In Command (#1 Post-Order 66 Series)

In Command - Part 20

"See, now he's got her figured out," Echo whispered. "He's matching her footwork and fighting style."

"We'll see," Rex said.

Hunter was still pressing Senna towards the edge of the mat when she suddenly dropped to her knees, rotating back behind him. From her kneeling position, Senna went to hit Hunter in the back, but he leapt into the air in a backflip, striking at her as he passed overhead. She reached up and grappled his wrist again, shoving him back farther than he'd anticipated for his landing, so he had to tuck and roll upon impact. Spinning on her knees to a standing position, Senna advanced. Hunter was still kneeling as she struck at him, the wood cracking together loudly in the quiet of the gym. The clone sergeant was desperately trying to get back to his feet, but Senna's relentless flurry of blows kept him off balance until finally, he stabbed at her desperately and she dodged it, bringing her arm down to lock his sword arm in place while she brought her staff to his throat again as she pressed forward, trapping his kneeling leg underneath him. There was no escape this time, and Hunter grinned as he dropped his staff and raised his other hand in defeat. "You got me."

Echo sighed as he slipped the credits into Rex's outstretched hand.

"I saw that," Senna called over her shoulder as she helped Hunter up. "It wasn't really a fair fight though. I'm going to bet swordsmanship isn't in the training manuals on Kamino."

"You would be correct," Tech said from where he'd been standing. "However, some of us did take it upon ourselves to learn the skill." Setting his datapad on the ground near the wall, he walked over and picked up a staff, twirling it lightly with his wrist.

"You, Tech? Really?" Hunter asked.

"Yes. Why is that shocking?"

"I guess...you know what, nevermind. It's not. Have at her." He walked over to slump against the wall and slid down into a seated position next to Rex. "She's something else."

Rex bit back a proud grin. "Indeed, she is."

Tech mirrored Senna with his stance, tucking one hand behind his back as he brandished the staff in front of him. The two slowly circled each other until Senna feinted left, testing Tech's response. He seemed unphased as he sidestepped her, maintaining his balance and parrying her test strike. Stepping back, he resumed his defensive position, waiting for her next move. She imitated Hunter, stalking around him with her staff hanging at her hip. Tech maintained his defensive position, waiting for her move. This time, Senna raced towards him, leaping into the air and swiping at Tech's off shoulder as she flew over him. Tech dropped to his knees, rolling away from her slash and spinning to face her as she landed. Their battle went on for several minutes as they tested each other, Senna poking and prodding at Tech's defenses and Tech managing to block every blow. Finally, Senna went for a feint and then began charging Tech, swinging as he parried her blows. She continued to press forward until Tech suddenly dropped low, kicking her legs out from under her. Senna let out a surprised whoop as Tech changed his momentum, stepping forward to grasp her sword arm as she toppled to the ground. He locked his staff with hers, twisting it so she was disarmed and the wooden rod flew across the mat. Holding her arm to his chest, he knelt on her ribs, panting. "Got you," he said, his eyes twinkling behind his goggles.

Her hand that he had captured by the wrist twitched, and his goggles wiggled on his nose as she tugged at them with the Force. "Don't you dare," he warned, standing up and releasing her.

"Oh, come on, I haven't used the Force once on you guys until just then," she teased as he helped her up. She gave him a light shove. "Well fought."

Echo stood up. "Would you like to know what you did wrong?"

She turned, cocking an eyebrow at him. He shrugged. "I am a strategist. It's what I do."

Grinning, she bowed dramatically. "Enlighten me then, Echo."

He stepped out onto the mat. "You shifted your weight too early and got too close to him. He's clearly been waiting on you to do that the entire time, but you just hadn't gotten overly eager until that point. Also, you have a tell for when you're going to step within proximity. It's slight, but you shift your weight to push off your left foot more so than your right, and you lean your hip outwards."

"Giving away all my secrets, Echo?" Tech joked. "He is correct though. That was exactly my strategy."

Senna nodded, listening intently. It was helpful information, and after it seemed that the Inquisitor had been able to predict her every move, she would take all of the advice she could get.

"Would you like to try again?" Tech asked.

"Abso-krffing-lutely."

"Very good."

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Senna and Tech went for another half an hour before she beat him, and in another hour, she was beating him consistently. At that point, the clones switched things up, having her fight Tech and Hunter at the same time, and when she won those battles, they had Wrecker start chucking sandbags at her during combat to simulate objects being Force-thrown at her. Echo and Rex gave feedback from the sidelines, providing minor corrections to make her less of a predictable fighter. By the time the sun was starting to sink lower in the sky, Senna felt her stomach rumble, and called a halt to the combat. They were all drenched in sweat, and she could feel blisters starting for form on the bottoms of her feet. She strode up to Rex, wiping her face on her shirt.

He grinned at her. "Well done."

"Thanks. Still not sure I'm where I need to be."

"But you're in a better place than you were this morning." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the trinket she'd left on his pillow. "By the way, what is this? I found it on your side of the bed this morning."

Her eyes twinkled. "When I mess up something during a build or repair, sometimes I keep the scrap. Don't know why, but I kind of like having the mementos. This was a piece of fluid line from the speeder bike on Lothal," she said, turning it over in her hands. "I accidentally fused the two spacers together and messed up the tubing bend a bit, so I just kept it. It was in my pocket the night we had to leave."

He raised an eyebrow at her as he tucked the scrap back in his pocket. "You're odd, you know that?"

She laughed. "You knew what you were getting into."

Slipping her arm around Rex's waist, she turned to recommend they all go get food, but before she could utter a word, Bail Organa walked briskly into the room with one of his guardsmen and Queen Breha, worry creasing his brow.

"We have a problem."