The Master... (Buggie Training)

[Master Buggie]

((OOC: Training for 'Force Mask' begins here.))

Meditating in his room within the Jedi Enclave, Buggie felt at peace with his surroundings and lost himself within the Force. In his state of meditation, Buggie could sense the waves of Force energy flowing through him and everything else in the room. Buggie was familiar with how the Force united everything around him and brought it all together under its infinite energy. His room had served as a regular place of meditation for Buggie, and the flow of the Force energy through it was a familiar sight that served to calm him.

Flaring out his Force aura, Buggie felt the golden energy of the light side of the Force radiate from his body. To each Force user, the Force interacted with their senses differently. Some would see the light side of the Force as a calming blue aura around the individual that called upon it, others would see something else. To Buggie, though, the light side of the Force always interacted with his senses with a golden glow that seemed almost holy in appearance. If Buggie were to look upon himself at the moment, he would sense his own powerful Force aura encircling his body, the golden radiation stretching out a considerable distance. It was by flaring out his Force aura that Buggie returned some of the Force energy from his body back into the galaxy, allowing for the Force to swallow up what he had radiated.

Still in meditation, Buggie began to wonder if the inverse of what he was doing was possible. For a moment, Buggie couldn't believe that he hadn't considered it before. What would happen, Buggie thought, if he were to shrink his Force aura, to the state of concealment? Buggie didn't doubt that it would be possible, but he knew that he would have to focus in order to achieve concealment. After a few more moments of consideration, Buggie realized that if he could effectively mask his presence within the Force, other Force users would be unable to sense him, regarding him as just another Force unsensitive member of the galaxy. This would come in handy, Buggie thought, especially if he were ever assigned to track down another Force user in an investigation.

Concentrating once more on the Force energy that surrounded him, Buggie stopped flaring out his Force aura. Instead, Buggie drew the Force back within his body, shrinking his Force aura as much as he was able to. With the Force drawn back into his body, Buggie would have to next find a way to mask the concentration of innate Force energy within him. Buggie knew that it would be impossible to push all of the Force energy from his body in order to mask himself, so he focused on altering the Force within himself as a means of masking it. Starting with the amount of Force energy that radiated off of his body, Buggie focused on the Force energy that remained in his aura. Controlling the Force so that it was gathered as close to his body as possible, Buggie began to manipulate the energy coming off of his body. Suppressing the Force energy that radiated from him, Buggie controlled the Force, redirecting it to a small location in front of his chest. Carefully gathering the Force energy that escaped his body into the small ball of concentrated Force energy, Buggie then began to shrink the ball more and more. Soon, the ball of Force energy was as small as Buggie was able to make it. Hiding the concentrated ball of Force energy within his body, Buggie could sense that the outside of his body no longer radiated Force energy, as it was all being redirected mentally to the ball of Force energy within his body.

This next step would be the hardest, Buggie thought to himself. He had a concentration of Force energy gathered within his body, but he would have to mask that from other Force users as well. It would be painfully obvious to any talented Force user that Buggie was Force sensitive if he had that type of Force energy within him. Suddenly, a great idea hit Buggie. If the cells that interacted with the Force within Buggie's body were masked by the innate Force energy within him, Buggie would seem to be unsensitive to the Force. Everyone had the Force flowing through them, but it was the midichlorians that allowed for one to manipulate the Force itself.

With intense focus, Buggie began to redirect the energy from the concentration that he had gathered up within him to cover up the midichlorians within his body. Buggie could feel the mental strain as he continued redirecting the Force energy within his body through his veins, finding and identifying midichlorians as he ran his senses thoroughly through his body. When Buggie had located the midichlorians within him, he began to alter their appearance through the Force, using the concentration of Force energy within his own body to cover the midichlorians, hiding them. The process was slow as Buggie meticulously worked to mask any midichlorians from his own senses. As he worked progressively through his body, Buggie could sense his own appearance through the Force dimming, becoming like any other regular sentient of the galaxy. Cautiously monitoring his own progress, Buggie controlled the Force to keep the other midichlorians masked while he worked on new ones. Bringing the Force energy that he had concentrated within him to use, Buggie was almost finished. As Buggie worked, he noted that he was still able to use and manipulate the Force, but he was actively masking his ability to use the Force to outsiders. The Force energy that Buggie exerted into masking his midichlorians wasn't shutting them down to the Force at all, but keeping them shielded from prying senses that would be on the lookout for potential Force users. Calling upon the last bit of concentrated Force energy within himself, Buggie masked his midichlorians, cutting himself off to outside senses. As Buggie monitored himself with his own senses, it was like looking into a mirror and seeing someone else. Buggie knew that he could still use the Force, but to his own observation, he was an otherwise completely ordinary Verpine.

Satisfied, Buggie released the Force energy within his body, allowing for his Force aura to burst forth from its previously hidden position. The sensation that Buggie experienced as his Force aura regained its usual balance was equatable to having his body shiver all at once, only more pleasant and comforting. Making a mental note to study the technique further in the Archives, Buggie planned to practice the Force masking technique to a further extent and master it.

((OOC: Training for 'Force Mask' ends here.))

[Master Buggie]

((OOC: Training for 'Level 12' begins here.))

Carefully walking through a densely wooded area below Dee`ja Peak, Buggie kept his eye peeled for any movement around him. He and a few other Jedi Knights had gotten together on a day where there was little to do at the Enclave and decided to play a game of cat and mouse, so to speak. Each Jedi would enter the wooded area at a different location, all equipped with training lightsabers. Each Jedi would then stalk their "prey," so to speak, and eventually engage him or her in combat. The victor of the battle would collect the opponent's lightsaber. The winner of the game would be the Jedi that held the most lightsabers at the end of the game. This was preferable to choosing the last man standing so as to avoid one Jedi hiding out until there was only one exhausted opponent left and then proceeding to defeat the tired opponent. The game had only started moments ago, but Buggie was still cautious so that he wouldn't be surprised and ambushed by a powerful opponent. This exercise was especially useful to Buggie, in his opinion, because it combined combat abilities, strategy, stealth, and use of the Force. The area that the exercise was being held at was large enough to accomodate all of the Jedi involved, but was also compact enough that battles would be certainly unavoidable at some point or another.

Kneeling down into a patch of brush next to a fallen log, Buggie stretched out his senses with the Force in an effort to locate any of the Jedi that were nearby. As the Force expanded Buggie's ability to sense his surroundings, he become in tune with the life and nature that surrounded him. Within moments, birds, trees, and other forest animals entered Buggie's range of awareness due to the Force relaying information from their positions to his mind. The Force, Buggie knew, flowed through everything in the galaxy and united it under one common energy form. When Buggie expanded his senses with the Force, as he had done countless times in the past, he used that innate Force energy that every being in the galaxy was united under to become conscious of their presence. In this particular case, though, the Force alerted Buggie to nothing out of the ordinary, leading Buggie to believe that a number of the Jedi Knights involved in the exercise were either out of range of his senses or employing the Force mask ability. Still, though, Buggie continued using the Force to boost his senses, since after all, if his opponents were using the Force mask ability, they would still be visible if Buggie was attempting to sense their signatures of life through the Force. Perhaps, Buggie thought as his Force-boosted senses were pushed to their limits, he was overlooking them in the vast number of life forms already present in the wooded area. Raising himself to a crouching stance, Buggie pushed forward, deciding that the only way to find out would be to move closer.

As soon as Buggie took a step, the sound of two lightsabers igniting could be heard far off into the distance. The clashing of the lightsabers immediately followed, their noise echoing through the expansive woods. Buggie wondered if the battle would attract the attention of any of those he considered to be "vultures;" those who rush in after a battle has concluded to engage tired opponents and defeat them. In any case, Buggie knew that the distraction and noise would allow for other Jedi to move around quickly, so Buggie decided that he would use the opportunity to move forward faster than he would if the woods were completely silent. Rushing forward, Buggie ducked from tree to tree, staying alert for any signs of movement either nearby or in the distance. Finding none, Buggie proceeded past a group of trees, their leaves piled up on the ground nearby their trunks.

Suddenly, a figure shot up from underneath the pile of leaves, igniting a green lightsaber and swinging at Buggie's waist in a lightning fast strike. Without time to react, Buggie called the Force energy within his body to his legs. As the midichlorians within his body reacted to the sudden surge of Force energy, Buggie's legs grew stronger, allowing for him to perform feats a normal sentient being could not. With a blast of Force energy from his legs, Buggie strengthened his muscles and leapt up into the air, grabbing a thick branch far from the ground. As Buggie completed the Force aided jump, he pulled himself to the top of the branch, perching himself on it and calling upon the Force to telekinetically bring his training saber to his palm. As the Force allowed for Buggie to finally sense his opponent, Buggie realized that it was none other than his good friend Kyle Char. Before Buggie could even utter a taunt to his opponent or think about striking back, the Force alerted him to incoming danger. Buggie could sense through the Force that Kyle had gathered a mass of Force energy within his body in only a fraction of a second, ready to unleash it in a telekinetic blast. Even though the Force was sending surges of alerts to the back of Buggie's mind, alerting him to the incoming danger, he had no time to prepare himself.

"Wait!" Buggie barely managed to yelp before the thick branch, as well as his body, were launched into the air by the powerful blast of telekinetic Force energy.

As he flew through the air, Buggie braced himself, allowing for the Force to surround and protect his body from the possibility of falling unconscious due to the upcoming impact. As the Force cradled his body, keeping him fully conscious, Buggie impacted the ground, sending up a spray of dirt as his lightsaber flew from his hand. Keeping his awareness high due to his ability to keep himself conscious through the jarring impact, Buggie instinctively called the lightsaber back to him through telekinetic use of the Force. Igniting the lightsaber just in time, Buggie's Force-boosted senses once more called out to him, as Kyle charged, bringing his lightsaber down in an overhead slash meant to hit Buggie in the midsection as he lay on the ground. His legs still energized by the Force energy that he had called to them earlier, Buggie kicked Kyle just below the rib cage as soon as he came into range of his body. As Buggie released the pent-up Force energy within his legs, Kyle was sent flying from his feet, impacting the ground a few feet away. As both Buggie and Kyle took a moment to recover from their recent attacks, they both sprang up to their feet and began to bring masses of Force energy from within their bodies to their arms. Buggie knew that his best bet was to avoid using abilities related to the Force and focus on engaging Kyle in lightsaber combat, but to rush Kyle at the moment, even with the Force boosting his strength, would prove futile. Instead, Buggie charged enough Force energy to release a telekinetic blast that would weaken whatever energy Kyle's telekinetic Force blast had to offer. Buggie knew that Kyle would be able to charge a more powerful Force blast quicker, but if Buggie could slow it down with a Force blast of his own, he hoped to be able to scatter the rest of the energy and engage Kyle in lightsaber combat while his guard was down.

When Kyle released his blast of telekinetic Force energy, Buggie did the same, unleashing a weaker Force blast that would help slow down what Kyle was sending his way. As the mass of telekinetic energy neared Buggie, he pushed against it with the Force as hard as he could. Feeling the overpowering Force energy rippling his robes and pushing against his carahide skin, Buggie finally switched tactics, planning to scatter as much Force energy from the blast as was possible. Letting go, Buggie instead welcomed the Force energy that was coming his way. Taking his arm and knocking back the energy, Buggie was pushed backwards as Kyle's Force blast surrounded him. Pushing through the energy and breaking it up, Buggie tried his hardest to not allow for the Force energy to knock him down. As Buggie's mind was in full concentration, he employed every ounce of Force energy within him to scattering the telekinetic Force blast. As dirt and dust flew all around him, Buggie finally broke through the Force blast, successfully scattering the energy while only allowing him to be pushed back a few feet. From the dust, Buggie emerged, much to Kyle's surprise. Once more calling to the Force to boost the strength in his legs, Buggie leapt high into the air and wound up for a powerful strike.

As Buggie's saber collided with Kyle's, Buggie called upon the Force to boost his strength for more powerful and precise Djem So strikes. With the Force flowing through his muscles, allowing for him to engage his opponent with devestating strikes, Buggie knew that Kyle would be overpowered soon, as his skill lay in using the Force and not in lightsaber combat. With each strike, Buggie could sense through the Force that Kyle's other powers were dropping and, instead, his innate Force energy was being put to use in fending off the lightsaber strikes. Suddenly, Kyle's presence within the Force could be sensed by Buggie. Before, Buggie realized, Kyle had been employing the Force mask ability to conceal his presence, allowing for him to surprise Buggie as he walked by. Now, though, Kyle's Force energy was draining quickly, as Buggie executed strike after strike with his training lightsaber, each swing powered by Buggie's Force-boosted muscles.

Shifting his attacks from slow, powerful strikes to quick, darting blows, Buggie could sense through the Force that he was on the verge of breaking Kyle's defense. Kyle's breathing was that of an exhausted opponent, while Buggie's focus on the Force allowed him to control his breathing, keeping each breath efficient and allowing for his body to transport oxygen to his boosted muscles at a steady rate. With each darting strike, Buggie let out a smooth breath, allowing for the Force to regulate his body and bring his breathing into line. As Buggie wound up for strikes, the Force guided his body to inhale, keeping his movements efficient and his body powerful.

In one last effort, like the grand finale to an impressive fireworks show, Buggie's lightsaber darted about, flashing and striking against Kyle's in an overwhelming display of quickness. Buggie's use of the Force to keep his attacks coming overcame Kyle's use of the Force to parry the attacks. Finally, Buggie sensed through the Force that victory was near. Bringing his lightsaber around and spinning it behind his back to gain momentum, Buggie called the Force to boost his strike for one last time. As the Force powered his body and allowed for him to make a dexterous maneuver, Buggie impacted the side of Kyle's arm, surely leaving a bruise and causing for his lightsaber to fly out of his hand.

Sensing the lightsaber flying through the air, Buggie called to it with the Force to bring it to his palm telekinetically. As Buggie used the Force energy within his body to send the lightsaber on a direct course to his palm, it took only an instant for Kyle's training saber to be safely secured by Buggie.

"Gah! You got me," Kyle admitted through labored breaths, raising his hands in surrender.

As the fatigue finally set in, Buggie was almost brought to his knees by the exhaustion that his body encountered after such an intense use of the Force. Buggie could almost feel his pulse running through his entire body as his lungs burned from the tiredness that had set in.

"Yeah... Now I just need to make sure no one else gets me!" Buggie exclaimed between breaths.

Almost on cue, a blue lightsaber appeared out of seemingly nowhere, its blade humming directly over Buggie's shoulder, as a familiar voice said, "Lightsabers, please."

Turning in disbelief, Buggie said, "Master Godot!? What are you doing here?"

The familiar presence of Master Godot stood directly behind Buggie, his feathery hair waving slightly in the cool breeze that blew through the woods. Dressed in his usual robes, Buggie had no idea where his former master could have appeared from. Whether Godot had been watching the entire battle or if he had simply ran across the two Knights dueling in the woods remained unknown. All that Godot was giving away was his usual smirk and the request for his former student's training sabers. As Buggie raised his hand, Godot collected both his and Kyle's sabers from it and hooked them on his belt.

"What?" Godot asked playfully, "Just because I'm a Jedi Master doesn't mean I can't come play your little Knight games, you know."

Disengaging his lightsaber, Godot stepped back into the shadows and said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a game to win."

And with that, he was gone. Disappearing into the shadows, the figure of Godot seemingly melted from sight. As Buggie looked toward Kyle, the Jedi Guardian shrugged and shook his head.

"I can't believe that just happened," Buggie said flatly as he and Kyle began the long walk back to the Enclave.

((OOC: Training for 'Level 12' ends here.))

[Master Buggie]

((OOC: Training for 'Blinding' begins here.))

Sitting within one of the many training rooms within the Jedi Enclave, Buggie rested in peaceful meditation. The room around him was completely dark, save for the one orb of light that hovered above Buggie's outstretched hand. This orb of light had been created out of pure Force energy and it illuminated the room, not extinguishing until Buggie willed it to do so. Creating light had been one of the first Force powers that Buggie had learned as a Padawan. When he first discovered how to perform the ability, he vowed to himself to not stop practicing until he had mastered the skill. This work ethic carried over to each and every Force power that Buggie had learned since. Buggie devoted hours of his day to practicing every power he had learned, refining them and growing more familiar with how each of them interacted with the Force energy around him and within him.

Opening his eyes, Buggie looked to the brilliant orb of light that rested above his palm. He had used the power of creating light for a number of purposes throughout his training. One of the most common uses for the ability, in Buggie's case, was to momentarily disorient an opponent by unleashing the orb of light in their face. To do so, though, Buggie would have to be within inches of their face for the attack to be effective. On top of that, the orb of light wasn't particularly bright in the daylight. As Buggie finished that thought, he recalled dueling the Grand Master, Eryk Aiden, on top of the roof of the old Enclave. During the battle, Eryk had unleashed a powerful blast of Force energy that nearly blinded Buggie. It had certainly disoriented him to a great degree, and Buggie was left unable to counterattack for precious moments of the friendly battle. Tilting his head and studying the orb that floated before him, Buggie decided that learning a technique like the one Eryk had used against him would be beneficial. As his opponents grew stronger, Buggie needed to increase his understanding of the Force to defend himself against them. Learning a technique that would allow for Buggie to disorient his enemies would be very helpful in the long run.

Bringing the Force around him through his body, Buggie channeled the Force energy through his body. As his body began to change on a cellular level, Buggie's midichlorians began to react to the Force energy that he had called to them. Feeling invigorated by the Force as it flowed through his veins and allowed him to manipulate its infinite energy, Buggie was prepared to begin the exercise. Focusing his innate Force energy into the orb of light that rested above his palm, Buggie studied how it reacted to increased Force energy feeding into it. The orb grew larger and, in turn, grew somewhat brighter as the Force energy Buggie focused into it increased. Concentrating and trying to reduce the size of the orb, but still maintain the intensity of it, Buggie soon realized that he was tackling the experiment from the wrong angle. Releasing some of the Force energy that Buggie had put into the orb, he soon found that creating a strobe-like flash of light would be preferable to just making one large orb of light. Sensing through the Force that a large orb would take much more concentration to control, Buggie decided to finally try to go for the strobe-like flash of Force energy turned to light. Perhaps, Buggie thought, the answer lay in creating a flash of Force energy from the light side of the Force.

Feeling the relaxing calmness of the light side of the Force wash over him, Buggie extinguished the orb that illuminated the room and began to channel more Force energy into his body. As Buggie focused the light side of the Force within his body, he became a beacon for the light side of the Force. Buggie could sense his own Force aura flaring up from the amount of light side Force energy he was focusing into his body, resulting in his aura giving off a brilliant golden glow. Channeling the Force energy within his body toward his fingertips, Buggie felt the familiar tingle of the Force energy as it traveled through every possible cell, building up where he needed it and waiting to be released. When Buggie was satisfied, he unleashed the Force energy all at once, allowing for it to surge from his fingertips. As Buggie unleashed the Force energy, he altered it into the form of light, similar to how he did whenever he created an orb of light. As the mass of Force energy being released from his body was converted to light, an intense shock of illumination filled the room, stemming from the tips of Buggie's fingers.

Though the blast of light only lasted a moment before it dissipated back into the invisible Force energy that filled the room, Buggie successfully created a blast of Force illumination. Using the Force to readjust his sight, Buggie blinked hard a few times in an effort to clear his vision, as he had been partially disoriented by the blast of brilliant light as well. Deciding to try again, this time unleashing blasts of light from both hands, Buggie began to draw more lightside Force energy into his body. Redirecting the Force energy to his fingertips, Buggie felt the familiar light side of the Force filling his body. As the Force built up within his body and his fingertips once more tingled with large amounts of Force energy, Buggie prepared his body with a small portion of the Force energy for the blast of light. Dimming his own vision with the Force, Buggie dulled his own eyesight so that he wasn't affected by the brief blast of intense light to a large extent. When he was ready, Buggie raised both hands in the darkness and unleashed the Force energy within his body. Two concentrated blasts of light shot out from his outstretched hands and illuminated the room. Even with his eyesight dimmed, Buggie could feel the discomfort from viewing the powerful blast of illumination. The white light that emerged from Buggie's fingers was powered by the Force energy that he had released from his body, shining for only a moment before it disappeared and became part of the Force energy that filled the training room.

Satisfied with his exercise, Buggie flicked his wrist, once more illuminating the room with a bright orb of light that hovered above his palm. Resting his body and closing his eyes, Buggie once more fell into a deep state of meditation. As he focused on the Force energy within the room, Buggie allowed for the Force to wash over him and bring him into a more enlightened state. As he meditated, Buggie planned to practice his new skill later on in the day. Being able to call upon the Force to produce the temporarily blinding flash of light at his desire would prove very useful in the future.

((OOC: Training for 'Blinding' ends here.))