“That would actually be wise,” Khoth said with a nod. “We need to assess your skill level, Jace. The training you did was virtual, I take it?”
“It was when I was asleep,” Jace admitted.
“Facing a real, live opponent is different,” Khoth said.
“Yeah, I faced off against some Khul even before I called Metal Rain.” Jace stood up straight, but then he said, “But not in this body. So maybe a little swordplay might be good.”
Khoth was pleased at Jace’s reasonableness. He had feared that the young man would be resistant to seeing what limits he had. Considering that Khoth had practically lived with a rahir in his hand since a child and Thaf’ell were simply superior in strength and speed, he would have to hold back so as not to hurt Jace. But, at the same time, it would be very wise for both of them to see how lacking Jace was before entering the Khul ship. Not that he expected any Khul to be alive. They would have returned the ship to the Hive. He frowned. How long did they have until more Khul did come though?
Jace selected two rahir from the menu. Immediately, the weapons appeared on top of the table. Jace let out a gasp.
“Whoa! Did they teleport? Or were they just created here?” Jace asked. The blue glow appeared in his eyes. “Oh, created! That’s new.”
That was new. That was remarkable. The weapons they used were scavenged. Now there was quite a bit of it, but still. To be able to create new weapons? And Jace had said these were better than the ones he had and he had the best. The two swords had a slight curve to them. The blades were narrow, an inch across in human terms, and thin. The hilts were banded and there was a pressure point to turn on the laser edge.
“The ship can generate all of this?” General Intoshkin asked as he gestured around them.
“Ah, yeah, and new things too. But that requires…” Jace tilted his head to the side. “Well, we’re going to have to mine. The Osiris can do that. But we need… a whole long list of materials. Oh wow! It’s giving me coordinates!”
“Coordinates for the materials?” Colonel Parker asked, eyes wide.
Jace nodded. “Yep. This is incredible! I have all these star charts in my head--or rather I’m seeing what’s in the Osiris’ head--and there’s so much! Places to mine! Undiscovered Alteath worlds! Just everything!”
Khoth desperately wanted to ask, “What about the Altaeth? Does it say where they are now? What happened to them?”
But he didn’t want their lack of knowledge exposed in front of General Intoshkin.
Jace picked up his rahir. He swept it through the air, not like someone who had just picked one up for the first time, but with confidence. There was a hum and then a sizzle as the whole blade turned an icy blue.
Jace laughed and said, “Looks like I’m going to the Light Side!”
Khoth had no idea what he meant, but he did not care to pursue it at that moment, because he picked up his rahir. The weapon was expertly weighted. He noted that his hilt was larger. The ship hadn’t just produced two random rahirs, but had made singular ones for each of them. This was unprecedented. He ran his thumb over the sensor that turned on the laser. His blade turned a fiery reddish purple.
“So it really will be a Star Wars battle,” Captain Parker said with a mixture of awe and alarm.
“Light versus Dark. I don’t know, Khoth. I didn’t take you for a Sith,” Jace teased.
“If a Sith is highly skilled with a blade then I take that as a compliment.” Khoth inclined his head.
Jace and his father laughed while the others in the know just shook their heads. The young man then lifted his left hand and gestured towards a section of floor. The cabinetry rolled back and there was a space large enough for them to fight.
Jace grinned, lifted his blade, and asked, “Shall we dance, Khoth?”
Blade Dance
Despite his easy words and the surge of adrenaline that had filled him at the thought of using the laser sword, Jace didn’t have an easy time keeping a smile on his lips as he faced off against Khoth in the circular area the ship had provided them to duel. The Thaf’ell Commander didn’t just swing the sword--or rahir, Gehenna helpfully provided him with the Thaf’ell word for this weapon--but literally flipped it up into the air, caught it and swirled it about his body as though the sword was a silk scarf. He moved so fast that the sword was a blur. Jace fought not to have his mouth fall open.
From what I could obtain on his background, Khoth has been training with a rahir since he was a child of about 5 Earth years, Gehenna told him.
Oh… Jace responded weakly.
He couldn’t exactly remember his own training. His body seemed to even as his mind didn’t, but he was pretty sure even his body didn’t know how to do what Khoth was doing now. He had thought of this being a fun and friendly encounter where he would hold his own since he was supercharged. He was wondering though if he hadn’t underestimated Khoth a wee bit and overestimated himself by a lot.
Gehenna was in his “corner” of the circle while Thammah was in Khoth’s like they were two boxers about to enter the ring. Thammah gave him a thumb’s up and a grin. He wondered if she thought he would do well or be crushed.
“Woo hoo! Go Team Khoth! Go Team Jace!” Thammah pumped a fist into the air. He wondered if she’d read Twilight with her use of “teams”. The thought of Thammah ensconced in her spaceship reading vampire fiction made him smile.
His parents, the general, and the soldiers were all around the outer edge of the circle, watching Khoth now roll forward, lift his body up into a handstand with only one hand then balance on a single finger before rolling forward again and flipping up to a standing position. Jace gulped. Could he do that? How could anyone do that?
