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Who: "Soujirou" aka Okita Souji and you!
Broadcast: Network-wide
Action: SS Golden, later the SS Iskaulit Gym
When: (Broadcast) January 3rd, morning (Action) January 3rd and onward, afternoons

Broadcast
Since it seems that I'm far enough in the past for most people to consider me quite long gone, I suppose there's no harm in announcing who I am. It's a little strange, seeing how I kept this to myself for so long before.

But-- [deep breath] --I'm a teacher of the Tennen Rishin style of swordsmanship. [What, did you think he'd announce himself for real? Haha, silly you. Still, people who know of him, might get a clue from that.] I'd like to find someone willing to spar with me, if they're up to it. I heard there is a space for it on the-- [ugh, foreign names are hard.] Iskaulit? The other big ship. I'll be there every afternoon to practice.

Also, I've been searching for proper boken or shinai as well, so if anyone can help me find some, I would be very grateful.

Action
[Every afternoon, Souji will be at the Iskaulit gym in an open area. Before he has practice swords, he'll be using makeshift staves and whatever else he can get his hands on to simulate a sword. Come learn from a legendary swordsman! Or just go "why is that babysitter guy suddenly looking like he can murder 50 people???"]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sure, I don't mind.

[It's a little intimidating, the idea of using sword skills around a legit professional, but at least his style is flashy.]

Over at the Iskaulit, maybe?

Yes, I'll be there whenever you are available. Please do come by. There isn't much in the way of equipment, but it should be fun to have a little exhibition if nothing else.

I'll be there.

[But first he has to spend like twenty minutes trying to decide what the heck sword to bring. Finally he settles on the photon sword, since he's more used to it; when he arrives some time later, it looks like he isn't armed at all.]

Anyone home?

[He's in the gym area, running kata with a staff. It isn't nearly anywhere as good as a real sword, but it'll do. He's halfway through a more complex one when Kirito appears. He's at the apex of his swing and stops, looking over.]

Ah, Kirito-kun? Is that you?

Guilty as charged.

[Have a wave.]

Good to meet you. Training already?

[And in return, he lowers his makeshift weapon and bows his head politely.]

It's nice to meet you in person as well.

But this? [He laughs quietly and sheepishly, hefting the staff in his hands.] It's only a warm-up until I find a real training sword.

[He nods to the thing Kirito has with him.]

What do you have there?

Oh, this? It's a photon sword.

[He unclips the handle and takes a step back to avoid being too close to Okita, then activates it with a lightsaber-ish thrum.]

It's... retractable, technically?

[It takes a lot to surprise Okita, but he jumps back and flinches. His sword arm involuntarily swings up, bringing the staff up to put it between him and suddenly appearing blade of light.

There's a beat and then he relaxes a bit - although the staff doesn't lower much.]

Is that...light?

[Whoops. Kirito lifts his free hand in a placating motion, shifting his grip on the blade so it's at an angle that makes it look as non-threatening as possible.]

It's energy, specifically. Does your ship have an armory? The guns there use lasers instead of bullets. It's using that.

[A beam of light that pops up out of nowhere can never look non-threatening. He's curious about it, but he's definitely not getting any closer.]

Yes, but even if I'm supposedly a "security" officer, I don't like guns very much. I leave that to my other crewmates.

....So it is made of energy? Energy from what? Fire?

No, not fire. There's an energy cell inside this, [He taps the hilt,] -it powers the light, sort of how the ships are powered by engines, or the lights around here by electricity. Like a miniature engine in your hands.

[Ugh, future things are haaaaaaaaaard. He stares at the sword for a little while longer, trying to wrap his head around the explanation and imagine how to put something the size of a ship engine inside the hilt of a weapon. It's beyond his comprehension for now, so he eventually just shrugs and laughs.]

I see.

[Said in the same way most Japanese do when they really mean "dafuq??? ok."]

I suppose it cuts thought just about anything then?

You'd think! But no, the guns they give us aren't that powerful, so the sword can only be boosted so much. It's fine with organic stuff- animal and monster bones are the toughest I've tested it on so far, and it'll damage lighter metals- but I couldn't carve a hole through a wall. Which is kind of a good thing, when we're on a ship in space like this.

I suppose that is a good thing.

[He'd rather not cut a wall and have a hole open up into space, killing them all.]

I guess it would be enough to defeat any enemies, however.

[He tilts his head and looks at the weapon again, a little of the tension easing from his shoulders. It's a little less scary knowing that it's no more lethal than a regular blade.]

How is the balance of the weapon?

Its balance is kind of a weak point for these things, to be honest. It's not weighted at all like a real sword- there's a bit of oomph to the energy, so you can feel the resistance when it makes contact with something, but otherwise... well, it's just light.

[He gives the blade a few demonstrative swings, angled away from Okita again, and the sword cuts through the air effortlessly.]

It takes practice getting used to, but it's not bad. I think it's better for people who don't have a lot of physical strength, which is how I started out.

[Even more fascinating. Although he preferred the weight of a sword in his hand, the idea of an effortless swing was interesting. He watched, leaning back as the sword cut through the air, but eyes intent on its path.]

It's too bad I don't have one of those. I'd love to spar against it.

[But seeing how it cuts through most organic materials, well... He hefts the staff in his hand and shakes his head.]

I'll need to see about buying real weaponry somewhere.

You might have a hard time within the fleet, but sometimes they have them in the planets and stations we stop at. Oh, and if you want a sword like this, you need one of the guns from your ship's armory, if you've got one. I take commissions.

Oh! So you made it yourself? That's amazing! How?

My augment is engineering, so that helps, and I like to do this sort of thing back home. It's more or less a space-era electronic, so I messed around with the settings until I got it to do what I wanted.

Fascinating... If I were able to get you the materials, would you be able to reproduce it?

Don't see why not. I've done it twice before already.

Write me a list of supplies and I'll have it dropped off with you for whenever you have time.

[He smiles.]

Then perhaps we can practice together in each of our styles - the regular, boring sword and the sword made of light.

Sure, I don't mind. The list of parts isn't big, and if there's anything hard to find, just throw some credits my way and I'll track them down myself. It's easier when you've got the right augment for that stuff.

It'd be nice to have a proper sparring partner again.

Of course. I'll have to find a way to begin earning a little more here.

[Without becoming base entertainment for whoever the heck was watching them. It was weird to think about that his entire life was now on display.]

Ah, but is there something we can use as...armor? I was told to never let anyone spar [me] without it.

Oh, yeah, I guess so.

[Well, they don't exactly have kendo gear here... he hasn't bothered with it. His avatars tend to be pretty durable, and the augments have helped, too.]

You're security, right? There should be gear for you in the armory.

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