"Would be happy too, join you in some crafting," adds the Devaronian.

May I join you masters? Jorin asks, thinking back to the fighting style. I think I'd like to make a training shoto.

"Whether assisting or making your own, you are most certainly welcome!" Mireska said to Jorin.

Jorin nodded his thanks, Thank you Master... I feel this war will require us to adapt much more than we think... Jorin thinks to himself, the Shoto will at least help with incoming blaster fire.. Jorin looks towards the confining spaces of urban warfare, a Shoto would also be very handy in these types of environments. Perhaps when he is proficient in the use of the training shoto, he could make a real one.

Together with his fellow Jedi and the assistance of the clone mechanic Ker'see began working on her new lightsaber. She leaned on their knowledge and became the hands to work on the new weapon. She took the sniper in her hand and appreciate the power of the weapon and feel the history of what it could do.

Taking a fusion cutter she cuts down the barrel and handle for the base. Inside she found the energy core of the rifle and carefully removed it. They toiled for hours suiting the handle to her hand and once the training emitter was ready she clicked it in place. The pure white blade of a stun blade lit up the workplace and she swung it a few times getting a feel for it. It wasn't her blade of years...but it would do.

" On it!, " Boomstick replied, launching a grenade into the front lines of the droid battalion, the Ion pulse sending a swathe of the droids to the ground. The laser fire continued to come in, in a sea of never ending red, a constant stream of smoke rising from the various spots of cover the clone troopers were firing behind. " Camo! Get through that door! We can't hold them forever! " Condor said as he turned to see that Varactyl still hadn't made it through. The movement had brought him out of cover and as he turned back, a laser struck him in the head, cracking his visor and sending him to the ground. The pain was blinding at first, but he didn't have time to lay there, pushing himself back to his feet and firing over the barrier, destroying another line of of the droids.

Havoc pops up from behind his cover to shoot and cover the commando, but a bolt takes him in the shoulder. Hearing Condor's urging and Hawk calling out the hits, Camouflage swears again as he fights with the lock on the door. After another moment, he finally gets it. The lock opens, but Camouflage doesn't open the door yet. "Condor! Cover us! Varactyls, let's go go go!" The ARC's squad pulls back as Balyeg squad continues to fire at the droids. Havoc moves a bit slower than the others, but follows them to the door. Camouflage opens it as soon as they are in position and they open fire on the droids inside, dropping three of them.

Happy with her new saber and reflecting on her recent fight Ker'see sees a training target. She activates the blade and taking it in both hands, feeling the force flow through her and taking careful aim she launches the weapon. It slices through the air with a subtle, white static spinning on an axis.

The weapon hits after picking up speed and strikes quickly 4 times with a crackle of stun damage before returning to the Jedi's hand.

"That'll do," smiles the Devaronian, turning to her friends with a little too much pride.

Mireska stared at the flying lightsabre's path, impressed by it's flickering lethality - or what would be lethality were it not a training 'sabre.

"Impressive," she replied as she turned to Ker'see. Mireska then caught the expression on Ker'see's face and felt a flicker of anxiety. "I'm glad that it's a training 'sabre, though. It'll be better to take the bounty hunter into custody than to kill him. We need to find out what his connection is with the CIS and Dooku. I have the sneaking suspicion that he's sitting on some valuable intel."

Ker'see gives Mireska a flat look, dropping the smile as quick as it appeared. "That bounty hunter is dangerous, while custody may be an option I would advise that we approach the conflict with an intent to defeat not capture."

Jorin's eyes widened as the blade flew through the air, hit the target, and returned to Ker'see's hand.

Most impressive , Jorin said agreeing with Mireska. The possibilities raced through his mind.. a variation on the younglings use of dual shotos in rapid strikes. Jorin's idea of a defense shoto used with an offensive shoto or saber. One for ranged and conventional attacks, the other kept close for parrying melee and deflecting incoming ranged attacks.

He would need assistance in the manufacturing and training... perhaps after this current deployment he could consult with the Masters at the Temple.

Masters, I believe I have an idea for my training.. he said, holding up his datapad qued to his extensive notes of lightsabers, fighting styles and specialist skills.

"Let's see ..." Mireska said, looking over Jorin's shoulder at his datapad. "That's a number of different styles that you've got there, but we should be able to help you with most of that."

She looked over the shoto plans.

"Am I correct in thinking that you want the shoto for merely defensive purposes?" she asked. "If so, then you might want to consider a Lorrdian for its crystal. They prefer defending their users over attacking. I'm considering acquiring one myself, when I put a cyclic crystal array into my hilt."

Mireska turned over the shoto concept in her mind a bit more.

"Actually, a guard shoto might be a good idea for myself too if for some reason I can't use my portable plasma shield. I'll have to meditate on that idea."

Yes Master, I was thinking of it for it's defensive capabilities, rather than the dual combat style of the youngling I trained with... At least until I am more proficient in my own abilities. He pointed to the specs for the guard shoto, I would like to eventually utilize this one day, but for now I'd like to make a standard shoto to train with.

As for my training as a Knight.. I've been giving some thought towards the Sentinel disciplines of Sentry and Shien . I feel they would complement the mission requirements of the men I am leading into battle...

@ShockHelix

The droids fire at condor and his squad scoring hits

Attacking condor : 2eP+1eA+2eD+3eS 2 successes, 1 advantage

Shoot at condor : 2eP+1eA+2eD+3eS 2 successes, 2 threat, 1 Triumph

(2 hits at 11 damage incoming and 1 crit, I roll the d100 after you decide whether to take the hit or direct it to a minion. 1 net threat, how do you want to spend it.)

@P-47 Thunderbolt

The 3 droids inside the cockpit fire at Varactyl squad and miss

Shooting at Varactyl squad : 2eP+1eS+1eD 1 failure

Jorin slowly comes out of the meditative state and looks down at the shoto hilt laying on the ground in front of himself. He reaches down and picks it up, turning it over in his hands before holding it up and igniting the training blade to life. The pale blade snapped to life, gently humming as he swayed it back and forth, letting the Force flow through him into the short blade. Satisfied, he turned off the blade and hooked it to one of the unused attachment hooks on his belt.

He bowed to the other Jedi in thanks and shook Spanner's hand. Thank you all for your assistance.

The droids in the bridge try to return fire, but the Varactyls keep up their fire as they blitz through the doorway, annihilating the rest of the B1s. They push into the room and check for any survivors, "All clear sir!" Anakkona says after a moment. Camoflage waves to Balyeg squad, "Come on! We're clear, get in here and lock the door." He draws one of his pistols and ducks just inside the door, ready to fire at any droids that rear their ugly metal heads.

While eating an early dinner that evening, Mireska was struck by a thought.

"Ker'see, would you like to test your new 'sabre with some friendly sparring this evening?" she asked her tablemate. "I desperately need some exercise and 'sabre practice, and I'm sure that you'd like to put your new beauty through its paces. Well," she amended, "at least some of its paces. I can't promise to give you expert opposition - I've never won any tournaments."

"Happy to Mireska, I'll set The Duchess down for the evening so she isn't tempted to join in!"

After eating, Jorin walked to the sparring pad, slowly going through the movements of adapting the shoto with his saber. The two blades leaving long streaking after images through the air as he swept and wove them in complex patterns then flow into blocking and counter strikes. He was also thinking of Camouflage and his men, hoping their mission was going well... But Jorin knew this was a war, and things rarely went well in war... the best he could hope for was that they all came back.. szak! Jorin yelped as the shoto grazed his leg, he shut down his blades before giving in to the need to rub the numbness from his thigh. A couple of passing troopers reacted as if Jorin had actually hurt himself, after assuring them he was fine, the chuckled in the way when your adrenaline had spiked and was rapidly fading now that the crisis was over. Be careful Commander. One said tactfully as they left, Can't afford to have you seriously injured during training.

As agreed, Ker’see and Mireska met in a quiet corner of the training centre later that evening. They discussed the terms of the spar - most importantly, that their ‘sabres would be set to the equivalent of training strength - and then paced off the steps to reach their designated starting points.

Mireska opened with an attempt to call upon the Force to form a protective shield around her - but to no avail. The Force threads were just beyond her metaphorical fingertips. Resigning herself to her regular portable plasma shield for the moment, she prepared herself for Ker’see’s move.

Ker’see spun up her new ‘sabre, and cast it on the wings of the Force towards Mireska - with great speed and what would normally have been deadly accuracy. Already feeling out of her league, Mireska desperately tried her best to parry the spinning ‘sabre strikes. She was feeling the strain by the time that Ker’see used the Force to call back her ‘sabre.

I’m totally unprepared for an attack like that ... I need to prevent her from performing that manoeuvre again! Mireska thought to herself. She called upon the Force again, this time to slow Ker’see enough to keep her from repeating the previous move in its entirety. Mireska then moved into engagement distance with Ker’see. Hopefully this will put a crimp in her ‘sabre spinning, and let me try my next move ...

Not particularly bothered by Mireska’s Force trick, Ker’see threw her ‘sabre again and Mireska parried again. Maybe Ker’see had been marginally hampered by standing so close to her; this time the ‘sabre didn’t return. Or maybe it was because that last desperate parry ended with the flying ‘sabre’s hilt meeting Mireska’s forehead with an audible thunk .

Mireska stared in Ker’see’s direction with an unfocused look in her eyes, then closed them as she collapsed to the mats.

By the time that Ker’see reached Mireska’s side, Mireska was blinking her eyes open again.

“Since when have there been two of you?” she inquired groggily of Ker’see.

“Sounds like you need to take a rest,” Ker’see replied as she helped Mireska to her feet again.

“Yes, I believe that you’re right,” Mireska said politely. “I’ll happily concede the match if you’ll kindly assist me to my quarters. I need a headache remedy and an uninterrupted night’s sleep to get over this without bothering Medical.”

Completely knocked out, needing help to get to her room, and she still speaks politely in full sentences! Ker'see shook her head in bemusement as she assisted Mireska back to Officer Country.

"Negative, Camo! We'll hold them off fr- AAGH!" Condor takes several hits to the torso and falls to the side, into the line of fire. Titan dives forward, blaster firing, interposing himself between his LT and the incoming fire, "Clone down, repeat, clone down!" He keeps firing while Sixer grabs Condor under his armpits and drags him back into cover.

"Fierfek! Varactyls, get out there and help them while I get us off the ground." Camouflage yells as he hits the controls for the lander's maw. The ramp begins to retract and the doors slowly start to grind shut. A B1 commander droid waves frantically at his troops and they try to advance faster to get in the ship before they get shut out. Balyeg squad keeps up their fire, holding them back, but some were already on the ramp before it started going up and are scattering in an attempt to get into the lander without being crushed by the doors or shot by the clones. Anakkona leads the charge, rushing to back up Balyeg squad as they try to keep the droids back.

Camouflage swears as he tries to get the ship started. He grabs the handle of the locks to the landing gear and turns it clockwise, pulling it out to change the setting. He rotates it, then pushes it back in, setting the gear to "standby." He finds the controls to prime the engines, but they are locked out. He swears again as he bends down and rips the panel off the side of the console, digging into the innards under the control surface to reset the locks.

With Varactyl Squad and Balyeg coordinating their fire, they manage to suppress the droids, the formation having been broken up by the mad scramble into the ship. As the clones keep firing, they suddenly feel the ship jerk under their feet as it starts to rise, drifting forwards with the bay doors still open! The few droids still out on the edge of the ramp fall back, unbalancing and falling to the ground where they are ground up by the ramp as it drags and bounces along the ground.

On the bridge, Camouflage frantically leaps for the controls, trying to get control of the lander before their joyride meets a swift and unfruitful end. As they gain altitude, the tilt increases rather dramatically, the back end rising as the still-closing maw drags along the ground. As Camouflage struggles to figure out how to right the ship, Anakkona comms frantically from the bay, "'65! Pull up! Pull up! The LAAT is sliding!" The ARC grits his teeth as he frantically enters orders into the flight computer, "I'm trying. This ain't a Torrent you know!" A couple droids slide out the front of the ship, and a couple more who had taken cover behind the gunship are crushed when it slides over them. The starboard half of the maw's shell crushes part of the prefab defenses as the lander plows straight towards the command center. Camouflage swears again and orders the ship to switch over to manual control. Grabbing the yoke as it springs out of the dash, he heaves back on it.
The maw's shell is nearly closed now as another droid falls through the gap, bashing its head on the shell and spinning out of the ship. The LAAT is picking up speed now, about to crash into the closing doors. Still exchanging fire with the remaining droids, the clones try to secure themselves to avoid sliding now the now steeply inclined deck. The doors close and the lander's solid beak plows right through the prefab command center, crushing it like an egg.
Reacting sluggishly to the ARC trooper's inputs, the lander finally responds and begins tilting the other direction. The LAAT keeps sliding with its momentum and bumps into the closed doors, but without enough momentum to cause much damage. As the lander tips farther aft, the clones start scrambling out of their positions and move further into the ship, "CAMO! THE LAAT'S SLIDING BACK!" Camouflage shoves the yoke forwards, trying to stabilize the ship. He hits the altitude control with his foot, trying to gain space so they don't ram into too many other things. After a moment, he gets it back in control and the LAAT settles down about where it started, though looking a little bit worse for wear. Seeing that they are out of danger, the clones advance back to the bay to clear out the few remaining droids. Splitting into their fire teams, they make quick work of the disjointed and uncoordinated opposition and clear the bay. Just as they were about to take a breather, Camouflage calls over comms, "We ain't out of this yet. Sixer, you look after Condor and then give the LAAT a once-over, see if it's still airworthy and if it is, load up Condor. Hawk, Havoc, Fury, get up here on the double. You're my bridge crew. Anakkona, take the rest and start rigging this tub to blow. We've gotta make a quick exit when we get to the target zone."

When they get to the bridge, Hawk takes up the copilot position and Fury gets on the sensors while Havoc sits down at the controls for one of the laser cannon turrets. When they are about halfway to the target and have stabilized the flight path, Fury sits bolt upright in his chair. "Vultures!" Camouflage glances at Fury, snapping, "How many?" "Looks like six, sir." Camo gestures to Hawk, "Get on the other gun. I'll keep the ship steady. We should be tough enough to take the Vultures' cannons, but they'll pick us apart when we try to leave this glorified cargo container. Take them down." Hawk jumps up and moves quickly to the controls for the second set of laser cannons, "Rule number one, I know. Kill 'em before they kill you."

The rest of the trip went smoothly, all things considered. They easily took out the Vultures while sustaining only minimal damage, the light blasters of the Vultures unable to do much past the lander's heavy armor. Upon reaching the landing zone, Anakkona's team had already rigged the ordnance in the tanks to blow, even rigging the ship's fuel tanks as part of the bomb. En route, Sixer confirmed that the LAAT was still airworthy, so they wouldn't need to call an exfil. That leaves the problem of who will fly it, however. "Bullseye, you were Condor's copilot, are you able to fly us out?" Upon receiving an affirmative response, he turns to Hawk, "Hawk, I know you logged some flight time in the LAAT sims. You back him up. Clones, we are leaving!" They join Condor and Sixer in the gunship while the bay doors of the lander are still opening, and leave as soon as the doors are open enough. Once they are a safe distance away, Camouflage nods to Anakkona and he types in the detonation command on his wrist comm. The sequence of explosions is nearly deafening even from this distance, and the shockwave shakes the LAAT, jostling its occupants. Ghost shakes his head, "Looks like the mission’s over and I’m still not a ghost, huh Fury?" Just about everyone in the back of the LAAT groans, "Mission ain't over yet, Ghost. Don't jinx it..." Shadow warns.

Jinx or not, the trip back to the base was uneventful. Condor was stable, but unconscious during the entire trip. Sixer stayed with his lieutenant when they carted him off to medical, but the rest went for a debriefing and then to get showers and grub. After the debriefing, Camouflage lets the Varactyls go on ahead, he heads out to look for Jorin instead. It occurs to him, as a chill goes up his spine, that he doesn't know the kid actually survived. He starts walking faster, heading for the training center on a hunch the kid would be there if he was still kicking. If he wasn't there, he'd go check the medbay. He couldn't bring himself to look for the kid there first though. As he enters the training center, a pair of clones who were just leaving stop him. They recognized the new ARC and knew he goes with Jorin, "Hey, you looking for that young Jedi? He's on one of the sparring pads. Training accident, he nearly took his leg off." Camouflage starts, worried and confused. "Where is he? Which pad?" The clones point him to the correct pad and Camouflage walks quickly, but slows as he realizes that they were probably pulling his leg. He doesn't see any panicked medics, and the clones didn't seem particularly concerned about a Jedi commander NEARLY CUTTING HIS LEG OFF. When he comes into view of the pad, he sees Jorin with his back to the clone, two arcs of light weaving and sweeping in complicated patterns that seemed like so much flailing (albeit graceful flailing) to the untrained eye of the ARC trooper. "I'm back kid. How'd your mission go?" Jorin jumps in surprise, striking his leg with the shoto again. Between his surprise and the shock of the saber hit, Jorin nearly falls flat on his back. "Always be aware of your surroundings, kid. Don’t let anyone sneak up on you. How'd your mission go?"

Jorin turned, rubbing his leg again. He hung the deactivated lightsabers on his belt and looked Camouflage up and down. Our mission was successful.. but we suffered injuries.. both physical and some emotional. Jorin's eyes remained on the stains and new scrapes on the ARC Troopers armor. He opened himself more to the Living Force, while he wasn't as adept as Mireska, he could feel the Force was embroiled in pain and fear. It was a feeling he was becoming more familiar with. Jorin looked into the clone's eyes. How many? He asked in a solemn voice, his eyes looking much older than his actual age.

"Havoc got pretty badly hurt, but he'll be fine. The commando, Condor... I'm not sure. He was stable, but he was hurt bad. Held the line until he dropped. Remarkably, we didn't lose anyone. Killed a lot of clankers though." Camo grins at the last bit, but then frowns slightly, "Are you okay?"

Jorin took a breath, I think so.. I am relived that our men made it back, Master Mireska will do her best to help the injured. He held up his new shoto, My path as a Jedi is becoming more... focused. I'm training in disciplines that should be valuable assests in future missions together.

The ARC trooper nods seriously. He doesn't really understand much about Jedi or their disciplines , but he'll take the kid's word for it. "Speaking of training, you still want me to give you some pointers on knife-fighting with that new M8 you picked up?" He pulls out his vibroknife and begins gently turning it over in his hands.