Star Wars: Rebellion and Betrayal

Chapter 34

"You're still too closed off," Rhodes said while trying to catch his breath. "You fight well as it is but if you open yourself to the Force, it can aid you in battle."

Lena groaned and rolled her eyes while staggering to her feet. "Ok, but how do I do that?"

Rhodes chuckled before deactivating his lightsaber. He strolled across the hangar of the Insurgent where he stopped in front of the mess of crates that Lena had tumbled into. "I know it's hard to learn what it means to constantly open yourself to the Force. My master told me all the same stuff I am telling you and it took me forever. I guess what I am trying to say is don't be discouraged. You must learn to quiet your mind. Let the Force guide your movements."

"Kinda hard to quiet my mind with those two squabbling." Lena pointed across the hangar to where McCart and Twitch were engaged in a stalemate while arm wrestling. It was their third rematch of the training session with each match leading to an argument where the loser accused the winner of cheating.

Rhodes grinned and looked back at his apprentice. "There will always be distractions. Only when your mind is at peace will you achieve balance within yourself."

Lena let out a breathy exhale. "Alright, let's go again."

"Just what I wanted to hear," Rhodes replied before somersaulting backwards to create space between the two. "But we are going to do this one a bit differently. As you have likely noticed, up until now, I have been using a defensive fighting style. Now, we can see how you fare against an offensively minded opponent."

"Bring it on," Lena yelled back as she readied herself, purple lightsaber held up in front of her face.

Rhodes' lightsaber quickly blazed to life as he sprinted at Lena. Green and purple blades clashed back and forth as Rhodes ran through a series of predictable strikes that Lena was able to deflect away while holding her ground. The two dueled for a couple minutes before Rhodes changed things up.

Out of nowhere, Rhodes leapt into the air and flipped over Lena, landing behind her. She spun around and ducked, narrowly avoiding her master's attack. She stood up straight just in time to recognize a sharp upward slash heading her way. She brought her blade down in front of her, only to have it batted back upward by Rhodes' stronger swing. With her arms and saber raised above her head, she didn't have time to react as Rhodes kicked out with one of his long legs, knocking the lightsaber out of her hand.

"You can't rely on attack patterns in battle. You got too comfortable predicting the basic forms I was using. When you are open to the Force, you can see attacks right before they happen, allowing you to properly counter them. Once I changed attack patterns, you lost focus." Lena grunted and shook her head. She took a deep breath and raised her fists. Rhodes couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, we can take a shot at disarmed defense."

Rhodes was on the offensive once more, taking wild swings at Lena. She was slowly backing up while ducking and weaving around the green lightsaber blade. Rhodes was impressed. Every attack he made seemed to be easily avoided by Lena. It appeared as if she was finally getting it.

Rhodes paused for a second where he smiled and nodded at his apprentice. Seconds later, he continued his barrage with a bit more ferocity. Lena dodged every attack in succession until Rhodes brought his saber above his head. As he swung down, Lena reached her arm behind her and summoned her lightsaber with the Force. The red and gray hilt reached her hand in time to ignite and block the attack.

Not wasting any time, Lena crouched down, spinning on the ball of one foot while extending the other. Her leg crashed into the side of Rhodes' calf, upending him. Rhodes let out a yelp as he went tumbling to the ground. Lena laughed as she stood up. Rhodes too began to chuckle as he rose to his feet.