{"id":236,"date":"2009-10-23T22:53:18","date_gmt":"2009-10-24T02:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.auroraforce.org\/blog\/?p=236"},"modified":"2009-10-23T22:53:18","modified_gmt":"2009-10-24T02:53:18","slug":"vong-war-annals-caught-fast-10232009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.auroraforce.org\/blog\/?p=236","title":{"rendered":"Vong War Annals – “Caught fast” 10.23.2009"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are far, far more than the sum of our experiences.\u00a0 We are the sum total of the impact of the experiences of our teachers, our leaders, our parents and friends, of the trails we\u2019ve lived through and the bottomless well of emotions we all feel.<\/em><\/p>\n

— Karinlyyn Bridger Kel-Solan, Auyn Warmistress<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was only a slightly modified version of the old gear she\u2019d worn a decade ago as Protectress, very much like the garb Arilyn Bullian wore now as Deathdealer.\u00a0 A smooth silver mask, silver and black mesh-weave armor in the signature style of the Auyn.\u00a0 Strapped to her back was the wicked, meter-long stretch of metal with four points and three distinct bladed sections that was her signature weapon.\u00a0 Empty holsters for blasters rode on each hip, an empty sheath for more daggers rode on her thigh and in one boot.\u00a0 A pouch on her left bicep held something, though what it held was left to the imagination.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The room had weapons hung on the walls opposite the door, a vast array of weapons of various stripes, some clearly used, others perhaps for show.\u00a0 Racks of practice weapons\u2014blunted, wooden, and otherwise\u2014stood in front of them, along the edges of practice mats made of some sort of braided reed fiber spread across most of the floor.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The warrior crossed the floor and flipped a staff up from the mats below her feet, catching it in one hand and then lofting it toward les.\u00a0 \u201cFighting is as much a centering exercise as it is a means to staying alive,\u201d she said as she kicked another staff up into her hands.\u00a0 If she was using the Force, there was no sign of it.\u00a0 \u201cGetting angry in a fight, like getting angry while using the Force, probably has more disadvantages than advantages.\u00a0 If I had the choice of going up against a cold fighter and a raging one, I\u2019d take the rage every time.\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason for it.\u201d\u00a0 She set her stance, light on the balls of her feet but somehow still seeming rock solid as she twirled her staff between her hands.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tag eased inside behind Les and pulled the door closed behind them.\u00a0 \u201cTell him why, Warmistress.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Behind her mask, Karinlyyn Bridger Kel-Solan smiled.\u00a0 \u201cAngry people make mistakes.\u00a0 They leave exploitable openings.\u00a0 They don\u2019t think<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 She planted her staff between her feet and leaned against it.\u00a0 \u201cSome would disagree with me on this, but understand that my knowledge comes from experience.\u00a0 The few fights I\u2019ve lost in twenty years since I started combat training have come because I let my anger get the better of me.\u201d\u00a0 She paused a moment, then swung the staff up against a shoulder.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cGeneral Rendar doesn\u2019t usually bring students to me.\u00a0 In part, it\u2019s because she knows how to fight dirty, too, which is something I teach a lot of Jedi.\u00a0 For another part, it\u2019s because most formal fighting techniques a Jedi uses involve the Force.\u00a0 The styles I teach don\u2019t<\/em>.\u00a0 The fact that you\u2019re here this morning is either a very good<\/em> thing or a very bad<\/em> thing.\u201d\u00a0 She draped both arms over the staff as she rested it across her shoulders, head cocked to one side.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhich do you think it is?\u00a0 After all, your perceptions of the situation are just as important as mine, or as General Rendar\u2019s.\u00a0 The sum total of our experiences will be helping shape your future experiences, your training.\u00a0 How we feel matters, but perhaps not as much as what you feel does.\u201d\u00a0 Behind the mask she smiled again, a hollow but not blank spot in the Force.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you feel, Lesley Wyler?\u00a0 Why did she bring you here to me before the sun kisses the world?\u00a0 Why should you get the same second chance that no one\u2014and I do mean no one<\/em> outside of the Aurora Force would get?\u201d<\/p>\n

~ Erin<\/p>\n

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