The Galactic War: Rogue Element ~The Beginning

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Aetheas barely has a chance to get his tail up in time to parry Claxter's swing. The Command-Warrior might not be the quickest Choolala in the jungle, but his tail is another story. Aetheas grunts as pain stabs through his tail- he's used to that, and doesn't like to talk about it- and manages to turn Claxter's strike aside. He takes a step to his left, away from Claxter, as he counters, sending his own swing at Claxter's torso, intending to hit the Command-Warrior with the flat of his blade. Gently, of course.

[Chad32]

Claxter noticed Aetheas grunting. He had done that before during tail fighting, and Claxter wondered if the training was doing worse for his tail than anything. Even without morphing ability, he wondered if Aetheas' family had the money to look into surgery. He didn't want to suggest using pain meds just so the guy could use his tail easier, especially since surely he and his family would think of simple solutions like this. Hopefully the training sessions wouldn't just eventually destroy any viability his tail had.

He stepped left when Aetheas did, as a defensive maneuver to add distance while he countered. When his tail was pushed away, he brought it up to parry vertically when Aetheas struck. Claxter came down to lock blades and force the Aristh's tail to the side.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Aetheas winces as Claxter turns his blade aside. He steps daintily back, out of Claxter's tail range, bringing his own tail blade up into a defensive position. He walks forward, keeping Claxter on his right side, circling the Command-Warrior's position. He keeps his main eyes locked on Claxter's own, and one stalk eye on Claxter's tailblade, as he's been instructed, waiting for Claxter to make a move.

[Chad32]

Claxter circled Aetheas as well, looking for any sign of inattentiveness. Any opening to strike. He suddenly rushed forward, attempting Some diagonal slashes towards his torso and upper legs, then darted over to Aetheas' left side to see how fast he could turn to keep claxter on his good side.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Aetheas deflects the slashes Claxter aims at his torso, but falls off-balance-- he's not used to standing sideways to take blows. He regains his balance just as Claxter darts around to his left side-- he yells in frustration. He should have seen that coming. Aetheas rears up on his hind legs to pivot more quickly. He swings his tail behind himself, low at Claxter's legs, using the momentum of his turn to assist his awkward strike.

[Chad32]

Claxter brought his tail up reflexively when Aetheas raised his body, but then the Aristh swung his tail low, and he couldn't bring it down in time. He raised his leg, but Aetheas still got him below the knee. He stumbled a bit, and made another strike to his side just to give him a second to regain balance.

<First strike goes to you. Good job.>

[Terenia]

Keslin watches the tail-salutes of the bridge occupants with a small smile.

<<Even at a quarter of their usual size they still act like a bunch of jumped up soldiers,>> Chris complains.

<<Their militia is important, a is routine and honor,>> Keslin murmurs. <<I daresay our ragtag group, and our casual approach to a system of leadership, is a bit foreign to them. Some of them probably think we are downright uncivilized.>>

He glances down at his as-of-yet unbathed, uncleaned form. <<Perhaps they have reason to think as much,>> he adds dryly.

Leaving Ossanlin to content with his Andalite crew, Keslin takes his advice and circles the deck slowly, familiarizing himself with the layout and the consoles. After a full lap he approaches one of the auxilary consoles, pulling up the database and beginning to flip through what is available to him haphazardly.

<<This is one of those moments when Aya's memory would be useful,>> he murmurs to himself.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Aetheas blocks Claxter's swing with a wince, the force of it combined with his already-precarious balance sending him stumbling a few steps away from Claxter. When he finally regains his balance, he nods a stalk-eye at Claxter in acknowledgement of the praise, but he looks unhappy. <I left myself open to attack. I only caught you by surprise.>

Aetheas takes a second to collect himself and then turns his full attention to Claxter again. He bolts, rushing up to Claxter, swinging high while trying to keep the Command-Warrior on his right.

[Chad32]

At least he didn't let the small victory go to his head. It was true he had been off balance, and perhaps Claxter should have pushed the advantage if he was able. Still, he didn't want to discourage Aetheas too much. He braced for the attack, blocking the blow, and attempting to test his tail strength against Aetheas'.

[KitsuneMarie]

<<Very well, sir,>> Serid replies with another salute. <<And yes, I am confident we are capable of maintaining the peace. Please alert me if you would like my assistance with the process of integrating them into the ship's functions.>> His stalk eyes track Chris and Keslin's movements even as his main eyes remain on Ossanlin.


"Yeah?" Illim raises his eyebrows as he stops beside Keshin. "If you weren't trying to trouble us... what were you doing there? Surely not coming to save the day." Then he frowns. "Myitt? I dunno, she left the room with Terenia and me this morning, but I haven't seen her in a bit." He orders the door open and steps inside. It's empty.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

When Claxter blocks his strike, Aetheas manages to hold his tail against Claxter's strength for a moment as he rushes by, but is soon hit with a familiar stab of pain and yelps. He retracts his tail and ducks his body, attempting to pivot, to 'roll' away from Claxter's range-- a technique he's been working on himself, out of necessity, based on something he once read... somewhere... He turns to face Claxter, steps forward, and swings again, this time around his right shoulder.

[Chad32]

Aetheas was trying a frontal attack this time, and the shorter range allowed Claxter to simply step back out of his range, but was still in range to strike Aetheas. He brought his tail around his left shoulder, opposite from Aetheas' strike, to aim for his neck once again.

<I'm afraid we really need to do something to help you fight longer without being in pain. Have you explored any options in the past?>

[Shenmue654]

"We got an inaccurate description of what was happening over our own channels," said Keshin as the two humans and Yeerks entered Myitt's room. "We thought that the fight was between you and the Empire over some rock, not your actual base with the Andalites involved. If we had known what was going on, we would have never come at all."

Myitt's room was...perplexingly empty. Hmm. She'd been gone that long?

<Weird. Ah, well. She's probably tryin' to think stuff over. Just like us.>

<What happened there was hardest on these rebels, Joanne. We should remember that when we talk to them. Myitt's brother is dead.>

Keshin didn't step in the room immediately. He realized what a violation that would be. "The food is in her room, then?"

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Aetheas's swing carries his tail forward, missing Claxter by a mile, and he can't bring it back fast enough to stop Claxter's strike. He skids to a halt, Claxter's blade inches from his throat.

<I'm fine,> he states defensively, frustrated with his own performance. He turns and trots a few paces away from Claxter, then turns to face him. <Let's go again.>

[Chad32]

It was hard for Claxter to know how far he should push an obviously touchy subject with Aetheas. He only wanted to help, but maybe he couldn't. He just didn't know. If his tail was longer and more flexible, there were ways to strike without leaving yourself open, but he could tell the arish was just doing the best with what he had.

He took a battle stance once again. <Alright. Come at me again.>