side of the room to remove the top layer and cloak of his professor robes. He was left in a sleeveless white undershirt, boots, and pants with his belt containing his holstered DL-44 pistol, grenades and lightsaber. “That’s more like it.” Turel was actually more intimidating to the initiates without the gaudy robes, as the sleeveless undershirt made his scars and prosthetic arm plainly visible. The metal arm and scars on Turel’s hardened, svelte form displayed the body of man who had seen his fair share of combat, the body of a warrior. More than one of the female initiates began having inappropriate, lustful thoughts about her professor after the Jedi disrobed.
Dru ignited his emerald saber, “If you’re quite finished, it’s time to finish what we started on Nar Shaddaa.”
Turel motioned for the students to stand against the walls on either side of the sparring chamber before igniting his own azure saber in response. He ignored Dru yet again to address the class, “Dru here is a practitioner of Form IV and I am a practitioner of Form III, who can tell me the names of those forms?”
The young Obelisk Turel corrected earlier raised his hand and waited for the Jedi to acknowledge him, “Ataru and Soresu, Professor.”
Turel nodded with approval, “Very good initiate. Now a show of hands who thinks Dru’s Ataru form will prevail over my Soresu?” Eight out of the twelve initiates raised their hands. The Jedi nodded thoughtfully, “I see.”
“Ha! Even the students know the Jedi are weak!”
“Try reading a book sometime Dru, Form III is not only used by the Jedi. Darth Zannah used Soresu to great effect, felling many Jedi Knights and Masters with her blade.”
The Taldryan Knight was done with banter, it was time for his saber to do the talking. Dru interrupted Turel’s pontificating on Form III by launching himself across the chamber to engage the Jedi. The Sith moved with unnatural, blinding speed that would have caught a normal person completely unawares. Turel barely had enough time to get his own saber up in time to deflect Dru’s opening blow aimed to decapitate the Jedi. Dru didn’t let up, jumping and shifting around the Jedi Knight while launching a swarm of quick saber blows trying to probe his adversary’s defenses.
Turel stood his ground, maintaining his own saber close to the center line of his body in true Soresu form, deflecting or parrying Dru’s blows with only enough movement to defeat the attack. The students in the chamber struggled to keep up with the turquoise blur of clashing blue and green sabers as the two Marauders faced off in a deadly contest of speed and skill.
Dru was finally able to land a solid kick to Turel’s chest after a high saber block from the Jedi left his midsection exposed. The Force enhanced momentum of the kick sent Turel flying onto his back with the wind knocked out of him. Dru lept at his downed opponent with a two handed downward stab that should have left a hole in Turel’s chest. Winded though he was, Turel still felt the strong tingle in the back of his mind warning him of impending danger. Forewarned by the Force, the Jedi rolled to one side with less than a second to spare. The Sith Knight was vulnerable for a fleeting moment after impaling his saber into the floor of the sparring chamber. Turel seized the opportunity for a kick of his own to Dru’s shoulder, knocking him off balance and forcing the Taldryan to use the momentum to roll to one side.
The two Knights quickly leapt to their feet and assumed the ready positions of their respective forms. Dru was the first to speak, “Not bad, for a Jedi, but not good enough. Looks like there’s about to be an opening at the Shadow Academy.”
Turel was skeptical, surely Dru wasn’t serious. He wouldn’t actually murder a Professor in the Shadow Academy, in front of a room full of witnesses. Would he? Such a thing wasn’t without precedent but it was certainly frowned upon. He wasn’t about to show any fear though, time to give it back. “Or perhaps Ektrosis will need a new Aedile at day’s end.”
Dru narrowed his focus on his Jedi adversary, “We shall see.”